Slow Cooker Loaded Potato Soup

Everyone’s favorite comfort food soup in crockpot form! Hands-off and incredibly easy with 15 min prep work! That’s it! From damndelicious.net.

Slow Cooker Loaded Potato Soup


Ingredients:

4 slices bacon, diced (without problem ingredients)
2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 cups chicken stock (without problem ingredients)
½ onion, chopped (if tolerated)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
⅔ cup sour cream
½ cup heavy cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste (if tolerated)


Directions:

1. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

2. Place potatoes into a 4-qt slow cooker. Stir in chicken stock, onion, garlic, thyme, butter and bacon until well combined.

3. Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours, or until potatoes are tender.

4. Using a potato masher, mash potatoes until desired consistency is reached. Stir in cheese, sour cream and heavy cream until smooth; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

5. Cover and cook on low heat until warmed through, stirring occasionally, about 15-20 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more chicken stock as needed until desired consistency is reached.

6. Serve immediately after garnishing.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bombs

This recipe is magical. The first thing you see is crisp bacon wrapped around chicken, but cut it open and it reveals a cheesy interior! It’s a trick, where you serve something amazing looking that only gets better as you dive into it. The half chicken breasts are stuffed with cream cheese, ricotta, and spinach. Then they are held closed with a bacon wrapping and pan seared before getting finished off in the oven. From ruled.me.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bombs
6 servings


Ingredients:

2 pounds chicken breast
10 ounces frozen spinach
4 ounces cream cheese softened ½ cup full-fat ricotta
Salt and pepper to taste (if tolerated)
12 slices bacon (without problem ingredients)


Directions:

1. Thaw the spinach out and wring as much water out of it as possible. Preheat your oven to 375°F.

2. Mix the spinach with the cream cheese and full fat ricotta. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Cut the chicken breasts in half as shown. You want them to still be thick enough to cut pouches into.

4. Carefully cut pockets into one of the ends of each piece of chicken. If you accidentally cut through all the way a little filling might squeeze out, but it's not a big deal. Bacon can fix everything. Stuff the pockets with the cheese filling.

5. Tightly wrap two slices of bacon around each piece of chicken. Try and seal up the open end and any holes where filling might seep out. However, don't wrap it so tight that the chicken folds in on itself or you might have difficulty cooking it through.

6. Pan sear the bacon wrapped chicken in a hot skillet. You don't have to brown all the sides equally, because they will be finished off in the oven.

7. Set the pieces of chicken into an oven safe dish while you finish the others.

8. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the bacon is well crisped and the chicken is cooked all the way through. The chicken is done when it reaches 165°F.

White Chocolate Congo Squares

My grandmother found this recipe in the Orlando Sentinel newspaper back in the 60s. It’s a family favorite, but not IC friendly. I tweaked it just a wee bit and now I can enjoy them with no problems. YUM!!! I give it: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

White Chocolate Congo Squares


Ingredients:

1/3 lb. (1 stick and 2 ½ tablespoons) real name brand butter
1 box light brown sugar (about 2 1/3 cups firmly packed)
3 eggs
2 ¾ cup sifted flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 package (12 oz.) white chocolate chips (without problem ingredients)


Directions:

Stir together butter and light brown sugar using a mixer. Add eggs. Then add flour, baking powder, salt. Mix well and add walnuts and chocolate chips. Bake in a 9 x 13 inch greased and floured pan for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden at 350 degrees. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Creamy Macaroni & Broccoli Salad

Here’s a lovely bladder friendly cold macaroni salad from author Julie Beyer RD, author of Confident Choices: A Cookbook for IC and OAB! Don’t forget that you can use your choice of macaroni: wheat, corn, quinoa, rice and so forth! From icdietproject.com .

Creamy Macaroni & Broccoli Salad


Ingredients:

4 cups cooked macaroni
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup coarsely chopped broccoli
1/2 cup diced red peppers
1/2 cup diced carrots


Ingredients for Dressing:

1/2 skim evaporated milk
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons cream cheese (with bladder friendly ingredients)
1 tablespoons feta cheese


Directions:

Toss together macaroni and vegetables; set aside.
In a small saucepan, mix together second set of ingredients. Heat until thickened. Cool completely. Add the macaroni mixture. Serve chilled.

White Chocolate Macadamia Cookie Bars

White Chocolate Macadamia Cookie Bars are soft-baked, chewy, loaded with buttery brown sugar flavor, chunks of white chocolate chips & macadamia nuts. Try this cookie recipe that bakes up in a 9×9 pan for a smaller serving size. From togetherasfamily.com .

