Steakhouse Slow Cooker Roast

This was super yummy, easy and would make a great freezer crock pot meal.  To make a freezer crock pot meal, place all ingredients (uncooked) into a freezer bag.  To cook, thaw overnight and place in crock pot the next morning.  You may need to add to cooking time if it is still partially frozen.

Picture coming some time in the future....

Steakhouse Slow Cooker Roast
Ingredients
3 lb. boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 2 inch chunks

2 sweet onions, sliced or chopped
1 c beef broth
1 6 oz can tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, mashed
2 Tbps balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp Montreal Steak seasoning

Directions:
Place roast in slow cooker that has been lightly coated with cooking spray.  Top with onions.  Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl and pour over roast.  Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours.  If sauce is too thin at the end of the cooking time, it can be thickened with a little cornstarch.  Serve over buttered egg noodles.

Creamy Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup

Every once in a while a recipe comes along that is so good that you sit around counting the days until you get to make it again.  This creamy slow cooker tortellini soup is one of those recipes.  I made it while the hubs was out of town and I'm not going to lie... I ate the entire crockpot full myself.  It took a few days, but I savored every bowlful!  It was like lasagna in soup form.

Honestly, I was really surprised by how much I loved the mushrooms in this because I'm not a huge mushroom fan.  I like them, but I don't love them if that makes sense.  In this soup they were amazing and added some rusticness... I totally made that up, but they were good.  Really good.

I altered the original recipe that I'd found on Heather Likes Food  slightly to make it a little easier to prepare.   I like a lot of spinach so I use the entire bag.  If you're not a fan, add half or skip it all together.   There are a lot of ways you can change this up based on what's in your pantry and what mood you're in.

Give this a try and let me know what you think!

Creamy Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup
Recipe
24 oz. jar spaghetti with meat sauce or regular sauce mixed with 1/2 lb browned Italian sausage or beef
2-3 oz. pepperoni, diced
8 oz. sliced mushrooms (fresh)
4 c. beef broth
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1 (4.5 oz.) bag spinach leaves, chopped
16 oz. frozen cheese tortellini

Directions:

1. In a slow cooker combine sauce, pepperoni, mushrooms, beef broth and cream cheese.  Cook 2 hours on high or until mushrooms are done.  Stir well to mix up cream cheese. 
2. Add spinach leaves and tortellini.  Cook 30 more minutes on high.  
3. Serve with a generous amount of Parmesan cheese. 

Adapted from: Heather Likes Food

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

If you're looking for something quick, healthy and super satisfying, you're in the right spot.   Even my 3 year old loved this Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken so much that he had seconds and asked for it again for lunch the next day.  That never happens... unless we have hotdogs. :/

When it comes to crock pot recipes, I'm pretty picky as I've mentioned before.  It can't be bland or mushy or goopy or any of those fun ways crock pot recipes often turn out.   This Santa Fe Chicken was none of those things.  Instead it had a bright, fresh flavor, rich (but healthy) sauce and tender chicken.

The key to the proper texture is to not overcook the recipe, 5-6 hours is plenty of time. 

What gives it that memorable "Santa Fe" flavor is the combination of the ranch dressing mix and chili powder and the last minute addition of fresh cilantro.  I used Mexicorn when I made this, but I'm thinking that shoepeg corn would be sweet change. 

I served this over Cilantro Lime Rice, but plain brown rice would work just fine.


Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken
Ingredients
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, frozen
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can corn
1 can tomatoes with chilies
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 (8 oz.) pkg. 1/3 less fat cream cheese
handful of cilantro, chopped

Directions

1. Place chicken, onion, garlic, corn, tomatoes with chilies and black beans in crockpot.  Sprinkle dressing mix, chili powder and cumin over the the chicken and veggies.  Place cream cheese on the very top.  
2. Cook 5-6 hours on low.  
3. Shred chicken and stir in cream cheese and cilantro.  
4. Serve over Cilantro Lime Rice. 

