Not Quite a Hit

Well, I should have known. Any time I try a recipe in the crockpot that calls for a biscuit or cornbread topping, I am disappointed. You might recall a post from a couple of years ago that was a disaster. The cornbread topping was mush. It never set up. This time, it set up, but it was almost chewy/gummy.

I am still going to post the recipe because the filling was a hit. The cornbread topper? Not so much.

I found this from the wonderful blog of 365 days of crockpot recipes. If there is something I want to try in the slow cooker, I know I can find it there. The last few recipes I made were a hit, so I thought I would try this one. What drew me to it was the fact that it took minimal "special" ingredients. Meaning, I could use most of my pantry staples and not have to buy any extra (aka: expensive) items. What did I have to buy? A sweet potato and a new container of barbeque sauce. Seriously, that's it. I had everything else on hand.

Funny story about the sweet potato. I bought it at the grocery store. It was in a bin labeled sweet potato. When I peeled it, it wasn't orange like I am used to. It wasn't a regular potato either. I honestly have no idea what the darn vegetable was, but I used it anyways. I figure it can't be so horrible since it looked like a potato, but it wasn't orange or yellow-ish like a regular potato. Anyone have a clue what it could have been?

This was very easy to put together. I pre-cooked the chicken like I usually do when a recipe calls for already cooked meat. I also cubed the vegetables earlier in the day so all I had to do was throw everything in the crockpot and hit go. Jack kept me company in the kitchen in his ExerSaucer while I cooked. I am going to have a mini chef on my hands in no time! He seems very interested as I talk him through what I am doing.

I was skeptical about the cornbread topping and whether or not it would set up. Surprise, surprise! It did. However, it didn't taste very good. I had a normal cornbread flavor, however, it was an odd consistency. I suppose that's because I put it in the crockpot, duh!

The chicken mixture was fantastic though! If I were to make this recipe again, I would double the chicken mix and serve it alongside some cornbread from the oven. Or, you could eat it with rice if you wanted to. The chicken mixture was just spicy and sweet enough. The addition of my unknown potato made it thick and slightly creamy. Plus, I love that you get some healthy veggies alongside the chicken.

If you are brave and want to doctor this recipe up to try and make the cornbread edible, I commend you! Heck, for all I know, it was operator error. It could be my fault that the cornbread didn't turn out very good.

Crockpot Barbeque Chicken and Cornbread Casserole

from: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/08/crockpot-barbecued-chicken-and.html

1 pound of cooked or practical cooked chicked, cubed or shredded

1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed into 1-inch chunks (optional)

1 red onion, diced (optional)

1 cup frozen or fresh corn

1 bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce (18 oz)

1/4 cup hot water

Cornbread topping:

Use a mix and follow the directions on the box (minus the oil or butter), or mix together the following:

3/4 cup corn meal

1 1/4 cups flour

1 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon baking powder

* Spray the inside of your stoneware with cooking spray. Cut up the chicken and sweet potato, and add to the crock. Add the corn. Empty the contents of the barbeque sauce bottle, and then add the 1/4 cup hot water to the bottle, shake, and pour that in too. Mix well with a spoon.

* In a separate bowl, mix together the cornbread topping. You don't need to mix well. Spread the topping on the chicken mixture.

* Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours.

Pizza Night

Don't many people splurge and treat themselves to pizza on the weekends? I am not one to be a conformist so I made our "pizza" dinner. Yes, that happens to be in quotes for a reason. It isn't really fair to say we ate pizza for dinner. We ate a variation of pizza.........In soup form.

Yes, soup.

Pizza soup! And wouldn't you know it? It tasted exactly like pizza, just in liquid form. Don't get grossed out because it was very tasty.

The crockpot was in use in our home on Saturday. I love my crockpot. I wish I had the time and the energy to use it every day like Stephanie from this blog: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

She is an inspiration to me. Can you imagine making all your recipes in the crockpot for a year? Wow! Talk about dedication!

I was perusing her site again and came across this yummy concoction. I thought "hmmm, why not?". It had a lot of fresh veggies in it which made me feel less guilty. Really, the only "bad" ingredients are the pepperoni and sausage, and you can easily make them light by using the turkey varieties. I didn't because, well, I like the full fat stuff sometimes.

Being that easy is the motto I am trying to adhere to lately, I love using my crockpot. This recipe was very easy to make. All it really took was cutting the veggies. Cut and dump and plug in!

I loved that my house smelled like pizza all day. My husband even commented. We had a friend over briefly in the afternoon and even HE commented. Funny how that works.

I served this pizza/soup with sourdough bread, but if I had thought out my venture a little more, I would have bought pizza dough and made breadsticks. The sourdough worked just fine though.

If you aren't a fan of some of the veggies in this, you could easily substitute. Don't like onions? Take them out! Don't like fresh mushrooms? Used canned. If you really wanted to be a rebel, you could probably use more pizza sauce to make the recipe more pungent. I am not a rebel when it comes to trying a recipe for the first time though. I tend to stick to the original recipe and then doctor it later after I have made it once or twice.

