Crock Pot recipes

Raechel - a favorite blogger that I secretly read - got a new crock pot at a garage sale and is itching to use it. She's compiling a list of yummy recipes here. (I added a link to our Greek Lamb With Spinach and Orzo to her list!) And in case you are wondering about the lovely crock pot recipes already on this wonderful blog...check them out here.

Happy Fall everyone (or spring for those in Australia!)

My Menu - Bonnie - 5 October 2010

I don't go to work on Wednesday's anymore. I have found that planning my menu early in the week, doing the shopping online and having it delivered on Wednesday is working really well ! Hence, the reason I am planning Wednesday to Tuesdays now.

Wednesday
Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers
Sauteed Leafy Greens

Thursday
Raw Lasagna on Big Honkin' Mushrooms
corn on the cob



Friday
I'd like to make pasta on the weekend but we'll see what ends up happening

Saturday
Weekends are pretty flexible around here so
I'm not going to plan Saturday until closer to the day !

Sunday
Eggplant Burgers
I'm going to use our meat patties ...

Monday
Rory's Salmon
Asparagus
Sauteed Mushrooms

Tuesday
Chimichanga Lettuce Wraps

**

I'm going to make refrigerator pickles this week. OH YUM ! I can't wait.

And Alia is going to make Coconut Bars out of a new cookbook she got for her birthday !

**

Zucchini & Eggplant Rolled "Cannelloni"

I combined parts of this Grilled Zucchini Roll recipe and this Eggplant Cannelloni recipe to get to this ... Jono and I loved it. Rory thought the goats cheese was a bit bitter. Alia ... well, we won't go there.

I think next time (yes, there will be a next time for sure !) I will add ricotta to the mix to try and reduce the bitter taste Rory didn't care for.

1 large eggplant, sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch slices
3 large zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch slices

150g (5.3 ounces?) goats cheese
kalamata olives, I just scooped a couple spoons out of the jar, chopped
capers, 1 or 2 teaspoons
2 tablespoons fresh parsely, finely chopped

salt and pepper
olive oil

spring onions, about 6, chopped
5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
juice of 1 orange
2 large red bell peppers (capsicum)

Roast your bell peppers. This is easy. Cut them into large pieces & remove seeds. Put them on tin foil, skin side up under the griller (broiler). Grill (broil) until the skins are black. Remove to a bowl of water. Skins should peel straight off.

Salt the eggplant on either side and let sit while you prepare the zucchini. Brush both sides of zucchini with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brush both sides of eggplant with olive oil.

BBQ the eggplant and zucchini ... eggplant took about 3 minutes each side. Zucchini probably only needs 2 minutes each side. You just want them soft enough to be able to roll.

Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute spring onions and garlic til golden. Add bell peppers and orange juice. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until peppers are soft, or until you remember to check it ! (oops) Cool. Zoop Zoop. (blend with stick blender)

Turn oven on to 400F/200C.

While the sauce is simmering, mix goats cheese, olives, capers and parsley in a bowl. Scoop about 1/2 a tablespoon of the filling at the end of each slice of eggplant and zucchini. Roll up. Lay seam side down in baking dish. Top with sauce. Bake about 15 minutes.

Greek Lamb with Spinach and Orzo

I'm reposting this to see if I can get the labels to work. For some reason they have never worked on this post, which means they don't show up in the table of contents which is ANNOYING !

Also ... this is really good and you should cook it NOW !

This is a Crockpot recipe, so I expect full rewards for its awesomeness Bonnie! hehe.

1 2lb boneless lamb roast
1 T dried oregano, crushed
1 T finely shredded lemon peel
8 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t salt
The juice of 1 lemon
5 oz. box fresh baby spinach
16 oz bag of orzo, cooked according to package directions
8 oz crumbled feta cheese
1 can chicken broth for just in case.

Trim fat from roast. If necessary, cut roast to fit in the crock pot. In a small bowl combine oregano, lemon peel, garlic, and salt. Sprinkle evenly over sides of lamb raost; rub lightly with fingers. Place lamb in cooker. Sprinkle lamb with lemon juice.

Cover and cook on low heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high heat setting for 4 to 5 hours (we do the low setting)

Remove lamb from crock pot. Shred meat into bite sized pieces, removing any oogies, set aside. Add spinach to cooking juices in crock pot (we add 1 can chicken broth as there didn't seem to be enough cooking juices), stirring until spinach is wilted. Add cooked orzo, feta, and lamb; stir to mix.

Top with a squeeze or lemon or some hot pepper paste if desired.

PS ... Orzo is called Rissoni in Australia !!

Cinnamon Roll CAKE ?!

