Slow Cooker

Pam Rojas’ Black Beans and “butter/oil” replacement tip

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This is one of the best recipes that I have had for Black Beans. You can use Navy, Pinto, and Great Northern Beans as well and they are yummy. The health benefits of legumes and lentils is amazing. They are also a great source for lean protein.
This recipe comes from a friend (that obtained it from a friend) and put it in our Relief Society Cookbook. This is great as a side, in many Mexican dishes, wraps, salads etc. It also freezes well – just place desired amount in a zippy bag and Viola’.
Ingredients:
1 – 16 oz bag dried beans Black, Navy, Pinto, or Great Northern Beans
3-4 garlic cloves minced
1-2 ribs of celery chopped
1 TBLS salt
1 1/2 tsp oregano or fresh equivalent
1/2-1 bunch of chopped cilantro (optional
6-7 cups water – Northern Beans take 9-10 cups

1. Rinse Black Beans in cold water removing any dirt or bad beans.
2. Place rinsed beans into large crock pot.
3. Add all ingredients in order to the crock pot and stir thoroughly.
4. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours stirring every once in awhile

Butter/Oil Replacement Tip:
This tip comes from my friend Sarah and I have expanded it a bit.

I substitute 1/2 or more of the fat in many cookies, cakes and some times brownies with dried beans. They work best in Oatmeal, pumpkin, and other “soft” cookies. This work very well in all types of cake.

1. Prepare beans as above leaving out all spices etc.
2. Freeze beans in zippy bags until needed.
3. When needed – thaw beans, puree in blender. Use euqal amounts to substitute (ie: If you are replacing 1/2 cup butter use 1/2 cup bean puree before the liquid is added). Puree pureed beans with at least 1 egg or other liquid in the recipe. This will help it incorporate better. Add to the recipe as usual.

Enjoy

Source: Sue Paries (beans)

Ground Beef Chili

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My favorite grocery store (Publix) often has meal demonstrations with samples to try. They also conveniently have all the ingredients ready to pick up right next to the station. I swung in to get a few items, and came out with a whole meal ready to cook. This chili is great. Originally, it has a good bit of a kick to it, I love that, but my husband’s tummy doesn’t… so I tamed it down a bit. The leftovers were great over baked potatoes too!

You can cook this fast or slow. Both variations are included below.

Ground Beef Chili
Serves 8

Ingredients 
1 onion, coarsely chopped  (my husband doesn’t like onions, so I substituted onion powder, tasted great!)
1 1/2 lb ground chuck beef
3 tablespoons chili powder (I only used 2 T.)
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (10.75-oz) can condensed tomato soup
1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes/sweet onions, undrained (I used regular diced tomatoes to tame the spice a little) 
1 (10-oz) can milder diced tomatoes/green chiles, undrained (Ro-tel Brand)
1 (16-oz) can chili beans in mild sauce, undrained)  (Bush’s Brand)
1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained

Directions
Preheat large saucepan on medium-high 2–3 minutes.
Place beef, chili powder, seasoned salt, pepper, and one-half of the onions in pan; cook 4–5 minutes, stirring to crumble meat, or until meat is brown and no pink remains.
Stir in remaining ingredients, including remaining one-half onions.
Bring to a boil, stirring often.
Reduce heat to low; cook and stir 10 more minutes to blend flavors. Serve.

Slow Cooker Variation
Combine everything, except beef, cook on low 4-6 hours. About 10 minutes before serving, brown the beef then stir into chili.

I served it with some cheddar cheese and sour cream along with some Corn Muffins on the side. YUM!

Creamy Chicken

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My fabulous sister-in-law introduced me to this recipe and I would classify it as a comfort food.

Ingredients:
5 – 6 Frozen Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts (or the equivalent of tenders)
2 (10 oz) cans of Cream of Chicken Soup (or, if you’re like me, make your own here)
1 packet of Italian Dressing Seasoning
1 (8 oz) package of Cream Cheese

1. Place chicken in your crockpot.
2. Dump soup and dressing packet on top. When I make soup base, I mix the Dressing seasoning into the soup and then add it to the crockpot.
3. Cube the cream cheese, and throw it in on top of the chicken.
4. Cook on low, 4 – 6 hours*.

