Crockpot Week

My mom recently got a Crockpot cookbook in a book exchange at work. As I flipped through it I found dozens of recipes I wanted to try so I borrowed it and we had an entire week of only crockpot meals (with a few more planned for next week). Here's how our week went:

Day 1: "Best-Ever Roast"

This was not the best roast I'd ever had but it was a perfectly serviceable Sunday meal that yielded plenty of leftovers to take to my elderly neighbors.

1 beef chuck shoulder roast (3 to 5 pounds)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
4 to 5 medium potatoes, quartered
4 cups baby carrots

Place roast in crockpot. Combine mushroom soup and onion soup mix in a bowl then pour over roast. Cover; cook on low 4 hours.

Add potatoes and carrots. Cover and cook on low 2 hours.

Makes 6 to 8 servings



Day 2: Veggie Soup with Beef

This was probably the most flavorless thing I have ever made in my life. I followed the recipe exactly but clearly that is not the way to go. The addition of more garlic and tomato sauce, salt, pepper, etc. and less water would make a world of difference. But it's super easy so I'm including it in case anyone wants to try their hand at making this worth eating.

2 cans (15 oz each) mixed vegetables
1 pound beef stew meat
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
Water

Place all ingredients in crockpot. Add enough water to fill crockpot to within 1/2 inch of top*. Cover, cook on low 8 to 10 hours.

*I didn't add nearly this much water and it was still too much.


Day 3: Parmesan Potato Wedges

One of our favorites from this week. I just served these wedges with a simple salad and it was excellent. Next time I'd probably add some garlic salt.

2 pounds red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch wedges
1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/8 inch pieces
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Layer potatoes, onion, oregano, salt, pepper and butter in crockpot. Cover; cook on high 4 hours. Transfer potatoes to a serving platter and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.


Day 4: Slow Cooker Chicken and Dressing

This was really good though not exactly healthy. We enjoyed it.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and black pepper
4 slices swiss cheese
1 can (14 1/2 oz) chicken broth
2 cans cream of chicken, celery or mushroom soup
3 cups packaged stuffing mix
1/2 cup butter, melted

Place chicken in crockpot. Season with salt and pepper.

Top each breast with cheese slice. Add broth and soup. Spring stuffing mix over top and pour butter over all*. Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours or on high 3 to 4 hours.

*Knowing the fat content on this was already going to be astronomical I just left the butter out. It turned out just fine.


Day 5: Spicy Shredded Chicken


Ridiculously easy and something you all probably make already anyway. We used it in tacos.

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 jar (16 oz) salsa

Place chicken in crockpot. Pour salsa over chicken. Cook on low 6-8 hours or until chicken is tender and no longer pink in the center. Shred chicken with 2 forks before serving.


Day 6: Asian Beef with Broccoli

I meant to make this as the recipe directed but I pretty much screwed up right and left. It was still really good though and we'll definitely have it again. We served it over rice.

1 1/2 pounds boneless chick steak, about 1 1/2 inches thick, sliced thin
1 can (10 1/2 oz) beef consomme*
1/2 cup oyster sauce**
2 tablespoons cornstarch***
1 bag (16 oz) fresh broccoli florets
Hot cooked rice
Sesame seeds

Place steak in crockpot. Pour consomme and oyster sauce over meat. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours.

Combine cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cooking liquid in a cup. Add to crockpot and stir well to combine. Cover and cook 15 minutes longer or until thickened.

Steam broccoli florets until tender crisp. Gently toss beef and broccoli together. Served over cooked rice and garnished with sesame seeds, if desired.

*I accidentally bought beef broth instead.
**I accidentally forgot to buy this and used soy sauce instead.
***I totally forgot the step with the cornstarch. It was a little watery but it was fine.

Slow Cooker Italian Beef

This. Was. De. Lish. Normally when I cook things in the crock pot I am so sick of smelling them by the end of the day that I just can't stand eating whatever it is. This smelled SO fantastic all day and it tasted even better than it smelled. Mmmmm. So easy, so very very easy and so good. Give it a try! One thing was it might be a touch too peppery for some. I liked it that way but you may want to reduce the pepper a smidge if that makes you nervous.


Slow Cooker Italian Beef
from melskitchencafe.com

1 1/2 C beef broth
1 C water
1 t salt
1 t ground black pepper
1 t dried oregano
1 t dried basil
1 t onion salt
1 t dried parsley
1 t garlic powder
1 bay leaf
1 (.7 oz) package dry Italian-style dressing mix
1 (5 lb) chuck roast

* I only had a 3 lb roast and I have no idea what kind it was : )

Combine water and beef broth with salt, pepper, oregano, basil, onion salt, parsley, garlic powder, bay leaf, and salad dressing mix. Whisk to combine.