Adapted from: Rita's Recipes

Family Friendly Freezer Cooking!

When I had my sweet boy 4 and half months ago, I stocked my freezer full of casseroles, crockpot ready meals and baked goods.  With a 3 year old at home, I knew there would be zero time to cook after the baby arrived.  However, until I tried freezer cooking, I had no idea how much I would love it!  

In fact I plan to do some freezer cooking sessions to stock up on food for the new year.  With all of the time I'll be saving, I can work on my New Year's resolutions.  Yeah, I laughed too.

In the past I've always been intimidated by freezing foods.  I've thrown a lot of stuff out with freezer burn because either I had no idea how long it could be stored or I didn't package it properly.

This time I did some research and was much more successful.  You can find great tips for freezing foods here and here.   

One thing I would recommend is to try a recipe before making 3 of them for your freezer, especially if you are looking forward to eating the meals after having a baby.  ;) 

There are 3 ways to stash food away in your freezer and I do combination of them.

The first is to double or triple whatever you are making for dinner.  This works especially well with meats, soups and chili.   I love being able to thaw out some homemade soup on a cold night without having to chop up a bunch of veggies. 

Pasta Fagioli can be frozen easily  It's best to add pasta just before serving.

Another way is to have a big freezer cooking day.  This would be good to do with a group of friends to help chop up all of those veggies.  This isn't that practical for me with 2 little ones at home, but someday I would love to try this.

The third way is to prep crockpot meals.  This is super easy and takes very little time.  I'm not a big fan of veggies in the crockpot unless I'm making soup so there really isn't a whole lot of prep work involved. 

I'm going to post some of my favorite tried and true freezer recipes below.  These are all recipes my family really enjoyed and were easy to freeze.

Cranberry Chicken - I fill two baggies with this and freeze.  To cook, thaw overnight, pour into pan and bake as directed.

General Tso's Chicken - Prep ingredients and store in baggies.  Thaw over night and dump into crockpot, cooking as directed.  I double this too because I really love it. 

Chicken Broccoli Rice - Freeze in baggies.  Thaw overnight, pour into pan and bake as directed.  I jazz this up a big with garlic, celery, onion, etc... and then crush Ritz crackers on top prior to baking.

Chicken Tacos - Cook as directed.  Shred, cool and place in baggies.  Thaw and reheat.  This is wonderful for tacos, but also makes delicious nachos, enchiladas, chimichangas, or rice bowls.

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti - Prepare casseroles, but do not bake.  Cover in foil and freeze.  Thaw completely before baking.  I used Italian sausage and extra sauce. 

Vegetable Beef Soup- Cook as directed and then freeze in baggies.  Thaw and reheat.

Baked Ravioli- Assemble casserole(s), cover tightly with foil and freeze.  Thaw completely before baking.  This may actually cook faster since the original recipe uses ravioli that is still frozen.

Pizza Bites- Bake as directed.  Flash freeze these by putting them on baking sheet and freezing.  Then place them in a plastic bag. You can reheat them in a 400 degree oven. 

These are just a few of my favorites to get you started.  I'll be adding more and you can follow my Freezer Meal Pinterest board for more ideas.

I'd love to hear about your favorite freezer meals!

Slow Cooker General Tso's Chicken

Y'all didn't know General Tso had a crockpot, did ya?  I guess they leave that out of the history books...

I love Asian inspired dishes so much that I've tried several versions of Asian chicken, but this recipe for General Tso's Crockpot Chicken is by far the best.  I'm not usually one for leftovers, but I can't wait to eat this again.  This morning I stood by the fridge debating whether or not it was socially acceptable to chow down on chicken and rice for breakfast. 

I hate mushy crockpot chicken, but cooking this on high for 2 hours kept the chicken from turning to mush and getting that weird crockpot chicken flavor.   If you need to cook it longer, use chicken thighs because the darker meat holds up better to extended cooking.

