Tortilla Soup

Tortilla Soup

Dump into each bag:

·         1-2lbs cooked chicken, diced

·         1 can refried beans

·         2 cans black beans

·         16 oz frozen corn

·         16 oz salsa

Instructions for Ziplock:

Dump into crock pot and add 2 cups water and 2 cups chicken broth.  

Cook on low 8 hours or until hot and bubbly.  

Stir in 16 oz shredded cheddar and serve with tortilla chips and sour cream. 

Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joes

For each bag:

·         Brown and drain:

o   1lb ground beef

o   1lb ground turkey

·         ½ cup ketchup

·         ½ cup mustard

·         2 cans pork and beans (only drain 1 can)

Instructions for Ziplock:

Dump into crock pot and cook on low 4-6 hours or until heated through. 

Sausage, Spinach, and White Bean Soup

Sausage, Spinach, & White Bean Soup

Dump into each bag:

·         1 package Kielbasa sausage (thinly sliced and browned)

·         3 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 onion, diced

·         6 carrots, peeled and diced

·         2 cans great northern beans (drained and rinsed)

·         1 teaspoon dried oregano

·         2 bay leaves

Instructions for Ziplock:

Dump into crock pot along with 6 cups chicken broth.  Cook on low 8 hours.  

Stir in 3 cups baby spinach and serve.

Pulled Pork with White BBQ Sauce

Pulled Pork with White BBQ Sauce

Dump into each bag:

·         1 Onion, thinly sliced

·         4 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 T brown sugar

·         1 T chili powder (or less depending on your preference)

·         1 T salt

·         ½ t cumin

·         ½ t paprika

·         5lb pork shoulder or butt roast

Instructions for Ziplock:

Cook low 8 to 10 hours (recommended to shred meat after 8 hours and cook a little bit longer).  

Serve with white BBQ sauce: 2 cups mayo, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 T brown sugar, ½ t salt, 1 t pepper, 1 t cayenne pepper (or less depending on your preference), juice from 1 lemon (can be made ahead and stored in fridge for up to 2 weeks).

Pork Verde

Pork Verde

Dump into bag:

·         1 boneless pork roast (3-4lbs)  ADD PORK LAST SO IT IS FIRST THING IN CROCKPOT

·         1 onion

·         16 oz salsa verde

·         2 4-oz cans chopped green chili’s

·         2t cumin

·         1t oregano

·         1t salt

·         1t pepper

·         1/8t cinnamon

Instructions for Ziplock:

Dump into crock pot.  Cook on low 5-6 hours if thawed, 8 hours if frozen.  

Shred pork.  Serve over grits, rice, or corn bread. 

Add 1/4c cilantro if desired.  

Hurry Chicken

Hurry Chicken

Dump into bag:

·         ½ cup brown sugar

·         ½ cup ketchup

·         1 packet onion soup mix

·         1/4 t salt

·         1/8t pepper

·         3lbs boneless chicken

Instructions for Ziplock:

Dump into crock pot and add 1 cup chicken broth.  Cook on low 8 hours.  

Add red pepper flakes as desired.  

Shred chicken.  Serve with mashed potatoes, noodles, or rice.

Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff

Dump into bag:

·         2lbs stew beef (cheap, whatever kind you want)

·         1lb mushrooms, washed and sliced

·         1 onion, diced

·         ½ cup red wine (cheap)

·         2 beef bouillon cubes

Instructions for Ziplock:

Dump into crock pot along with 1 cup water.  Cook on low 8 hours.  

Stir in ½ cup sour cream right before serving.  Serve over rice or noodles.

BBQ Beer Chicken

BBQ Beer Chicken

Dump into bag:

·         3lbs boneless, skinless chicken

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 tablespoon onion powder

·         ½ tablespoon paprika

·         ½ teaspoon salt

·         3 cups BBQ sauce

Instructions for Ziplock:

Dump into crock pot along with 1 can of beer (whatever kind you want).  

Cook on low 8 hours.  

Shred chicken and serve on buns of your choice.

Crock Pot Balsamic Chicken

Balsamic Chicken

Dump into bag:

·         1/2c balsamic vinegar

·         ¼ c brown sugar

·         3 cloves garlic, minced

·         1t basil

·         1/2t oregano

·         1/4t thyme

·         1/4t rosemary

·         1/4t pepper

·         1/2t salt

·         3lbs boneless chicken

Instructions for Ziplock:

Dump into crock pot and add 1 cup chicken broth.  Cook on low 8 hours.  