Place roast in slow cooker, and pour salad dressing mixture over the meat. Cover, and cook on Low for 10 -12 hours, or on High for 4-5 hours. When done, remove bay leaf, and shred meat with a fork ( you can do this about an hour before eating so that shredded meat will absorb more of the juices). Serve on crusty rolls with cheese and use the excess sauce for dipping, or eat plain old.

Chicken Azteca

I am a little bewildered that Chicken Azteca is not already on here. It's simple, it's good....but I couldn't find it on here today.

It's another Ralphie original, but actually I think she may have gotten it from Gretchen or someone. Regardless, yum.

Chicken Azteca

1 15 oz can black beans, draned
1 15 oz can corn
2 cloves minced garlic
3/4 t cumin
1C chunky salsa divided
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 oz (1/2 pkg) cream cheese, cubed

lemon juice
cooked rice

1. Combine beans, corn, garlic, cumin and half of salsa in crock pot
2. arrange chicken over top (I cut it up so it will cook faster) and pour remaining salsa over chicken
3. cover and cook 4-6 hours
4. Use a couple of forks to shred chicken while in pot
5. stir in cream cheese and lemon juice, cook on high till cream cheese melts
6. spoon over rice

enjoy~!

Sweet Chicken Tacos

In a crock pot combine:
3-4 Chicken Breasts
1 tsp mustard
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cups brown sugar

In 2-3 Tbsp butter saute one small onion. Add to crock pot.

Once cooked, shred chicken, then return to crock pot. Now ready to serve.

For tacos:
Tortillas
heated refried beans
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes
shredded cheese
guacamole
sour cream

Very simple and delicious.

cheesy italian tortellini

I thought this was yummy. it is a meaty sauce which is what my husband likes, and the kids all ate it, so it is a keeper for me.

Cheesy Italian Tortellini

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 8 Hours 15 Minutes

Ready In: 8 Hours 30 Minutes
Servings: 6
"A delicious marinara sauce is cooked all day in the slow cooker. When it' s time for diner, just throw in some tortellini, and sprinkle with cheese. When the noodles are cooked -- pass around the bread, and enjoy!"
Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound Italian sausage, casings removed
1 (16 ounce) jar marinara sauce
1 (4.5 ounce) can sliced mushrooms
1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced

tomatoes, undrained
1 (9 ounce) package refrigerated or fresh
cheese tortellini
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Directions:
1. Crumble the ground beef and Italian sausage into a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain.
2. Combine the ground meats, marinara sauce, mushrooms, and tomatoes in a slow cooker. Cover, and cook on LOW heat for 7 to 8 hours.
3. Stir in the tortellini, and sprinkle the mozzarella and cheddar cheese over the top. Cover and cook for 15 more minutes on LOW, or until the tortellini is tender.

yummy Tomato chicken and rice

I don't know what this is really called, but I am not that good with coming up with names, so call it whatever you want- either way I love it, it is simple, easy and very tasty.

1 can V8 juice
1 can tomato soup
3\4 cup Italian dressing
1 tsp chili powder (or more)
salt and pepper to taste
mushrooms (optional)
2 large chicken breasts

Throw it all in the crockpot and cook for 4-6 hours. shred chicken. serve over cooked rice.

Semi- homemade cheddar broccoli soup

Ok so i realize that this is cheating a little bit but oh well.

1 bag cheddar broccoli soup mix (Bear Creek)
diced potatoes
frozen or fresh broccoli
corn
season to taste
Ham (optional)

So this is something that I usually keep on hand for cold days. I try to crockpot pretty much everything so I turned this into a crockpot meal too. I put the soup in the crockpot with 8 cups of water as directed then I just add extra stuff to make it extra yummy. I just add whatever i have, and i add a little salt and pepper and just cook it for like 4 or 5 hours.It is delicious. I usually serve it with fresh rolls or bread bowls. Yumm. We are having this tonight since we have like a foot of snow it really sounded good!

Crockpot Lasagna

This recipe is SO simple:

12 Lasagna noodles, uncooked
1 pound ground beef, browned, drained
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 jar spaghetti sauce (28-ounces)
1/4 cup water
1 carton (16 oz) cottage cheese (I used a little more, because I love cottage cheese!!)
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated

Brown and drain ground beef and add Italian seasoning. Grease slow cooker. Put 1/4 cup sauce in the bottom of the slow cooker. Break noodles in half. Layer noodles, sauce, cottage cheese, beef mixture, mozzarella cheese, and water. Cover and cook on low heat 4-5 hours. DO NOT cook longer than 5 hours. Makes 6-8 servings. Enjoy!!

