Crock pot ideas/Recipie

[bambu101]

We have 3 crock pots in our house. One is a big 5-quart pot, which was used in the past for BFs office parties (meatballs for 30 people), and rarely gets much use any more. The second is a standard size, without a removeable crock (this is a pain, as you have to clean it carefully so as not to get water in the electrical system). The last is a small one quart Rival, with a removeable crock that fits nicely in the dishwasher. This size is perfect for the 2 of us. I found that the standard size is too big for most recipies, and unless the pot is more than 1/2 full, the sauce or whatever is in there will burn on the sides after 8 hours or so.

The other trick with crock pots is not to keep checking on whatever is inside, as supposedly each "peek" will increase the cooking time by 10 to 15 minutes.
So, resist the temptation, and try to stir only once or twice during the cooking time.

So, Lisa SH, if you are buying a new crockpot, please consider the little one for yourself and DH. It is also a good backup for making dips, etc for the holidays, for anyone with larger families. I got mine at a local drugstore (Brooks) for around $20.00, and I'm sure you can order them off Amazon. The only thing I would change about it is that there is only one fixed heat setting, unlike the larger versions, but it doesn't seem to matter.

Here is an easy recipie for all you beef-lovers. I made this last Sunday around 11 AM, and it was ready around 7:30. The meat was so tender you could cut it with a fork. I have served it with rice or noodles. Note- I tend to cook without precise recipies a lot of times, especially after I have made something for a long time, so feel free to adapt to your tastes.

Beef Rouladen (for 2 people)

1 to 1 and 1/2 lbs round or flank steak (thinner is better- sometimes I will cut flank steak in half lengthwise if it is more than 1/2" thick. You can also pound with one of those mallets to make it thinner)

Cut meat into 2 equal pieces.

Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper, a sprinkle of nutmeg, and about 1/2 teaspoon of caraway seeds

Chop up one whole dill pickle, some onion, and carrots into narrow thin pieces about 1" long, and pile in the middle of the meat. Roll up firmly, and try to keep as much of the "stuffing" inside as possible, but if some falls out, just throw in the sauce. Tie up the meat rolls : you can use toothpicks, or shorter lengths of wooden skewers, or kitchen string/twine (very hard to find these days!). Place in crockpot.

In a separate bowl, mix 1 or 2 (8 oz) cans of plain tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of red wine or Marsala wine, and 1 teaspoon of parsley. Place 1-2 tablespoons flour in a small jar, add 1/4 cup water, and shake well to mix. Pour flour and water into the tomato sauce/wine mix, and pour into crockpot. making sure some of the sauce is underneath the meat rolls to prevent sticking.

Cook at low heat for 7 to 9 hours. Remove string or toothpicks, and enjoy!

[paigette]

When my brother lived with my boyfriend & I, crockpot meals were my salvation! I would either throw something in before I went to work, or left instructions for my bro (works retail, wonky schedules) to throw stuff in. My favorite recipe is a South Beach Diet recipe, but is so yummy! I warn you, the boys named it GOOP, cause it doesn't look so appetizing, but it is delicious!

GOOP!
boneless, skinless breasts (1 1/2 lbs or so)
1 can creme chicken healthy requests soup
1 block ff/lf creme cheese
1 packet good seasons zesty italian dressing
1-2 cans mushrooms if you like them

Cook all day

Add Package of Frozen Peas(or Broccoli) in about 20 minutes before serving.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Bambu-
What do you consider to be a good size (in quarts)? I want to make soups and stews that will be enough for a dinner for 4 plus some leftovers the next day...

[Bikingmomof3]

My crockpot is huge, I do not know how many quarts, but with 5 to feed and wanting leftovers, I have a large crock pot. It was super cheap, a day after Thansgiving sale item that has lasted me forever. It has a wonderful ceramic insert that is dishwasher safe, can go in the refrigerator, and the microwave. It has 2 settings, high and low. My crock pot is about 10 years old and still works great. :D

[bambu101]

Lisa- You probably need the 3 quart size, which should be plenty big enough for 4, plus leftovers. That is considered the standard size crockpot. The big one that BMof3 is referring to is the 5 quart size, which is really big.

Wendy

[suzieqtwa]

Has anyone made an warm apple cider punch in their crock pot ,and if so may I have the recipe.

[Dianyla]

Am I the only person who keeps misreading this thread title to say "Crack pot ideas?" :p

[SheFly]

Lisa - be sure you get one with a removable liner, and if possible a glass vs. plastic lid. The removeable liner is key for cleaning, and the glass lid is important if you think you will EVER need to put the liner in the oven. I bake beans from scratch, and use my crockpot liner in the oven for this purpose. A plastic lid wouldn't work for me.

That said, the standard size should serve you well for soups and stews for 4 people plus leftovers.

The best thing about the crockpot? Throw food in. Go for nice long ride. Come home to dinner!

SheFly

[kaybee]

For those of you who have a crockpot that does not have a removable ceramic liner, look for plastic crockpot liners at the grocery store. My store has them in the aluminum foil/plastic wrap section. They are a disposable plastic bag (like those oven cooking bags) that you place in the crockpot before you put the food in. It works like a charm!

KB

[bambu101]

From Mable Hoffman's Crockery Cookery:

Cranberry Wine Punch (makes 6 to 8 servings)

2 cups cranberry-raspberry juice
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 (750-ml) bottle Burgandy wine
1 lemon (unpeeled), thinly sliced
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves

Combine juice, water, sugar, wine, and lemon in a slow cooker. Tie cinnamon and cloves in a small cheesecloth bag: add to cooker. Cover and heat on LOW for 1 to 2 hours. Remove cheesecloth bag. Punch may be kept hot and served from slow cooker on the lowest setting.

Padre Punch (makes 7 to 10 servings)

1 (6 oz) can frozen orange juice, partially thawed
3 orange juice cans of water
4 cups (1 quart) apple cider
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cinnamon sticks
5 whole cloves
Orange slices

In a slow cooker, combine orange juice, water, cider, nutmeg, and ginger. Tie cinnamon and cloves in a small cheeseclth bag: add to cooker. Cover and heat on LOW for 4 to 6 hours. Remove cheesecloth bag. Garnish with orange slices. Keep hot and serve punch from slow cooker.

VARIATION: Recipe may be doubled if your slow cooker is large enough.

[Meaux]

I have a wonderful stainless steel Crock Pot that is digital and that switches to the warming setting after the cooking cycle is gone. It came with a cookbook that had this recipe in it. It makes fantastic leftovers and is great served with rice or couscous. And it's totally vegan!

Creole Black Beans
3 15 oz. cans black beans, drained
1 1/2 cup onions, chopped
1 cup green pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 t. dried thyme
1 1/2 t. dried oregano
1 1/2 t. white pepper
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 cayenne pepper
1 vegetable bouillon cube
5 bay leaves
1 cup water

Combine ingredients in the slow cooker. Cover; cook on Low for 8 hours or on High for 4 hours. Remove bay leaves before serving and serve over cooked rice.

Yum!

[KnottedYet]

Those Thanksgiving leftovers are coming up, which means:

Turkey Peanut Soup!!

*turkey leftovers
*1 cup or so 100% NATURAL (just peanuts and salt) peanut butter (crunchy is best)
*1 or 2 big cans of seasoned diced tomatoes, juice included
*large thumb-sized knob of gingerroot, peeled and sliced thin
*2 or 3 heads of garlic, cloves peeled but left whole
*salt and cayenne to taste
*chopped onions if you like them
*water as needed

cook until you feel like eating. The peanut butter will thicken the soup quite a lot, so go easy on it until you know what consistency you're getting.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

OK, after MUCH research, I finally ordered a crock pot! I got this 5 quart one:
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0007W01MI/ref=pd_rvi_gw_1/002-5945325-5402446
I wanted to be able to cook a whole small chicken in it, or a pork roast, so I thought the 4 qt. was a bit small. But the 6 qt ones I felt would be too big for most meals or soups. The 5 qt sounded just right- it's equal to my stainless regular stock pot that I use a lot.

Last week I got a bestselling crock pot recipe book, but I don't like it much. I don't see the logic in buying canned beans and vegetables (which are already overcooked) and then cooking them for ANOTHER 6 hours in a crock pot. :confused: I have nothing against canned beans, but why not start with dried beans if they are going to cook all day anyway? I also can't get into dumping canned cream of mushroom soup, canned mushrooms, ketchup, or dried onion soup powder into everything. Why not just chop some fresh onions or mushrooms instead? Not much more trouble than opening a can. It just seems kind of outdated and not very nutricious. Also, in the book i got they actually used CANNED chicken and then added canned cream of chicken soup for some chicken casseroles. Ooh, YUMMY! :eek: :eek: Another recipe called for a half chopped onion PLUS 2 tablespoons of dried onion flakes. :confused: :confused: :confused: Didn't know anyone bought dried onion flakes anymore...
So anyway, I found a couple of books that seemed to emphasize using fresher ingredients for slow cooker meals. Hopefully I'll like them better.

Will post when I do my first crock meal!

[Bikingmomof3]

I take the recipes as guidelines and substitute all the time. Now for my friend who does not have time to chop and dice fresh, the canned goods are a life saver. I have time, so I use fresh. :)

[SheFly]

That looks like a great find, Lisa! Just a question/warning - is that a plastic knob on the glass lid? If so, I would be cautious about putting it into the oven (if you were ever planning this, of course)....

Oh - an you don't need recipies for the crockpot - make it up as you go! One of my favorites is a frozen pork roast (usually a loin), a bag of baby carrots all covered with a can [DOH!] of sauerkraut. Another is a beef roast, carrots, potatoes, red wine, onions and garlic - instant dinner! Oh, and in March, a corned beef covered with a head of cabbage is also good (I think I usually add apple juice or cider to this for a "broth").

Enjoy, and have fun experimenting!