I goofed when making this. In my haste to eat (hey, don't blame me, I was hungry), I forgot to add the pasta. Wouldn't you know? It still tasted delicious without it. Oops.

Thank you again to Stephanie for inspiring me to use my crockpot more! I plan on making another of her recipes soon.

Pizza Soup
from: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

1 jar (14 oz) pizza sauce
3 empty jars of water
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 of a red onion, chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup baby tomatoes cut in quarters (or 1 canned diced tomatoes, drained)
2 already cooked Italian sausages
1 cup sliced pepperoni, cut into quarters
8 fresh basil leaves, chopped (or 1/2 tablespoon dried)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 to 1/3 cup dried pasta
shredded mozzarella cheese (to add later)

Use a 5 or 6 quart crockpot for this recipe.

Wash and chop the veggies. Add to the crockpot. Cut up the sausage into bite sized pieces. Add to crockpot along with the pepperoni. Add the spices, pizza sauce and the water.

Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours.

30 minutes before serving, add the pasta and turn to high.

Garnish/top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

The spots on the top of the soup in this picture is the cheese.

Words You Don't Hear Together

Three words that aren't typically heard together: Crockpot, buffalo, lasagna. No, really. If you are already repulsed, you are a weinie. Trust me, although you don't hear these things together, they taste so delicious together!

I love using my crockpot and since I am partially lazy and partially just don't have time, I have been relying on it a lot lately. This blog is fantastic if you ever want any crockpot recipe under the sun: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

I wasn't looking for any recipe in particular when I went searching and I don't recall how I found this one. When I did find it, I knew I had to make it. One of Jason's favorite foods is buffalo wings. I wasn't sure how he would feel about incorporating those flavors into lasagna, but I didn't care. I have a fondness for pasta and he has a fondness for buffalo wings, so it's truly the best of both worlds in my mind.

Things that I did while making this:

* I prepped most everything on Saturday night. I precooked the chicken, cut it and mixed it with the sauces. The peppers got cut and the cheese got pre-measured. This made it very very easy to throw together this morning.

* I used Frank's Red Sauce in the buffalo style for the sauce.

* I used one each of the red, yellow and orange peppers. I thought it be really pretty, plus they came in a nifty package together at the grocery store for less money than buying them individually.

* When I was assembling the recipe, I made three layers, starting with the sauce. I was too lazy to make four and I thought three would be enough to hold together the ingredients.

* I bought pre-crumbled blue cheese. See laziness comment above. I also used more than 1/2 cup. You can't really have too much cheese can you?

This smelled AMAZING while it was cooking. My mouth was watering all day waiting for this to be finished. I was so tempted to eat dinner early just so I could taste it.

It tasted just as delicious as it smelled. I was surprised that with the amount of buffalo sauce that it wasn't spicier. It did have a nice slow burn to it, but nothing that would need antacids or a glass of milk. My only complaint is that I should have let it rest longer than 20 minutes. It still fell apart. It certainly didn't affect the taste, it just looked messy. You can see that by the picture.

Jason loved this! He made the comment "You can make this again", which means I have succeeded. He only reserves that statement when he really likes a recipe.

Look how beautiful this looks when assembled and before cooking:

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

from: A Year of Slow Cooking

uncooked traditional lasagna noodles

4 already cooked chicken breast halves

jar of prepared pasta sauce
1 cup buffalo wing sauce

3 red, yellow or orange bell peppers

tub of ricotta cheese (15 oz)

2 cups shredded cheese (Mexican or cheddar/mozzarella blend)

1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

1/4 cup of water (add at the very end)

1. Use at least a 5 qt. crockpot, or cut back on the ingredients.

2. In a large glass bowl, combine cooked and chopped chicken breast, the pasta sauce and 1 cup of buffalo wing sauce.

3. Ladle a big spoonful of the sauce into the bottom of your crockpot. Cover with a layer of the lasagna noodles. You'll have to break them to get them to fit.

4. Add a smear of ricotta cheese to the top of the noodles. Add a layer of chopped bell pepper. Sprinkle a handful of shredded cheese.

5. Repeat layers until you run out of ingredients.

6. Add the blue cheese crumbles. Put the 1/4 cup of water into your empty pasta sauce jar and shake. Pour the liquid over the top of the entire lasagna.

7. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 4-5. When cooking time is complete, unplug and take the lid off of the crock. Let it sit for 20 minutes before cutting into it.

So, it's messy, but it's delicious!

White Trash Dinner

Hopefully my title doesn't offend, but really, that is what we had. No, not beans and weinies or Kraft macaroni and cheese, although you are getting closer. No, we had something similar to Hamburger Helper. But my version didn't come from a box and it wasn't made with hamburger.

I was lazy today. I didn't feel like cooking. Actually this represents how I have felt a lot lately. Maybe it's the upcoming holiday where I bake like a fool. I just don't feel like cooking. Last night's dinner consisted of spaghetti and meatballs. While this dish did require me to boil pasta and heat up sauce, the meatballs were frozen. The hardest I had to work was opening all the packages.