Fall Harvest Chowder

1/2 Pound ground beef, browned and drained
1/2 cup Chopped Onion or 1/4 cup minced onion
4 cups water
1 cup Diced Celery
1 cup cubed potatoes
1 28 oz can Diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato puree
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed bay leaves
1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasonings

Combine all ingredients in a greased crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. for a thicker soup cook on low for 8-10 hours. makes 8-10 servings.
*Now I alter this recipe just a little bit, i put in less celery and carrots and a lot more potatoes. I also put in a ton more salt- I love salty tomato taste, so I put like a Tbs. of salt in. I love this soup, and i eat leftovers for days- it makes a ton! very yummy in a bread bowl or just eaten with rolls

crockpot chicken meal

OK so i kind of made up this recipe but it is really good, and since i never have a lot of time to make dinner it is extra easy too. so if you feel like throwing some different things in here go ahead!


3-4 chicken breasts
cut up potatoes
mini carrots
sliced mushrooms
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 TBS chili powder
1 TBS cumin
garlic salt
season all
pepper
water


SO what i do is put the frozen chicken in the bottom of the crockpot and season it with the season all, garlic salt, pepper etc. Then just put in everything else, put enough water in to cover like 2/3 of the food and stir a bit. I cook it on high for about 4-5 hours, but longer is ok, it will just make everything a little more tender. We eat it like a soup with just some dinner rolls. Very Yummy.

Crockpot Lasagna

1/2 lb hamburger
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
9 lasagna uncooked noodles broken up
1 1/2 cups of cottage cheese
1 beaten egg
italian seasoning to taste
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Spray non-stick cooking spray in crockpot.
2. Brown hamburger and onion then drain fat in large pan. Mix in spaghetti sauce and water. (Water is for extra liquid to be absorbed by uncooked noodles.)
3. In small mixing bowl, mix 1 beaten egg, cottage cheese, and seasoning. (Sometimes I like to hide veggies in this layer too, like chopped spinach.)
4. Layer in crockpot from bottom up -1/3 sauce, single layer of noodles, 1/2 cottage cheese mixture, 1/3 mozzarella, 1/3 sauce, noodles, 1/2 cottage cheese, 1/3 mozzarella, noodles, sauce
5. Cover and cook on low for 3-5 hours. (My crockpot is a Rival from 2004. It seems to heat very hot and this meal was done in three hours.) When it's done, there should be a little less liquid (it should be hot and bubbling) and the noodles should be tender. It will thicken more as it cools.
6. Turn heat down to warm and cover with remaining mozzarella cheese. Cover. Once the cheese has melted, serve and enjoy!

Serves like a casserole rather than traditional lasagna, but tastes the same. Great for days you don't want to turn on the oven.

Crock-pot Chili

This is super-easy to put together and makes a ton!!! I am attempting freezing part of it right now...we'll see how that turns out. It also got 3rd place in the Ward Chili Cook-Off...if they only knew how simple it was. My kids even love it because it's not too spicy. For them I usually stir in some sour cream to cool it off and give it a more mild flavor. We usually have chili and cornbread muffins (Betty Crocker) the first night and use it for Navajo Tacos as leftovers (and there is still a bunch left).

Ingredients:

*1 can kidney beans
*1 can pinto beans
*1 can black beans
*1 can white beans (also called Great Northern)
*1 can chile con carne (regular chile with meat)
*1 can stewed tomato
*1 lb. hamburger (cooked)
*1/2 pkg. taco seasoning
*season with salt, pepper, and garlic salt

Put everything in the crockpot and cook on low 3-4 (or simmer on stove for 30-45 minutes, stirring frequently). Garnish with grated cheese, sour cream, and whatever else you like!

I usually do the hamburger while I empty out all the cans. Make sure to include all the "juices." I do the stewed tomatoes last and cut them up some.

I'd give it 3 1/2 stars for our family.

Crock pot burritos

These are definitely a crowd pleaser and before we got in to making cafe rio style burritos and salads we would always make these. They have a great smokey flavor, so delicious!

Four Stars!

Crock Pot Burritos

1.5 lbs of some type of steak meat like boneless round or something or a roast of some kind, any kind will do

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce if you are BRAVE and want your mouth to burn off. Since I am not I use jalapeños (like the kind you put on nachos) and a few dashes of liquid smoke (chipotle peppers are just smoked jalepenos, and if you don't have liquid smoke you are missing out in life). I am sure you could just use the jalapeños, even fresh ones, I like the smoke flavor and liquid smoke isn’t too expensive, plus you could use it to make beef jerky later, and that yummy steak marinade (which I had again and love, first steaks in my life I haven't dunked completely in A1).