SheFly

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Shefly,
Yes, I can hardly wait! I don't plan on putting it in the oven. It cam eyesterday and looks like a nice one! The size seems just right for a nice roast pork or some chicken soup or a veggie stew.
I'm actually a very good cook and I don't usually even need recipes, but crock-cooking will take some adjustment as a short learning process for me. Especially in the solid/liquid proportions and the timing of things like veggies compared to my "usual" routine. I can't wait to make some hearty soups for DH- soups are his FAVORITE. :p

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

So, my new crock pot is doing it's first trial run. I took my leftover chicken from Thanksgiving and threw it in with some water and onion and will let that cook for a few hours. Then will add carrots celery parsely noodles etc the last 2 hours, for chicken soup. Can't go wrong with that recipe I figure! ;)
After the weekend hubbub and visiting is over, I'll try some "real" recipes. Maybe BBQ pork. and a wild rice dish of some sort.

[SheFly]

Sounds yummy, Lisa! How did it turn out? I find that carrots take a pretty long time to cook in the crock pot...

SheFly

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

The soup came out great, thanks for asking!
We actually got an impromptu dinner invite tongiht, and also are going away tomorrow, so the whole finished soup had to go into the fridge until we eat it on monday! :eek: Chicken soup is pretty forgiving though...

I cooked the chicken and liquid and onions for 3 hrs, then added the veggies for 3 hours, then the noodles at the last 20 minutes. Made about 4 qts of soup and it turned out fine. Of course, not much you can do to ruin chicken soup as long as you have some nice roast chicken leftovers to start with!
I did get the vegetarian slow cooker book that uses only fresh ingredients, it looks wonderful, and will write more about it later on, but must go to bed and will not be online much tomorrow...

[Meaux]

I cooked a 3 or 4 pound chicken in my Crock Pot this week (all this Crock Pot talk has made me very excited to use it!), it came out amazingly. I couldn't take it out of the pot when it was done, because it just fell apart. So tasty. I'm hoping the soup from the leftovers will be just as nice. Anyone else try this?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I made a very nice wild mushroom and barley thick soup with lamb in my slow cooker a couple of days ago. Had some carrots and onions in it too. I browned the onions and lamb chunks first in olive oil, and that was pretty easy. I read that that is one of the keys to bringing out the best flavors- the browning sort of caramelizes the natural sugars and fats, giving them a better flavor, and of course they look nicer too.
The whole house smells so GOOD with the slow cooker going all afternoon.
It was very hearty and aromatic. DH is VERY happy about my getting a crockpot, because he LOVES soup. :p

Right now I have a 3 lb. pork roast in the slow cooker with sauce for the past 5 hours, making bbq pulled pork tonight! DH is from Iowa, and of course he is nuts about pulled pork.

(Can you tell I'm having fun?)

[madscot13]

never used a crock pot before! never left a post outside of apparel before!

We have a crockpot in our house, and it always seems in the way. Maybe it is time to put it to use. I am a novice cooker but I do okay. i feed my self seven times a week (big thing for a college student). I think it is time to crock pot.

what are some guidelines? Like times for various ingredients. Is it really okay to leave home while it is crockpotting? This seems like fun!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Madscot,
You can find a lot of info and recipes free on the web for slow cookers.
I got this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Slow-Cookers-Dummies-Tom-Lacalamita/dp/0764552406/sr=1-1/qid=1165203493/ref=sr_1_1/002-5945325-5402446?ie=UTF8&s=books
"Slow Cookers for Dummies" and it has all the info you'll ever need to know, written in an easy to understand way. Look to the right of the page for used copies which are cheaper (i got a used one myself). It has some good recipes too, using FRESH ingredients.
And yes, it IS safe to leave cooking while you are out. (as long as you follow the instructions, and the pot is at least half full but not more than 2/3 full) That's really why I bought mine, becasue I love to make soup for my husband but I always felt uneasy about leaving a pot simmering on the stove when I went out.

[bikerchic]

I've got a turkey carcass in the freezer just begging to be thrown into a crock pot and turned into soup, yum!

Perfect for this cold northwest weather too.

[trashalicious]

my favorite crockpot recipe:

brown rice squash "risotto" (http://www.fatfreevegan.com/crockpot/brown.shtml)

it's super easy to make and very tasty. don't be put off by the fact that it's from "fatfreevegan.com" - i brought this to thanksgiving at my very traditional, omnivorous family get-together and everyone loved it. they didn't even guess that it's vegan, or so good for you!

and for the record, i got my crockpot at value village for $5 and it's been great. nothing fancy, but neither am i....

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Trashalicious,

That's a nice website! I recognized the Chipotle-kissed recipe as also being in the book I just book:
http://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Vegetarian-Slow-Cooker-Recipes/dp/1558322566/sr=1-1/qid=1165372973/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5945325-5402446?ie=UTF8&s=books
I really like this book, it gives a lot of good tips for cooking with FRESH food in the slow cooker. I wonder if there are other recipes shared between your link and my book...
I do eat meat, but I like the "freshness" of the vegetarian cooking style and I figure I can always throw a few bits of chicken or fish etc into any dish if I want to.
When I was looking for a slow cooker recipe book a couple of weeks ago, I browsed through WAY too many books of recipes calling for canned cream of mystery soup or dried onion soup, canned chicken(!), canned mushrooms, etc. Pretty mushy sounding concoctions to me. Reminded me of the scary recipes from 30 years ago, when I last had a crockpot! :eek:

I will be exploring some of the other recipes on the link you gave. Thanks!

This morning I put together a pretty good hearty veggie stew in the slow cooker and we ate it this evening. DH has been sick with bad cough and cold and I am slightly sick now, trying to fight it off. So I figured all the vegetables would be good for that.

My older daughter (28) wanted to know all about my new slow cooker over the phone and she sounded very enthusiastic, wanting to know how she should get one... She actually IS a vegetarian, and on a very low budget too. She loves beans and soups and such. So for Xmas I am getting her a smaller crock pot (3 1/2 qt) and the same book I got. It would be ideal for her and her partner's lifestyle. I told her perhaps Santa would read her mind and know just what she wanted. ;)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Tomorrow DH and I are going to be pretty busy. First ride (hopefully) on his NEW BIKE down to town for breakfast, then perhaps a longer ride afterwards if weather permits. Then on to play music at a friend's pottery show and sale. Then after that about 6 friends are coming over to play more music at our house and I said I'd have some sweet potato soup with crusty bread, and a fire in the fireplace. :p
Knowing I wouldn't have much time to cook tomorrow, I pre-peeled and chopped all the veggies this evening and refrigerated them in a covered bowl overnight. I sauteed the onions already & have organic veggie stock that I buy and keep on hand.

In the morning before we head out on our bikes I'll just throw all this stuff in the crock pot on low, it'll be ready by 4:00 or so:
4 large sweet potatoes & 1 small butternut squash, peeled & cut into 1" chunks
1 small chopped onion browned in olive oil
4-5 cups veg. stock (start with 4, add 5th if needed at end)
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
some cumin and some sage
salt and pepper
chopped raw onion and red pepper for garnish
crusty bread loaves

I have a nifty immersion blender-stick to blend the soup chunks into a thick creamy consistency, right in the crockpot, before the guests come. Handy for making black bean soup too.
This was sort of a combination between two similar sweet pot. soup recipes I found and my own ideas. This will be only my 4th slowcooker dish since i got it a couple weeks ago. So far everything has come out well. :rolleyes:
Hope this one does!

[Brandi]

I am glad you got the 5 quart lisa. It is just my dh and I and it is the right size for us any smaller does not work. I do a lot of chicken recipes as well. my favortie fast one is throw in a cleaned whole chicke ( skin removed) and a large can of enchilada sauce cook all day. remove bones. we then make our own tortilla's and put the meat inside for either taco's or enchilada's. left over goes in freezer for next meal. it makes so much! NOw here is my all time favorite very healthy very yummy. It is called Mama's chicken stew. Oh my gosh this is the best!

2 pounds cut up skinless chicken breast
2 cups of water
1 cup frozen small onions
1 cup celery
1 cup carrots
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt, pepper, sage, thyme
1 can fat free chicken broth
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 6 oz can tommatoe paste
1/4 cup of water mixed with 3 table spoons cornstarch. I always forget to add this and it doesn't seem to matter
2 cups frozen pea's put in last hour
put all ing in order given give a quick stir close lid cook on low all day at least 8 hours. Serve with warm crusty bread .So yummy!

[Bikingmomof3]

All of these recipes sound yummy! I will need to start printing them off. Thanks everyone. :D

[suzieqtwa]

Lisa, Brandi........both your recipes sound so yummy. Lisa, I love sweet potatoes ,and butternut squash. I could do without the cumin ,but the rest sounds great. Brandi, I also like yours...I have a crock pot (pretty new which I never use.) Hey, Lisa tell me about that sweet potatoes soup.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Well, the sweetpotato/butternut soup was a big hit. Everyone loved it. The immersion blender stick worked GREAT, and I stopped blending just at the point where there wer a few nice little chunks of potato still here and there in the soup. A few chunks are nice. I had plenty left over after 6 people ate it as a dinner. I love sweet potatoes too.

I just threw some stuff in at noon today to start a lentil soup dinner.
First I cooked a few cut up bacon strips in a pan until crisp, and then added some leftover chopped ham and 1/2 chopped onion and 1/2 chopped red pepper and some garlic to the bacon- I browned this mess all together, then threw it in the crockpot along with:
1 pound of cleaned dry lentils
1 large carrot chopped
6 cups water
3 chicken bouillion cubes
salt & pepper
a few shakes of cumin (sorry Suzie!) ;)

I'll leave it on low for about 6 hours and check after about 4 hours to see if it needs more water.
This was a really easy one for me, because the ham was from someones potluck a few nights ago that I took home, and the chopped onion and red pepper were already chopped as previous topping for the sweet potato soup, and I always keep some cut pieces of bacon in the freezer to use like this, and then toss in a pan frozen and the bacon separates and cooks up quickly. What I do is i'll buy a package of sliced bacon and with a big knife just cut it into thirds or fourths right without even taking it out of the package. Then I put each 3rd or 4th into a small ziplock bag (don't bother separating the strips at all). Then I put the smaller bags into one larger ziplock bage and keep it in the freezer for when I need some bacon pieces in beans or something but don't need a whole package of bacon. It's very handy, you just put the frozen chunk in your skillet and it starts cooking and separating into little mini bacon strips.

