What's for Dinner Tonight?

I love good food!  I just don't like spending too much time in the kitchen.  Preparing food for my family isn't on my list of favorite things to do.  That's where crock pots and ice cream makers come in handy.  Here are a couple of our most recent family's favorite recipes.  Enjoy!


Bacon Chicken
by: Christi Nazer

8-10 slices of ham
4 boneless chicken breast
4-8 slices of bacon
1 C. sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Grease bottom and sides of crock pot and line the  bottom of crock pot with ham slices.  Wrap each chicken breast with 2 slices of bacon, secure with a toothpick, and then place in crock pot.  Combine sour cream and soup, pour over chicken and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 6-8 hours.
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My parents gave us an ice cream maker for Christmas.  My kids LOVE to help make ice cream.  It's so fun for them to watch the ingredients churn and turn into ice cream.  The ONLY ice cream we've made so far is this:

Homemade Oreo Ice Cream
adapted from Williams-Sonoma vanilla ice cream recipe
*makes about 1 quart

2 cups whipping cream (I use heavy cream)
1 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt  
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1/2 package Oreo cookies, crushed into chunks (*Mint Oreos taste great too!  It's our family's new favorite flavor.)

In a bowl, stir together cream and milk. Add the sugar and salt and whisk until the sugar is dissolved, 3 - 4 minutes. There should be no visible graininess left in the bowl. Stir in the vanilla. Keep cold until ready to pour into ice cream maker. (This is a good time to pour the cookies into a large zip-lock bag and, with a rolling pin, crush them into pieces.) Pour cream mixture only into the mixing container of your ice cream maker and freeze (or hand-crank) according to manufacturer's instructions.

Once the churning is almost through, add the Oreo cookie chunks and churn a bit more until well blended. Pour soft ice cream into containers. (I like using rectangle pyrex pans as they fit so easily into the freezer. Lightly press plastic wrap directly on the surface of ice cream to avoid any freezer burn. For longer storage, wrap a tinfoil layer on top to secure.) Freeze 2 - 5 hours longer and serve.