Cilantro

Chili Powder

Cumin

Oregano

Four tortillas

Guacamole/avocados

Tomatoes

Onions

Cheese

Sour cream

1pkg flour tortillas

Put the meat, canned tomatoes, some cilantro, dashes of cumin and chili powder, jalepenos and 1T liquid smoke in crock pot. Cook for 5-6 hrs, until you can shred with a fork. Early on in the day I make a salsa fresca by putting freshly diced tomatoes and onion together in a bowl with some lemon juice, salt and pepper and a little cilantro. Cover and let the salsa sit in the fridge while the meat cooks. Shred the meat. Serve with the salsa fresca and some fresh guacamole and cheese. I usually wrap the tortillas in foil and put in the oven on 200 for about five minutes before serving, or you can fry them, both are good!

Taco Soup

I got this recipe from a very old friend back when we were roommates in college. I'd give this 3 stars.

This is the kind of recipe you can always have the ingredients for around the house. It's basically a long list of canned goods, so it's great for creating and cycling food storage.

1 lb ground beef (I know this isn't a can of something, but I always have some ground beef in my freezer)
1 small onion, diced (again, I know not a can but onions keep FOREVER in the fridge, so I always keep some around - I'm sure you could use dehydrated onions from food storage if you were so inclined)
1 can whole kernel corn (about 15 oz size and include the juice)
1 can pinto or black beans (about 15 oz size and include the juice) (the recipe originally said pinto but I've come to prefer black beans in this and I'm sure you could use soaked dry beans of either kind from your food storage, I've just never tried...yet!)
1 can crushed or diced tomatoes (about 15 oz size and include the juice) (again, the recipe originally said crushed but I've always used diced because we already have them around for other recipes)
1 can tomato sauce (about 15 oz size)
1 small can diced green chilies (about 4 oz)
1 pkg or about 1/4 cup taco seasoning (I buy this in bulk or you could be cool like Kristi and make your own!)

For preparation you have 2 choices:

Regular Prep -
Brown the thawed meat and diced onions in a large pot, then add remaining ingredients and cook until heated through, allowing ingredients some time to simmer.

Crock Pot Prep (the way I usually do it) -
Now here's where I get a little unorthodox. Crock pot recipes always tell you to brown your meat first, which basically defeats the entire point of crock pot cooking if you ask me. Maybe it's supposedly to protect against food poisoning or whatever, but we've never gotten sick. Or maybe it's to improve the flavor, but I've never noticed a difference. So if you want, go ahead and thaw your meat then brown it and the onion first and dirty that extra pan, then put it in the crock pot. Otherwise, try it my super lazy way and be done with dinner prep early in the day so you don't have to think about dinner during that horrid twilight zone in the evening when the kids are terrible and you're beat. You don't even have to remember to thaw beef this way! Stick your tube of frozen beef into the crock pot (with it turned on) while you chop your onions and collect your cans. By the time you're done, the outside of the meat should be thawed enough to slit the wrapper and squeeze the meat out easily into the crock pot. Then dump in all the other ingredients (no need to stir yet) and leave the crock pot turned on for about an hour. Then open up your crock pot and stir. The thawed beef will mix into the soup (scrape the sides of the lump of frozen meat if need be). Depending on how frozen your beef was and how high you turn the heat on your crock pot you may have to go back a couple times. And if you forget, and leave some of the meat until the clump has started cooking, just use a wooden spoon and cut up the chunk of meat right there in the pot. I don't even know how long I leave this, but once it's simmering nicely, you should be good.

We like to serve this with tortilla chips either on the side for dipping or crushed in your bowl and
a dollop of sour cream on top.

Angel Chicken

I'm finally just starting to get some real use out of the crockpot I got as a wedding present. I'm kind of kicking myself for not busting it out more often before now! I got this recipe from Becky, a fabulous girl in my ward who always seems to have the best recipes. It's in our regular dinner rotation (it's fast becoming a Sunday night staple since I don't really like cooking on Sundays). Aaron would probably rate it 4 stars (he would marry it) but it's not that fancy, so probably more like a 2.5 star from me.

6 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 C. melted butter
1 Pkg. Good Seasons Italian salad dressing mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup (I've used cream of whatever was on hand and it always turns out fine)
1/2 C. chicken broth
4 oz. cream cheese
pinch of dried onion
1/4 tsp. ground garlic

Cut chicken breast into fourths, so the flavor can be absorbed into all the pieces. (boneless center-cut pork chops are also good). Place all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on low for 4-6 hours (I cook it for 4ish hours on the 10-hour low setting..make sense?).

We eat it with sticky rice, but it would also be good over pasta. I served it with rice-a-roni once (oh how I love that stuff) and thought it was awesome. But Aaron is a rice snob and we always go back to his fancy Japanese sticky rice.