I guess I'm really lucky in that my DH loves having soup or stew for dinner as often as possible! Salad gives me indigestion, so this is such a good way for me to get my vegetables.

[Brandi]

I am glad my dh likes soup too. If you are on a budget you can stretch soup a long way. And it is such a great thing when you have left overs. I have a rotissari on my bbq. I like to do my chicken on that have it for dinner one night make soup out of it the next night. For some reason rotissari chicken is really good in soup.

[RedCanny]

...GOOP!...

Paigette, thank you for sharing your GOOP! recipe. DH and I tried it yesterday- very yummy, and simple to make!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I have been loving and using my 5 quart crockpot SO much that I ordered a 3 quart one as well! All the recipes seem to call for either a large or a small pot, so I figure it's good to use a compatible sized one. I got rid of some old cast iron frying pans (kept my iron dutch oven though) and an old electric skillet and an electric eggbeater and a blender....all of which i NEVER use...so I would have new room in my kitchen cabinets for my 2 slow cookers and my immersion stick blender! :) Yay for good changes!

But no crock-potting tonight. We'll have the last of the sweet potato soup (made in my slow cooker a few nights ago), and a nice DUCK roasted in the oven!

[HappyAnika]

This thread makes me want to get out my crock pot and start experimenting . . .

Lisa I was reading your complaints about some of the recipes calling for everything in a can. A couple of years ago DH and I were going on vacation, 10 days camping in various national parks, and we wanted some new ideas for stuff to make for dinner. DH got a book from the library on "camping food", it was from the 1960's and most recipes called for things we'd never even heard of (I'm 30, he's 32), like canned beef :confused: :confused: :confused: Do they even still make that? Bleck. Canned onions?? Needless to say we didn't make any of the recipes.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Everything in the 60's was processed to death. If you read recipes from then, they call for lots of Velveeta, frozen veggies, canned spinach and canned mushrooms (God forbid you would have to slice a few mushrooms!)...canned fried onion sticks, more Velveeta, canned chicken, little canned Vienna Mystery sausages, condensed "cream of What the...?" soup, russian dressing, grape jelly, jello, mashed corn flakes topping, dried onion flakes, mashed potato flakes, garlic POWDER....very few ingredients were fresh for some reason (and I think women are way more busy today than they were then). For those with gourmet taste, there was always Fondue Night (croutons artfully dipped in yet more bubbling hot Velveeta)....

[Deborajen]

Here's an unusual crock pot recipe a friend gave me:

Crock Pot Enchiladas

Brown 2 lbs beef with green chilies (small can - chopped, or a couple of chopped Anaheim chilies) and chopped onion

1 pkg round corn tortillas - Take each tortilla and smother it in Cream of Mushroom soup and layer the bottom of crock pot

Then layer of meat mixture

Then layer of shredded cheese (I use Monterrey Jack and Cheddar - 10 ozs.)

Continue layers finishing with a tortilla

Pour 1 small jar thick and chunky salsa on top

Cook on high 1 hour (or low 3 hours) - (Do not stir!)



Deb

[Brandi]

made two crock pot recipes this week because of this thread.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hey I'm so proud of myself too- today I made some GREAT beans, and I made up the recipe! :p
Here's what I did:

/////Black beans with eggplant & cilantro/////
Chop one whole onion, 1/2 a red pepper, and some garlic and brown well in a skillet with some olive oil. Put into a 4-6 qt crockpot.
Peel and cut a smallish eggplant into chunks and brown that well in a little olive oil in the skillet too. Put in crockpot.
Add to the crockpot:
3 cans black bleans, drained
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 T molasses
5 T brown sugar
2 T balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup ketchup
salt/pepper seasoning to taste

Cover and cook on low in slow cooker for about 5 hours. Make some rice to serve on the side. During last minutes of cooking, rinse a big bunch of fresh cilantro, then cut up leafy part with a scissors and stir into beans. Let beans cook 15 more minutes, then serve over or next to rice.

It was really GOOD! :) I especially liked the eggplant in it.

[Brandi]

I have a wonderful stainless steel Crock Pot that is digital and that switches to the warming setting after the cooking cycle is gone. It came with a cookbook that had this recipe in it. It makes fantastic leftovers and is great served with rice or couscous. And it's totally vegan!

Creole Black Beans
3 15 oz. cans black beans, drained
1 1/2 cup onions, chopped
1 cup green pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 t. dried thyme
1 1/2 t. dried oregano
1 1/2 t. white pepper
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 cayenne pepper
1 vegetable bouillon cube
5 bay leaves
1 cup water

Combine ingredients in the slow cooker. Cover; cook on Low for 8 hours or on High for 4 hours. Remove bay leaves before serving and serve over cooked rice.

Yum!
I made these yesterday and they were soooooo good! I made them and had spicy pork loin chops ,and spinich. My dh and i were in heaven. Highly recommended recipe!!!!

[doc]

Ooooh. I can't wait to try some of these recipes. I will admit to using cream of "what the...." soup when I cook in my crock pot. Otherwise it's all fresh. I'm going to try the creole beans first. I am so lucky my 8 and 10 year old love dinners of beans and rice (usually served with a salad).

[Trek420]

Knotts famous chicken stew recipe

Step 1) roast a chicken or pick up roasted chicken ie: at Costco we got one at Berkeley Bowl.
Step 2) enjoy roast chicken :p with whatever you enjoy roast chicken with, beer, chocolate...

Step 3) take remainder of roast chicken and toss it in crock pot. You have the option of removing the skin. I left it on...then skimmed the crock pot goodness. More flavor that way and still removes the fat. Don't worry about prep, the chicken will simply fall apart.

toss in
1 whole onion diced
lots of carrots diced
1 whole bunch of celery diced small
think it was about 2 potatoes cut up
about 4-5 or so large brown mushrooms cleaned, cut up
1 Bay Leaf (don't tell anyone, it was from Samuel P Taylor State Park)
add water near top of contents, not over
walk the dog, let the dog out, turn crock pot on, leave for work.

come home to yummy chicken stew goodness :D

Note I have a ginormous crock pot (hey, it was on sale!) so will be freezing this. I have been told that the 'tatoes don't freeze well but on thawing will just result in a thicker stew like a cream of chicken soup type thang.

[maillotpois]

So you/Knot use the bones and all to make a stock - how do you then pick the bones out? That's what turned me from putting the entire carcass in, but I'd be interested to hear what you do with it. :confused:

I do the whole prepared chicken re-cooked in crock pot thing, having gotten the idea from Knot. But what I do is strip the edible parts off the chicken and throw them in the pot with onion, broth, potato, carrot, spices. Then I will put in some coucous at the end. That way I don't have to worry about picking the bones out of the bowl.

[MyLitespeed]

When I get in a real cooking mood, I use all three of my Crockpot's, I have something cooking in the oven (usually lasagna) and have a couple of skillets going with black bean & rice and a recipe for barley mulligan. I try and cook enough for an entire month and then freeze it all. My husband has gotten really picky about what he will eat, so usually I get to enjoy my cooking all to myself. It's not that I'm a horrible cook, he just has a VERY sensitive stomach. He usually ends up eating chicken and veggies.

[7rider]

So you/Knot use the bones and all to make a stock - how do you then pick the bones out? That's what turned me from putting the entire carcass in, but I'd be interested to hear what you do with it. :confused:

I do the whole prepared chicken re-cooked in crock pot thing, having gotten the idea from Knot. But what I do is strip the edible parts off the chicken and throw them in the pot with onion, broth, potato, carrot, spices. Then I will put in some coucous at the end. That way I don't have to worry about picking the bones out of the bowl.

I have sort of a multi-step process.
I have a carcass from a 12-pound turkey in my freezer, destined for the crockpot (a 3 qt one - I hope it all fits) sometime soon.
Step 1. cook down the carcass with onion, carrot, celery, bayleaf (from a jar, sigh) and S&P in the crock pot.
Step 2: strain the broth, pick the meat and save from the pile of rubble which is discarded, use fresh carrots, onion, celery for the soup, throwing in wild rice, white rice, egg noodles, or whatever I think of at the moment.
It's time consuming I guess, but I can't figure out another way to not have bones and the thought of "re-using" the veges kind of freaks me out. :o

[KnottedYet]

I usually toss the whole shebang in, and it holds together enough that I can pull it out whole. But the last time i did it, the ribs and spine came apart. It was miserable, bones in every spoonful.

Next time I'm just pulling off the good stuff and throwing out the ribs and spine. Ick.

[Trek420]

I'm discovering I like this crockpot thang.

This one an experiment, no recipe just thought it'd work....and it did.

Large'ish tri tip cubed
1 1/2 large red onion diced
4-6 tomatoes wedged
4 very beeeeg portobello 'shrooms
water & red wine near to top cooked over night.

turned out nice, portobellos in beefy tomato'y goodness.

Next time I think lots of garlic, more wine, less H2o ...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I regularly make a whole roast chicken in the oven for DH and myself.
We eat chicken dinner two nights in a row (with stuffing and cranberry sauce :D ).
Then there's usually a bunch of meat pickings left on the carcass. I take the time to pick of all the meat and good bits I can off the carcass, which is usually a nice bowlfull. I throw out the bones. Then I divide the meat bits in half, and put them in two freezer bags in the freezer. Whenever I want to make chicken soup, I just grab a bag out and throw the frozen bits in the crockpot with maybe 6 cups water and let it get going for about 3 hours. Then I throw in carrots, celery, onion, and seasonings and let it go another 3 hours or so. I turn it up to high and put in some egg noodles 15 minutes before serving.
I find it's usually worth the time to pick the meat bits off the bones otherwise the gazillion bone parts tend to fall apart into the soup.

