Crock Pot Corn Chowder

This recipe is perfect when you have leftover vegetables that you need to use up. I added potatoes, corn, diced ham, onions, and cream of potato soup to make a rich chowder that will warm you up from the inside out.

Corn Chowder

Ingredients
5 small red potatoes, diced into small chunks 
2 cups diced ham 
1/2 diced onion
3 cloves of garlic, minced (can adjust more or less, depending on your taste)
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 carrot, peeled and diced small
2 cans cream of potato soup 
1 cup low-fat chicken broth  
salt and pepper

Directions
1. Lightly oil the crockpot and place potatoes at the bottom
2. Add carrot, onion, and garlic
3. Add diced ham and drained corn
4. Add cream of potato soup and chicken broth, stir to blend

Cook on high for 5 hours or low for 8, until potatoes are tender and can be cut with a fork.
Feeds 4 people (with very large appetites).

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've recently discovered the world of baking. I'd like to think I'm a natural cook, but baking is an entirely different ballgame and actually involves real skill...and measuring. Since my humble beginning of baking three-ingredient peanut butter cookies, my measuring cups, granulated sugar, and flour have been in constant use. Meanwhile, I've also discovered baking is a fantastic stress-reliever. Let out all of your frustrations. It's a wonderful thing!

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe is a blend of others I've found on the internet. I was extremely low on butter, so I needed to add a few teaspoons of water at the end to make the dough more moist. If you run into this problem, try it, it works!

Ingredients:

1/8 cup unsalted butter, room temp.
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cinnamon (more if you're a spice junky like myself)

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup grated zucchini (about 1/4 of a zucchini)

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (you can also use pecans or almonds too)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Add dry ingredients into a large bowl - flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt

3. Cream butter and sugar together (I do this by hand, but only because I don't have a mixer)

4. Add egg to the butter and sugar mixture, then gradually stir in the dry ingredients.

5. Add grated zucchini and chocolate chips.

6. Fold in walnuts.

Drop by the spoonful onto parchment paper and bake for 12 minutes (until lightly browned around the edges and soft in the middle). Let cool for 5 minutes.

Makes 12 cookies, but it can easily be doubled or tripled. I'm just trying to watch my girlish figure ;)