OVERNIGHT OATMEAL IN THE CROCK POT

Yesterday I woke up to my kitchen smelling of cinnamon. I had decided the night before to try making oatmeal in the crock pot. The wonderful thing is that you prepare it the night before and it cooks while you’re asleep. I thought it would be wonderful to have breakfast already to go out the door with me when I went to work. So I got smart and used a liner bag so that I was able to just turn off the crock pot, twist tie the bag and go. No mess to clean up! I thought it was really good compared to the instant oatmeal that comes in the package. Some of my co-workers volunteered to be my taste testers and agreed that I could bring it to work anytime. The apples and cinnamon were a perfect combination and the oatmeal was cooked just right after 8 hours in my crock pot. I just gave it a good stir and served it right out of the liner. It didn’t even need any more sweetener or milk. If it gets to dry you can always add some milk, half and half, or even yogurt to it. I am now wondering if I can do grits overnight in the crock pot as well. That might be my next week challenge. This will be wonderful for a quick and easy breakfast during the winter months. You can also change up the flavors by adding a little maple syrup, blueberries, bananas or even cranberries and nuts. There are endless combinations to this recipe. Just pick your favorites and have breakfast ready to go in the mornings.

 

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of old – fashioned uncooked oatmeal

4 cups of water

1 tsp. of salt

2 tsp. of cinnamon

1/3 cup of brown sugar

2 apples, cored, peeled and chopped

½ cup of raisins

DIRECTIONS:

Spray the crock pot with PAM. Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, apples, and raisins together. Place in the bottom of the crock pot. Then in a large bowl mix together the oatmeal, water and salt. Gently pour on top of the fruit mixture. Do not stir. Cover and cook on low for 8 -9 hours. In the morning stir it up and serve with milk, cream or a little extra brown sugar.

P.S. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of it stirred up. This is what I saw when I lifted the lid. Didn't get a chance to plate and picture it at work.

 

CROCK POT PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

It’s Sunday and I have not one but three crock pots going today. I had several new recipes I wanted to try before serving them to company.  I started this morning with a new recipe for pulled pork Hawaiian style. It turned out well. The flavor was kind of sweet and tangy.  It will go great with the King Hawaiian rolls and some coleslaw. The second crock pot had a blanco queso dip made with Asadero cheese. Don’t try it! It failed miserably. The cheese doesn't melt the way Velveeta does. It just clumped together and wouldn't mix with the milk. I had to just dump out the whole pot. It would probably work better with American white cheese but I thought I would try a different cheese this time. My third crock pot recipe was the best yet, dessert for tonight. It turned out wonderful. I was very pleased with the results. The cake was very moist and tasty. I used the pineapple juice in place of the water in the cake mix and it made all the difference in the flavor. Lining the crock pot with foil made it so easy to flip the cake out and clean up was a breeze. My only problem with this dessert was it was finished before my dinner and I had to wait to eat it! Next time I plan on timing things a little better and having some vanilla ice cream on hand too. This recipe will definitely be on my dessert rotation. 

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup of melted butter

 1 cup of brown sugar ( I used dark brown sugar)

1 20 oz. can of pineapple slices, reserve the juice for the cake mix

6-8 maraschino cherries

1 box of yellow cake mix

 

DIRECTIONS:

Butter the crock pot or spray it with PAM so the juices won't stick. Then layer it with foil and butter your foil. This prevents the cake from sticking to the side of the foil and allows for easy flipping. Combine the butter and brown sugar and spread over the bottom of the foil. Then place the pineapple rings down with a cherry in the middle. Next mix the cake mix according to the package and pour over the top of the fruit. Cover with 2 dish towels and the lid. Cook the cake on high for 1 hour or low for 3 ½ hours. The cake is done when your toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whip cream on top.

