Slow Cooker Harvest Stew

I made this harvest stew last week and my husband LOVED it.  It's really yummy.  I'll definitely make again -- probably next fall!

 

 

Harvest Stew (Slow Cooker)

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped in ½ inch chunks

1 medium yam, peeled and chopped in ½ inch chunks

3 large carrots, peeled and diced ½ inch thick

1 cup chopped onions

1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped

2 pound boneless pork loin cut into 1 inch cubes

¼ cup flour

¾ t salt

½ t sage and thyme

1 T sugar

¼ t pepper

2 cups apple cider

 

Layer the potatoes, yams, carrots, onions, apples, and pork loin in a slow cooker.  Stir flour and seasonings together in a small bowl. 

Add cider to flour mixture and stir until mixed.

Pour over meat and vegetables.  Cover and cook on low 7-9 hours.

 

Recipe found in Deseret News by Kim Grant.

Italian Crockpot Chicken

Ho-ly deliciousness.  I can't really give credit to one place because my friend told me about this recipe - but whoever made it up in the first place is brilliant.  It is the easiest and most delicious dinner. 

4 Chicken Breasts (frozen or thawed)
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
2 small packets Italian dressing powder
1 8 oz. cream cheese
1 pound spiral noodles

Put the first 4 ingredients in the crockpot on low and cook for at least 4 hours.  I had mine in all day for about 8 hours and it was magnificent.  Mix it all up and make sure the chicken is shredded and everything is mixed well.  Make the spiral noodles, drain, and mix the chicken mixture into the pasta.  Serve with a crusty loaf of bread.  Yuuummmmm.  Comfort food!

Banana Pepper Beef

I love crockpot cooking.  It's the best!  Especially in the fall and winter when it's cold out and you get home to a house that smells delicious and a hot meal is ready for you.  This recipe for banana pepper beef is so easy and makes a large amount so you can have leftovers for a couple of days.  I think I need to start making more beef recipes in the crock pot - yum!  I got the recipe HERE.  Here's what you do:

NEED

2 lbs. rump roast
1 jar banana peppers
Salt and pepper
Garlic powder (I just used real garlic minced)
Buns

Rub salt and pepper all over roast.  Sprinkle some garlic powder over it and put in slow cooker.  Empty entire contents of a jar of banana peppers on top of the roast.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  When ready to eat, shred beef.  Compile a sandwich with whatever you want on it.  Dip one side of your bun in the gravy in the crockpot.  I used slices of white cheddar.  The original recipe says to use provolone and mayo. 

These are so delish!  Does it get any easier? I don't think so.

Slow Cooker Sweet Barbacoa Pork

I've been using a lot of recipes from Skinny Taste lately and I love them!  I loved her take on healthier barbacoa pork.  I made it yesterday and I'm hooked!  I'll definitely make this again.


Slow Cooked Sweet Barbacoa Pork
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: about 10 • Serving Size: 3 oz • Old Points: 4.5 pts • Points+: 5 pts
Calories: 202.5 • Fat: 6.3 g • Protein: 26.2 g • Carb: 11.5 g • Fiber: 0.6 g 
Adapted from Favorite Family Recipes

Ingredients:

For the Marinade:

• 2.5 lbs pork loin roast, all fat trimmed
• salt and pepper
• garlic powder
• 6 oz Coke zero
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (unpacked)
• 1/4 cup water

Step 2

• 8 oz Coke zero
• 6 oz can sliced green chilies
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp cumin
• 1/8 tsp chipotle chili powder (to taste)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (unpacked)

Directions:

Season pork with salt, pepper and garlic powder and place in the crock pot. Add 6 oz of coke and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Marinate refrigerated for a few hours or overnight turning meat at least once while marinating.

Remove crock from refrigerator, add water, and cook on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily). Remove pork from crock pot and discard any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork with two forks.

Step two: In the crock pot, combine 8 oz coke, green chilies, tomato sauce, chipotle chile, garlic powder, cumin, chipotle chili powder and remaining brown sugar.

Put shredded pork back in the crock pot and combine with sauce. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, cover and cook on high 1-1/2 hours more.


Instead of using garlic powder I used fresh minced garlic.  I served mine with black beans, Chipotle's cilantro-lime rice, avocado and a little bit of cheese on top.  


Recommended!  

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

This week was my first experience with Bountiful Baskets. I now have a fridge full of fresh veggies and fruit and I have had to figure out meals to use them.  I got so excited when there was a 5 pound bag of red potatoes in my basket.  I LOVE RED POTATOES.  Then I got the itch to make a pot roast with them.  Even though the meat cost me a small fortune (and I got the cheapest kind... chuck roast), I went for it.  I found a slow cooker recipe on Allrecipes.com that has thousands of reviews and decided to try it.  I threw some red potatoes in with the meat, put the slow cooker on low and let it cook for almost 10 hours.  The meat didn't fall apart with tenderness and so I was worried it wouldn't be good.  It was though! It was delicious!  And the red potatoes were my favorite with the sauce.  It was a wonderful Sunday dinner.  This couldn't get any easier to make - definitely give it a try sometime soon!

Here's the recipe.

Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup

THIS soup is so so good!  It takes very little prep.  I prepped everything the night before and then in the morning before work I put the crock pot on "low".  When I got home 8 1/2 hours later my house smelled super yummy!  I served it with avocado, sour cream, cheese and tortilla chip crumbs from the bottom of the bag.  This is a healthy recipe (until you pile on all the crap like I did) and is really filling too.  I will DEFINITELY make this again!