So, what do you make when you are feeling lazy? Enter the crockpot. I love my crockpot. I use it all the time (obviously). I found this recipe out of my Rival crockpot cookbook. It has pictures for people like who need to see their food. Of course, the pictures always make the food look better. That and my crockpot runs super duper hot, sort of like my oven.

The hardest you will have to work for this recipe is pre-cooking the ground turkey. Oh, and opening all the cans. Geesh, I am breaking a sweat just thinking about how much work this was! That is really the biggest benefit of a crockpot. It's perfect for lazy cooks. While our dinner was cooking, I wrapped Christmas presents and watched Food Network. See? Perfect for lazy people.

This was okay. I think I cooked it too long. Again, my crockpot runs super hot. I had to turn the heat down after two hours to low. I would suggest adding something spicy if you decide to make this. Whether that be some Tabasco or maybe some green chiles (to make it Mexican style), I think it would give it a nice kick and offset some of the sweetness of the corn. Notice the addition of both ketchup and mustard? Like I said, slightly white trash no?

It's okay to go trashy once in a while. As long as you aren't pairing this dinner with a six pack of Budweiser, it's all good.

Turkey and Macaroni

from: Rival CrockPot Slow Cooker Recipes

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1.5 pounds ground turkey

2 cans (10.75 oz) condensed tomato soup, undiluted

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

1 can (16 oz) corn, drained

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 can (4 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in medium skillet; cook turkey until browned. Transfer turkey to slow cooker.

2. Add soup, macaroni, corn, onion, mushrooms, ketchup, mustard, salt and pepper to slow cooker. Stir to blend.

3. Cover; cook on low 7-9 hours or high 3-4 hours.

See? Doesn't it look like Hamburger Helper?

Chili Take a Million

I love chili, and I love looking for new chili recipes. In one particular cookbook (where I found this chili recipe actually), I have made almost every single one. I think there are three or four that I haven't made. One day, I am sure I will.

Chili is one of those meals that is not only easy, but satisfying. It's so nice to be able to put items into a pan or a crockpot and just forget about it until dinner time. Plus, it contains a ton of protein so it's filling. Beans and meat and tomatoes. What could be better than that? Along with a nice corn muffin, it's a hit in my house. Jason and I both love chili. If you don't believe me, check out the prior posts about chili or soups that are almost like chili. See? I told you.

Not only is chili a favorite, but so is the cookbook I found this from. I love my Pillsbury cookbook. I have only made one or two recipes out of it that were a disappointment. Everything else has been delicious. This was another success. There was the perfect amount of meat to bean ratio. I thought it might taste weird with the addition of tomato soup, but not at all! I think it just added to the thickness of the recipe.

This is a relatively inexpensive meal to make because it takes mostly canned goods and less than a pound of meat. However, it feeds an army so it's very economical. Many of these items are ones that a normal family would have on hand in their pantry. Beans, taco seasoning, tomatoes and soup.

Like the recipe suggests, I drained the butter beans for a thicker chili. I also added quite a bit of Tabasco to the mix since we like spicy food. Of course, if you are not a fan of the spice, leave out the Tabasco. Serve this with a green salad and cornbread and you have a complete meal. That is exactly what I did.

Easy as 1, 2, 3. You cook the veggies and meat and throw the remaining items in the crockpot. Simple right? I do love to cook but I also love the ease and laziness of using my crockpot. Now, one day I will actually find a chili recipe that I will stick with. Or maybe not. Maybe I will just keep trying new ones.

Three-Bean Chili
from: Pillsbury One-Dish Meals Cookbook

1/2 pound ground beef or ground turkey
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 can (28 oz) whole tomatoes, undrained, cut up
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (10.75 oz) condensed tomato soup
1 package (1.25 oz) taco seasoning
1 can (15 oz) dark red kidney beans, drained
1 can (15 oz) great northern beans, drained
1 can (15 oz) butter beans, undrained *

1. In medium skillet, brown ground beef with onions and bell peppers until beef is thoroughly cooked. Drain.

2. In slow cooker, combine cooked ground beef mixture, tomatoes, tomato sauce, soup, and taco seasoning mix; mix well.

3. Cover; cook on high setting for 30 minutes.

4. Stir in beans. Reduce heat to low setting; cover and cook an additional 4 to 5 hours or until thoroughly heated.

Tip: For a thicker chili, drain butter beans.

Chicken French Style

Okay, I want to know if cordon bleu is really French. When I was in Quebec, I don't recall seeing a cordon bleu on any menu. However, I might not have been looking very carefully. Also, answer this for me: If this is a French recipe, why do you use Swiss cheese? Would a French cheese be more appropriate? I do know that my family is French Canadian and chicken cordon bleu happens to be my dad's favorite meal. I have personally never made it but I have eaten the very tasty frozen ones from Costco. Knowing how much I love my crockpot, I thought I would give this recipe a try.

I would like to disclaim right up front: This is a recipe I will never make again. Not because it wasn't tasty. It's because they were a pain to make, and when you eat them, you have to worry about toothpicks unless you were smart and counted how many you put in each chicken breast. Jason and I both really liked this recipe, but again, it was a pain in the arse to make. Or pain in the hoosegow as my French Canadian Memere would say.