[Kimmyt]

Lisa, do you make stock from the bones for your soups?

I have a leg of lamb that is leftover, some scraps on it but mostly bone and I am contemplating making Scotch broth with it. I've never made a stock, though... can I put any amount of water in? It's a smallish leg bone, but I was going to buy some bouillion in case the stock came out weak.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hi,
No, i don't use the bones for anything. Call me lazy. ;) I put the chicken pickings (mostly meat, a little roasted skin bits too) in a pot with several cups water to start my soup. I did buy some pre-made organic vegetable stock and sometimes I use that 1/2 and 1/2 with water if I want a really rich soup, but mostly I find my soups rich enough if I add plenty of veggies and whatever meat I choose or not. Seasoning works well for me rather than making and storing stocks.

I often use the crock-pot tip of quickly browning stuff like meat, onions, garlic, or peppers in a pan before dumping it into the pot...this REALLY adds a great flavor and is well worth the extra few minutes in my opinion. It makes a huge flavor improvement.

The other day I made ham hocks & beans. First I trimmed the skin and outside fat off the hocks...then browned the ham hocks in olive oil in a skillet. The taste of the browned hocks is very different from just simmered hocks. Then I took them out and browned some onions and fresh garlic. All that then got dumped in to crockpot along with 2 LARGE cans baked beans, a big squirt each of molasses, ketchup, and bbq sauce, also 1/2 cup brown sugar and some pepper. I put it on low for 7 hours and it was INCREDIBLY yummy, and the hocks melted in your mouth. :p :p :p

[Brandi]

I'm discovering I like this crockpot thang.

This one an experiment, no recipe just thought it'd work....and it did.

Large'ish tri tip cubed
1 1/2 large red onion diced
4-6 tomatoes wedged
4 very beeeeg portobello 'shrooms
water & red wine near to top cooked over night.

turned out nice, portobellos in beefy tomato'y goodness.

Next time I think lots of garlic, more wine, less H2o ...
Not everyone in the united states has or even knows what a tri tip is. I have found with all my traveling with work that only the west die of the rockies seems to have tri- tip! My friend in florida iwh moved there is always saying how he misses tri- tip.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Made some black bean soup in my 3 qt crockpot today, and it came out great.
Here's what I did, if anyone is interested:

Preparation time about 20 minutes.

Cut about 4-6 strips of bacon into pieces and fried them up in a skillet. (I always keep some cut up bacon pieces in little bags in the freezer for this purpose). Take out bacon and put aside. Drain off "most" of the bacon fat but leave a bit in skillet to brown the onion in. Roughly chop 1 onion and about 5 cloves fresh garlic and quickly brown on high heat in the skillet. Put aside with the bacon.
Now, open 3 large cans of Progresso black beans and put in crock pot along with all the liquid from the beans. Whiz the beans with a blender stick right in the crock until mostly smooth but with some whole beans reamining here and there for texture (this takes about 10 seconds). Add the onions bacon & garlic. Chop a generous bunch of fresh cilantro and throw in. (save some cilantro for garnish). Add some freshly ground black pepper and any other favorite seasonings if desired, but don't overpower the cilantro as the main herb flavor. Stir, cover and cook in slow cooker for 6 hours on low. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and some fresh cilantro on top.
If you hate cilantro leave it out...maybe put some green pepper into the browning onions instead, and use sour cream and onion as garnish.
This, and my chicken noodle soup are my DH's faves.

[emily_in_nc]

That sounds delicious, Lisa! I'm forwarding the idea on to my DH, who does nearly all the cooking (he's retired) and LOVES BB soup. Since we're finally going to get some winter (starting tomorrow) after all this unseasonably spring-like weather, soup sounds perfect!

Emily

[KnottedYet]

Dinner at Lisa's house! I'll bring the gluten-free beer! ;)

I love cilantro and black beans, so I want to try this recipe! Thanks!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I put a BIG bunch of cilantro in- the flavor is what makes this soup the best.
Also, Progresso cans of black beans are larger than a "typical" can of beans (and better beans in my opinion), so if you use another brand of typical size can, use 4 instead of 3 cans.

P.S. Knot- Just for the record, I don't mind gluten, ....but don't be slippin' any TOFU in there anywhere!


P.P.S. Is it just me, or does anyone else always read the title of this thread as "Crack pot ideas"??

[7rider]

Sounds yummy. I usually have cilantro around for the bunnies. I so rarely use it for my own meals! :rolleyes:

Does anyone ever put chicken in a CP frozen (or nearly so)? Most recipes call for cooking on low 6-8 hours, but DH and I will be away from the house for 10 - sometimes 11 hours. My recent attempt with Cornish game hens had them falling apart as I tried to remove them. They were yummy, but I'd like a better "presentation" and perhaps would have done so if I cooked them only 8 hours, instead of 10-11. I wondered if I could put them in half frozen, or if I was just inviting a good case of botulism!!

[annie]

Sounds yummy. I usually have cilantro around for the bunnies. I so rarely use it for my own meals! :rolleyes:

Does anyone ever put chicken in a CP frozen (or nearly so)? Most recipes call for cooking on low 6-8 hours, but DH and I will be away from the house for 10 - sometimes 11 hours. My recent attempt with Cornish game hens had them falling apart as I tried to remove them. They were yummy, but I'd like a better "presentation" and perhaps would have done so if I cooked them only 8 hours, instead of 10-11. I wondered if I could put them in half frozen, or if I was just inviting a good case of botulism!!

I often cook completely frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot. Just open the package the throw them in, add whatever seasonings, etc. and they cook on low for 8-10 hours. They are quite done! Never had any problems. If you were doing an entire chicken, it might take a bit more time. Cornish hens are small, tho', so I think they'd work well. I may have to try that! What else did you put in with them, Regina?

[Tuckervill]

I, too put frozen chicken breasts in the crock-pot. Works just fine, and yes, it does keep them from falling apart altogether.

Make sure it's a long slow cook, though. They won't be done on High after 6 hours.

Karen

[7rider]

I often cook completely frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot. Just open the package the throw them in, add whatever seasonings, etc. and they cook on low for 8-10 hours. They are quite done! Never had any problems. If you were doing an entire chicken, it might take a bit more time. Cornish hens are small, tho', so I think they'd work well. I may have to try that! What else did you put in with them, Regina?

Thanks!
I just put a bunch of diced potatoes, carrots, and onions. A little S&P and seasoning on the birds. I went for simple.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Wow, I am very pleased about this-
For xmas I gave one of my daughters and her partner a crock pot and my favorite vegetarian crock cook book. I figured they might experiment with it for soups. They are vegetarians.
Well my daughter called last night and told me it has totally changed their LIFE! They both go to work around noon and come home tired in the evening. They've been planning their crock meals and getting the ingredients fo 3 meals at a time and then chopping everything in the morning and setting it up and going off.
My daughter says they love chopping and preparing the stuff together in the morning, and they just lOVE coming home with everything ready and smelling good. She also says they are eating much more healthily because of it- buying more fresh veggies and unusual things like parsnips and kinds of exotic beans and greens that they had never tried or considered before. I was so thrilled by her excitement & enthusiasm! :) :) :) Guess I picked a good present for them. :p

[Kitsune06]

Ok, ok. Ladies? You win. I went and got a crock pot today. I got a big-ish one because ideally.... er... someday... I fully intend to entertain guests etc, and want to be able to feed them decently. Yes, my flair for asian cuisine serves the purpose well, but guests will eventually get sick of my offerings if that's *all* I've got. ...and if I go out riding etc I can eat like a little horse. Where does it all go?!

Anyway. yes. Crock pot.
Hey, Knot, what was that chicken soup recipe that you posted on TD around page 140s or 180s, when you had that awful cold? The one with ginger in it?
I've got a nub of ginger and I'm not sure if I want to use it now or hang on to it but it's getting squooshy like ginger does after awhile.... :rolleyes:

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Good for you, Kit!

Crock pots say you shouldn't cook in them unless they are at least halfway full. If you bought a large one (5 qts or more) and you are only one person, you can still make a great recipe and then freeze half of it for you to eat later on, and still have enough to eat 2 nights in a row. My daughter says 3 crockpot meals (hers is 4 qt) feed her and her partner for a whole week.
This is my favorite slowcooker recipe book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1558322566/002-5945325-5402446
I like it because it uses so many nice fresh vegetable ingredients and interesting spices. I'm not a vegetarian but I love these fresh healthy recipes and I can add always some chicken or other meat if I want. Avoid the now dated older recipe books you might find in garage sales- the ones that use Cream of MUSH soup and Lipton's dried onion soup mix in every recipe. :cool:
Keep us posted on your slowcooker adventures!

[Kitsune06]

...ok, seriously, Cream of Mushroom soup is a staple.
Anything can be cooked with Cream of Mushroom soup.
My dad's best recipe was
1 sweet onion, cut up and sweated in oil until softer
"enough" cream of mushroom soup. (this always changed... basically enough to get a good consistency)
carrots, potatoes, broccoli, peas, etc
1-2c of white wine
and wild game of choice.
This is really, very good with venison tenderloin cut very, very finely, but quartered squirrel, musk rat, chicken (the stuff you can't easily pare off the bones), turtle, turkey, fox snake, gamehen, etc.... work really well as well.
And every meat lends its own flavor. Venison is better with red wines, squirrel with tawny port (lends a sweet taste to it) but don't overdo it, turtle can be difficult but always, ALWAYS worth it, wild turkey, off cuts of venison, squirrel and such are generally best cooked for a very long time, or they can be tough.