Add red pepper flakes as desired.  

Shred chicken.  Serve with mashed potatoes, noodles, or rice.

Crock Pot Moroccan Chicken

Tried out a new crock pot recipe last week and OH MY YUM!  And easy!  Win Win!

I like to have dinner ready on football game nights, which is sometimes three nights a week!  In the rush of getting home post-game, getting showers done, homework checked, and boys headed to bed, I forgot to take a picture...but I got one of my yummy leftovers!

Here's the original recipe along with my modifications

Ingredients:
2 (15 ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes drained and cut into 1-inch cubes (I used a can of chopped tomatoes, juice and all)
2 large bell peppers, chopped (I used green because they were cheapest)
1 red onion, chopped
1/3 cup golden raisins (the bites with raisins were VERY yummy, but there weren't many, so I think I will increase this a lot the next time I make this recipe)
2 T tomato paste (I just used the whole little can)
2 T water
1 T ground cumin
2 t ground cinnamon
2 t paprika
1/2 t salt
1.25 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch cubes (I used a whole family package of thighs and put them in whole and shredded them with my handy shredder scissors after it was cooked)
3 T creamy peanut butter or other nut butter of your choice (I used peanut butter...forgot to put in until after I had served first helpings...everyone agreed that it was way yummier with the peanut butter)


Directions:
In your crock pot, stir together all ingredients.  Cover and cook on low 8 hours or 3 to 4 hours on high.

Stir in nut butter of your choice and serve over rice, quinoa, or couscous.  (I think this would be amazing with couscous, but the ease of the rice cooker won this week)

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

YUM!

In crock pot or ziplock:
- 3lbs boneless skinless chicken
- 1 tablespoon paprika (I just sprinkled in a bit)
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder (I just sprinkled in a bit.  Could use minced cloves)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 bottle favorite BBQ sauce

Day of cooking:
- add 1 cup of beer

Cook time: 6 to 8 hours LOW

Serving suggestion: Shred chicken and serve on kaiser rolls.  Great topped with cole slaw

Optional: If sauce too soupy (mine was), strain sauce into a small pan, add thickener (such as corn starch) and boil till the sauce reaches desired consistency.

Baby approved!

Crock Pot Freezer Meals Part 2

Here are a few more of my favorite crock pot freezer meals (click here for part 1) 

CHEESY CHICKEN

In crock pot or zip lock add:
- 2lbs boneless skinless chicken (thighs, breasts, or combo)
- 2 (10.5oz) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 (10.5oz) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder


Cook time: 8  to 10 hours LOW

Serving suggestion: over rice or noodles.

Optional variety: add a little spice or frozen broccoli...can garnish with shredded cheese.







SAUSAGE LENTIL SOUP

Brown:
- 12 to 14 oz sliced kielbasa sausage
- 1 onion diced
-  3 garlic cloves minced (can use more or less to taste.  Sometimes when I'm in a hurry I just use garlic powder)

Add browned meat mixture to crock pot or zip lock along with:
- 2 cups lentils
- 2 carrots (peeled and diced)
- 15 oz can diced tomatoes

Season with favorite Italian spices (I use parsley, oregano, and basil)

Day of cooking: add 2 quarts of water to crock pot.  (can use less if you want it less soupy)

Cook time: 4 to 5 hours HIGH or 8 to 10 hours LOW

Serving suggestion: fresh bread or rice

Serves: 6


SAUSAGE AND BEAN SUPPER

Brown:
- 1lb sausage (can use ground turkey and season)
- 1 onion diced

Drain meat and add to crock pot or zip lock along with:
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1.5 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 can rotel
- 1 can butter beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

Cook time: 4 to 8 hours LOW

Serving suggestion: shredded cheese over rice

Serves: 4 to 6

Crock Pot Freezer Meals Part 1

I keep forgetting to take pictures of these - so I haven't been posting the recipes.  Finally decided to just post the recipes and try and remember to upload pictures later!

A few notes:
1. Any of these can be assembled in the crock pot the day of.

2. If you assemble the ingredients ahead of time and put them in the freezer, they can be put in the crock pot frozen or you can thaw them out prior to putting them in the crock pot.  If you want to just throw everything in froze (EASY PEASY!), put the zip lock in some hot water for a few minutes to get the bag unstuck from the ingredients.