You can serve these little rolls on either rice or over egg noodles which is what we did. Also, depending on the size of your chicken breasts, you might only need 3 instead of the 6 it calls for. I was able to get a lot of my aggression out on these poor little chicken breasts. Like the regular, non-crockpot cordon bleu, you have to pound the breasts pretty thin.

The recipe calls for prosciutto and hopefully your's will be more cooperative than mine. In retrospect, I should have used ham. The prosciutto was so darn thin that when I peeled it off the paper, it just fell apart. Pain in the butt take one. I had to cut the cheese down a little bit so that it would fit on the chicken breasts. Pain in the butt take two. Next, the chicken had to be rolled up and secured with toothpicks. Pain in the butt take three, four and five. Seriously, PAIN IN THE BUTT.

I didn't want to use white wine, probably because I am lazy and that would have required me to buy some, so instead, I used some chicken broth that I had in the fridge. I feel the substitution was completely fine and I doubt it altered the taste.

I hope you are more successful than I am when making these. Again, they were good, but did I mention a slight pain?

Chicken Cordon Bleu Rolls
from: The New Creative CrockPot Cookbook

6 chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
6 slices prosciutto
6 slices Swiss cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup white wine

On each chicken breast, place on piece of prosciutto and cheese. Roll up each chicken breast and secure with a toothpick. Season each roll with salt and pepper. Place in the crockpot. In a small bowl, whisk together the soup, milk and white wine. Pour this mixture over the chicken breast rolls. Cover; cook on low 4 to 6 hours (or on high 3 to 4 hours).


This is what the rolls look like when you cut into them. Yummy!

Fall Is In the Air!

When I think of fall cooking, two things immediately come to mind: Crockpots and pumpkin. Today was one of those days. I made something in the crockpot and I made something pumpkin. Not together however. That will have to wait until breakfast tomorrow. Stay tuned on that one.

I love my crockpot. It is probably my most used kitchen appliance next to my coffee maker and microwave. As you can see from prior posts, it gets a LOT of use in this house. What could be easier than throwing ingredients in in the morning and turning it on? Jason giggles because I use it so much, but he clearly loves the results.

This is a recipe I normally wouldn't make. I am not sure what caught my eye about it. Probably the fact that I love Thai food and peanut butter. So I figured why not? I have never made anything Thai inspired so it was worth a shot.

The ingredients aren't that far out there either. I didn't have to buy fish sauce or chili paste. As a matter of fact, I had all the spices on hand. All it takes is some soy sauce, garlic and red pepper flakes. Who doesn't have those things in their kitchen?

I will admit that I had to buy a few of the ingredients it calls for. I had regular peanut butter in the house, but Jason has been begging me to buy some chunky, so I obliged. I also had to buy the actual peanuts. Yes, I realize they are a garnish, but I wanted that extra crunch on top. Plus, I had to buy the turkey and the cilantro.

This was very very good. Not overwhelmingly peanut butter. I think that's probably due in part to the broth and soy sauce. Yes, you could taste the peanut butter, but you could also taste the other ingredients too. It was nice and spicy, just how we like things in this house.

I would recommend using either rice noodles or ramen (without the flavor packet) if you make this. I used just regular pasta, but I think rice noodles would be better. I didn't think about it at the time so I just bought thin spaghetti. Oh and my grocery store didn't have turkey tenderloins that weren't crazy marinated ones. So I just used turkey cutlets which were perfectly fine. You just dice the turkey up anyways.

Try this one, it's yummy! Fall is definitely in the air! Wait until you see my next post. That one DEFINITELY proves that fall is here.

Thai Turkey and Noodles

from: 365 Favorite Brand Name Slow Cooker Recipes and More

1 package (about 1.5 pounds) turkey tenderloins, cut into 3/4 inch pieces

1 red bell pepper, cut into short, thin strips

1.25 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided

1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 green onions, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/3 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter (not natural style)

12 ounces hot vermicelli pasta

3/4 cup peanuts or cashews, chopped

3/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Place turkey, bell pepper, 1 cup broth, soy sauce, garlic, red pepper flakes and salt in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 3 hours.

Mix cornstarch with remaining 1/4 cup broth in small bowl until smooth. Turn slow cooker to high. Stir in green onions, peanut butter and cornstarch mixture. Cover and cook 30 minutes or until sauce is thickened and turkey is no longer pink in center. Stir well. Serve over vermicelli. Sprinkle with peanuts and cilantro.

Angelic For Sure

This recipe is one that I picked up from someone on the Nest (thanks swmcat!). I am not sure why it took me so long to make, but I am glad I finally broke down and cooked it!

To me, the start of fall always reminds me of pumpkin candles, flavored coffee creamers and using my crockpot. Well, this recipe is definitely a crock pot one and it does remind me of fall. It's a heavier dish than something I would make in the summer. Don't get me wrong, it certainly can be made in the summer time.