Back-country cooking 101.

[chickwhorips]

welcome to the crock side kit. :D

[Bikingmomof3]

Which one did you choose? As you know I love mine and of course the Fix-It-and-Forget-It books. Not one complaint yet from the family. :)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

...ok, seriously, Cream of Mushroom soup is a staple.
Anything can be cooked with Cream of Mushroom soup...
This is really, very good with venison tenderloin cut very, very finely, but quartered squirrel, musk rat, chicken (the stuff you can't easily pare off the bones), turtle, turkey, fox snake, gamehen, etc.... work really well as well.
And every meat lends its own flavor. Venison is better with red wines, squirrel with tawny port (lends a sweet taste to it) but don't overdo it, turtle can be difficult but always, ALWAYS worth it, wild turkey, off cuts of venison, squirrel and such are generally best cooked for a very long time, or they can be tough.

Back-country cooking 101.

True, anything "can" be cooked in canned cream of mushroom soup. But then it pretty much always tastes like canned cream of mushroom soup.

We grew up with Urban Cooking 101...sauteed cockroach in stale beer and stewed rat in Boone's Farm Apple wine reduction. (Roach needs to be cooked a long time to bring out the subtle bouquet of Blag Flag.)
Seriously though- what kind of turtle are you talking here? I have a good snapping turtle cooking story.

[Bikingmomof3]

I have a good snapping turtle cooking story.

Share the story, please?

[Kitsune06]

We grew up with urban cooking 101...sauteed cockroach in stale beer and stewed rat in Boone's Farm Apple wine reduction. (Roach needs to be cooked a long time to bring out the subtle bouquet of Raid.)

Remind me not to eat there!!! :D

To each her own. I think it's funny how painfully urbane folks will do the organic thing, 'whole foods' and try to seek out hasenfeffer and venison to recall memories of their 'simpler' roots.
How quaint.
You do what you have to. Cattail roots are starchy and not-so-bad in soups etc... just need the right processing, etc. Hard to starve when you live on the lake.
Snappers are generally best b/c of the size but they're dangerous. Soft-shelled, when you can get them, or regular mud turtles are okay, but not enough meat to do much with.
I grew up on the river, born with a cane pole in one hand and net in t' other.
Dad competed in the Buckskinners' Blackpowder Riflery competition (with BP Hawken .50 and handmade buckskin clothes) and we all had fun at the rendezvous on the river every summer. (Think a trapper/trader v. of a ren faire) A nod to a by-gone era, yes, but it gives you an idea of what life was, and how silly and shallow today's best attempts at recreations can be.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Share the story, please?

Well we live in the country here, and there are still lots of dairy farms and wildlife around. Plenty of big snapping turtles that love the farm ponds, and they migrate around from pond to pond looking for mates and new places to lay eggs.
My girlfriend had a pond, as did I (before I sold that house) and once a HUGE snapping turtle moved into her pond. It's shell was about a foot and a half long. My friend kept ducks, and I did too, and big snappers are bad news for ducks. Anyway, her husband shot the turtle and they decided to make turtle soup for some guests who were coming the next day for lunch.
My friend read a few turtle soup recipes and proceeded to butcher and clean the meat from the turtle. She later said she would never do it again, because it was so much messy yucky work for so little meat. But she is tough. Anyway, she finally got all the meat cleaned and cut into cubes and she put a little marinade on it and put it in a bowl in the fridge overnight to make the soup with the next day. They cleaned the giant shell, which they actually used that Halloween for their toddler's costume as Mutant Ninja Turtle, with the top half of the shell strapped on his back. :cool:
So...the next morning my friend took the bowl of cubed turtle meat out of the fridge in order to make the soup. To her horror, she saw that the meat cubes were TWITCHING ABOUT in the bowl!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: Apparently some sort of electrical residual energy, like the way frogs legs can twitch after death. She said it was really really GROSS. But by that time she had all the other ingredients ready to go and so she just dumped the meat into the hot soup and that was that. The soup turned out delicious and her guests were mighty impressed. Her son had a tiny 1" baby snapper he had found the day before, and they put it in a pretty Japanese bowl to swim about on the dining table as a centerpiece while they had the soup (they later let the baby go free).

I have my own giant snapper stories and experiences as well (i'm known as the snapper wrassler around here), but I never had the urge to cook one. :rolleyes:

[Kitsune06]

Snakes do the same thing. It's good to skin them and put them in salt water to soak a little, negates the inherent sorta fishy flavor to them, but they writhe in really gross ways, even after death. ech.

The nice thing about them, though, is when you fry them or whatever, the ribs stay attached to the spinal column unlike fish. Score. :cool:

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

To each her own. I think it's funny how painfully urbane folks will do the organic thing, 'whole foods' and try to seek out hasenfeffer and venison to recall memories of their 'simpler' roots.

It's true. Then again, I think most people when they reach their 40's and 50's get certain yearnings to connect with things from their childhood- comfort food, music they recall fondly, even old fashions in clothes. It might even be things that they envision might have been part of their past or their grandparents' past, without actually having lived it themselves. It's a comfort to feel connected to the past in some way. When I was 15-25 I was busy trying to put as much distance as I could between me and any older generations. Now I find it fascinating and enjoyable to explore the old and the new and find interesting or pleasing ways to combine them.

Now that I am in my 50's I am finally realizing that I am NOT going to live forever, and there are hints of ailments and other people my age are getting heart attacks and cancer and such. Friends have died, parents and a brother have died. It starts to hit home then, and yes, DH and I are trying our best to eat in a healthier way and improve our odds. Eating more fresh fruit and veggies, trying to find some that have not been sprayed, eating less meat, less fried stuff, etc. God knows I have to try to make up for all the years of abuse I put my body through during my life.
To tie all this in with crockpots- crockpots came along in the early 1970's. I was about 20 and I got a crockpot at that time. I vaguely recall that everything I made in it seemed to be a mushy bland creamy mess. All the recipes at the time seemed to call for nothing but over-processed canned, dried, or frozen ingredients. Canned spinach, canned mushrooms (is it so hard to slice mushrooms?), canned chicken(!), Velveeta processed "cheese food". This was when it was hard to get any bread except white bread in the store, remember. Recently I was thinking that perhaps my memory was biased and I wasn't remembering it right. But then I looked at my DH's mothers' recipe collection fromthat era, and also got hold of a 1967 Woman's Day magazine and was appalled at the horrendously awful recipes in it. ;) It tasted bad to me then, and tastes bad to me now. To be fair- there were no recipes for venison there. ;) That might have been good.
Hey, I have my junk food moments, believe me! And sometimes when I am sick I HAVE to have Campbell's tomato soup, just like my mother would make for me when I was little and sick. A comfort. But overall, I am trying to stay healthy for as long as I can, and for me that means eating more fresh food, more produce and whole grains, food with less additives & preservatives, less fat, etc. And excercising by walking and biking- for the first time in my life! :o

[Kitsune06]

the 50's-70's were where we were going "Oh! Look! We can make these things! We can make butter with oil and preserve x, y, and z indefinitely! Ha! Take that, Boris! And look- everything's so much easier to ship etc when it has prolonged shelf life etc! (insert much more involved economic and political motivations here)"

But artificial food is generally bad for the body. White flour is bad for the intestines, pure sugar hellish on the blood sugar levels, etc etc. At this point in time, yes, these things were in stores, but if you were backwoods enough or poor enough, still a lot of your food came from the garden, etc.

it's now, after modernizing research into healthcare, dietary health and for some, related to the increasing knowledge of our own mortality, that we as a whole are at least more conscious of wiser dietary decisions; whether or not we really adhere to this knowledge.

Diet is a lifestyle, not a temporary change.

...but convenience still needs to factor in for some.

[KnottedYet]

Kit, I don't remember my chicken and ginger recipe. I just throw things together and if it turns out good I report back to TE.

I'm guessing it was a chicken carcass, a thumb of sliced ginger, a head of garlic (cloves left whole) some sliced veges, and either potatoes or rice to thicken it up a bit.

I have a chicken carcass right now, and 2 lbs of mushrooms. Gotta set up the cp tomorrow morning. I'm thinking of adding some carrots and maybe frozen corn or somthing. Whatever is in the freezer. Maybe no rice or potato in this one. Probably some rosemary. I dunno. We'll see.;)

[mtbdarby]

Lisa, I'm gonna make your black bean soup tomorrow for after tubing (and before margaritas!). I've never used cilantro before **gasp** and bought a bunch of fresh stuff. I only got 2 cans of beans since there's just 2 of us. How much cilantro should I put in there? I assume you chop it up first? Thanks!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lisa, I'm gonna make your black bean soup tomorrow for after tubing (and before margaritas!). I've never used cilantro before **gasp** and bought a bunch of fresh stuff. I only got 2 cans of beans since there's just 2 of us. How much cilantro should I put in there? I assume you chop it up first? Thanks!

Are the cans the larger Progresso bean cans? Otherwise if they are "regular" sized cans you might want to downsize some of the other ingredients because it's not going to be a very big soup with only 2 little cans of beans, unless those are the slightly larger Progresso brand cans.

I would chop up about a good fistful of cilantro and throw it in with the soup when you start cooking. (Cut off and discard the thicker stems) That cilantro is going to add it's flavor over the hours of cooking, but it won't be pretty and green at the end, it'll just be sort of cooked in and not noticable. So at the last 30 minutes or so I would throw in another 1/2 cup or so of chopped cilantro so it will be pretty and green in the soup. If you like the cilantro taste, then top the soup with a dollop of sour cream and a bit more chopped cilantro. If not, then a bit of chopped raw onion and sour cream is good on top.

If you've never had cilantro before- you might want to tast it first and decide if you want to use a slightly smaller amount the first time. We have grown to love it and can never put "too much" in.
Let us know how it comes out!