Can I just say that learning how to use my crockpot and freezer the right way has made life with small children a little easier?!  I plan to assemble and freeze a couple of bags of this recipe to have it ready to go whenever I need a quick meal.  The rice can also be made ahead of time and frozen. 

Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/2 cup water
3 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
4 Tbsp. reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp. ketchup
1-2 tsp. fresh ginger
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
salt to taste
2 Tbsp. cornstarch mixed with water

Directions

1. Spray inside of crockpot with cooking spray.  Place chicken inside.  You can also use frozen chicken, adjusting the time if needed.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together all remaining ingredients EXCEPT cornstarch and salt.  Pour over chicken.
3. Cook on high 2 hours or low 4-5 hours.  You may need a little longer if using chicken thighs. 
4. Remove chicken and shred or chop.  Return to cooker.
5. Stir cornstarch into 2 tablespoons of water to make a slurry.  Add to chicken mixture and allow mixture to cook about 30 more minutes on high.  Add more cornstarch if needed.
6. Add salt to taste.
7. Serve over rice and sprinkle with sesame seeds or green onions.

Easy Cheesy Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

It's mid October here in Southern Arkansas which means the temps are dipping to the lower 80's and mid 70's.  Don't be too jealous.  We have to make our own fall by cranking up the A/C, throwing pumpkins everywhere and making a big pot of soup! 

Light, yet warm and satisfying, Easy Cheesy Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup was inspired by AllRecipes and Cheesy Enchilada Soup.  It's a bit of a hybrid.  It's still healthy, but has some creamy, cheesy goodness and crockpot convenience.

A few quick tips: If you want it a little thicker and creamer, use less broth.  I added 4 cups to stretch the servings and keep it lighter.  Using frozen chicken breasts gives your chicken longer cooking time in the crock pot so it doesn't get mushy.  If you use thawed chicken, you may want to cut the time back.  In my experience 4-5 hours on low is plenty of time for thawed chicken breasts.

Serve this with sweet cornbread, tortilla chips and 5 minute guacamole.

Ingredients
4 frozen chicken breasts
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (10 oz.) can enchilada sauce
1 (15 oz.) can navy beans, drained (or whatever kind of beans you prefer)
1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chilies
1 onion, diced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt 
1/4 tsp pepper
1 bay leaf
4 c. chicken broth
1 (15 oz.) can sweet corn, drained
1 lb. Velveeta Queso Blanco (white Velveeta), cut into cubes
1 handful cilantro, chopped

Directions

1. Place frozen chicken breasts in a large slow cooker.  Add tomatoes, enchilada sauce, beans, chilies onions and spices.  Pour broth over all.  Cover and cook 6-8 hours on low.  
2. Remove chicken, shred and return it to the slow cooker. 
3. Add corn and Velveeta.  Cook about 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally until cheese melts.
4. Stir in cilantro right before serving or use as garnish. 

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

Normally, I'm not a fan of chicken in the crock pot.  It usually gets mushy and unappetizing, but I've been seeing chicken tacos posted daily on Pinterest and I caved.  This recipe is a combination of several different ones.  We loved the result!  Adding the cilantro and lime juice at the end really brightened up the flavors and cancelled out that "been in the crock pot all day" flavor that chicken can take on.

I've found that cooking the chicken longer than 6 hours runs the risk of the it getting soft, so I switch it to the "Keep Warm" setting after that.  Have I mentioned that I really hate mushy chicken? I'm sure it varies by crock pot, but this works for me.

I used a thawed 3 pound bag of chicken and it made enough to freeze half for another night.  The leftovers would make fabulous quesadillas, burritos or taco salads as well.

Serve with 5 Minute Guacamole and White Queso.

Recipe (serves 12)
2-3 lb Chicken breasts
1/2 lg Onion, chopped
1 1/2 - 2 Cans of Rotel
1 pkg Taco seasoning
1 Lime, juiced
1 Handful cilantro, chopped

1. Combine chicken, onion, taco seasoning and Rotel in slow cooker.  Cook 6 hours on low. 
2. Remove from pot and shred.  Return to slow cooker and stir in lime juice and cilantro. 