I saw this recipe on pinterest and had to try it ! It was absolutely delicious !! Here's how you make it ...

For The Cake Layer:
3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter, melted

For The Cinnamony Sweet Layer:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoon flour
1 Tablespoon cinnamon

For The Glaze Bit:
2 cups powdered (icing) sugar
5 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the cake layer ingredients together ... only adding the melted butter slowly after the other ingredients are mixed. Butter a 9X13 pan and pour in the cake layer.

Mix the cinnamony sweet layer ingredients together until well combined. This won't spread over the cake layer so you kind of have to drop it in blobs ... do it evenly. Then get a knife and swirl it. It won't be a smooth cake top ... that's cool.

Bake at 180C/350F for 30-40 minutes. Mine was still wet in the middle at 30 minutes and perfect at 40 ... or maybe it was 45. You'll just have to test it ...

Mix up your glaze and drizzle over the cake while it is still warm.

Greek Egg Omelets

For each omelet you'll need:

2 eggs

Chopped red onion

Chopped tomatoes

Reduced-fat feta

Beat 2 eggs.

Pour eggs into small skillet.

Cook until stiff enough to flip.

Flip.

Sprinkle remaining ingredients onto one-half of eggs.

Fold eggs in half.

Flip.

Serve.

**
note from Bonnie ... I tried these tonight and they were delish.
I added black olives ... as you can see in the photo above !

My Menu - Bonnie - 28 September 2011

Trying some new stuff this week ...



Wednesday
Salmon w/Avocado Salsa

Thursday
Mexican Chicken Lime Soup

Friday
BBQ Birthday Dinner for Alia with the neighbors

Saturday
Family Sushi Birthday Dinner for Alia
I'm going to make this Cinnamon Roll Cake

Sunday
Zucchini Rolls & Eggplant Cannelloni

Monday
Black Bean Chili Soup (out of the freezer)

Tuesday
Greek Egg Omelets

**

What's on YOUR menu this week ?

Gallo Pinto

This dish is served everywhere in Nicaragua, as a side dish or main dish, often with corn tortillas and boiled or fried plantains. It is part of breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner!

• 2 cups cooked long-grain rice
• 1 cup red beans
• 1/2 cup of finely diced white onion
• 3 teaspoons vegetable oil
• salt
• sour cream

Place vegetable oil on a frying pan and heat for approximately 1 minute. Saute onions until caramelized. Add entire pot of cooked beans and its gravy into the sautéed onions. Stir over low-medium heat for a minute. Add cooked rice to sautéed bean mixture, mix well and simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt to taste. Serve immediately, topped with sour cream if desired.

Variations: Can substitute canned red or black beans, undrained. The recipe I used called for 2T chopped cilantro, added with the salt (but I am not a fan of cilantro, and I don’t remember Liz or Eli using it in Nicaragua). To be authentic don’t skimp on the salt. Other versions of this recipe added chopped red or green pepper and garlic with the onion for more zip.

The name of the dish translates to "speckled rooster," a reference to the look of the dish rather than its contents.

Shepherd's Pie w/Cauli Mash

I didn't use a recipe for this. I'll try and give you measurements where I can but really, they aren't necessary. Also ... I made a huge pan of this because I had a kilo of mince (ground beef) that needed to be used. We are having leftovers of this for dinner tonight !!

1 kg (2.2lb) beef mince (ground beef)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
onion, diced (I had half an onion in the fridge so just used that. You could use more if you wanted ...)
garlic, 3 cloves, finely diced
frozen green beans
cauliflower (I used two heads)
a blob of butter
2 blobs of cream cheese
grated cheese
salt and pepper

Boil the cauliflower.

Run warm water over a few handfuls of green beans in a colander and leave in the sink to 'thaw'.

While that is boiling, brown the meat with the garlic and the onion. Season, not too heavily. When the meat is done, put it in the bottom of your baking dish. Pour in can of soup and mix together.

Top the meat/soup mixture with the green beans.

Drain softened cauliflower and put back into pot. (I just cooked til a fork went into it easily) Throw in the butter and cream cheese, a pinch of salt and a couple pinches of pepper. Zoop Zoop it. (translation ... use your stick blender to blend it.) You could use a potato masher or food processor or regular blender too ...

Top the beans with the cauliflower mash. Top with grated cheese. I used a combination of tasty (cheddar) and mozzarella.

Bake 30 minutes on 180 (350) or until cheese is browned.

I know this isn't the prettiest picture but I waited til after the movie
(I saw THE HELP last night) to eat and I was too hungry to take a pretty picture !