Not only is this recipe easy, it's amazingly tasty! Angel Chicken indeed. It was angelic. The husband really liked it too and he's not a giant fan of pasta. How much easier can dump ingredients in crock pot and cover be? Of course, you still need to cook the pasta at the end, but it's angel hair. It doesn't take much more than 10 minutes to boil the water and cook the pasta.

If you are not a fan of mushrooms, the cream of mushroom soup can be substituted. You can always use cream of celery or cream of mushroom. If you don't have white wine, no problem! Use chicken stock or water. I didn't have any wine on hand, so I used the latter. If you aren't a fan of angel hair, substitute spaghetti or linguine. The possibilites are endless!

This will be a recipe that will get added to my repertoire. I liked it and Jason liked it. Plus, my cat liked it. She told us so when she licked our plates after dinner. Bravo Angel Chicken!

Angel Chicken

from: swmcat on the Nest

3 chicken breasts cut in half to make 6 small breasts

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 envelope (.7 oz) Italian dressing mix

1 can condensed mushroom soup

1/2 of an 8 oz. tub of onion and chive cream cheese

1/2 cup white wine or water

angel hair pasta

1. Put chicken in crockpot. In a saucepan, melt butter then stir in Italian dressing mix, soup, cream cheese, and wine. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours. Serve chicken and sauce over angel hair.

Crockpot, Day Two

From the Diary of my Crockpot

Day Two: Again, I sit on this kitchen counter being used. Doesn't this lady realize that I need a break? I mean, sheesh, I just got washed and dried (spa day) and she's using me again! At least she's cooking something different. I am hot, tired, and really need a nap. Sigh......when's dinner?

I'll admit it. I just cooked two crockpot meals from the same cookbook two days in a row. What can I say? When I find something I like (my crockpot and my cookbook), I go with it!

This was very very good, and extremely filling! I was surprised after dinner how stuffed I was. I especially like the fact that you get a lot of food for few calories. I calculated, and it was 8 Weight Watchers Points for this dinner, including the cheese on top. With the beans, it is filled with protein.

Toasting the rice was an interesting step. I am not sure what this does to the dish, but at any rate, it worked! It certainly looked pretty after it was toasted.

My only critique is that it states to cook this for at least 5 hours. Either my crockpot runs really hot, or most people like their food mushy, but this was done in 4 hours. I could have eaten much sooner, but my cornbread wasn't ready yet.

Before it cooks, it looks generally like a soup. Trust me, afterwards, it doesn't resemble a soup at all. You are left with a yummy casserole dish filled with vitamins (and cheese!). Enjoy!

Happy Cinco De Mayo everyone!

Mexican Rice and Bean Casserole

from: Pillsbury One-Dish Meals Cookbook

1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice

2/3 cup frozen whole kernel corn

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 teaspoon tumeric

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 can (15 oz) spicy chili beans, undrained

1 can (14 oz) stewed tomatoes, undrained, cut up

1 can (14 oz) fat-free chicken broth

1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles

2 oz (1/2 cup) shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Spray a large skillet with cooking spray. Heat over medium-high heat until hot. Add rice; cook and stir 5 to 7 minutes or until light golden brown.

2. In a slow cooker, combine browned rice and all remaining ingredients except cheese; mix well. Cover; cook on low setting for at least 5 hours.

3. Stir mixture; sprinkle with cheese. Cover; cook until cheese is melted.

Mmmm, cheesy goodness!

Not Always a Success

Singing in my best Frank Sinatra voice:

"But he's got high hopes, he's got high hopes. He's got high apple pie, in the sky hopes".

My cooking isn't always a success (can you believe it?!). Not that tonight's was terrible, it just wasn't any spectacular. I thought for sure that I would love this (garlic + chicken + crockpot), but it was just OKAY. Nothing terribly special. I could have had a tastier, juicier chicken in the oven.

It has been a while since I roasted or cooked an entire bird, so I thought "why not?". Chicken is cheap, cooking in the crockpot is easy. Add two of my favorite elements together and you get crock a' cheap! Haha! Seriously though, this was good, just not great.

I did like the fact that I barely had to cut the chicken when it came out of the crockpot. It literally just fell off the bone. That is why I don't have a picture of it. It disassembled itself before I could grab the camera.

The roasted garlic was mighty tasty. I saved some cloves to spread on bread or crackers for another time.

I believe the total cost for this meal was $4.00. $3.30 for the chicken and $.70 for the onion and clove of garlic. I had some potatoes on hand and my go-to vegetable (spinach), so those cost me nothing.

Would I cook this again? Probably not in the crockpot. In the oven though, yes! You could very easily do this same recipe in a roasting pan with the onion and garlic, but covered in foil. That way, the juices stay in and you get the nice flavor of the roasted garlic.

Twenty-Garlic Chicken Dinner

from: Pillsbury One-Dish Meals Cookbook

1 (3-3.5 lb) whole frying chicken

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 large onion, sliced

1 medium bulb garlic (about 20 cloves)

1. Remove giblets from chicken; remove as much fat as possible. Rinse and drain chicken. Pat dry inside and out with paper towels.

