i am sitting here smelling the yumminess of dinner, waiting for zach to get home so we can EAT! It is the first time i have EVER used my crock pot (after two years of it taking up space in my kitchen cabinets).
to walk into the house after a long day of work with dinner all ready to go is fabulous. (haven't tasted it yet, though, so hopefully it tastes as good as it smells!)
but, i need your help!
what is the best thing you have ever concocted in your crock pot??
does anyone else feel like all the recipes you find for crock pots are enough to feed an army?
leftovers aren't so fun sometimes. how can i cook for two in a crockpot?
so..help me.
i need great, simple recipes that you have tried and tested!
please :)
Thursday, September 10, 2009
crock pot initiation
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I am beginning to rely a lot more on my crock pot now that my oven doesn't work.... I haven't necessarily found any new tried and trues. The aloha chicken one I posted here (http://amyandjeffmartinez.blogspot.com/2009/05/fridays-favorites-easy-recipes.html) is really yummy... it still makes a lot but you can use it for different things.. serve it over rice, make a sandwich out of it. You could probably even freeze it, although I have never tried that.
You'll have to share some of the good ones you find with us!
I think I gave you the calico beans recipe that I love, but if not let me know and I can get it to you. It's one of my favorites and super easy to do in a crockpot. It makes a ton but you can always half it.
I like this recipe because you can eat it over rice or noodles. It does make a lot, but my husband eats a lot, so it seems to work. You could try halving it for two (though I don't know what to do with half a can of cream of chicken soup)...
CROCKPOT CREAM CHEESE CHICKEN
1/2 C butter
1 pkg. italian dressing (dry pkt.)
6 chicken breasts, cubed
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. cream cheese
Melt butter and mix in dry dressing packet in crockpot. Add cubed chicken. Add chicken soup. Cook for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low (I find that cubed chicken takes less time). Add cream cheese the last hour of cooking. Serve over rice or noodles.
I'm glad you made this post! I'm very interested to see what other people say. Okay, here's our favorite. It is really easy and delicous. You don't necessarily have to do it in the crock pot, but it works really well. (To make it easier though, when you buy some ground beef, cook a bunch of it up and separate it into ziploc baggies and put them in the freezer. That way when you make this (or anything with cooked beef) you just put it in the microwave for 1 min and viola, your hamburger meat is ready. I love it!)Anyway,
TACO SOUP
1/2 or 1 lb of ground beef, cooked
1 can corn (with juice)
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes (with juice)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can kidney beans (optional)
Stir it all up, heat, and serve! Top with sour cream, cheese and tortilla chips. It can heat as quickly or slowly as you want and it is hard to mess this one up (which is great for me!). If you want it juicier, add water. If you want it more like topping for nachos, just strain some of the juice out after it's cooked. We use this one a lot.
It may still make more than you'd like. I like to make a lot because we eat it so fast (in fact, a lot of times I add 2 cans of black beans and corn and it still turns out great). If I end up with more than I want, I usually get a gallon sized ziploc bag and put some in the freezer to enjoy again later.
I hope this helps! Everyone is a little different as far as what ingredients are always around your house and what sounds good, this one has been a great hit for us. Coming home to a meal just waiting for you is amazing! It doesn't happen very often for us though.
Hope you guys are doing great! Is your job going well? Say hi to Jim Payant for me if you see him. Good old Jim. Haha! Tell him I hope his heart, his wife and his birds are doing well, too. :) Wow...good times.
One of mine and Kenzie's favorite, fast, yummy crockpot recipes is:
1 small pork roast
1 small bottle barbecue sauce
1 cup orange juice
Put above three ingredients in your crockpot and cook on low 8-10 hours, or on high 4-6 hours. When the roast is tender, shred it using two forks and then put it on a toasted/broiled buttered bun. You can put mayo on it too if you like :)
Ah I have a perfect recipe for BBQ pulled pork dinners:
1-3lb pork shoulder roast (Can almost always be found on sale-I just got mine for $1.59/lb)
1 bottle KRAFT BBQ sauce
Juice from one orange or 1/2 cup orange juice
*Cook on LOW 8-10 hours or on HIGH 4-6 hours. Take out of slow cooker and place in 9 x 13 pan. Shred the meat and take out the fat. Place meat back in slow cooker, cover with juices and keep warm.
Here's the awesome part! Eat one of 3 WAYS:
*Place meat and juices over sticky rice
*Place meat in toasted sandwich buns with potato chips and cold cut veggies
*Place meat in whole wheat tortillas with rice, salsa, lettuce, tomato, sour cream etc. (burritos-our personal favorite!)
You will have meat left over, but with three different ways to fix it up it gets eaten fast and never gets "old". Surprisingly, I am fixing this meal tomorrow!
I would love to hear what meal you fixed up in your slow cooker too!
Okay, so here are 2 that I use all the time. I like them because there are so few ingredients.
1st recipe - Chicken tacos: Just put in like 3 or 4 chicken breasts (I put them in frozen) and add a can of salsa (the kind with the beans and corn already in it). Cook it on low for 8 hours. When it's done, or halfway through, shred the chicken. Then just serve it in tortillas with whatever toppings you want. I usually use shredded cheese, guacamole, and sour cream.
2nd recipe: I don't have a name for it. I usually just call it "Crockpot Chicken" (I know, how original). Put in 4 chicken breasts, a can of cream of chicken soup, and 8 oz of cream cheese. Cook on low 6-8 hours. It makes a lot of gravy, so I usually serve it with mashed potatoes or rice.