3. For easy morning prep, label your zip locks with the name of the recipe, cooking time, and any extra items that need to be added to the crock pot.  This is also super helpful if you forget to start the crock pot in the morning and ask you 16 year old son to do it when he's home from school on his lunch hour...not that I would have ANY experience with that ;-)

4. I've found most of these recipes online, and have modified them to my families tastes.  Feel free to follow to a T or be creative!

5. I've found that when stocking the freezer with meals, it's best to chose a few recipes with lots of chopping and a few that don't involve much chopping that way you can do a bunch without killing yourself.


 TERIYAKI CHICKEN

In crock pot or zip lock add:
- 2 lbs bone-in or boneless chicken (I like thighs, but you can use whatever kind your family prefers)
- 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 4 cloves garlic minced (or more depending on how much you like garlic! If I'm in a hurry, I just use garlic powder)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- OPTIONAL: 1 can pineapple chunks

Day of cooking: Add 1/2 cup chicken broth

Cook time: 8 hours LOW

Serving suggestions: cooked white or brown rice and green veggies (can top with sesame seeds)

Serves: 4 to 6


BBQ RIBS

In crock pot or zip lock add:
- 2 lbs boneless ribs (I've also used bone in and it was yummy!)
- 1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Cook time: 8 to 10 hours LOW

Serving suggestions: mashed potatoes, veggies, or favorite BBQ sides

Serves: 4


SALSA CHICKEN

In crock pot or zip lock add:
- 2.5 to 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken (breast or thighs or combo)
- 16 oz jar of favorite salsa
- OPTIONAL: sprinkle in some cumin and lime juice to kick up the flavor

Cook time: 6 to 8 hours on LOW

Serving suggestions: use as meat for rice bowls, tacos, enchiladas, nachos, or burritos

Serves: 4 to 8 or more, depending on how it's used after cooking

Crock Pot Lasagna

No stove for over three weeks?  No problem!  OK...slight problem, but we made it through thanks to the microwave, electric griddle, and of course - the crock pot!

Discovered this recipe for Crock Pot Lasagna Soup and made a few modifications that ended up making it much more like a baked pasta dish than soup.  The FANTASTIC thing about this recipe is that you don't have to brown the meat or cook the pasta - it really is a one pot recipe!

You can see the original recipe here.

Serves 6-8 (if you're feeding normal people...I fed 4 with one small portion left over - but that included two very hungry men!)

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef or turkey (I only partially thawed the meat before adding it to the crock)
3 cups broth (I used chicken)
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced (I used my garlic press)
1 T dried parsley
1 T dried basil
1 onion, chopped
1 - 28oz can diced tomatoes (with juice)
1 - 6oz can tomato paste
1 cup V8 juice (or any vegetable juice)
1 lb uncooked pasta shells
1/2 t white pepper (or black...I just like white better)
1/4 t salt
1 cup water
Shredded mozzarella cheese to top

Directions:
Mix diced tomatoes and tomato paste in crock pot.  Add broth, garlic, onion, V8, and spices and mix.  Add meat and give it another stir.  Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4 to 5 hours.

When there's 20 to 30 minutes of cooking time left (depending on how soft you prefer your noodles), add the water and noodles.  Stir.  Replace lid and finish cooking.

Serve topped with cheese.

Crock Pot Steak Fajitas

I found this recipe here.
I, of course, didn't cook it to the exact recipe instructions.

Here's what I did ...

500g round steak or beef flank steak
2 medium onions, cut into strips
1 large jar of medium salsa
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
juice of 2 fresh limes
4 cloves garlic, minced
A pinch of ground chillis
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 small green bell peppers, cut into strips
2 small red bell peppers, cut into strips

For serving: chopped avocado, shredded cheese, chopped tomato, chopped spring onion, sour cream and flour tortillas, warmed

Cut steak crosswise into thin strips; place in slow cooker. Combine onion, 1 cup salsa, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, cumin and salt in slow cooker. Cover; cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours.

The original recipe said to ...add bell peppers. Cover; cook on LOW 1 hour. BUT we didn't. We sauteed them in a cast iron skillet instead.

I first posted this recipe in 2009 but tonight I added something new to these tonight so thought I'd repost it with the addition ...

Garlic ... as much as you's like, diced

Jalapenos and assorted red chillies out of my garden, also diced

Fry these two in olive oil til garlic is browned.  

Remove from oil to paper towel and set aside.  Pop this into the fajita when serving.  So tasty!