Kale, Avo & Asparagus Salad

I have kale growing out my ears in our garden ! I've done the Roasted Kale a number of times and last night tried Khrista's Raw Kale and Avocado Salad for the first time. It is DELICIOUS ! I can't wait to make it again ! In fact, I might be making more for my lunch today ...

I changed it a bit though ... I made this to serve four.

A colander full of kale from my garden, stems removed & shredded
A punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, chopped
Asparagus, 2 bunches
Olive Oil
Juice from 1 small lemon
Sea salt, to taste
Sesame seeds

Put the kale in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice and sprinkled with salt to taste. Now get your hands in there and massage it a bit. This softens the kale (and according to Khris, makes it tastier and easier to digest)

Saute asparagus in a bit of olive oil til cooked to desired tenderness.

While that is cooking, chop your tomatoes and avocado and mix into kale leaves.

Top with sauteed asparagus and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

YUM YUM YUM !

Breakfast Burritos

My sister Ellie taught me how to make these ...
although, I've added a few little homemade salsa's of my own to the mix ....

There are lots of components ... and no real measurements, it depends on how many you are cooking for ... you'll work it out !

Potatoes: Chop 'em small and shallow fry with garlic powder and salt in a bit of olive oil. Fry til crispy (or done to your liking) These take a while so get them started and then do everything else.

Bacon: Chop and cook til crispy.

Eggs: Scrambled. Do these at the end so that they are hot when you serve !

Tomato Salsa: For this one I diced two tomatoes, 1/4 of a red onion (finely diced), 1 clove of freshly minced garlic, 2 handfuls of fresh coriander, salt, pepper and the juice of one lime. Mix.

Green Chili Salsa: 1/4 of a red onion (finely diced), 3 cloves of garlic (minced), 2 tins of fire roasted green chilies, 1/2 cup chicken stock. Sautee the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil. Add the chilies and the chicken stock. Stir occasionally so it doesn't burn. Keep it going til the sauce thickens up.

Cheese: Cheddar. Grated.

Flour Tortillas: Warmed

Top the tortillas with whatever combo of ingredients you want ... add Sour Cream too. Fold it up and eat it ! So good !!

I was going to add Avocado this time too but I forgot. I think it would be really good ....

Hot Sauce Popcorn

My nine year old son and I are addicted to this stuff.



I was craving buffalo boneless wings one afternoon.
I didn't have chicken defrosted, didn't really want to eat that much
but needed a snack and just couldn't get the hot sauce out of my mind !!!!!!

This is the result.
Super easy to make.

Pop some popcorn. However much you want.

Melt some butter, however much you would melt for the amount of popcorn you made.

Add hot sauce to taste. (I add about double the hot sauce to the amount of butter)

I use Franks Red Hot & I have a giant Costco bottle that we brought back with us this last trip !

I warm the hot sauce and butter in the microwave.

(or you could do it on the stove if you don't use a MW)

Pour it on top of the pop corn !

Seriously addictive !

Diet-Friendly Menu Plan

Menu Plan
(Two weeks in a row...Don't fall out of your chair!)

As often happens in our house, life happened and we didn't get to all of the meals planned for last week. So, a few things have shifted to this weeks menu.

Saturday Dinner

Salsa Fish Packets

Can of Asparagus - chilled

Roasted Carrots

Sunday Breakfast

Yogurt and berries

Sunday Lunch

Green salad - if anyone is hungry for lunch

Sunday Dinner

BBQ in Estes with the family

Monday Breakfast

Scrambled eggs with salsa

(possibly the homemade salsa Toby made)

Apple

Monday Lunch

Chicken-veggie soup

Monday Dinner

Shepherd's Pie (cauliflower version)

Slice cuke, tomato, onion salad

Tuesday Breakfast

Yogurt and berries

Tuesday Lunch

Taco Salad

Tuesday Dinner

Stir-fry

Wednesday Breakfast

Spanish omelet (with eggs, cheese, and salsa)

Orange

Wednesday Lunch

Chicken-veggie soup

Wednesday Dinner

Turkey patties (Costco)

Roasted carrots

Another veggie of some kind

Thursday Breakfast

Yogurt and berries

Thursday Lunch

Green salad with lots of veggies and hard-boiled eggs

Thursday Dinner

Sesame Fish (YUM!)

Broccoli

Sliced tomatoes

Friday Breakfast

Scrambled eggs

a piece of fruit

Friday Lunch

Green salad of some kind (whatever is in the house)

Friday Dinner

Shabbat! - TBD

Granola (Meusli)

I tried this at Shay and Shawn's place while we were in the States last month.
I loved it, got the recipe and tried my hand at making it tonight. Sooooo yum !!

