Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings is the ultimate comfort food for winter. I have found lots of recipes for chicken and dumplings that uses cream of chicken soup and although I use canned creamed soups at times I have been really wanting a recipe that used cream or half-n-half. So then found one with half and half but still didn't look like it was exactly what I was wanting so I combined a few recipes to make this one. Michael and I enjoyed it thoroughly as it warmed us during the cold winter evening.


Chicken Mixture
1 1/2 cups frozen peas & carrots
1 cup frozen green beans (optional - I had them on hand so threw them in last moment)
1/2 cup chopped onion
14 oz. can chicken broth
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. margarine or butter
2 tbsp. half & half (I use fat free half & half)
1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs, cut into 2" pieces

Dumplings
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. margarine or butter
1 cup milk
1/4 cup minced fresh herb leaves such as parsley, chives (I didn't have any one hand tonight so left out - and it is optional they taste good with or without)

In crockpot add onion and butter. In medium bowl, combine chicken broth, half & half, flour and spices and blend well until smooth. Pour over onion and butter. Add chicken. After cooking for six hours add frozen carrots, peas and green beans. Cook for 1 more hour until chicken is thoroughly cooked and no longer pink in center.

30 minutes before serving mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add (optional) herbs. Microwave butter and milk for 1 minte 30 seconds to 2 minutes until just warm in a large bowl. Slowly add dry ingredients. Mix with a fork or knead by hand two to three times until mixture just comes together. Take spoonfuls of dough and drop into on the surface of the chicken mixture. Cover, cook on High for 20 to 25 minutes until dumplings are cooked through. They will be fluffy and a toothpick inserted should come out clean.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

I turned 40 on the 18th of October. I tried to kind of ignore it so one thing I didn't want was a birthday cake. I actually am a person who doesn't like cake on my birthday but likes to have pie or cheesecake. So this year I didn't have cake, pie or cheesecake and was perfectly happy...until I came home. But I couldn't admit that I was going to make a cheesecake for my birthday so instead I made it for Halloween. And in the tradition of Halloween, I made a Pumpkin Cheesecake. It turned out simply wonderful.















Crust
1 1/2 cups ground gingersnap cookies
1 1/2 cups toasted pecans (about 6 ounces)
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
(**I ground more ginger snaps then needed so I made a little extra and crumbled on top of the cheesecake the last 5 minutes of cooking - it made it almost toffee like crunch on top)

Filling
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups canned solid pack pumpkin (1 can pumpkin)
2 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons half and half
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
4 large eggs


For Crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Finely grind ground cookies, pecans and sugar in processor. Add melted butter and blend until combined. Press crust mixture onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides.

For Filling: Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until light. Add flour, pumpkin, 4 tablespoons half and half, ground cinnamon and ground allspice to mixture in large bowl and beat until well combined. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until combined. Pour filling into crust (filling will almost fill pan). Bake until cheesecake puffs, top browns and center moves only slightly when pan is shaken, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Transfer cheesecake to rack and cool 10 minutes. Run small sharp knife around cake pan sides to loosen cheesecake. Cool. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.

(I had never made pumpkin cheesecake. I combined a few recipes which is my usual taking things from each that I like and making my own. Something I didn't do with this cheesecake was putting a tray of water under it -- not a water bath but just a tray of water on the shelf below to create moisture in the oven. I didn't do that because frankly I forgot. I was just so excited to be making a pumpkin cheesecake that I didn't remember to do the tray and my weird timing thing I usually do which is turning the oven from 350 to 250 and well it turned out really good.)