I love my crock pot Jaci and when you use them all the time you really get a feel for them. One of the easiest and best meals is to put two frozen chicken breasts, baby carrots, two diced potatoes, a can of chicken broth, and a can of condensed creamy chicken soup. Set it on low for 8-10 hours and you've got the best meal just for two. For a slight variation add a little Italian dressing mix. There's a blog with some good recipies on it: http://greatfriendsgoodfood.blogspot.com/ Hope that helps.
I love my crock pot! The easiest thing I make in it and seems like we don't have leftovers is a small rump roast, and then I cut up just like 3 potatoes, a few baby carrots, celery, and half an onion. Then put a 1/2 cup water and leave it. It's perfect! And I love coming home to that smell.
Hey! Crock Pots are awesome. One easy recipe is Chicken breasts with a can of cream of chicken soup (mix the soup with a couple of spoon fulls of sour cream and about 1/4 cup milk). Mix together and pour over chicken in crock pot. Very easy, very yummy and serve with rice. I also season it with salt and pepper. Enjoy! Hope you are doing well, I haven't talked to you forever!!!
I am not too creative when it comes to my crockpot. I usually do roasts and yes, they are always way too big for kade and I so I use the leftover meat to make shepard's pie the next die. It doesn't taste like leftovers when you put it into another form. If you want the recipe let me know.
This one does make kind of a lot, but you can take it for lunch as left overs the next day and it is really good!
Glazed Pork Roast
1 boneless pork shoulder roast (3 lb)
1 bag (1 lb) ready-to-eat baby-cut carrots
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
2/3 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup flour
1 cup frozen corn
Total Time: 20 min. If pork roast comes in netting or is tied, remove netting or strings. Remove fat from pork. In 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, place pork. Arrange carrots around and on top of pork. In small bowl, mix 1/2 cup barbecue sauce, the honey, vinegar and seasoned salt; pour over pork and carrots.
2. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 8 to 10 hours.
3. Remove pork and vegetables from cooker; place on serving platter. Cover to keep warm.
4. In small bowl, mix 2/3 cup barbecue sauce and the flour; gradually stir into juices in cooker. Increase heat setting to High. Cover; cook about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Stir in corn. Cover; cook 5 minutes longer. Serve sauce over pork and vegetables.
Here is a really good chicken recipe for the crock pot:
Brown Sugar Chicken
2 lbs. boneless chicken pieces
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup vinegar
1/4 up lemon lime soda
2-3 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper
Place chicken pieces in your slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over the top of chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Serve with rice.
Yields 4 servings.
I hope you like them!
Jaci - There is the BEST website called www.crockpot365.com This girl now has a cookbook, but what she did was cook in her crockpot every day for an entire year. She has just about every recipe you can think of (her cream cheese chicken is the BEST!) like buffalo wing soup (our favorite, and it doesn't make tons), cooked basalmic brie for crackers/fruit, curry, lettuce wraps, desserts, dips, drinks, EVERYTHING! You can ask me about any of her recipes, I've tried a lot of them. But the best part is she puts pictures of everything and the "verdict" - whether or not she, her hubby, and kids liked it. It's a great resource. Crock pots are wonderful! Happy Slow Cooking!
I've got a couple of GREAT, yummy, simple recipes for crock pots on my recipe blog: kristiskuisine.blogspot.com. Enjoy!
I love all of these recipes :) I'm glad you discovered the beauty of the crockpot...sometimes I forget how great of a wonder it is...
My favorite to make is a Cafe Rio chicken copycat...this is the recipe below, but I sort of wing it depending on how many I'm feeding.
1 bottle zesty italian dressing (I only use 1/2 of a bottle but leave the other ingredients' increments alone)
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. chili powder
3 cloves of garlic, minced
5 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I cook 4-5 breasts)
Mix all ingredients together and pour over chicken in crockpot and cook on low 4 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Place back in the crock pot with juices for another hour.
I serve this in whole wheat tortillas with all the fixins, or over a salad with tomatillo dressing. Email me if you'd like that recipe, too. The leftovers make great chicken enchiladas or chicken tortilla soup, etc.
oh and p.s. just a little trick...I almost always spray a little bit of pam inside my crockpot before I use it for anything...makes clean up much more friendly.
Good question, Jace...I'm going to try some of these suggestions. It seems the most crockpot recipes are good and creamy...but hey, we can gain a few extra pounds during the winter, right? :) Tell me if you try any good/bad ones. Also, Meg, can you search for a specific recipe on crockpot365.blogspot.com?
Hi Jaci- My mom told me you had surgery. I hope you are recovering well and feeling back to normal. Are you teaching this year?
One of my favorite things to make in the crockpot is bbq chicken. Here is the recipe:
4-6 chicken breasts
1 large onion, sliced
2 cups ketchup
2 cups barbeque sauce
Layer chicken and onion in crockpot or dutch oven. Pour ketchup and barbeque sauce over chicken and onion. Cook 7 or 8 hours on low in crockpot. Eat it with potatoes or rice, a veggie, and a tossed salad. Sometimes I'll mix up some Jiffy cornbread muffins, too.
Dice the left over chicken and onions. Freeze with sauce. Use it on pizza with cheese for a quick meal (buy a premade pizza crust for an even quicker meal).
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