Crock Pot

[Juliana]

We got a Crock Pot for Christmas.  Used it once with good results, but wondered what you guys are doing with yours.
I know there are a couple of websites out there, A Year of Slow Cooking included, but I know people who have used some of the recipes on her site with not so good results.  Plus some of the stuff on her site isn't really cooking.  There is a recipe for bbq chicken that calls for cooked chicken, and a jar of bbq sauce, then some cornbread mix on top.  Sounds good, but I could heat up a roasted chicken from Sam's add some bbq and make cornbread with the same effort and less cleanup.

Anyway, with my work schedule, we only eat dinner together 3 nights during the work week, and that's hard when I get home between 6 and 7, and then I want to actually get some time in with the bebe.  Any suggestions on crockpotting would be appreciated.  Nora thanks you!

[Cockney Rebel]

This morning I tried my first experiment...

Chopped up an onion and placed the shards in the bottom of the pot, placed a 3lb pork shoulder (just $3.50 from Kroger) on top and then poured an entire bottle of some (HFCS-free) "sweet and tangy" BBQ sauce over the top. Set it on low and will leave it until 5 or 6 o'clock tonight, shred it all up and see what the results are like.

If it's good - and considering MK will not touch it - I reckon it might be create good 'freezer' material for re-heating to create a few lunchtime snacks and meals

I gave up on that year of slow cooking chick's recipes. Too vague and results were disappointing. The Pillsbury site has yielded better stuff. But its still a big learning curve for both of us.

[MissKitty]

Too bad Foolsgold is on vacation - he's the king of the slow cooker.

[clemsonfan]

French Dip Sandwiches and French Onion Soup for the following night

Chuck Roast (around 3-4 lbs.)
1 can beef broth
1 can Campbell's French Onion Soup
half can of beer (optional)
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
Hoagie Rolls
Provolone Cheese Slices

Brown the roast on all sides and put in the crock pot. Add the broth, french onion soup, garlic and beer. Cook on low 8-10 hours. Remove the beef and shred it with two forks. Toast the inside of the hoagie rolls lightly. Put some of the shredded beef in the roll and top with a slice of provolone cheese. Put in under the broiler until the cheese melts. Serve as is or with horseradish sauce. You can also serve it with the beef broth in the crock pot for dipping.

I use the left over broth to make another crock pot meal at our house the next night, french onion soup. If you are using the left over broth from this recipe, just add 1 quart of beef broth to it and as many sliced onions as you like (I use 3). Cook on low for 8-24 hours. Serve in little crocks with taost and porvolone cheese on top. Put the crocks under the broiler until the cheese bubbles.

[clemsonfan]

Italian Sausage Hoagies

Italian Sausages
bag of frozen sliced onions and peppers
jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
provolone cheese
hoagie rolls


Pour spaghetti sauce and frozen peppers and onions in the crock pot. Brown the sausages on all sides and add them to the crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours. Toast the inside of the hoagie rolls and add some of the sauce, peppers and onions, and a sausage from the crock pot. Top with cheese and place under the broiler to melt the cheese.

[clemsonfan]

Beef and Noodles

Chuck Roast
2 cups beef stock
bag of wide noodles

Brown the roast on all side and place in the crock pot. Add the broth and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Shred the beef with two forks and add back to the crock pot. Cook the noodles according to package directions, darn and add to the crock pot. Stir the noodles and beef together. Serve with mashed potatoes.

[clemsonfan]

This week is crock pot week at the Butter/clemsonfan household. To kick it off tonight we are having chili served with fritos, cheese, and sour cream.

Last night as I was mixing it all up to put in the fridge, I noticed that I had forgot to get a can of petite diced tomatoes that I always add to my chili. So, I added a bunch of ketchup in desperation. So here's what I ended up putting in the chili (it's different every time I make it):

1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. Bob Evans hot ground sausage
1 bag of frozen chopped onions
1 jar of Frog Ranch mild salsa
2 cans kidney beans
chili powder
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup steel cut oats (for extra fiber and as a thickening agent)
ketchup (I just squeezed a bunch in the crock pot)
3 cloves minced garlic

I'll report back tonight how it turned out.

[clemsonfan]

This turned out to be one of my better chili batches. The last two I made were way too hot but this one was only a little spicy.

[Juliana]

How were the oats in it?  That's a new one one me.
I only tried Chili once and it was super bland.  Better as leftovers.

[clemsonfan]

The oats are a thickening agent and the my family doesn't even realize they are in there. You can't taste them at all. Just make sure if you add them to use steel cut oats and not old fashioned oats. Steel cut oats are cut into tiny pieces. I mix all of the ingredients up the night before and put it in the fridge so that way it will "marinate" over night to help insure that it won't taste bland.

[eyeball]

made this one tonight.

3-4 lbs of beef roast (whatever cut you would use for it, I vary by what is cheap)
3 cups of water (maybe a bit more if you watn)
2 packets of brown gravy mix
1 large onion
1 bag of egg noodles (I use ronzoni wheat ones)
salt/pepper

season beef with salt/pepper. I keep it whole if it fits.

chop onion in any fashion you want. I like them pretty good sized. add over beef.

mix gravy mix with water and pour it in. 

cover, cook on low for 8 hours,

shred the beef up some when done. either in the pot or pull it out and add it back shredded.

I add a couple tablespoons of cornstarch to some of the soup and mix it up and add it in about an hour before we eat.

cook up the noodles and add them to the pot about 20 minutes before you eat.

Yum.

[clemsonfan]

Day 2 of crock pot week is white chicken chili. Yes, I know what you are saying...chili again? Well, this should taste totally different from last night's chili and it's a new recipe that I wanted to try.

So here's what I did:
3 cubed chicken breasts (the recipe called for cooked breasts but I want the crock pot to do the work for me, so I threw them in raw)
2 chopped onions
1 cup chicken broth
4 cloves of minced garlic... See More
1 can of cannellini beans (or any white beans)
1 cup of salsa verde (or you could use mild green chilies)

When I mixed this up it looked a little watery and my family likes thick chili, so I added some steel cut oats (my go to thickener for chili). So it's cooking away right now. I'll let you know how it turns out tonight.

[eyeball]

CF. have you ever tried TVP instead of oats?  great source of added protein and it tends to mimic meat in chili.

[vizzah]

I picked up a low-carb slow-cooker cookbook at the library last night, so I'll let you guys know if it yields any really tasty results!

[clemsonfan]

CF. have you ever tried TVP instead of oats?  great source of added protein and it tends to mimic meat in chili.

I used to use it back years ago when Butter and I were vegetarians for 6 months. I like it, but I just tend to always have oats on hand at my house.