Extra Creamy CrockPot Mac and Cheese

 

Spend With Pennies
Serves 6

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
10 ½ ounces condensed cream of chicken soup
3 cups cheddar cheese shredded
1 cup Gruyere cheese shredded
½ cup mayonnaise (or cream cheese0
½ cup sour cream regular or light
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
½ teaspoon pepper

Boil macaroni noodles according to directions to make them very al dente. (I cook them for at least 1-2 minutes less than directed on the bag. Mine boiled for 5 minutes). Drain and rinse under cold water.

Combine all ingredients in a 4qt slow cooker and cook on high for 2 hours or low for 3 hours, stirring once or twice.

Optional- you can mix everything and then put in a oiled casserole dish

 350 degrees for 30 min

One time I made pasta the night before and then made sauce separately and then next day combined and warmed them up together

From Scratch Cream of Soup

Once a month


x4           Original
6             2 cloves garlic, minced
1          1/3 cup onion, diced
1&1/2   1/2 cup main ingredient, diced (see Main Ingredient)
3/4        1/4 cup butter or substitute (see Soup Base)
3/4        1/4 cup flour or substitute (see Soup Base)
3           1 cup milk or substitute (see Soup Base)
3/4 cup broth (see Soup Base)

Quadruple recipe and freeze quart or pint size portions to use in other recipes.

MY RECIPE-
2 chopped onions
2 T garlic powder
3 stalks of celery
3/4c butter
3/4c flour
3 c milk
3c broth

Directions

Saute garlic, onion and main ingredient (mushrooms, chicken, celery, etc.) and set aside. Melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add “milk” and broth. Add sauteed garlic, onion and main ingredient. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring regularly, until it reaches desired consistency (about 10-15 minutes). Season to taste with salt and pepper and use as you would a can of condensed Cream of Something Soup in any recipe. If I make it ahead of time, I pour the soup into a pint canning jar and refrigerate it for up to four days.

Freezing Directions

You can freeze these in batches in pint or quart size bags or use as you would a can of condensed Cream of Something Soup in any recipe and freeze that dish. A great way to keep “cans” at-the-ready for your CrockPot recipes is to make a quadruple batch and bag each “can” serving in a pint-sized freezer bag. Place those bags in a gallon freezer bag, label and freeze. When you need a “can” of condensed soup, pull out a bag, thaw, and drop it in your crock!

Chicken & Veggie Chowder

1 lb chicken/turkey from leftovers
4 c frozen chicken/turkey broth from carcass
3 diagonally sliced carrots
1 chopped onion
1 can corn with liquid
2t garlic powder
2 c of bite sized chunks of  zucchini
1/2t thyme
cream of soup recipe or can of cream o soup
can add broccoli or mushrooms
1/2c Half and half

Combine everything put in crockpot.  Cover cook on low 5-6 hours. The last 15min stir in half and half

For the cream of soup part all I did- melt butter on skillet, add garlic and onion powder to get browned, add in flour for 2 min, then add milk and broth and whisk together and cook for 10 min, stirring occasionally.