Knot- I love that about crockpot cooking- most of the time you can put whatever veggies you have on hand in there with a bit of liquid and maybe some meat if you have it and somehow it "usually" comes out great 6-8 hours later.

[spokewench]

If you've never had cilantro before- you might want to tast it first and decide if you want to use a slightly smaller amount the first time. We have grown to love it and can never put "too much" in.
Let us know how it comes out!

To the Cilantro newbie: Be careful how much cilantro you put in. Some people adore cilantro and some people JUST cannot stand it! It really is one of those spices that can turn some people off of their food.

Me, I love it! but be careful CB (Cilantro Newbie)!

[emily_in_nc]

I love cilantro! DH just made delicious black bean soup a few nights ago, but discovered to his dismay that the lovely green stuff he brought in from the garden (it had volunteered, and we've grown both parsley and cilantro in the past), was flat-leaf parsley rather than cilantro as he'd thought. Sigh! I kinda suspected it since I know that parsley can winter over but wasn't so sure about cilantro.

So, cumin went into the soup instead (good, but not as good), and the chopped fresh parsley went on our side dish of corn.

Enjoy your soup!

Emily, whose mother doesn't like cilantro either, go figure....

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I made lentil soup for dinner in my slow cooker/crockpot today. I followed the vegetarian cookbook recipe almost exactly (I substituted bok choy for the kale strips though, since I had it on hand), and I used some of those pretty little dark green "French lentils" from the health food store.
DH liked it well enough, said it was tasty. In fact it WAS tasty, but....I still don't like lentil soup. :rolleyes: Oh well.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I bought a shopping bag ful of fresh apples today at the farmer's market.
My husband is a BIG fan of apple butter on toast. Last year I made tons of it as a 2 day project.
This year I have a little less time available so i'll make a bit more modest amount of apple butter this weekend. Even just a few jars will make DH very happy. If I can manage some extra I can give some to daughter and DIL when they come for Thanksgiving and they can take it home. :)

Here's my recipe for apple butter, which I make in my big crock pot:

First, you cut up a whole SLEW of apples and fill a big spaghetti pot on the stove with them and cook covered on medium-low for about 45 minutes or an hour with an inch or so of water. Stir and mash occasionally....and you get apple sauce. Add a little sugar if its too tart.

Then, to make that into apple butter, you take the apple sauce you just made and transfer it a large crock pot and continue cooking on LOW for hours with the top propped open a little, to let it evaporate and get thicker. I use slow cookers for this, about 6 qt size ones. Be sure to leave at least an inch of space at the top when you fill the crockpot with apple sauce.
After about 12 hours in the crockpot on LOW (not on the high setting!), with an occasional stir every few hours, it's brown and thick but tastes like very concentrated apple, not burnt tasting. It should be stiffer than apple sauce.

I then add some sugar and a little allspice and cloves (I prefer this to the usual cinnamon)....to give it a hint of spiciness. You could try coriander or mace too. At the end if it's too chunky, I give it a quick zap with my hand held blender stick to make it a bit smoother than my usually chunky apple sauce.
Let cool and pack into containers and freeze.
Note: Unlike stovetop cooking, you can safely leave your crockpot cooking on LOW overnight if you place it on a safe surface and prop the lids open a crack with a metal teaspoon handle or large unbent paper clip. The lid needs to be open a crack to allow the apple butter to thicken while cooking.

[tulip]

I love making lasagne in my crock pot. Layer all the ingredients, don't cook the noodles, and cook on low for 4-5 hours. So easy and not messy!

[OakLeaf]

Oh what a great idea Tulip! I don't even have a crock pot but I might get one to make lasagne! :D

[mudmucker]

I made lentil soup for dinner in my slow cooker/crockpot today. I followed the vegetarian cookbook recipe almost exactly (I substituted bok choy for the kale strips though, since I had it on hand), and I used some of those pretty little dark green "French lentils" from the health food store.
DH liked it well enough, said it was tasty. In fact it WAS tasty, but....I still don't like lentil soup. :rolleyes: Oh well.

I never really cared for lentils too much either, until I started cooking Indian once and a while where to really make it authentic it is recommended to use lentils (dal) grown in India rather than the U.S. What a difference ! The asian lentils are so much sweeter, have more flavor, and are less mealy. I buy toor dal (yellow lentils) at an East West store in the town where I work. There are other dals that I get but these are my favorite. I make a perfumed spiced puree with these to dip flat breads in. The toor dal is so flavorful to me I started using them in my general pea soup recipe with ham bone stock. I'll never go back to the green or black western lentils again.

I use the crock pot alot too, mostly in the winter. I had a bad health scare about 10 years ago so now I try to remove as many artificial ingredients as possible from my food. That means preparing most things from scratch, including breads, rolls, soups, desserts etc. It really doesn't always have to take up alot of time. As for beans, I used dried black beans and cannenelli beans, provided I remember to soak them. But I have a pressure cooker for those times I simply can't wait to soak beans overnight and then cook them. You can get beans ready in 40 minutes that way. And of course though, you don't have to soak lentils.

[OakLeaf]

Does it really make a difference where they're grown? I've bought channa and rajma (chickpeas and kidney beans) from the Indian grocery before and they didn't taste any different from what I'm used to. Indian-grown rajma are maybe a little smaller than American kidney beans, but I didn't notice a flavor difference.

Of course there are lots of varieties of beans that are traditional in Indian but not European, East Asian or American cooking, and vice versa - but I know there's US-grown moong and masoor dal anyhow. Those two are probably my favorite for puree-style dals and Indian soups.

Do you use the oily or dry toover dal?

[mudmucker]

Of legumes and flavor differences let me refine - I was speaking mostly of a kind of lentil I like and meant to emphasize that. I re-read it and it does sound like a general collective statement that all asian lentils seem to taste better.

That said, I do find that toor dal is much more flavorful and has a little bit more of a silkier texture than that of the green or brown lentils of the west. I was actually surprised at the difference when I discovered them. For me I find that these particular yellow split lentils are very different and I find I like them much better as far as lentils go. I buy the dry kind vs. oily.

But you do bring up a good distinction. I also use mung dal and urad dal and I don't find that much of a difference. Of the other legumes like the chickpeas or kidney beans I don't find that much of a difference either, but I don't mind the flavor or texture of what you can find U.S. grown so I'll just get the dried version of those.

[tulip]

Oh what a great idea Tulip! I don't even have a crock pot but I might get one to make lasagne! :D

Yeah, I've never had a crockpot before my kitchen renovation started. The lasagne is fantastic. I use a whole bag of fresh spinach in there (just layer it with the other stuff!)

[Serendipity]

Our slow cookers are probably the most used appliances in our house!
We do a lot of hiking and nothing beats coming home knowing that dinner is ready and smelling fabulous!
Use this website a lot and have found just about everything on it:

www.justslowcooking.com/index.html

I have a slow cooker hot apple cider recipe that I've been using for years. Actually have made it outside on a campfire and in a pot on the stove, but the best is in the slow cooker - again because the house smells soooooo good when you come back after a long cold (we live in Northern Ontario) winter day hiking or skiing.

1 quart cider or apple juice (I've used both)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. whole cloves
1 small cinnamon stick
1/8 tsp salt

Simmer over low heat at least 1 hour (better for 4 + hours)

Recipe can be tripled, quadrupled, etc.

Enjoy!

[surgtech1956]

I'm going to make either black bean or lentil soup - I don't think we have any bacon, I might revamp the recipe. Anyone have any recipes using barley?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I'm going to make either black bean or lentil soup - I don't think we have any bacon, I might revamp the recipe. Anyone have any recipes using barley?

Here's a bunch to look over:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=crock+pot+barley+soup&btnG=Search

[surgtech1956]

Thanks, going to check them out.

[oxysback]

My favorite crock pot recipe:

Chicken Adobo

1 small onion
8 cloves of garlic
3/4 cups of soy sauce
1/2 cup of vinegar
3 pounds bone in chicken legs and thighs

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over cooked rice.

This was a favorite dish of mine when we lived in the Philippines. This recipe is easy and delicious. Everyone we've made it for has loved it!

[flash]

Just came across an interesting blog ... with enough crock pot recipes to keep everyone going for a long, long time! My favorite for the crock pot is roasting a whole turkey breast (in fact, I'm cooking one right now!). It always comes out juicy & freezing the sliced leftovers in single-serve packages means many, many sandwiches ... cheaper & healthier than deli meat. Here's the link:

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

(Apologies if someone already posed this link ... I didn't look through all of the past links.)

[MauiRockHopper]

Great idea, thanks for sharing. Dontcha love the way the house smells when you come home from a long ride and some delicious food is waiting for you? :D

[ehirsch83]

Thank you ladies for this thread!
I always thought of crockpots as thick, unhealthy, cornstarchy mushs.. My Ex's mom used to make horrendous concoctions in hers!!

But all of the recipes here inspired me, showing how healthy and yummy one can cook in a crock pot! I received a Macy's gift card for Christmas and today I was in Macy's looking for things to spend it on and I saw that the kitchen appliances(like everything else in the store!!) was on sale. I opted to buy the 5qt crockpot and I can not wait to test it out Sunday.

I go to work and don't get home until 7 most nights, if not 8:30 if I go to the gym after work and by the time I get hom the SO and I are just soo tired. I feel that the CrockPot is just what we need! Put it together in the AM and have it ready when we get home.

Thank you again to all of you wonderful women here on TE for sharing these great recipes and inspiring me to try something that I once had a negative conotation towards.

[surgtech1956]

Lisa, do you peel the apples? Thanks

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Thank you ladies for this thread!
I always thought of crockpots as thick, unhealthy, cornstarchy mushs.. My Ex's mom used to make horrendous concoctions in hers!!