Serve on warm tortillas with all of your favorite fixin's!

3 WW Points + (without tortilla)
6 WW Points + (with small whole wheat tortilla)
Points calculated with WW Recipe Builder.

Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings {8 Points +}

Chicken and dumplings is my ultimate comfort food.  A belly full of it's warm and creamy goodness melts the stress away.   I never would have dreamed it would work with WW!

One serving of this healthy chicken and dumplings recipe is a true bowlful so you'll feel full and happy after you eat!  That's a huge deal when you're watching your calories.  Add a big green salad to round out this meal. 


Recipe
20 oz chicken breast (about 3 large breasts)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (10.75 oz) can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 oz) can 98% fat free cream of celery soup
2 c chicken broth- 99% fat free, reduced sodium
5 canned buttermilk biscuits
Optional Seasonings: pepper, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, parsley

1. Remove visible fat from chicken breasts and place in crock pot.  Sprinkle with pepper, garlic powder and poultry seasoning.  Add onions, soups and broth.  Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-8.
2.  At this point the chicken is super tender so you can just use your fork to break the breasts up into smaller pieces or you can remove them and shred them.  I like to leave them in decent sized chunks because they will break up more whenever your stir them.
3. Flatten biscuits with your fingers and cut them into small strips.  I used the smaller "junior" sized biscuits and cut them into 8 pieces.  Drop biscuit pieces into broth and continue to cook on high for 20-30 more minutes or until cooked through.  Sprinkle individual servings with parsley if desired.

Serves: 6 (Large servings!)

Nutritional Mumbo Jumbo:  Calories: 323  Fat: 9.7  Sat. Fat: 3.1  Carbs: 29.8  Fiber: .9  Protein: 27.1  Weight Watchers: 8 Points +  (6 Points+ if you make it 8 servings)


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Slow Cooker Pasta Fagioli

The other day I was browsing crockpot recipes online and came across a blog by Stephanie O'Dea which features 365 days of Slow Cooking!  There are other fun things on her site like organizational tips and giveaways, but I zeroed in on the slow cooker recipes.  They seriously all looked fabulous.  Another bonus is that she has adapted her recipes for a gluten free lifestyle.  If you have a gluten free family, I highly recommend this site.

To be honest, I have a love/hate relationship with the slow cooker.  I love the convenience, but I abhor food that has been cooked into near oblivion or tastes like a salt lick as so many crockpot recipes do.  However, coming across Stephanie's site inspired me because she had a variety of recipes and flavors that looked like real food and not just meat and gravy.

Somehow I narrowed my choices down to the recipe for Pasta Fagioli.  It looked super healthy- full of tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery and lean ground beef.  I followed the recipe to a "t" with the exception of tossing in a heaping teaspoon of minced garlic.  I just can't help myself with the garlic... It's a sickness.  You may want to adjust the Tabasco to your liking.  A tablespoon was a little hot at first, but mellowed out with the leftovers. Overall, the soup was amazing!  With parmesan cheese sprinkled on top, it tasted like liquid lasagne (in a good way).  Yumm...

I can't wait to cuddle up with a bowl of this on a cold night! 

Recipe
1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (and juice)
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I might leave out next time.)
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups beef broth
1 jar (16.5 oz) pasta sauce
2 tsp oregano
1 Tbsp Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 c uncooked shell pasta (give or take)

1. Brown ground beef and drain. In a large slow cooker combine beef and remaining ingredients (except pasta).  Cook 4 hours on high or 8+ hours on low.
2. When veggies are tender you can add the desired amount of pasta.  If you're adding extra pasta, you may want to add a little more liquid to the soup.  Since we cannot eat all of this soup in one sitting, I cook my pasta separately until and add some to the individual servings.   If you try to refrigerate the leftovers with cooked pasta in them, the pasta will soak up the extra liquid resulting in dry soup and bloated pasta.
3. Sprinkle individual servings with parmesan cheese.  Serve with my Hot Italian Sandwiches.