Sooo yummy!

Crockpot Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

This couldn't get easier.  I just threw everything in the crockpot before I went to bed and by morning it was perfectly ready.  I think the reason it turned out so delicious was because I used a spicy cheese (hot pepper blend).  DEFINITELY USE A SPICY-ISH CHEESE!  It wouldn't be as flavorful otherwise.  We ate it plain, with ketchup and some people used Cholula on it.  Easy peasy.

HERE IS THE RECIPE.  This is perfect to throw in on a Friday night at midnight- to have a hot breakfast with no  fuss on a weekend morning.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tagine

My goal this year is to branch out ethnically in my kitchen.  I probably overdo Mexican, Italian and American.  I started the year out with this Moroccan dish from a new cookbook my mom gave me by Good Housekeeping.  They happened to have the recipe online as well.  HERE IT IS!

This is seriously easy to make. The only thing that took time and gave me trouble was cutting the butternut squash (super annoying!).  I just threw it all in the crock pot and cooked for 8 hours on low and served it with a boxed couscous mix.  My husband LOVED this and said it tasted very much like the meal we had in a restaurant in Morocco.  I was very happy with that compliment.

If you're looking to branch out - definitely try this!

Whole Chicken - Two Ways

Each year we have a Thanksgiving with just friends.  Therefore I'm unable to rely on my mom making the turkey/meat dish.  Yikes!  Instead of turkey, I decided I'd try cooking two whole chickens - two different ways.

Chicken #1
Baked Slow Cooker Chicken
From AllRecipes

This was easy as pie to make.  The only "hard" part was having to stick my hand inside the bird and pull out the "giblets".  That was gross.  After washing the bird you just have to pat it dry and season it how you'd like.  I threw it in the crock pot and left for work and come home to a wonderful-smelling house and a fully-cooked, fall-off-the-bone chicken.  I definitely recommend this for when you're strapped for time and want dinner done when you walk in the door.

Chicken #2
Roasted Herb Chicken
Based on a Better Homes and Gardens recipe

1 Whole chicken (3 pounds or so)
Butter (melted)

Seasonings I used:

Salt
Lemon-Pepper
Oregano
Thyme
Basil

Wash the bird with cold water and take out the giblets.  Dry the bird with paper towels.  Tie the neck and legs together with baking string.  Brush chicken with melted butter.  Season as desired.  Use as much or as little of each seasoning as you wish.  Place on a roasting pan (I used a one-time use pan).  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake uncovered for 1 1/2 hours, until a thermometer stuck in the bird reads 180 degrees.

Easy, pretty fast & delicious.

Chicken #2 wins for the better texture and flavor, while Chicken #1 wins for easiness.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Crockpot Italian Chicken

I guess I'm the last person ever to discover this recipe - everyone says they know it and make it all the time.  It is simple and fast!

Crockpot Italian Chicken (as found here)


4 chicken breasts
1.5 packets of dry Zesty Italian Dressing
1 8 oz. cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup

Throw it all in the crockpot and cook on low for at least 4 hours.  I put mine in for 8 hours and shredded it. Stir well to mix the soup and the cream cheese together once it's warm enough to mix easily.  The original recipe I found tells you to cook those two ingredients on the stove top to incorporate and then throw in to the crockpot - but I'm lazy and skipped that step and just stirred it all together when I was ready to eat it.  You can serve it any way you'd like - full breast, chopped, shredded, etc.  I cooked bowtie and penne pastas that I had on hand from previous meals and put this on top of it.  Some people like rice with it - but I hate white rice and refuse to make it.  I also threw some cherry tomatoes on top because we have a zillion of them and need to use them up!

My husband steamed yellow squash and zucchini to go with it.  Delicious!

Pineapple Barbecue Pulled Chicken

How I love my crock pot.  It just makes life so easy.  And makes the house smell so, so good.

I made this Pineapple Barbecue Pulled Chicken the other night.  I can't say it was amazing, really.  What I can say is it was pretty good and very (extremely, utterly, completely) easy.  We put this on rolls for sandwiches and had them with Cheesy Tomato Zucchini Bake.  I recommend using 1/2 cup pineapple juice from the can - the original recipe's author said she prefers it without - but I prefer it with (I think).  I also omitted onions and used onion flakes instead because we hate onions and flakes provide a little flavor without the taste of an actual fresh onion.

If you're in a hurry, you have some chicken in your freezer and want a recipe for a work night this is a good one to use.

Not my top choice, though.  I think I just like pork better.  Maybe I will try this recipe again with pork and end up loving it.

Slow Cooker BBQ Pork

I made this Slow Cooker BBQ Pork for friends on Friday night.  The recipe is the easiest thing on the planet and turned out really well.  I got the recipe below from All Recipes.

Ingredients

• 1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle root beer
• 1 (18 ounce) bottle your favorite barbecue sauce
• 8 hamburger buns, split and lightly toasted

Directions

1. Place the pork tenderloin in a slow cooker; pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 6 to 7 hours. Note: the actual length of time may vary according to individual slow cooker. Drain well. Stir in barbecue sauce. Serve over hamburger buns.

Seriously, it doesn't get much easier than this and it was a definite crowd-pleaser.  You can change up the final product's taste by using whichever BBQ sauce you prefer.  I used a Kraft one that was $1, and it was great!