Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Healthy Crock Pot Recipes: Hamburger Cream Cheese Dip

by 31 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

When I think of New Year’s Eve, I think of chip dip. Of course, I also think of playing games, and spending time with friends and loved ones…just so long as none of those dear friends and loved ones get in the way of me and my chip dip. I have been known to greedily reach across serving lines and yank chip dip ladles out of people’s hands before.

Not really. I only picture doing that in my head. On the outside, I’m smiling sweetly and waiting patiently in line for my turn with the dip. I would never really grab a chip dip ladle from someone or push my way to the front of the line to get my dip. (Except for in my head.)

In case you need a tasty and easy chip dip recipe for a gathering this weekend, you may be interested in trying this Hamburger Cream Cheese Dip recipe. And then, you will want to take care and not invite me to your New Year’s  Eve gathering. If I see this dip at your table, there’s no telling what I might do.

Crock Pot Hamburger Cream Cheese Dip

Hamburger Cream Cheese DipYum

2 pounds ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 can (4 ounces) mild green chili peppers
Sea salt to taste
2 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
16 ounces cream cheese, softened and cubed

Brown ground beef in a skillet with the onion. Place cooked meat into a crock pot and add remaining ingredients. Set crock pot on low for two hours. Stir, taste, and add additional seasonings if desired. Serve with tortilla chips. We prefer these organic corn chips.

Do you have any exciting New Year’s Eve plans? Except for eating dip, I’m not really sure what we’ve got going on. But then again, I don’t suppose it really matters, just so long as there’s dip.

I think I need to join a chip dip support group.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Healthy Crock Pot Recipe: Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

by 80 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

You’re about to learn about my amazing Italian Cream Cheese Chicken recipe – one of my family’s favorite meals!

If you didn’t know it already, after reading this recipe it will be very clear to you that I am not afraid to cook with, serve my family, or eat high fat foods. Welcome to a recipe that includes butter, cream and cream cheese. Oh yes, that’s why it tastes so good.

If you are afraid of fats, I’d love to assure you of how healthy it is to eat these whole, natural foods. There’s a big difference in the fat you consume at McGreasies and fat which is whole and natural. Our bodies, skin and hair need healthy fats in order to thrive. Here is a post I wrote a while ago regarding butter and cream – and if you’d like to read through my entire series of Getting Real with Food posts, you can do that here.

Ah, and I have to laugh at myself because while this recipe calls for butter, cream and cream cheese – it also calls for boneless, skinless chicken breasts, which always makes me think of low-fat cooking. I’m not afraid of the fat in the skin of a chicken, nor am I afraid of cooking a chicken with bones – but I don’t really prefer pieces of bone or skin in my pasta dishes. Therefore, I find that boneless, skinless chicken works best in this recipe. ;)

Italian Cream Cheese ChickenYum

Healthy Crock Pot Recipe: Italian Cream Cheese Chicken
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 Tablespoons dry Italian Dressing Mix
  • ½ cup butter
  • 1½ cups cream
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
Instructions
  1. Place chicken, dressing mix and butter in a crock pot. (I used my homemade Italian Dressing Mix to make this dish.)
  2. Cook for 6 hours on low or 4 hours on high.
  3. Shred chicken with a knife and fork. Add cream and cream cheese to the chicken and stir.
  4. Cook for ½ hour longer on low.
  5. Serve with whole grain noodles or brown rice.

Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

What are the fats you include in your healthy diet?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Healthy Crock Pot Recipes: Turkey Sausage and Red Bean Stew

by 30 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

This Turkey Sausage and Red Bean Stew is a pretty awesome comfort food!

How nice is it that I put this stew into my crock pot before a soccer game, then came home to dinner all ready and waiting for us to eat? In fact, my crock pot was so nice that as we walked in the door, it scooped the prepared stew into six serving bowls, poured milk for us to drink, set the table and sang us a song while we gathered around. Okay, not really. But still, having a hot meal ready and waiting made me feel like someone else had done all the work.

This stew is especially easy to make if you already have turkey sausage and red beans cooked up ahead of time. I typically make six pounds of the sausage at a time, then freeze it in one pound packages, making it easy to throw into a meal like this one.

Turkey Sausage and Red Bean StewYum

Healthy Crock Pot Recipes: Turkey Sausage and Red Bean Stew
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 1 pound turkey sausage (browned)
  • 2 cups cooked red beans or 1 can (15 ounces) small red beans
  • ½ cup brown rice (uncooked)
  • 1 cup water
  • 1½ cups corn (frozen or canned)
  • 2 cups tomato juice
  • ½ cup chopped sweet green pepper (more if you like)
  • salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker.
  2. Cook on low setting for 6 hours.
  3. This stew is great served with hot cornbread and a glass of milk.
  4. It is also gluten free - a bonus for those of you with GF needs!

You need this recipe: Turkey Sausage

Crock Pot Turkey Sausage and Red Bean Stew

With my crock pot cooking our dinner for us, now all I need is an appliance that will clean my kitchen for me. Oh wait – that’s what the kids are for. We make kitchen clean-up a family project – here’s a post explaining more, along with a free downloadable kitchen chore chart.

Is it stew weather where you live? (If it’s still warm and sunny at your house, break it to me gently.) ;)

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Introducing: Healthy Crock Pot Recipes at Heavenly Homemakers!

by 157 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

I’ve decided that up until now, I may have had the most bored crock pot in the world. If all of the crock pots gathered for a convention, my crock pot would win the award for least exciting uses and most reasons to yawn while plugged into a wall. If there was such an award. Or convention. Or if crock pots really had feelings. It may actually be possible that I’ve taken the idea of “becoming one with my kitchen” a bit too far.

So many of the crock pot recipes I’ve seen call for Cream of Blechy Soup or MSG in a Jar. I think this is the main reason I’ve avoided much crock pot usage. But finally, I started doing a little bit of recipe research. While many of the recipes I’ve found do call for ingredients I don’t cook with, I’ve also discovered that I can make a few simple adaptations to make the recipe healthy. My crock pot and I are so excited about this! (If, in fact, crock pots do have feelings.)

And so, over the next few weeks or months or years or until I run out of healthy crock pot ideas, I’ll be occasionally sharing easy, healthy crock pot recipes. They will be recipes that contain real food ingredients and hopefully, they will be recipes that simplify your healthy cooking life.

Yum

I’m not sure how you’re feeling about this announcement, but I’m guessing your crock pot is going to be totally jazzed! (If, in fact, crock pots do have feelings.)

Regarding Lead Poisoning from Crock Pots: I’ve heard that this is a problem and am very frustrated with the lack of information I can find on this subject. Because I was concerned, I called the folks at Hamilton Beach, as I own this crock pot. They informed me that none of their crock pots contain lead. I think I believe them. Not that they would lie, but since the lady I talked to didn’t elaborate, I just had to assume she knew this information to be true. And, I’m going to go on faith and feel comfortable using my crock pot. What have you learned about this subject?

I’ve been working on crock pot ideas for main dishes, side dishes, dips, soups and even a few desserts. Which would you like me to sharing with first?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!