Source: Stephanie O'Dea
Printable Recipe

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Melt in Your Mouth Slow Cooker Pork Chops

Sooo... I've taken a little blogging break the last 2 weeks.  We were gone the first week and I honestly have been too exhausted this last week to put in the effort.  Hopefully, September will give me a fresh start and maybe some energy!  If you have a list of energy boosting foods/vitamins, I'd love to hear them!  =)

Anywhooo,  you're reading this because you want to find out more about these tender, succulent pork chops that cook in their own lovely gravy, so on to the good stuff. ;)

I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the chops were sooo moist and the gravy was so full of creamy deliciousness.  This recipe is similar to one we used when I was growing up, but we used cubed steaks instead of pork chops.  We always baked them in the oven, but I'm definitely going to try them in the crock pot now!

Adjust your seasonings to taste.  I like black pepper for zing, garlic for flavor and paprika for color.  Browning these before you put them in the crock pot makes them a lot prettier than just chucking them in there.

You could brown your chops and throw this together at night and then let it cook all day while you're at work.  Serve it with creamed potatoes, egg noodles or rice because you will have oodles of yummy gravy that you won't want to go to waste. (Because it makes so much gravy, you could easily make a few more chops without increasing the gravy.)

Enjoy!

Recipe
2 Tbsp vegetable oil or shortening
4-6 pork chops
1/2 c or so flour
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 c milk
1 can sliced mushrooms

1. Mix together flour, paprika, pepper and garlic in a medium bowl, adjusting seasonings to taste.  I like to use a tupperware container because it's flat on the bottom.  Heat oil or shortening in a large frying pan over medium/high heat.  Dredge each chop in flour mixture and drop into hot oil.  Brown on both sides, adding more oil if needed.  Place in crock pot.
2. In a medium bowl, combine soups, soup mix, milk and mushrooms.  Pour over chops.  Cook 4 hours on high or 8-9 hours on low.  Serve with rice, noodles or creamed potatoes.

Source: Adapted from AllRecipes
Printable Recipe

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Simply Incredible Slow Cooker Pot Roast

The perfect pot roast recipe has always eluded me.  My roasts have always tasted like a salt lick or have been flavorless or despite drowning in a sea of liquid, have been dry as the Sahara...until now!

I've been in a race against time to write down what turned out to be the best roast I've ever made.  I have the unusual ability to make a recipe that is awesome the first time I use it, but is just "meh" when I try to recreate it later on.  That is a big part of why I started this blog.   I want to be able to serve meals to company with confidence instead of a series of unfortunate incidents.  ;)

Anyway, I loved this.  It was tender, the meat was juicy and the potatoes were tender.  I used quartered red potatoes and left the skins on.  Next time I'll add carrots as well.  If I was a working mom, I'd prep this at night, refrigerate it and plug 'er in the next morning for 8-10 hours.  I ended up cooking it 2 1/2 hours on high (because our mornings often get off to slow starts), followed by 3 hours on low and it was PERFECT.

If you are on a low sodium diet, use low sodium beef broth instead of the bullion/water and don't salt your meat.  You can always add salt later, but you can't take it out once it's in there.  Seriously, it's a true fact.  =P

I like meals that I can cook once and eat twice, so I thickened the juices with a little cornstarch mixed with water to make a gravy.  I added the leftover beef, heated and served over mashed potatoes.  You could use your leftovers to make a vegetable beef soup, cheesy/beefy subs or beef stroganoff!

Recipe
3-4 lb chuck roast (I used a chuck tender roast- not sure what that the difference is.)
1-2 tsp Montreal Steak Seasoning (or plain ole S & P)
2 c water
2 beef bullion cubes
1 pkt dry onion soup mix
1 tsp garlic powder
veggies of choice- potatoes, carrots, onions etc...