12 cups oats
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
4 cups coarsely chopped pecans & almonds & cashews
1 tsp salt

2/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup honey
2/3 cup oil, I used canola

preheat oven 300F/150C
put baking paper on baking sheet ... I actually used two deep baking pans b/c this makes heaps
mix first four ingredients

stir honey, brown sugar oil in saucepan over medium low heat until smooth. ( i just popped it into the microwave for a few minutes) pour over oat mixture, toss. spread on baking sheet

bake until golden, stirring every 10 minutes ... about 40 mins (mine took much longer ... it was in there over an hour)

stir. cool.

Crock Pot Apple Butter

For our small family I make 1/3 of this recipe. You could also start with Bonnie's crock pot applesauce, omitting the cinnamon in her recipe.

15 large cooking apples
1/2 cup apple cider or water
3 cups sugar
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t ground allspice (optional)

Pare, core, and dice or slice apples. Put apples and cider in a large pot or Dutch oven. Cover, cook over medium heat until apples are tender. Mash apples with a potato masher. You should have about 6 cups applesauce.

Put applesauce and sugar in crock pot and stir until sugar is dissolved. Cover pot and cook on low 8 hours (or overnight). Stir in spices and turn crock pot to high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is desired thickness. I usually take the lid off to let some of the moisture evaporate, and have even wiped the moisture off the inside of the lid to hasten the process.

This makes about 4 pints. It will keep in the refrigerator about a month. For longer storage, the apple butter can be canned (process 10 minutes in boiling water). It probably would freeze, but might separate. I have always made a smaller amount and used it right away!

Homemade Sugar Free Crock Pot Apple Sauce !

This was so simple. So easy. And is so delicious.

I gave the kids a taste test and they immediately asked for a whole bowl !!

So ... here's what I did.

Ingredients:
4 Granny Smith Apples
6 Fuji Apples
8 Sundowner Apples
just under 1/2 cup of water
cinnamon

I used a combination of apples. Granny Smith because they cook well and add a nice texture. Fuji because they are my FAVORITE tasting apple. And Sundowner because they were cheap and the sign said they were sweet ... I'll bet you could use as many of any combination that you want and it would be delicious. Although, if you did ALL Granny Smith I think it might be a bit tart without the addition of sugar.

So, peel, core and quarter the apples. Actually ... you should core, peel and quarter them. I did them the other way (peeling first) and the apples were browning by the time I was ready to quarter them.

Throw 'em in the crock pot with the water and a sprinkle of cinnamon (to taste).

I turned mine on high for an hour and then turned it down to low. I checked after four hours on low, got a spoon in there and tried to scoop the bottom ones up to the top, and it was like I had used a potato masher on them. I just stirred them up, gave the kids a taste test and the rest ... well ... the rest is history.

I will make this time and time again. I'm so pleased !

Salsa Fish Packets

Salsa Fish Packets

Favorite White fish (we've used Tilapia and Swai)
Favoite Salsa
Optional: pickled jalapenos

Place fish on a piece of foil (big enough to fold into a packet - we use a double layer of heavy duty foil).

Top fish with favorite salsa.

Optional: place single line of jalapenos along top of fish.

Fold foil closed into a packet.

Grill packets on high for approximately 10 minutes (or until you open packet and fish is flaky and done).

Enjoy!

Turkey Chili

1 pound ground turkey

1 red bell pepper
1 onion
Rough chopped garlic (however much you want)
1-2 can(s) of crushed tomatoes
1 can of tomato sauce
1T chili powder
1t salt
1/2t black pepper
Optional: 1 can of green chilis

Brown ground turkey with onion and garlic. Add all ingredients to the crock pot. Cook on low 8 hours. Serve.

Chicken-Mushroom-Green bean Stir Fry

Chicken-Mushroom-Green bean Stir Fry

1 whole roasted chicken (minus skin) - pulled off the bone
Enough of the following to feed your family:
Red bell pepper
Mushrooms (we usually use baby bellas)
Fresh French green beans (or you can use frozen...we like the fresh better, but the frozen were yummy too)
Sesame seeds

Garlic Powder
Soy sauce
Peanut oil (the original recipe called for olive oil, so either one or your go to oil would work fine)

Cut veggies to desired size.
Sautee veggies in soy sauce and oil until desired tenderness. (we usually add the juice left from the roasted chicken and additional water or chicken broth if needed) When the veggies are about half cooked (not an exact science) I add in garlic powder to taste. We like garlic around here...so I am rather generous with it.
Mix in chicken. Heat.
Toss in sesame seeds.
Serve.

Mexican Cole Slaw

Mexican Cole Slaw

1 bag of cole slaw (the kind with carrots)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2T extra-virgin olive oil
1/2t salt

Mix sauce together. Pour over slaw. Toss well. Enjoy!