Crockpot Potato Soup

Ingredients:
Diced ham (However much you want)
1 30oz bag frozen hash brown squares
2 cans reduced sodium chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 8oz package cream cheese
1/3 cup finely diced onion
1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix everything together in crock pot MINUS cream cheese. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4. Add cream cheese in the last 30 minutes and stir before serving.

***For freezing: combine all ingredients minus cream cheese and chicken broth in a freezer gallon bag. Freeze up to 3 months. To cook: pull out and dump frozen mixture into crock pot (I generally have to cut the bag away to get everything out of the top), topping with chicken broth. Cook as directed above and stir in cream cheese 30 minutes before serving.

Christmas Cut Out Sugar Cookies

This cookie recipe originates from Better Homes and Gardens cook book.

1/3 cup shortening
1/3 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 dash of salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla (I always use mexican vanilla)
2 cups all-purpose flour

1. Beat butter and sugar together in a blender. Add sugar, baking powder, and a dash of salt. Beat till combined, scraping the bowl. Beat in egg and mexican vanilla. Beat in flour slowly. Cover and chill until easy to handle.
2. On a lightly floured surface ( I just use my kitchen counter!), roll half of dough at a time to 1/8" thick. Use desired cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees 7 or 8 minutes until edges are firm and bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on a rack before decorating.

Decorate with Frosting.

Frosting ingredients:
2 cups of powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons melted butter
1 Teaspoon clear mexican vanilla
milk

Mix confectioners sugar, melted butter, and mexican vanilla together while slowly adding 1 teaspoon of milk at a time until you reach desired consistency. You don't want it too runny so it can stay on cookie without draining off. Then you can split into different bowls and add desired colored dye to each bowl.