1. Season both sides of roast with 1-2 tsp Montreal Steak Seasoning.  Brown all sides in a large skilled over medium/high heat.  Place in crock pot.  Add veggies if desired.
2. Add water, bullion, soup mix and garlic powder to to skillet.  Cook and stir, loosening bits on the bottom of the skillet, until bullion dissolves.  Pour over meat and veggies.
3. Cook on low 8-10 hours or high 4-5 hours.  

Source:  Adapted from Allrecipes
Printable Recipe

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

The other day I was looking for some slow cooker recipes and came across Gina's Skinny Taste.  I've been on  her blog before, but it's been a while.  She has tons of light and healthy recipes as well as conversions for Weight Watchers!  All of her recipes look absolutely divine, but I was most intrigued by her lightened up Chipotle style meat.  I LOVE Chipotle and Moe's so this was super exciting!

After looking over several options like the Chicken Ropa Veija  and the Barbacoa Beef  I settled on the Mexican Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas.  I'll definitely be back to try the others though. ;)

I used a 1.5 pound pork loin to make these since it's such a lean cut of meat and our grocery store didn't have the pork shoulder that was listed in the original recipe.  It was the perfect size for us.  My only suggestion is to use reduced sodium broth and then adjust the salt content to taste after you shred the meat.  When I liberally seasoned the meat, I didn't take into to account that the adobo seasoning listed salt as its first ingredient. 

Also, 2 chile peppers made this just spicy enough to give it a kick without making us break out in to a sweat. I loved the flavor that the peppers gave to these.

We served our Pork Carnitas up in a tortilla with a mixture of lettuce, cilantro, lime juice, avacado and white onion.  Tomatoes would have been a great addition too.  Next time, I'm thinking about a nice crunchy taco shell with these or a burrito!  Yummm!

Recipe:
1.5 lb pork loin
3-4 cloves of garlic cut into slivers (I used bottled minced garlic.)
cumin
dry adobo seasoning (like Goyas)
garlic powder
1 c low sodium/low fat chicken or beef broth
2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
2 dried bay leaves

1. Salt and pepper pork.  Brown all sides in a hot, lightly oiled skillet.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Make small slits in pork and fill with garlic.  Sprinkle with lots of cumin, adobo seasoning and garlic powder.  
2. Chop peppers and place in crock pot with broth and bay leaves.  Place meat on top.  Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours.  
3. Remove meat and shred with 2 forks.  Discard bay leaves.  Return meat to the crock pot and toss with liquid.  Add more liquid if needed.  (Mine was a little salty, so I added water instead of more broth. )  Add more cumin or salt if needed.  Cook an additional 15 minutes.

Source: Gina's Skinny Taste
Printable Recipe

 

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Beefy Taco Soup

I know you're thinking, "It's June and a bazillion degrees outside.  Why is this crazy lady posting a soup recipe?"  Well, normally I wouldn't, but my family has been sick with the mother of all colds this week and soup just sounded good.  It's also helps clear out the ole sinuses a little.  (Not that you wanted to know that.)

If you have a garden, taco soup would be a great way to use up some of your fresh tomatoes, pepper and corn.  I can only imagine how yummy fresh, sweet corn would taste in this recipe.  You can make it now and freeze it for later!

One thing I've noticed about taco soup is that everybody and their brother has a recipe for it and somehow they are different.  It just shows you how versatile it is.  I like beans, but the hubs doesn't so we compromise by using only 1 can of beans and adding a can of hominy.  If you love beans, add more!

We like a little heat, but a lot of people don't, so I use mild Rotel.  Plus, in case you missed it earlier, it's a bazillion degrees outside, so I'll pass on the chili pepper hot flashes for now.  Use the regular or hot versions if you want to spice things up.  If you get it too hot, just add more water to dilute it.  Personally, I like it a little thinner, but the hubs thinks that all that liquid just gets in the way of the good stuff.  : P

Really, you can add whatever floats your boat.  That's the great thing about soup!

I hope your family enjoys this recipe, if not now, sometime in the future when there's a chill in the air and a football game on the big screen!