2. In small bowl, combine salt, paprika, pepper and oil; mix to form paste. Spread evenly over chicken.

3. Place onion slices in slow cooker. Place chicken, breast side up, over onion. Separate garlic into cloves; do not peel cloves. Place garlic cloves in and around chicken.

4. Cover; cook on low setting for at least 7 hours.

5. With slotted spoon, remove chicken, onion and garlic from slow cooker. Cut chicken into pieces and serve.

The skin was very flavorful and the roasted garlic (in the middle of the pile o' chicken) was very good.

A Forgotten Favorite

I say this is forgotten because it's been sitting in my picture folder untouched for over a year. I have been cooking recipes that I have blogged about before, so rather than do duplicates, I have been diving into my archive folder. I am not quite sure why I didn't post it when I first made it. I probably got too busy with school or work. At any rate, don't let its lateness trick you. And don't let the really terrible picture fool you either. This recipe is very good.

The only complaint I have about this one (and it's minor) is that the cooking time in the cookbook is off. That could be the fault of my crockpot also. So, I really shouldn't even consider it a complaint. The cooking time says 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 on high. However, when I made it, it was done within 3 hours on low. So, you might want to watch your crockpot carefully if you make this one.

When I made this, I decided to do a whole theme to our eats. The Taco Bake along with salsa, sour cream and tortillas to wrap everything up in. I will admit now that the tortillas didn't get used. With the macaroni, you don't need an extra starch. The Taco Bake is yummy enough on its own.

This recipe can easily be altered to make it lighter. For example, use ground turkey or chicken in place of the ground beef. Or, if you really want to use the ground beef, use 95% fat free. Also, cut back on the amount of cheese that you use. Especially since it's just a topper to the Taco Bake and doesn't get mixed in.

I haven't made very many recipes out of this cookbook, but as I glance back through it, there are lots of them that sound good. I love using my slow cooker and am always up for trying new items. So, here's to more recipes using the crockpot! As a matter of fact, it's Salsa Chicken night in my house. Yummmm, I can smell it cooking.

Taco Bake

from: 365 Favorite Brand Name Slow Cooker Recipes

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1/4 water

1 package (1.25 oz) taco seasoning

1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

1 packgae (8 oz) shell macaroni

1 can (4 oz) mild chopped green chilies

2 cups mild shredded Cheddar cheese

1. In a large skillet, brown ground beef and onion; drain fat. Add water, taco seasoning and tomato sauce; mix. Simmer 20 minutes.

2. Transfer to the slow cooker. Stir in macaroni and chopped chilies. Cover and cook on Low 6-8 hours or High 3-4 hours. In last 30 minutes of cooking, top with shredded cheese.

Nostalgic Pasta

I am not sure why, but this recipe makes me feel about 20 years younger. Maybe it's the spiral pasta, the fact that it has pepperoni in it, or maybe it's just something that reminds me of what a child would like to eat.

I had a cooking dilemma today. I wanted to make lasagna, but wasn't sure if I wanted to put forth that much effort cooking. I thought pizza sounded good, but I wanted to cook and homemade pizza just doesn't taste as good to me. So, to compromise with my split personality and indecisiveness, I found this recipe. Tada! Pizza Pasta! Best of both worlds. Pasta and some of the same ingredients of lasagna, and some of the same ingredients as pizza.

God bless the Crock Pot cookbook. I can always find something yummy in there. I have several crock pot recipe books, and The New Creative Crock Pot Cookbook is wonderful. I have about 15 recipes dog-eared ready to use whenever I need to make something new. This was one of the dog-eared recipes.

I had to buy the ingredients at the grocery store because I didn't have many of them on-hand. That's okay. Honestly, I thought I was going to spend a lot more money. I bought everything from scratch with the exception of the tomatoes and the onion. My $13 total even included a package of brown and serve breadsticks! Although not the cheapest meal I have ever made, I thought $13 was fairly reasonable, also considering the amount of food this makes.

I doctored the recipe slightly from the ingredients. I will post the original recipe and call out my additions/substitutions.

Here is everything ready to go in the crockpot.

This was delicious! I am so glad I added the pizza sauce even though the recipe didn't call for it. It added some moisture to the pasta, otherwise, it would have been very dry. Also, don't omit the Parmesan. It gives the pasta a special touch also. Sometimes, it's the simple things that make dishes really tasty.

Enjoy!

Pizza Pasta

from: The New Creative Crock Pot Cookbook

4 cups corkscrew pasta, cook al dente and drained
15 slices salami, sliced into thin strips (I prefer pepperoni, so that is what I used. I also used more than 15 pieces. I think I used probably 20-25 cut into chunks)

4 fresh tomatoes, chopped (I seeded mine so they wouldn't be too watery)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 green pepper, seeded and chopped

1 can (4 oz) sliced black olives, drained

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt (I didn't use any because of the salt from the pepperoni and the pizza sauce)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated (I used more. Probably about 1.5 cups total)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

pizza sauce (the recipe does not call for this. I added this to make the pasta more like pizza. I used probably 1 cup of sauce. Just enough to coat all the ingredients, but not to make it too soupy)

*Combine all ingredients, except for the Parmesan cheese, in a crock pot or slow cooker. Mix thoroughly. Cover; cook on low 4-6 hours (or high 2-3 hours). Top with the Parmesan cheese. Cover and cook on high for another 15 minutes.