Serve over rice. Brown rice is pictured here, but my kids like white rice.

*I imagine you can cook this in your oven for not as much time. Try thawed chicken at 350 for 45 mins to an hour and let me know how it turns out! 🙂

Source: My Fabuloso Sister-in-Law, Debbi

~Kara

“Baked” Potato Soup

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One of my favorite appliances in my kitchen are my Crockpots! I use them a lot. It is so easy to prep dinner while my son is eating lunch. I simply turn it on, and dinner is pretty much done. I love not having to worry about dinner once 5 o’clock rolls around.

 “Baked” Potato Soup 


Ingredients
5 lbs. Russet Potatoes, peeled & chopped into cubes
1 lb. Ham, cubed (I simply buy one of those air sealed packages of cubed ham at the store)
1 1/2 C. chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
48 oz. container chicken broth
1/4 C. butter
2 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. pepper
1 C. whipping cream
1 C. shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
 1. Combine first 8 ingredients in crock pot. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours. (Make sure you have a BIG crockpot, mine is a 5 or 6 quart, and it was plenty big).
2. Mash mixture until potatoes are coarsely chopped and soup is slightly thickened. Stir in cream and cheese. 3. Top with additional cheese and/or sour cream if desired.

This makes a ton, but if you’re like me…. you’ll be happy to have a yummy soup to eat for lunch all week!

** The soup pictured did not have any cheese in it, it tasted great without!

Crockpot Cubed Steak

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My aunt would make this and my uncle would rave about it. My mom finally got the “recipe” from her and it was delicious. This is one of my favorites on Sunday (is there anything more wonderful than lunch/dinner just waiting on you to get home from church?).

Crockpot Cubed Steak

desired number of cubed steaks
Lipton onion soup (approximately 1 package for every 4-5 steaks)
cream of mushroom soup (approximately 2 cans for every 4-5 steaks)
Your crockpot

1-Put the cubed steak in the crockpot
2-Pour onion soup mix on top of cubed steak
3-Cover with cream of mushroom soup.
4-Can turn crockpot on low or high-it just depends on how fast you want it ready.

We serve this with rice and usually sauteed green beans. It’s a pretty easy recipe. It makes its own gravy and you just kind of “eye ball” how much of the soup mix and cream of mushroom soup you want.

Source: Patti Branham

Ranch Slow Cooker Chicken

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I love my crock pot.  I love how easy it is to throw a few ingredients in it in the morning and have a yummy dinner that night. I love how ‘homey’ this dish tastes. I know you’ll enjoy it too!

Ranch Slow Cooker Chicken
Ingredients:
2 pounds chicken (you could easily substitute with pork chops)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 ranch dressing packet (or 3 Tbsp. if you have the shaker)

Directions:
1. Combine soups and seasoning in your slow cooker.
2. Add chicken, mix until chicken is coated.
3. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours.

To serve, prepare some mashed potatoes, make your little pool in the potatoes and fill it with this yummy goodness. Enjoy!

Eventually Chicken Soup

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Yes.  That is what it is called.  Here’s the deal…I put some frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts, a can of cream of mushroom soup, about 2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables, sea salt and fresh ground pepper in the crock pot before church and cooked it on high for about 4 hours.  When we got home it was like a chicken stew.  It was okay, but needed help.  The next night I added cilantro, a can of chopped green chilies and some farfalle pasta, some kosher salt and water and let it cook until the pasta was done.  Now that was good and it ended up being a soup.  We ate the last of it tonight–glad there was enough left to get a picture for our blog.

Ingredients:
4 frozen chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
1 can cream of mushroom soup (I used Campbell’s Healthy Request)
1 1/2 – 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 small can chopped green chilies
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Fresh cilantro
1 1/2 cups farfalle pasta (bow tie)
water


1.  Place chicken breasts, soup, vegetables, salt and pepper in a crock pot.  Cook on high for 4 hours.


2.  Add chilies, cilantro, pasta and enough hot water to desired amount and cook until pasta is done.   


Source: Original Recipe

Sunday Pot Roast With or Without Gravy

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They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Time constraints also bring about “invention”. The browning of the meat step was omitted by accident while trying to get young ones dressed and out the door a number of years ago. The end result… the meat was more tender than when browned. I love it when an oops works out to your advantage.