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 15 oz can corn, drained
1 15 oz can white hominy, drained
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 10 oz can Rotel, mild
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 16 oz can pinto beans or bean of choice
2 c water
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 pkg ranch dressing mix

Directions:

1. Brown ground beef and onion in medium skillet.  Drain, rinse and pour into slow cooker.  Add remaining ingredients and stir.
2. Cook 8 hours on low.  Serve with tortilla chips and a dollop of sour cream.

Printable Version

Slow Cooker Ravioli!

Can I just say that I L.O.V.E. pasta almost as much as I do coffee.  I could eat pasta nearly every day, but my husband is not a big fan.  I've had to limit my menus to the few pasta dishes that he does enjoy.  The requirements are that it has to have meat or poultry and and cheese.  This one had both and got a big thumbs up.  =)  


You'll spend about 15 minutes total on this saucy ravioli recipe, but if you leave out the meat or substitute meat ravioli, it will seriously take you less than 5 minutes and dirty only 1 dish.  Boo-ya!  There are very few comfort dishes that you could make this quickly and still be impressed by the result.  


I love to throw this in the crock pot before heading out the door to Sunday morning worship services.   Coming home and having a really good meal ready and waiting is an awesome way to start a lazy Sunday afternoon.  


You may want to keep the ingredients in the freezer and pantry for whenever you don't want to cook and don't want to go out or for when you need to take a meal to sick friend.  That way there are no excuses.  ;)


I hope your family gives this recipe a thumbs up as well! 

Recipe

1 (25 oz) bag cheese ravioli, frozen
1 (26 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce with garlic
1 cup water
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning (or to taste)
1 cup cheese
1 lb cooked Italian turkey sausage or ground beef

1. Pour half of spaghetti sauce in crock pot. 
2. Add frozen ravioli and cooked sausage.   
3. Pour remaining spaghetti sauce on top.In spaghetti sauce jar, pour water, tomato sauce and seasoning.  Shake jar and pour into crock pot. 
4. Sprinkle cheese on top.
5. Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours or until ravioli is tender and hot.  Mine was fully cooked after 4 hours.

Serves: 6
Source: Adapted from Food.com 

***Printable Version***

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Slow Cooker Lasagna!

 I have to admit I was skeptical about the idea of crock pot lasagna.  My first thought was Ewwww, but today I had a moment of weakness.  Honestly, blogging about food has made me want to try things I normally wouldn't.

This recipe turned out better than I expected.  My only complaint might be that the noodles are a little on the mushy side.  Other than that, it was pretty awesome.

I used turkey sausage and cooked it with chopped spinach, carrots, onions, mushrooms and garlic.  The veggies are optional, but they definitely gave the canned sauce a more homemade flavor.

Seriously, how gorgeous is that???

When layering the noodles, I just broke them to fit into the crock pot.  The extra pieces fit nicely into the gaps.  There really aren't many tricks to this recipe.  You could probably adapt your own favorite lasagna recipe to the crock pot if you wanted.

One thing that crossed my mind when I made this is how great it would be to take this to a potluck and it actually be warm when it was served.  Luke warm casseroles trigger my gag reflex, so this idea was especially appealing.  : P  Anyway, I hope somebody enjoys this simple, slow cooked meal!

Recipe
1 lb Italian sausage
2 c veggies of choice, diced
    (I used spinach, carrots, red pepper, onion, mushrooms and garlic)
1 46 oz jar of spaghetti sauce
1 jar pizza sauce
1 16 oz container ricotta cheese
3 cup mozarella, cheese divided
1/4 c parmesan cheese (optional)
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 pkg no boil lasagna noodles

1. Brown sausage and veggies in a skillet.  Drain.
2. In a medium bowl, mix ricotta, 2 cups mozarella cheese, parmesan cheese and parsley.
3. In another bowl combine pizza and spaghetti sauce.
4. In crock pot layer:

• 1/4 sauce
• noodles (broken to fit crock pot)
• 1/2 of cheese
• 1/2 of meat
• 1/4 sauce
• repeat layers
• top with noodles and remaining sauce

    5.  Cook on low for about 4 hours.  Remove lid and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover until cheese melts (5-10 minutes).

