Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

This is one of my husbands favorite meals, I'm surprised I haven't posted it sooner. 

2-4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
1 bottle of your choice BBQ sauce (I love Sweet Baby Raye's. Tonight I used the Sweet Onion flavor)

--Usually I just put the chicken and half the bottle of BBQ sauce in the crock pot, and let it cook for 6-8 hours on low.  After reading the grocery budget guide (posted below) I will no longer be doing that.  It's a better idea to cook the chicken (probably just with some water in the bottom) and add the BBQ sauce as you serve up the chicken so if you have left over chicken you can put in the fridge and use it in another recipe later in the week.

This is a really simple and quick to throw together "go to" recipe for me!  Tonight I served it with some left over funeral potatoes, green beans and corn!

Orange Chicken

This recipe was fairly simple.  I think next time I'll try it without the breading though for the sake of time.  Here's the recipe I used, the only thing I would change is not breading it or pan frying it before it goes in the crock pot.

3-4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cut into small chunks (I used 3)
1/3 cup flour
olive oil
1/2 TBS salt
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
3 TBS ketchup
6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
4 TBS brown sugar

In a bowl, mix the vinegar, ketchup, orange juice, salt, and brown sugar.  Pour the flour in a small bowl (I used a zip lock bag) and coat the chicken with the flour

Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and brown the flour covered chicken.  (It doesn't need to be fully cooked since it's going in the crock pot)

After you've browned the chicken, put it in the crock pot and pour the sauce over top.  Give it a stir to coat the chicken and let it cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours.

Serve over rice.

I added some minced garlic and red peppers to mine to bulk it up a little.  I think next time I'll add even a few more veggies than I did this time. 

Slow Cooker Sweet & Sour Pork

This dish was super easy and super delicious!  Both my boys and the hubby loved it!  It's always a keeper if everyone likes it.  I love hearing "Mmm...this is really good" and "Yum, Thanks mom" when attempting a new or different recipe :)

3-4 pork chops
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 purple onion-chopped
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 small can pineapple tidbits-undrained

--Mix together ketchup and brown sugar.  Put pork chops in bottom of crock pot, spread ketchup mixture over chops, and add chopped onions on top.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours.
--30 minutes before serving add peppers and pineapple.  Serve over rice.  ENJOY!  Yum!

**I added some dried cranberries in the beginning just because I needed to use them up, and thought they'd add a little more sweetness to the pork.** 

Beef Stew

1 lb stew meat
2-3 carrots-peeled & chopped
1 celery stalk-chopped
4-5 medium russet potatoes-peeled and cubed
1 package beef stew seasoning (follow instructions on back) OR 2 cups beef broth, 1 cup water, garlic powder, thyme, salt & pepper

Brown stew meat on all sides
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker, cover, and cook on low 6-8 hours
Serve with rolls
Enjoy!!!

Minestrone Soup (or something like it)

I Googled minestrone soup recipes, got a basic idea of how to make it, and kind of made my own recipe and I LOVE IT! I've actually got some cooking in the crock pot right now, and tonight I'm adding sausage! It smells so good! We'll see how it turns out!!! Here's my recipe!

1 can Kidney Beans
1 can Black Beans
1 can Great Northern Beans
1 can Cut Green Beans
1 can Corn
1 can Tomato Sauce
2 cans Vegatable Broth (they didn't have cans when I went grocery shopping last week, so I bought a 32 oz box, I dumped it all in today)
1 - 1 1/2 cups water
1 can Diced Tomato's (the first time I diced my own fresh and it was really good)
2-3 Carrots-chopped
1 Celery Stalk-chopped
1 Small Onion-chopped
1 small zucchini squash-peeled & sliced
Bay Leaves (I used dried, and just sprinkle maybe 1/2 tsp in)
Thyme (again I just sprinkle it in, I don't measure)
Minced Garlic (I use dried)
Salt & Pepper
Small Shell Pasta (I used half of a 16 oz package)
Parmesan Cheese