With crockpots you reap what you sow. If you load it with canned cream of mush soup and canned peas and canned spinach (like the recipes of the 1960-70's often called for)...then you get those famous crocpot 'mush casseroles". :D My favorite crock recipes are actually from new vegetarian crockpot books, even though I'm not a vegetarian. I like them because they emphasize fresh produce and concentrate on keeping the textures and tastes nice and distinct.


Lisa, do you peel the apples? Thanks

Yes, but I use one of those marvelous little old fashioned gizmo machines you suction-cup onto your counter and stick the apple on and turn a crank by hand while it rotates, peels and cores the apple in about 10 seconds. They still make them! It's one of those kind of great old machine inventions you have to really admire, sort of like a bicycle. :)

[Kelly728]

Just noticed that link Flash posted. Awesome! I'm finding I have to dig through for something that isn't too unhealthy and heavy but, I've found a few to put on my "to do" list.

[crazycanuck]

I ventured to Myer this afternoon & picked up a slow cooker/crock pot thing plus a mini waffle maker :)

I look forward to using both & will keep an eye on this thread. I'd like to make my dear even happier with coolio new dishes :)

[badger]

I'm going to resurrect this thread because I need to use my crock pot more.

I'm not a big soup person, and there's only so much beans I can eat so I really like tulip's use of the crock pot to make lasagne. I never thought of it, and considering they sell no-cook noodles now, it's so brilliantly simple.

Someone way back put a recipe with peanut butter. I recently made a pumpkin stew with peanut butter and it was so delish! I used all kinds of mix-n-match vegetables in the fridge along with left over summer squash, water with some bouillon, a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter, couple tablespoons of tomato paste and voila, a few hours later a lovely stew. At least it's thick so it doesn't feel like a soup to me.

Oh, and I'm also baking up a storm lately with bread, and made some nice buns.

Anyone here ever make bread without yeast, as in culture it with wild yeast from the air? Takes a while to do (a couple weeks?)

[tulip]

You can use regular noodles. No need to pay extra for no-cook noodles. In fact, you can use regular noodles, uncooked, for regular oven-baked lasagne, too.

The only thing that I have found is that if I leave my crockpot on high for the whole time, it gets a little burned on the bottom. I haven't made it in a while, but next time I will start it on high for 3 hours and then set it to low for the final 3 hours (or however long it takes, I go by how bubbly it gets).

[WindingRoad]

Tulip I'm going to try that out tomorrow. Is there any trick to getting hard noodles to fit in a round crockpot?

[skhill]

This is a bit off topic, but I'm trying out a new use for my crockpot. It's really, really cold today, and my house has a vintage heating system. Even though it was under 50 F in my kitchen this morning, I'm out of bread and it's time to make some more. So I've turned to the crockpot. There's a couple inches of water in the bottom, then the bowl with my bread dough (sourdough, btw) perched on top, with the temperature turned to "warm." It's rising, slowly, but rising nonetheless....

[tulip]

Tulip I'm going to try that out tomorrow. Is there any trick to getting hard noodles to fit in a round crockpot?

You just have to break them to make them fit. I usually overlap them. I hope it works out for you! Around here it's a very good day for a hearty, hot meal of lasagne.

[tulip]

This is a bit off topic, but I'm trying out a new use for my crockpot. It's really, really cold today, and my house has a vintage heating system. Even though it was under 50 F in my kitchen this morning, I'm out of bread and it's time to make some more. So I've turned to the crockpot. There's a couple inches of water in the bottom, then the bowl with my bread dough (sourdough, btw) perched on top, with the temperature turned to "warm." It's rising, slowly, but rising nonetheless....

That is a great idea. When it's really cold, I usually have my woodstove burning and I tuck my bread dough behind it to rise (but not too close or it will just bake).

[nscrbug]

Ooohhhhh...I LOVE crockpot lasagna!!! It comes out great everytime! I will have to make some soon. Last weekend, I made a great turkey chili in the crockpot. I've been using a lot of recipes from allrecipes.com. I like that all the recipes have tons of reviews and tips on using substitute ingredients or adding ingredients to enhance the dish even more. I like the site so much, that I got on their mailing list and get a new dish emailed to me everyday. The ones that I'm interested in trying, I add to my "recipe box" on the site.

[bluebug32]

Here's the recipe for my favorite turkey crock pot chili (just posted it on my blog). It's so good and pretty healthy too:

http://mudandmanolos.wordpress.com/2011/01/11/spicy-turkey-chili/

[Biker Jo]

Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I've been finding some interesting recipes.

[ASammy1]

I make a roast in the crock pot and it turns out super yummy everytime!

1/2 bottle CHEAP merlot
1 smallish beef roast (doesn't matter which kind) trimmed of fat
1 packet of onion soup mix

Brown the outside of roast in a smidge of EVOO. Drop it in the crock pot, with the half bottle of wine, and pour the onion soup mix on top. Cook on low for 6-7 hours and voila! Comes out perfect every time!

[tangentgirl]

kalua pork, courtesy of my friend rose in honolulu:

1 4 lb pork roast, rump or shoulder
2 tbs hawaiian sea salt
2 tbs liquid smoke

**bonus pre-step: brine the pork for a few hours in salt + liquid smoke mixture.**


rub pork w/ salt + liquid smoke
put pork in crock pot
fill crock put w 1 inch of water
cook on low for 3 hours
turn the pork over
cook on low for 4-5 hours
shred the pork like crazy
eat the ono kalua pork
break your mouth. so. damn. good.
repeat last 2 steps every day until it is gone


you can line the pot with banana leaves, or not. you can add cabbage towards the end, or not. you can eat it with white rice and soy sauce and sirrachha. you can use mesquite or hickory smoke. you can share it with your friends.

[Raindrop]

One crockpot recipe that my DH loves so I make it at least every other month or so is Black bean soup:

1 pound of chicken tenders (I throw them in frozen)
2 cans of rinsed black beans (although I use soaked ones)
2 cups of sliced mushrooms
1 can of chicken broth
1 tbls of cumin
2 -4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jar of chunky salsa (I use Hot)

Right before serving stir in either 1 cup of sour creme or I use nonfat plain Greek yogurt.

Garnish with cheddar cheese and a slice of avocado.

Your house will smell great while this is cooking and it freezes well too.

[tangentgirl]

This is a bit off topic, but I'm trying out a new use for my crockpot. It's really, really cold today, and my house has a vintage heating system. Even though it was under 50 F in my kitchen this morning, I'm out of bread and it's time to make some more. So I've turned to the crockpot. There's a couple inches of water in the bottom, then the bowl with my bread dough (sourdough, btw) perched on top, with the temperature turned to "warm." It's rising, slowly, but rising nonetheless....

How did this work?

[indysteel]

kalua pork, courtesy of my friend rose in honolulu:

1 4 lb pork roast, rump or shoulder
2 tbs hawaiian sea salt
2 tbs liquid smoke

**bonus pre-step: brine the pork for a few hours in salt + liquid smoke mixture.**


rub pork w/ salt + liquid smoke
put pork in crock pot
fill crock put w 1 inch of water
cook on low for 3 hours
turn the pork over
cook on low for 4-5 hours
shred the pork like crazy
eat the ono kalua pork
break your mouth. so. damn. good.
repeat last 2 steps every day until it is gone


you can line the pot with banana leaves, or not. you can add cabbage towards the end, or not. you can eat it with white rice and soy sauce and sirrachha. you can use mesquite or hickory smoke. you can share it with your friends.

Yum. Is Hawaiian sea salt substantially different from other sea salts?

My standard crock pot pulled pork recipe recipe is equally easy. I just place about a 4-5 pound pound piece of trimmed pork shoulder (or whatever cut you like) into the crock pot with a generous coating of pepper, onion and garlic salt and whatever other spices you might like. You can throw in some Liquid Smoke, Worchestshire or fresh garlic, too. To that, add enough root beer to almost cover the pork. Cook on low for about 6-7 hours. Turn it over halfway through cooking. Add more root beer if necessary.

After it's cooked, drain the remaining liquid from the crock and then shred the pork. Place shredded pork back into the Crock, add some (additional) Liquid Smoke and Worchestshire. Mix in your favorite BBQ sauce. Let it sit for another half hour to an hour before serving. I like to serve this with a vinegar-based slaw and sweet potatoe fries or baked beans. Yummy!

[skhill]

How did this work?

It worked! The risen dough ended up quite wet, and forming it into a loaf was a bit of a pain. But the flavor and texture are good, and it did rise.

Should have expected the dough to pick up some moisture from the warm water, and made it dryer to begin with. Next time...

[badger]

I find that if you've got time on your side, dough will rise even in the fridge. there have been times I kneaded the dough and left in the fridge to keep until closer to the time only to be shocked at how it's grown.

I think I'll have to resurrect the bread baking thread, I'm so into bread baking right now.

[tangentgirl]

Yum. Is Hawaiian sea salt substantially different from other sea salts?


Um...well...to tell the truth, I don't know. My friend's recipe said Hawaiian. I just used sea salt from the trader joe's, 'cause I couldn't find anything that said Hawaiian, and I didn't feel like going to another store to explore salt varieties. Prolly not.

[GLC1968]

OK, I just have to post this recipe here. I've made it a bunch of times and we just gobble it up every time. SUPER easy, too.

Crockpot Mexican Tortilla Soup

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts - frozen
10 oz enchilada sauce
16 oz chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 4 oz can diced green chilies
1 can corn
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 cup water
1 onion, chopped/diced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

shredded cheese
tortilla chips
chopped cilantro

Ready for this? Throw the first 14 ingredients into the crock pot and cook on low for at least 7 hours. Chicken should be frozen. That's it!

An hour or so before serving, shred chicken with a fork. It should be super tender by now and almost falling apart anyway.

Top with shredded cheese, broken tortilla chips and fresh cilantro and serve.

I've heard that people top it with sliced avocado as well but in my mind, that's just ruining it. ;)

[tulip]

That sounds amazing, GLC! Thanks for posting it. I would definitely add the avocado, and serve it over rice. Yum.

