The Adventures of Cow: A bathtime presentation

Poppy: Cow is eating.

Rockford: What is cow eating?

P: Cow eating water.

A: Cows eat water? OK.

P: There you go, cow. Orange cow!

A: Orange cow, and a white cow.

Orange Cow: Hello Mr. Cow.

White Cow: Hello Mr. Cow. Hey, would you like to go to the grocery store with me?

OC: Sure, let’s go! What do we need this week?

WC: How ’bout pasta?

OC: OK!

WC: Now we need breakfast cereal. What do we feel like this week? Raisin Bran?

OC: Nah.

WC: Shredded Wheat?

OC: Nah.

WC: Lucky Charms!

OC: Yay!

OC: OK, now back to the farm. See you later, Cow. Bye!

P: Hello, orange cow. Hello, white cow. One more time!

A: You like the Adventures of Cow?

P: One more time!

A: OK.

Orange Cow: Hello, Mr. Cow.

White Cow: Hello, Mr. Cow.

OC: What would you like to do today?

WC: Well, we went to the grocery yesterday, and the day before that we danced. I
was thinking today we could do some puzzles.

OC: I love puzzles!

WC: OK, let’s go do some puzzles. Let’s put them together with our noses.

OC: That was fun. Maybe we should do puzzles again some day.

WC: OK. Bye!

A successful CrockPot conversion

We had a “normal” recipe last night that I tried to convert for the CrockPot. It worked pretty well, but I do have a few things to alter for next time.

The original recipe, courtesy my mother-in-law, calls for:

  • Cheddar cheese soup
  • sour cream
  • Miracle Whip
  • curry powder
  • chili powder
  • cooked, shredded chicken
  • cooked rice
  • steamed broccoli
    Basically, you make a sauce with the first five ingredients and pour it over the chicken and rice. Genia makes a lovely little broccoli border on the serving dish, too.

    I knew going in that I wouldn’t be able to add the sour cream at the beginning, but I needed more than just the Cheddar soup to cook the chicken in. I used a can of cream of mushroom soup to bulk up the “liquid,” and I added about half a cup of sour cream to the mix just after shredding the chicken and just before serving.

    The soup combination worked out well, but the final product was a little on the bland side. I added the spices when I was assembling the whole thing, which apparently I shouldn’t have done. According to the experts, ground spices should be added in the last hour of cooking. Duly noted, experts.

    Here’s what the modification will look like next time around:

    Cheesy Curried Crockpot Chicken
    3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
    1 can Cheddar cheese soup
    1 can cream of mushroom soup
    curry powder to taste
    chili powder to taste
    1/2 cup sour cream

    Combine Cheddar soup and cream of mushroom in slow cooker, stirring well to combine. Add chicken breasts (make sure the soup is enveloping them). Cook on high for five hours. Add spices, and continue cooking about another hour or until chicken is done.

    Shred chicken. Stir in sour cream. Serve over rice, with broccoli on the side.

    The recipe made enough for the three of us last night and again for lunch today (keep in mind, though, that Poppy doesn’t eat all that much).