-Combine Beans, Corn, Tomato Sauce, Broth, Water, Carrots, Celery, Onion and Seasonings in crock pot.
-Cover, cook on low 6-8 hours
-30 minutes before serving, add zucchini
-I cook the pasta right at the end of the cooking time, and then add it into the soup. But a lot of the recipes I saw, said you can put the pasta in with everything else and let it cook with the soup, however, a lot of the reviews said the pasta soaked up a lot of the moisture and they added more water or it ended up like a stew.
-Tonight I'm browning 1/2 lb of Italian Sausage about 30 minutes before serving and adding it to the soup, we'll see how it turns out, but it sounds super yummy!!!
-Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese on top and serve with bread sticks, french bread, or garlic bread! Enjoy!!!

Crock Pot Lasagna

This seemed so much easier, and tasted so much better than regular oven baked lasagna! I made a big 6 quart crock pot full of this, and it didn't last long enough for left overs the next night. My husband and 4 year old both had seconds the night I made it, and gobbled the rest up for lunch the next day!

::1 lb ground beef
::1 jar spaghetti sauce (I use Ragu, homemade would be GREAT in this!)
::1 small onion-chopped
::1 can tomato sauce
::1 container cottage cheese (16 oz I think?)
::Mozzerella Cheese (I used probably 3 cups?)
::Parmesan Cheese (I used probably 1 cup?)
::Lasagna Noodles (uncooked!)

-Brown beef & onion
-combine beef, spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce in small bowl
-put a small amount of sauce mixture on bottom of crock pot, just enough to cover the bottom
-Layer Noodles (break to fit), sauce, & cheeses. I did 3 layers and used up all ingredients except noodles.
-Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours

I love this recipe because you don't have to boil the noodles, they soak up all the moisture in the crock pot and it turns out perfectly every time! It's not messy like an oven baked lasagna, you can cut it into perfect serving sizes and it's not a mess! This is a recipe I'll be using often!!!

Sweet Pork Burrito's

I think this is about as close to Costa Vida as I'll ever get. It was still really yummy!

2-3 lb pork roast
1 (12 oz) can of soda (I used diet coke)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 pinch ground cumin
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
2 packets enchilada sauce mix

::Prepare enchilada sauce as directed on package
::Meanwhile put roast, soda, garlic & cumin in crock-pot
::Mix brown sugar into the enchilada sauce and pour over roast
::Cook on low for 8 hours
::30 minutes before serving, shred the pork with two forks, drain all but maybe 1 or 2 cups of the sauce and let the meat soak in the rest of the sauce.

Next time I may even refrigerate half of the sauce and add it towards the end of the cooking time so it has a little more flavor. But this was an excellent sweet pork.

I served in whole wheat tortillas with Mexican style rice. YUM!

Southwestern Style Chicken

I have just found a new favorite recipe. For a few reasons.

1. This recipe calls for 5 ingredients that I usually have on hand
2. It's super EASY!
3. It's really YUMMY!
4. You can make so many different dishes with it!

2-3 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
1 (16 oz) jar of MEDIUM salsa (don't use mild, the chicken won't have much flavor)
1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
Cheddar Cheese

Throw all ingredients except cheese in crock-pot. Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours. Shred chicken with two forks.

I used the chicken in quesadilla's tonight. And honestly 2 large chicken breasts made A LOT! I made 6 quesadilla's and we have enough left overs for at least 6-8 more! I plan to use the left overs tomorrow on salad.

The great thing about this, is you can serve it so many different ways! Like I did, you can make quesadilla's. I just put the shredded chicken mixture in a tortilla, topped with cheese and folded the tortilla in half. I baked them for 3 or 4 minutes at 450 degrees just to melt the cheese and warm the tortillas and they were FABULOUS!

*tip: moisten the edges of the tortillas to seal into a quesadilla!

Tomorrow, I'll just warm up the left overs, add it to some tossed greens. Add some tortilla strips, sour cream and guacamole and WA-LA! Basically a chicken taco salad!

The recipe I have says just to serve it over rice. And it would be good in enchilada's or hard taco shells!