Source: Adapted from AllRecipes

This recipe is featured in the
Gooseberry Patch's Just for Dad Recipe Round Up 
What's Cooking Wednesday at Turning Back the Clock 
Cast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain
Full Plate Thursday

Cocktail Meatballs- A Huge Time Saver!

This is one of those super simple recipes to keep in your arsenal for potlucks, dinner parties and times you need a kid friendly meat dish.  You only need 4 ingredients and a slow cooker.   They are so fast and easy to make that I often make them for potlucks when I know I'm going to be too busy to really cook something. 

Another time saving tip for this recipe is to make double what your family will eat and freeze the leftovers in the sauce for dinner another night.  I love anything that I can cook once and eat twice. 

The ingredients sound weird- jelly and chili sauce, but trust me, they work.  You can use any kind of jelly you have in your fridge.  I like grape, but my mom uses apple.  Orange marmalade might give it a more unique flavor as well. 

I used all Great Value ingredients except for the mustard.  I prefer the name brand Dijon because it just tastes better and I feel so fancy using it.  .  ;)  Increase the amount of mustard if you want a little more zing.  You'll also want to make sure you get the home style frozen meatballs because the Italian ones combined with the jelly and chili sauce taste all wrong.

Double the recipe for a potluck and you won't be disappointed.  I hope you enjoy these! 

Recipe:
1 small pkg frozen home style meatballs, thawed (I used Great Value)
1 12 oz bottle of chili sauce
3/4 c jelly of choice
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard or more to taste

1. Mix chili sauce, jelly and mustard in slow cooker.  Add thawed meatballs and stir to coat.
2. Cook 4 hours on low or until meatballs are heated through, stirring occasionally.
3. Serve with rice if desired.

Out of This World Vegetable Beef Soup

Growing up, I dreaded Grandma's vegetable beef soup, mainly because I was a kid and kids aren't supposed to like vegetables. :-P  Then fast forward 20 (eek) years when I had a newborn, very little sleep and even less time.  That's when I started craving something comforting and vegetable beef soup came to mind.

Not just any soup, my Grandma's vegetable beef soup.

Since all of Grandma's recipes have a little bit of this and a little bit of that, I decided to try and duplicate that flavor myself.  I cruised my favorite recipe site, Allrecipes.com and came across of plethora of vegetable soup recipes, but one caught my attention, Martha's Vegetable Beef Soup.   My Grandmother's name isn't Martha, but this recipe looked so easy and easy is what I needed.

I made several changes in both ingredients and preparation and I loved this soup.

Seriously, it was love.

This stuff is so simple, can be prepared in the slow cooker, is super healthy and can be frozen for future meals.  I like to make it and freeze it in individual size freezer bags for quick lunches.   You can also keep an extra batch in the freezer for the next time you need to take something to a sick friend or someone in need!

You can do this on the stove top or in the crock pot.  Add some pasta or beans near the end for a heartier meal.

Don't be tempted to leave out the sugar because it really does make a difference!

Recipe
1 lb beef stew meat (Cut into smaller pieces if needed.)
3/4 c chopped onion
1 10 oz bag mixed vegetables
2-3 red potatoes, cubed (3/4 inch cubes)
1 can tomatoes, diced or stewed
1 small can tomato sauce
3 cups low sodium beef broth (3/4 of a carton)
1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 heaping tsp of sugar

1. Place beef and onions in a hot skillet coated with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.  Brown beef, drain and put in crock pot.
2. Add remaining ingredients to crock pot, stir, cover and cook on high for 1 hour.  
3. Adjust setting to low and cook 5-6 hours or until potatoes are cooked through and meat is tender. 
4. If freezing, place portions in freezer bags and cool in fridge.  Lay flat and freeze when cool.