This is our favorite Pot Roast and works well with beef or Pork.

To my friends who have asked for a good pot roast recipe. This one is for you.

Ingredients:
3# Sirloin Tip Roast or 3# of meat of your choice
Canadian Steak Seasoning
1 1/2# mini carrots – rinsed
5 medium red potatoes scrubbed and cut into 6Th’s – I use Red Skin Golden Potatoes
Garlic Powder
1 medium onion chopped or equivalent in dried onions
1 1/2 cups water

1. Spray roasting pan with non-stick spray
2. Place roast in pan and sprinkle lightly with Canadian Steak Seasoning
3. Place carrots around roast in pan and sprinkle lightly with garlic powder and half of the chopped onions.
4. Place potatoes around roast in pan and sprinkle lightly with garlic powder and rest of onions
5. Add water
6. Cover and bake at 350 for 4-5 hours.

Crock pot directions:
1. Do the same as above through number 5
2. Cook on high for 7 hours or on low for 9-10 hours

Beef Gravy:
2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp Beef Soup Base
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Place all ingredients in small sauce pan and turn heat to med high
2. Whisk all ingredients together until smooth while liquid is heating up.
3. Whisk as needed until liquid becomes thick and bubbly.

The gravy can be used two ways. Either add it to the pot roast and it will cook in the gravy – this works best in the crock pot and gravy will be a thinner sauce or use as traditional gravy.

This freezes well after it is cooked. Just place all ingredients together in a zippy bag or freezer safe container. Store for 6 weeks.

Source: A Jennie Original

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

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My daughter, Madi, is a huge fan of Chicken Caesar Salad so we gave this recipe a try and it is our new family favorite. It’s so easy and deliciouso!

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/2 to 1 cup of your favorite Caesar dressing
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley (if you don’t have fresh use 2 t. dried parsley)
1/2 t. ground pepper
2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
12 slider buns or 4-6 regular sized hamburger buns

1. Place chicken in a 3-4 qt. slow cooker with 1-2 cups of water, cover and cook on low 4-6
hours.

2. Remove chicken from cooker using a slotted spoon and drain the water from the slow cooker.
Place chicken on a cutting board and pull chicken into shreds, discarding any fat.

3. Place chicken back in the cooker and pour dressing, Parmesan cheese, parsley and pepper
over the top. I really make sure that I discard any fat pieces so by the time I am done I only
use about 1/2 cup of dressing but you may need more if you have more chicken. Stir until
mixed evenly. Cover and cook on high heat for 30 minutes or until mixture is hot.

4. Spoon 1/4 cup mixture onto each slider bun if you are making sliders or more for regular
sized buns. Top with extra shredded Parmesan cheese and lettuce to serve.

Notes: I have also used a 4 lb. bag of bone-in, skin-on thighs and just doubled the other ingred-
ients (except for the dressing which you have to play around with according to taste). I
used Ken’s Light Caesar dressing.

Source: Pinterest

Grandpa’s Chili

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My Grandpa Davis made the best chili.  I have fond memories of him making it, nursing it on the stove top till it was just right.   He loved to use a LOT of chili powder, so you may want to back off on that a bit if you’re not into spicy.  Mind you, it’s not radically spicy.  I don’t like super spicy food, and this is just about as spicy as I want to get with my food.  (I’ve found that serving some fresh fruit as a side dish can help with that “burning mouth” syndrome.)

Ingredients:
2-3 Tbsp. oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped*
2 pounds ground beef
1 (2 ounce) can chili powder
2 or 3 (1-pound) cans pinto beans, drained**
3 (1 pound) cans tomatoes, chopped
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
water

1.  In a large pot, saute onions and green peppers in oil.  Add ground beef and brown.
2.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer 1-2 hours.***  Use enough water to obtain desired chili consistency.

*I hate green peppers, so I always leave these out.
**Use whatever mix of canned beans you like.  Pinto, kidney, and black beans work well in any combination.
***I tried this the other day in the SLOW COOKER.  I browned the beef, then put everything in the SLOW COOKER.  It worked great!

Source:  my grandpa, James Graham Davis