And what better to eat with Pizza Pasta then pizza dough flavored breadsticks! I know, too many carbs. I don't care. I just doctored some store bought breadsticks. I brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled them with Italian seasoning. Yummy!

We Have a Winner!

Well, we are back from Disney World. We ate a lot, although the food wasn't very good, and walked even more. Even though I wasn't watching what I was eating while on vacation, I still managed to lose about 1.5 pounds. Must have been all the walking and 85 degree weather!


Now that I am back from being a glutton, it's back to cooking healthy. The recipe below has been going around The Nest for quite some time, but I haven't made it before now. I can't believe I haven't tried it before! It is seriously my new favorite recipe. It was absolutely delicious, and believe it or not: Healthy! Depending on the type of soup and sour cream you use, it's very low in fat but it delivers on taste, that's for sure.


I can't rave about this one enough. The chicken was perfectly cooked, it had the right amount of zip from the salsa, and it was creamy! I might have to hide the leftovers from my husband, otherwise, I won't get any of them.


Introducing: Salsa Chicken! This is sure to become a regular visitor at my house.

I used three chicken breasts because they were so big, and then cut them in half (the recipe makes 6 servings). If you prefer a spicier dish, I would recommend medium or hot salsa instead of mild. I served it over white rice, but brown rice, egg noodles or another pasta would work well also.

What could be easier than dumping all the ingredients in a crockpot? Well, nothing really. This truly is an easy dinner, and very very delicious!

Slow-Cooker Salsa Chicken
from: Spark People

4 bonless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
1 package taco seasoning
1 can reduced fat (98% fat free) cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream

Add chicken to slow cooker. Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken. Pour salsa and soup over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.

Improvising

I had a dinner planned for Saturday and was really excited about it. When I looked more carefully at the recipes, I realized that I had forgotten to pick up some ingredients at the grocery store. My chili called for a 15 ounce can of tomato sauce, which I didn't have. I do quite a bit of cooking, yet I didn't have tomato sauce?!? I had spaghetti sauce, but knew that wouldn't be close enough. So, I improvised. In my pantry, I found a can of diced tomatoes. A few minutes in the food processor did the trick. It wasn't exactly sauce, but it was good enough.

So, I assembled my chili, and let it cook in the crockpot all day. Then, I went to make my jalapeno cornbread. Heaven help me, I had forgotten to buy buttermilk at the grocery store. I was going to use regular milk, but my innovative husband suggested some butter along with the regular milk. Guess what? It worked! Along with the butter, he suggested some cheese with the cornbread, so I added that as well.

The result was a tasty supper with some modifications. The chili could have used more spice. I should have chopped up a jalapeno from my garden and added it to the cooking chili. The cornbread was by far my favorite part though. It was moist, and had just enough cheese. I couldn't taste the jalapenos, but that's my fault. I didn't produce a very spicy crop of peppers this year.

Enjoy my improvisational meal (is that a word?) below. You probably are going to be more responsible than me though and make sure to have tomato sauce and buttermilk on hand.

Slow-Cooked Chili

from: Pillsbury One-Dish Meals Cookbook

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage (I suggest Hot)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 can (28 oz.) whole tomatoes, undrained, cut up

1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 to 1.5 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 can (15 oz.) spicy chili beans, undrained

1 can (15 oz.) garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed

1. In large skillet, cook ground beef, sausage and onion until beef is browned and thoroughly cooked. Drain.

2. In crockpot, combine browned meat and onion with all remaining ingredients; mix well.

3. Cover; cook on low setting for 7 to 8 hours or until thoroughly heated.

Jalapeno Corn Bread

from: http://www.allrecipes.com/ with Pachey's modifications

1.5 cups cornmeal

1/2 cup flour

6 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

2 tablespoons butter melted

3/4 to 1 cup of milk

1/4 cup olive oil

3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and oil. Melt the butter and add to a 1 cup measuring cup. Pour in milk until it fills the measuring cup. Add the milk/butter mix to the eggs and oil. Add to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Stir in jalapenos and cheese. Pour into a greased 9-inch square baking pan.

2. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cut into squares or wedges. Serve warm.

Lasagna...Sort Of

Today, we invited my in-laws over for an impromptu Mother's Day. I already had this recipe planned and I knew I would have enough, so why not? I have heard of lasagna in the crockpot before, and when I saw this recipe in a slow cooker cookbook, I thought I would give it a try. After all, it has spicy in the title. Spicy is always welcome in our household.

I didn't want to spend the money and buy a whole package of Italian sausage ($4.99 a package, yikes!), so I decided to buy bulk sausage. It was much less expensive, and I was able to cook it along side the ground beef.

The recipe is very easy, with two steps. I opted to cook it on high rather than low, because I had church this morning and wouldn't have time to get everything in the pot before I left. I also undercooked the lasagna noodles by about 2 minutes because I knew they would continue to cook in the crock pot.