Perfect Potato Soup!

I think I found this basic recipe at allrecipes.com. It was a good guide for a good soup, I made a few of my own adjustments and Wa-La! It was perfect! Definitely a must try for the winter season! I know it's definitely going on our menu again within the next couple weeks! It was a little time consuming to start, but once it's in the crock pot that's it! Here's my version of the soup:

8-12 medium russet potatoes, peeled & cubed
1 small onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 bag baby carrots, chopped (next time I think I'll just buy the carrot chips, but I chopped a bag of baby carrots into 4's and it worked great!)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 chicken bouillon cubes
5 cups water
Thyme, Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Put all ingredients, except cheese, milk & flour in crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours. 30 minutes before serving add cheese, milk, & flour.

Serve with rolls.

I was nervous all day, I kept stirring the soup and it seemed really watery. DON'T WORRY! As soon as you add the cheese, milk, and flour it will thicken up almost instantly. 30 minutes later it's a perfect texture!

My husband said next time he'd like me to add some sort of meat. Bacon, Ham, & Cube Steak come to mind and sound like they would taste good in this soup. I may even add a little sour cream and top with some chives next time as well.

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken

My sister told me of this recipe, I don't have it written down, I just made it from what I could remember and it turned out really good. The only thing I'd change is I'd serve it with rice instead of noodles, and I added a veggie =)

Chicken Tenders (sis uses the frozen ones, I just bought about 1 lb)
4 oz cream cheese (half of the 8 oz bar you buy at the store)
8 oz sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup (no water or milk added)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (no water or milk added)
whatever seasonings you'd like I used:
Salt
Pepper
Minced Garlic
Lemon Pepper
Seasoning Salt

Throw everything in the crock pot and let it cook on low for about 6 hours (if you use chicken breasts I'd do it for 7-8 hours)
Just before serving the chicken cook your noodles or rice (I used macaroni noodles this time and it was okay, but I'd save some of the soup, sour cream, cream cheese mixture to mix into the noodles, they were a little dry) I also boiled some carrot match sticks with my noodles to give it a little color and to get my 4 year old another serving of veggies for the day =) That's it! It's easy, and yummy!!!

Melt In Your Mouth Pulled Pork

Tonight's dinner was yummy and easy! Just what you wanted right!?

Here's what I used:

3 lb pork roast
minced garlic
diced pepper
diced onion
pinch of cumin spice
salt & pepper
bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

I put the pork roast in a crock-pot with about 2 cups of water, garlic, pepper, onion & spices. Cooked on low all day (about 8 hours); drained the roast, added a bottle of BBQ sauce and shredded with 2 forks!

Serve on whole wheat buns with green beans, or french fries, or chips, or a green salad, or pasta salad (which I have a great, easy recipe for, watch for it in the near future!) or whatever else you'd like!

Potato Topped Chicken Casserole (or Chicken Topped Potato Casserole in my case ha ha)

This recipe was contributed by: Mary Ann Dell from Phoenixville Pennsylvania. She wrote: A friend gave me this easy, fast and delicious recipe. Any cheese you have on hand will work fine. It's perfect for those nights when you want something hearty and homemade.

Yield: 2 casseroles (6 servings each)

4 lbs medium red potatoes, quartered
3 lbs ground chicken
4 medium carrots, finely chopped
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tbs tomato paste
1-1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
1/3 tsp minced fresh thyme
1-1/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
6 tbs butter, cubed
1-3/4 cups (7 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

::Place potatoes in Dutch oven and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender.

::Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook the chicken, carrots and onions over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the flour, tomato paste, salt, pepper and thyme. Add chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 6-8 minutes or until thickened.

::Divide mixture between two greased 13x9 in. baking dishes. Drain potatoes; place in a large bowl. Add milk and butter; mash until smooth. Stir in cheese. Spread over chicken mixture.

::Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Bake the remaining casserole, uncovered, at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly.

::to use frozen casserole: Thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 400 for 50-55 minutes or until bubbly.