Crock Pot Sloppy Joes

Leftover buns plus a busy Monday scheduled had me looking for something quick to stick in the crock pot.  I found this recipe here and thought I'd give it a go.  I'm not always a fan of sloppy joes, but not only did the boys LOVE this, I actually liked it!!  SCORE!  Not a drop left, and I made more than just 1 recipe. 

2lbs ground beef (I did about 3lbs and should have done more!)
1/2 cup ketchup (I did 3/4 cup since I'd increased the meat)
1/2 cup prepared yellow mustard (I did 1/3 cup since I'd increased the meat)
1 can pork and beans (I did 2 cans and really liked the fact that it was heavy on the beans)
Hamburger buns or hard rolls of some kind

Brown beef and drain.  I did this the night before when browning meat for redneck nachos and just refrigerated it overnight.  Made prep super quick the next day.

Mix browned beef, ketchup, mustard, and pork and beans well in the crock pot.  Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. 

Serve!

The original recipe says it makes 6 servings, but I barely fed the 6 of us with the increased amount.  Granted, I was feeding a lot of hungry boys, but still I think I'd at least double it next time. 

Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup

I found this recipe at A Year Of Slow Cooking. You all know about that blog right ? No ... well, you need to go check it out !! The blog author, Stephanie, made a new years resolution to use her crock pot EVERY DAY for the year 2008 !! And she did it ! So, yeah, no shortage of crock pot recipes over there !!!

I modified the recipe just a little ... here's how I did mine.

2.5 lbs (just over a kilo) potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pinch chili powder
1 quart chicken broth ( i used water and stock cubes)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, to add at the end
crumbled bacon, spring onions and avocado to serve

Put everything minus the cream cheese, bacon, spring onions and avocado into the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4. (I did high last night) The potatoes should be fork-tender. Add the cream cheese and put lid back on to let cream cheese melt.  I left it for about 20 minutes.

Cook the bacon.

Get your stick blender into the crock pot and blend everything together.

Garnish with crumbled bacon, spring onions and avocado !! Delish !!

My husband who "doesn't like soup" had two helpings of this last night and took if for lunch today !! Soon he will have to stop making the "i don't like soup" statement because he likes many many soups now !!

Crock Pot Shredded Chicken

 

You know how sometimes a recipe calls for shredded chicken?

Well, this is a great way to make it.  

Easy.  Nothing to it.

I started with four skinless boneless chicken breasts. 

Took them frozen solid out of the freezer and popped them in the crock pot.

I added two cups of chicken stock to the crock pot as well.

Four hours on high and they were done.

Just shred with two forks and THAT IS IT.

We used some of this on pizza that night.

I froze the rest in ziplock bags.

Already, I've pulled out one bag and used it for an easy dinner.

Just threw some chicken, cheese, leftover guac, chipotle mayo into a flour tortilla

 and toasted that in the sandwich press.  The others in my 

family varied their ingredients a little.  

We were all happy.

Just the way 

I like it.

Easy Peasy Crockpot Pork

EDIT: I don't have much time after work to cook dinner, so I've been making meals that I can put in a ziplock, freeze, and then dump into a crock pot to cook all day.  This is one I'm trying!  I've heard it does well in the freezer.  Just dump all the ingredients into a bag, label, and freeze.  You can either thaw it before you put it in the crock pot, OR stick it in a bit of hot tap water to get everything unstuck from the bag and put it in the crock pot frozen to cook all day.  Now THAT is easy!

Super Easy - Super Yummy

- Pork chops (or favorite pork cut) - I used two family packs for the 7 of us

- Cream of chicken soup - we like plenty of gravy so I used 3 cans, probably could have gotten away with two cans for the amount of pork used

- Ranch dressing packets - I used two for the amount of soup and pork


Place Pork in Crock pot and top with soup and ranch.  I kind of stir the ranch into the soup a little.  Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Serve over rice with a veggie beside. 

Done!  YUM!

Crock Pot Vegetable Stock

I hate wasting food.  I do it, but I hate it.  I want to not do it as much as possible.  This week as I was cleaning out my crisper drawers, I decided to make vegetable stock out of the scraps and veg that didn't get used during the week.  It was so easy.  And now I have five cups of delicious vegetable stock in my freezer.

I used this hints and tips in this post.

I used mushrooms, celery, green bell pepper (capsicum), carrot, garlic, apple, and spring onion scraps.  I grabbed some parsley, thyme, basil and rosemary out of the garden and added those too ...   Covered it with water and cooked it through the evening and overnight.  In the morning, I drained the liquid off through a strainer and froze it in 1 cup portions!  Easy peasy!