The results were very tasty! I would like a little more tomato, but I can't win every time right?

Spicy Lasagna

from: Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook

10 ounce package lasagna noodles, broken into bite-size pieces, cooked

1 lb. group beef, browned

1/2 lb Italian sausage, sliced and browned

1 onion, chpped

1 clove garlic, minced

12 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded

12 oz. cottage or ricotta cheese

16 oz. can tomato sauce

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1.5 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1.5 teaspoon salt

1. Combine all ingredients in greased slow cooker.

2. Cover. Cook on low 7-9 hours, or High 3-5 hours.

My Poor Husband

My husband is getting really tired of me trying out new recipes. If that weren't bad enough, he is getting even more tired of recipes that are made in the crockpot. I am not sure what he has against the crockpot, but he is a little leery of it. 99% of the time the results turn out well. Okay, except for that coagulated mess of a bean and biscuit recipe. And, maybe one or two other times. And let's not mention the time I overcooked pasta in it. That was pretty gnarly.

Anyways, I am a big pasta lover. Give me a big heaping bowl of pasta with nothing on it and I am happy. If you throw in a piece of bread, even better (healthy right?)! I wanted to try out a chunky spaghetti sauce and my best friend let me borrow her Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook (which is awesome by the way) which had about 12 good sauce recipes.

When this was done cooking, it resembled the American Chop Suey I blogged about a few weeks ago. This was very hearty, and if you substitute ground turkey or extra lean ground beef, it would be a very healthy recipe too. All those vegetables are good for you! I added a little extra seasoning in my version. Just a little extra garlic powder, Italian Seasoning and red pepper flakes. I also used canned tomatoes, because I am lazy and didn't want to seed and cut up three pounds of tomatoes.

Of course, we had bread with this. I am a carb addict, what do you expect?

Nancy's Spaghetti Sauce

from: Fix-It and Forget-It

1/4 cup minced onion

garlic powder to taste

3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes, or 28oz. can diced tomatoes with juice

6 ounce can tomato paste

3 1/2 teaspoons salt

dash of pepper

1 basil leaf

1 chopped green pepper

1 pound ground beef, browned and drained

4 ounce can sliced mushrooms

1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.

2. Cover. Cook on low 3 hours.

Yet Another Crockpot Recipe

I am not sure why I have this sudden fascination with using my crockpot. However, it is winter, the weather is dismal and I like to smell dinner cooking all day. The recipe below was given to me by my mother (thanks Mom!) and it was a favorite in her household. I had never tried it before this evening, but I am glad I did.

Now, don't laugh, but I can't make mashed potatoes. Somehow, every time I make them, they manage to come out grainy, watery, and flavorless. Don't laugh. I know it's one of the simplest things on earth to make, but I just can't do it. This time, I didn't overcook the potatoes, I used my new KitchenAid mixer to make them fluffy, I added butter and milk and they turned out good! Until we went to eat them. Sigh. They were still a little more solid than I would prefer, but they were okay.

For the Barbeque Beef, you can use any type of roast. I would steer clear of pot roast, but a brisket, or a bottom round or even a top round would be excellent. The sauce isn't thick like barbeque sauce, and it made a delicious gravy to the meat as well as the potatoes.

This is definitely a recipe I will be making again! Even my husband, who had visions of shredded beef overloaded with sauce enjoyed it. I don't fix beef dishes very often, but I am very glad I did this time.

Enjoy!

Barbeque Beef

from: My Mom

2-2.5 pound beef brisket or roast

1 cup hickory flavored barbeque sauce

1. Place the beef in a slow cooker. Cover with 1 cup of the barbeque sauce.

2. Cook on high for 4-5 hours.

3. Cover with the remaining barbeque sauce and cook an additional 15-30 minutes.

Hunter's Stew

When I think of Hunter's Stew, I think of a hearty stew with some sort of venison or weird meat (no offense to those that eat weird meat) that hunters would enjoy. I think maybe I am getting wrapped up in semantics, but this stew has chicken. Maybe the hunters I am thinking of are light eaters?

It's another dreary, rainy day in Portland, so that means........(drum roll.....)......A crock pot recipe! I love crockpots. You dump the ingredients, put the lid on and turn it on. A few hours later, you have a fully cooked, hot meal. Most of the crock pot recipes I make take very little preparation time, and this one is no exception. The ingredients are ones that most people would have in their cupboards: canned beans, spaghetti sauce, green pepper and onion.

Don't use fresh mushrooms in place of the canned. If you do, you will end up with burnt, pathetic looking mushrooms. This is pretty much a complete meal. If you are really hungry, you could serve this over pasta (we did and it was gooooood). Add a green salad and a crusty bread, and you have a meal any hunter would appreciate.

Hunter's Stew with Chicken
from Pillsbury One-Dish Meals Cookbook

1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 2x1-inch pieces
1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, drained
1 jar (14 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 can (8 oz) mushroom pieces and stems, drained

1. In a 3 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker, combine all the ingredients; mix well.
2. Cover; cook on low setting for at least 6 hours.