I still have yet to purchase a dutch oven! So here's how I made this casserole:

I used 4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts. Put the chicken, chopped carrots, chopped onion, tomato paste, salt, pepper, thyme, and chicken broth in crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

30 minutes before chicken is done, start the potatoes. I just boiled mine on the stove top for 20 minutes until they were soft. I didn't use butter or milk for the potatoes, I used sour cream!

Drain chicken and shred with forks. I spread the mashed potatoes in the bottom of the casserole dish, topped with chicken, and drained the chopped carrots and onions and added them to the top of the chicken. Topped with cheese and baked at 400 for 15 minutes until the cheese was melted and bubbly.

Our whole family LOVED this recipe! It turned out so yummy! I just made one great big casserole instead of two, and it fed our family of 3 dinner, and lunch for the next 2 days! This is definitely one you HAVE to try and one that I will be making more of and freezing for crazy work days!

BEST CHILI RECIPE EVER!!!!

I didn't pick the title just because this is my mom's wonderful recipe...this is seriously THE BEST CHILI EVER! And it's SUPER EASY!

1lb ground beef
1 yellow onion
1 green pepper
2 can chili beans (30 oz)
1 can stewed tomatoes
Pinch of Chili Powder

Brown the ground beef
Chop up the onion and pepper. I like to add half to my meat while it's browning and the other half I throw in the crockpot with the chili beans, and tomatoes.
I also season my meat with some Chili Powder
And add a pinch (or two) to the bean mixture. (we like a little more flavorful chili)
Let the crockpot take over on low for 6-8 hours.
Serve with cornbread or Frito's! And top with cheese and sour cream! So good!!!!

Garlic Chicken Farfalle

16 oz. Farfalle pasta
1 c. heavy whipping cream
3-4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
2 to 3 cloves garlic, crushed OR garlic salt
1 Tbsp. pepper
1/2 c. butter
1 lb. bacon, crumpled
1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
1 (12 oz) Lawry’s mesquite marinade with lime juice


Crock pot chicken and bottle of marinade on low for 6 hours. Pull marinated chicken out of the juices, allow to cool a little bit, and shred (I pull it apart). Set this aside. About a half-hour before serving, boil the pasta. In a small saucepan, melt butter, add garlic, whipping cream, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and crumpled bacon. Whisk together on low heat for 3-4 minutes. In a large bowl, pour over cooked, drained pasta, add chicken and stir through. Sprinkle a little bit more shredded Parmesan cheese on top.

(this recipe was copied and pasted from yummyfood4all.blogspot.com)

Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup in a Crock Pot

SERVES 12 -14 - this is a big recipe, can be halved.

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Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (16 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
• 1 (16 ounce) can white kidney beans, drained
• 3 (10 ounce) cans beef stock
• 3 teaspoons oregano
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 5 teaspoons parsley
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (optional)
• 1 (20 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 8 ounces pasta

Directions

1. Brown beef in skillet. Drain fat from beef and add to crock pot with everything except pasta.
2. Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 4-5 hours.
3. During last 30 min on high, add pasta. OR even better, cook pasta on the stovetop and add as you are serving the soup.

I haven't made this soup YET this cold season, but we did enjoy it earlier this spring and it was DEE-LISH! I can't wait to make it this weekend! The only changes I remember making last time was--I did not use Tabasco Sauce and I used 2 cans of Red Kidney Beans instead of the White Kidney Beans. I've not had this soup at Olive Garden myself, but I hear it tastes exactly like that. All I know is it is SUPER YUMMY! You can serve it with bread-sticks, garlic bread or rolls!

Tonight's A Soup Night!