[GLC1968]

That sounds amazing, GLC! Thanks for posting it. I would definitely add the avocado, and serve it over rice. Yum.

Ooh yeah, over rice. I forgot that I used to do that! I've since dropped the rice in favor of more chips (I'm watching points!). :p

I'm also thinking of tossing in some sliced, grilled zucchini before serving to up the veggie factor a bit too.

[Owlie]

Sounds pretty good. The tomatoes: Is that a 28 oz or 14 oz can? I'm thinking of replacing the chicken with a roughly equivalent amount of leftover shredded roasted chicken, because the idea of putting raw meat in a crockpot just doesn't sit right with me.

[GLC1968]

Sounds pretty good. The tomatoes: Is that a 28 oz or 14 oz can? I'm thinking of replacing the chicken with a roughly equivalent amount of leftover shredded roasted chicken, because the idea of putting raw meat in a crockpot just doesn't sit right with me.

The tomatoes are a 14 oz can. I have also used 2 10 oz rotel cans (with chilies) and left out the green chillies with good success, too. The 'hot' version gives the soup a really nice heat!

The original recipe calls for cooking and shredding the chicken separately. The first time I did it, I put it in with the other ingredients like the recipe said and the chicken was pure mush and really gross. The second time, I put it in about an hour before the end and it was better. Then I starting thinking that it was such a pain for me and my schedule. The soup was always at a good boil by the time I got home, so I figure it could cook the chicken itself. That's why I put it in there frozen - I don't want it defrosting until the liquid is already cooking. So far, it's worked wonderfully.

I should mention that my days are long, so when I make this, it's cooking for about 10 hours before I get to eat it.

[Owlie]

Makes perfect sense, GLC. I figured I'd just add it in toward the end, since I'm not exactly overburdened with work at the moment. :rolleyes: Most of the workout my crockpot gets are with chili, so it'll nice to have something else to cook with it.

[indysteel]

Sounds pretty good. The tomatoes: Is that a 28 oz or 14 oz can? I'm thinking of replacing the chicken with a roughly equivalent amount of leftover shredded roasted chicken, because the idea of putting raw meat in a crockpot just doesn't sit right with me.

Most of the things I use the crockpot for involve raw meat. I use a meat thermometer to check for doneness just as I otherwise would. Assuming no other cross contamination, I'm no more worried about cooking meat in the crock than, say, cooking it in the oven.

[emily_in_nc]

That sounds great, GLC. And my DH loves all things Tex-Mex, so I'll definitely try it!

[Owlie]

Most of the things I use the crockpot for involve raw meat. I use a meat thermometer to check for doneness just as I otherwise would. Assuming no other cross contamination, I'm no more worried about cooking meat in the crock than, say, cooking it in the oven.

It's just me--I have a mother who's ever so slightly paranoid about microbes and other wee beasties, and it's rubbed off. It also helps that I'm planning on roasting a bird this weekend, so I'll have some lying around.

I found a crockpot recipe for Cincinnati-style chili. DBF will be pleased. :)

[nscrbug]

It's just me--I have a mother who's ever so slightly paranoid about microbes and other wee beasties, and it's rubbed off. It also helps that I'm planning on roasting a bird this weekend, so I'll have some lying around.

I found a crockpot recipe for Cincinnati-style chili. DBF will be pleased. :)

Ooooh...I would be VERY interested in that chili recipe! Would you mind posting it...or at least a link for it? Thanks!

[Owlie]

Here you go:
http://coconutlime.blogspot.com/2010/12/slow-cooker-cincinnati-chili.html

I'm going to have to test it out, and possibly tweak a few things. (Chipotles? In Cincy chili?)

[Catrin]

I've finally replaced my crock pot that was lost during my October move. I need to find some very high protein/low fat recipes (poultry) crock pot recipes. I tend to not get enough veggies so I think this will be an easier way of doing it.

I do not have much time to cook on weekday evenings, and I do take my lunch to work - so I've fallen into this rut of just baking 5-6 boneless/skinless chicken breasts at a time and living on that with lettuce and fat-free dairy products with Ezekial bread and apples. I have breakfast worked out - that isn't a problem, it is the other meals that I need to work on. They have me on a low fat/medium carb/very high protein diet. This works well to manage my blood sugar and weight.

Those are all good things - but I need to add more veggies to the mix - and this seems a good approach. I want to try to use more fresh veggies rather than frozen, and things that are in season. I am going to do some internet searches as well, but it is nice to hear personal recommendations...my budget will be quite tight until my Gunnar comes home so I need to be careful.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Putting those skinless chicken breasts into the crock pot for several hours with some cut up carrots, celery, potatoes, and onions is way more nutritious than just baking the chicken plain. Also, if you cut everything up real small and add some water....voila!- chicken soup! Or use rice instead of potatoes. Try it all with various vegetables for something different.

Try loading your crockpot with big pieces of apples and pears, and a touch of cinnamon... enjoy a big bowl of stewed fruit after dinner. :)

[Catrin]

Putting those skinless chicken breasts into the crock pot for several hours with some cut up carrots, celery, potatoes, and onions is way more nutritious than just baking the chicken plain. Also, if you cut everything up real small and add some water....voila!- chicken soup! Or use rice instead of potatoes. Try it all with various vegetables for something different.

Try loading your crockpot with big pieces of apples and pears, and a touch of cinnamon... enjoy a big bowl of stewed fruit after dinner. :)

This is such a good idea! I will put almost anything in a soup pot - but for some reason hadn't enough about doing this with the crock pot. I just bought some fresh carrots and new potatoes and chicken in the freezer...hmmm I will sometimes put frozen chicken directly into the oven, bet I can do this with the crock pot!

Thanks for kick-starting my brain :) All of the recipes I looked at seemed so lengthy that it was a little intimidating...

[maillotpois]

Ok - it officially feels like winter here! :D

Sunday I pulled out the crock pot and did a huge pot of chili (anaheim chilis, poblano peppers, fresh red peppers, onion/garlic, grass fed ground beef, beans, spices) and that lasted through today. Garnished with fresh avocado - yum!

Tonight is coq au vin! :)

[indysteel]

Ok - it officially feels like winter here! :D

Sunday I pulled out the crock pot and did a huge pot of chili (anaheim chilis, poblano peppers, fresh red peppers, onion/garlic, grass fed ground beef, beans, spices) and that lasted through today. Garnished with fresh avocado - yum!

Tonight is coq au vin! :)

I love coq au vin but have never made it in the crock pot. Last New Year's Eve, it was my daylong project, and it turned out divine. The process itself isn't hard; it just takes the better part of the day. Let me know how you like your recipe.

P.S. Speaking of vin, how was Waves to Wine?

[maillotpois]

P.S. Speaking of vin, how was Waves to Wine?

I probably owe a report on that!! :) It was great. Em had a terrific attitude throughout - 40 and 50 mile days. (Really nice for me to do something a little shorter than usual!) It was a fun weekend.

So on the coq au vin - I have done it a number of times in the crock pot. I am sure the labor intensive recipes are better, but this works out well when you are like I am and (1) not a great cook; (2) not overly patient and willing to spend a lot of time cooking. I always cook up the bacon first and then brown the chicken and also let the mushrooms, onions, etc. spend a little time in the bacon pan.

[pll]

Try loading your crockpot with big pieces of apples and pears, and a touch of cinnamon... enjoy a big bowl of stewed fruit after dinner. :)

I don't own a crockpot, but at home, sometimes we'd stew all kinds of fruits (apples, pears, strawberries, pineapple, plums, ... prunes, raisins...) with some sugar, a couple of cinnamon sticks, maybe a clove. Serve it with a touch of Amaretto. Yum.

[Catrin]

I don't own a crockpot, but at home, sometimes we'd stew all kinds of fruits (apples, pears, strawberries, pineapple, plums, ... prunes, raisins...) with some sugar, a couple of cinnamon sticks, maybe a clove. Serve it with a touch of Amaretto. Yum.

Mmmmmmm, would you just put them in with a bit of water? Just trying to think how I would do this, though I probably wouldn't add sugar to it.

[TsPoet]

so, I can't cook - I'm really am incompetent, I've never made anything ever that tasted OK. But, I got a crock pot and I'm trying.
Question - for meals in which the meat should be pre-browned - can I do that the night before and put in the fridge until starting up the crock pot the next morning?

[pll]

Mmmmmmm, would you just put them in with a bit of water? Just trying to think how I would do this, though I probably wouldn't add sugar to it.

Yep, you need some water.

[maillotpois]

Question - for meals in which the meat should be pre-browned - can I do that the night before and put in the fridge until starting up the crock pot the next morning?

I don't see why that would make any difference if that is easier for you. Browning is intended to sear the meat a little which really makes it taste better. I can tell the difference when I do brown and don't.

But I also classify myself as an incompetent cook (but a helluva baker), so what do I know?

[withm]

Question - for meals in which the meat should be pre-browned - can I do that the night before and put in the fridge until starting up the crock pot the next morning?

Sure. I do this all the time. Brown meats (and veggies if needed) the night before. Put it in the fridge. Cut up all the vegies. Assemble everything else. In the morning, put it all in the crock pot and go to work.

[Becky]

Question - for meals in which the meat should be pre-browned - can I do that the night before and put in the fridge until starting up the crock pot the next morning?

I do. I can barely pour a cup of coffee at 5am, let alone brown meat and prep a slow cooker meal.

I have a pork-lentil stew going right now, all prepped last night. Just make sure that the cold crock goes into a cold crock pot to reduce the risk of cracking.

[Dannielle]

the first page of this post got me giggling with regards to what size crockpot is good for making soup for a family for 4 with leftovers. I make soup for just me in a 6qt crockpot several times per week and eat the whole thing that day...by myself. Gosh, if I were going to make soup for the whole family and have leftovers I'd need one of those big Nesco roasters lol!