White Chocolate Macadamia Cookie Bars


Ingredients:

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (without problem ingredients)
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9x9 baking dish with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.

2. In a small mixing bowl, add the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Stir with a wire whisk to combine. Set aside.

3. In a separate larger mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, and light brown sugar until creamy and combined.

4. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract just until mixed in.

5. Add the dry ingredients into the wet batter, mix on low to medium-low speed, just until combined and no flour streaks remain in the dough.

6. Stir in the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
* If wanted, reserve some to press into the tops of the bars before baking OR you can just use extra to press into the tops of the bars.

7. Press the cookie dough into the prepared pan.

8. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown in the center and cooked through.

9. Let the bars cool inside the pan for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before cutting.
* If the bars are cooler they will cut better, but you could definitely eat them warm for a soft & gooey cookie bar.



FAQ:

How To Store Leftovers
Place leftovers in an airtight container, or Ziploc bag, at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Do I Chop The Macadamia Nuts or Keep Them Whole?
You can keep the macadamia nuts whole for larger chunks inside the cookie bars, or chop them up so there are more bits all over. I prefer chopping up the macadamia nuts so there is more to go around.

Tahini Parmesan Dressing

Yes, tahini can be part of an interstitial cystitis (IC) diet. Tahini is a seed butter that contains sesame seeds, which are also bladder-friendly. From callieknutrition.com.

Tahini Parmesan Dressing

Yield: Makes 1 cup of dressing


Ingredients:

1/4 cup pear juice
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons light olive oil
2 tablespoons tahini (if tolerated and without problem ingredients)
1 tablespoon coconut aminos
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons Parmesan cheese (if tolerated)
Salt, to taste
2 to 3 tablespoons of water, or to desired consistency


Directions:

Blend all, taste and adjust salt to desired taste.

Chicken Pie

The next time you’re in the mood for chicken pie and up for making it yourself, trust me it’s really pretty easy, you absolutely should give this a try. It’s thick and delicious, packed with a variety of veggies, tender chicken and topped off with a flaky crust. So good. From bakedbyrachel.com.

Chicken Pie


Yield-4


Ingredients:

Crust:
1 sheet of thawed puff pastry (without problem ingredients)

Filling ingredients:
1 rotisserie chicken
1 1/2 C potatoes, cubed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 C red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 C corn
1/2 C carrots, chopped
1/4 C celery, optional
1/2 tsp salt (if tolerated)
3/4 - 1 tsp pepper (if tolerated)
3 Tbsp unsalted butter

Sauce ingredients:
1/2 C unsalted butter
1 C all purpose flour
2 1/2 C chicken broth
1/2 C heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt (if tolerated)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper (if tolerated)


Directions:

1. Warm rotisserie chicken per package directions. I warmed mine at 350F° for 30 minutes or so, in a foil bowl on a baking sheet. The foil will help keep any juices nearby and not making a huge mess out of your baking sheet. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes, then slice meat from the bones and cut into bite size pieces.

2. You can work on the veggies and sauce while your chicken warms or you can wait and do each as a separate step.

3. In a large skillet, melt butter. Add potato chunks, cook for 5 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper. Cook for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the peppers are tender and the potatoes are almost translucent.

4. Remove from heat, transfer potato mix to a large bowl. Add carrots (I used baby carrots cut up), celery (if using), corn, chicken, salt and pepper. Stir well. Set aside.

5. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour, followed by chicken broth. Stir well. Make sure you get the corners of the pan. Pour in cream and sprinkle in salt and pepper. Continue stirring until the mixture is combined and thick.

6. Pour sauce over chicken and veggies, gently stir to coat.

7. Divide among individual baking dishes or one large baking dish. I did several individual dishes. It worked out great for dinner and an extra for lunch.

8. For your crust, you will need one sheet of thawed puff pastry. Slice squares large enough to fit each dish. While still on the counter or your work area, using a fork crimp the edges of each square. Take a knife and cut holes into the center to allow steam to escape.

9. Carefully top each dish with one sheet of prepared puff pastry.

10. Bake at 425F° for 20 minutes. Serve warm.



TIPS:

My biggest bit of advice for this particular dish, use fresh veggies if possible. Only use frozen if you trust the brand, we had some really gross frozen corn not long ago. I decided after that if I couldn’t get fresh or frozen in a brand I trust, then I’d be perfectly content to use canned – again… in a brand I trust. Not all brands are created equal in my eyes. Trust me, if you had tried this nasty bag of frozen corn you’d be in full agreement with me here. So, fresh is best if available.