It's cold and wet outside. Which means Fall has truely kicked in! I love fall...for many reasons! The colors, smells, and feel are a few of my favorite reasons. I love to see all the trees changing colors, and luckily where I live all 4 seasons are very clear. And fall is beautiful! Especially now that we live at the base of the mountains...all those beautiful colors are right out our front door! I love the smell of fall. There is just something in the air...not to mention all the baking that goes on during this wonderful season. Pumpkin Pies, Cookies, Bread. And the feel of Autumn is great! Aside from days like today when it's so cold outside there is actually a dust of snow on the lawn, I love the feel of Autumn afternoons. It's nice and cool, a little breezy. Perfect for a stroll! It's finally soup season! I'll be looking for and posting lots of soup recipes this Fall/Winter. My favorite thing on a cool evening is some soup....followed by some hot cocoa and cookies! So first soup of the season is: Taco Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 packet taco seasoning
1-1 1/2 cups of water
1 can tomato sauce
1 can stewed tomatoes

Directions:
-Brown ground beef
-In a medium sauce pan combine all ingredients
-Either simmer on low for 20-30 minutes OR throw it all in the crock-pot & cook on low for a few hours.

I serve mine with shredded cheddar cheese on top and some Fritos corn chips. The scoops are good to eat the soup with, or just the regular Fritos are good thrown on top. I made this soup VERY often last year. It's one of my favorites. One little tip: If you like milder soup-add more water...if you like spicier soup stick with the 1 cup. I put in 1-1/2 cups and it seems perfect. It's not too spicy for my 3 year old, and spicy enough for my husband and I.

Remember to e-mail your favorite recipes to me!
megcancook@yahoo.com

Home-Made Sloppy Joes

A girl at work and I swap recipes probably once a week. This week...neither of us had any good recipes. I had been craving Sloppy Joes, and my husband REFUSES to eat Manwich LoL! So I sat down and made up my own Sloppy Joe recipe. And it is DEE-LISH!!! I didn't really measure anything but here's an estimate of what I did use:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 a small onion-chopped
1 green bell pepper-chopped
1/2 bottle Honey BBQ sauce
1/4-1/2 cup brown sugar
1 can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce


-Brown the ground beef, saute the onion and bell pepper with the ground beef
-Pour the BBQ sauce, tomato paste and brown sugar in a crock pot and let it warm
-Add the tomato sauce to the ground beef
-Mix the ground beef mixture into the brown sugar/BBQ sauce mixure
-cook on low all day!

It was soooo yummy! I planned on having left overs the next day but, my husband ate most of it and took the rest to work! So next time I'm doubling the amount so we'll have leftovers the next day! I was amazed at how well it turned out! I didn't even know what I was doing! Hahahaha! Ya'll should try it! It's super yummy!!!!!

Chicken & Rice Casserole

I stirred up the idea from a dish my mother-in-law made for Father's day. I didn't really measure anything, and I made it a lot differently than I had planned. We cheated on Friday and ended up eating Pizza for dinner after a long, busy day. Which means I didn't have Casserole Saturday for my husband and I to take to work. I ended up taking some soup, and my husband went to subway. Anyway so Saturday when I came home from work at 4:00 a.m. the last thing I wanted to do was think of something, let alone try and make something easy for dinner on Sunday. But I knew if I didn't start something I wouldn't even come close to waking up in time to shower, get dressed, and make something decent for dinner. So when I came home I decided I'd try this casserole, crock pot style! And it was really good! Here's my recipe...or at least the ingredients hahaha!

1 container (16 oz.?) sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups cooked white rice
1 can green beans
Cheese (I used Cheddar-Jack)

I put some (2 table spoons?) sour cream on the bottom of the crockpot, seasoned my chicken with some garlic salt and pepper. Put the chicken in the crock pot and covered with about 1/3 of the sour cream and about 1/2 the can of soup. Then let it cook for 6-8 hours on low. When I woke up I made my 2 cups of rice. I added a little bit of the left over sour cream, and soup to the rice so it would stick together and stay moist, then I added the rest of the sour cream and soup to the chicken, shredded the chicken up and placed it over the rice in a casserole dish. Top that with some green beans & cheese and bake at 375 for about 15-20 minutes or until it's heated through and the cheese is melted!
This was a pretty tasty dish, it was a little bland though, I think next time I'd add some green onion to the top, and maybe cook the chicken with some onion & green pepper or something. But it was pretty good. My husband and son both ate it all up!