  

CREAMY CHICKEN AND WILD RICE

I have tried several different recipes for chicken and rice in the crock pot and didn’t really care for any of them. The rice has always seemed gummy to me except when in I used it in soup. So I found this wild rice mix which was really good in the turkey and wild rice soup I had made last winter so I decided to give it a try with the chicken. I was not disappointed!  My rice turned out creamy and the seasoning packet made the flavor. I didn’t even have to add any other spices. It was so good even my mother who doesn’t like rice ate it. I did have to cook the last 30 minutes with the lid off to help reduce some liquid but it just allowed the smell to circulate in my kitchen. Leftovers at work the next day were just as wonderful. I will be trying this wild rice with pork chops and cream of celery soup next week. I am sure you can use any long grain wild rice in a bag and add extra seasoning to make this. It went together so quick and easy. You could even throw in a bag of green beans, broccoli, or baby carrots even and have your whole dinner done. Be sure to add the 2 cans of condensed soup and extra water to the pot. I really think that prevented my rice from being gummy and gave it that creamy texture. I will post my recipe for the turkey and wild rice soup when it gets closer to Thanksgiving. This would be a wonderful soup to make with leftover turkey and fresh turkey stock.  

INGREDIENTS:

 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 can of cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom)

1  6 oz. package of wild rice with seasoning

1-  ½ cups of water

DIRECTIONS:

Spray the crock pot with PAM. Then pour in the water, soup, rice seasoning packet and stir. Next add the rice and stir. Then place the chicken on top of the rice. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours and 30 minutes. The last 30 minutes I cooked it with the lid off. It will reduce some of the extra liquid that is left and make the rice creamier.  Serve with vegetable or a salad and bread. 

 

PEPPERONCINI POT ROAST

I know I have already done a wonderful and very easy pot roast but I have found another just as easy and maybe more wonderful than the last roast recipe that I feel the need to share with you. This recipe is really quick and easy with a definite tangy pepper flavor. The smell while it was cooking was awesome! It really wasn’t too spicy and the warm peppers gave it just enough of a kick. The leftovers were even better on hoagie rolls with more of the peppers and juice on the side. I did feel a little guilty with the whole stick of butter but what the heck I didn’t eat the whole stick at one time. It feed my family two dinners and several sandwiches later in the week. 

 

INGREDIENTS:

3-5 lb. pot roast

1 stick of butter

1 package of ranch dressing mix

1 package of Au Jus gravy mix

5-6 pepperoncini peppers
 

DIRECTIONS:

Spray the crock pot with PAM. Place the roast in the bottom of the pot. Next sprinkle the ranch dressing on the roast. Then sprinkle the Au Jus mix next. Place the stick of butter on top of the roast and place 5-6 peppers all over the roast. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Please do not add water. The roast and butter will make its on juices which is heavenly.

 

 

DUMP DAY SOUP

I was cleaning out my refrigerator yesterday while wondering what’s for dinner tonight. I had a little skillet beef steak my mother had thought was too tough. I threw it on the counter and it landed near my crock pot. I should have taken the lid off because from then on everything went into the pot. I ended up with a half of onion, some green bell pepper, and a bite of corn, two bites of green beans and some ugly carrots. In the bottom drawer I found a couple of potatoes that I quickly cut up. I also found some salsa that needed to be used up as well. Next I went through my pantry and found a can of stewed tomatoes and some beef bouillon cubes. This is how lazy I really am. I threw in the tomatoes and the bouillon cube and just added a cup of water to it all. I figured as the crock pot heated my beef bouillon cube would dissolve and I would stir it all together later. My concoction which we named dump day soup came out so wonderful we ate it for lunch instead so I was still at a loss for dinner that night. The salsa gave it a little kick and the extra cooking time made my meat very tender. Hey but I used all my leftovers and now refrigerator is bare. So if you need to clean your refrigerator out try throwing everything in the crock pot and making a stew or soup. You can use chicken or beef broth for liquid or even cream of something soup for a thicker stew. Spice it up however you like, just go wild, be creative, have fun with it. This is one time you don’t have to worry about having all the ingredients! Even if it doesn’t turn out (which I doubt) you were just going to throw it out anyway. I wouldn’t advise throwing in pizza but Chinese food would be interesting. Hey and the calorie count should be null and void if you used it all up in the original dinner. Am I right? And of course it’s doesn’t count as leftovers because your family hasn’t seen it yet. So here are the directions.

P.S. I am sorry I didn't take any pictures but leftovers don't photograph too well and we ate the finished product before I thought about posting this!

DIRECTIONS:

Spray the crock pot with PAM. Open your refrigerator. Pull out all your leftovers. Slice your meat into bite size chunks and place in the bottom of the pot. Add all your other cooked or uncooked vegetables you have left in your refrigerator to the crock pot. Next add some liquid. Even a cup or two of water with some spices from the pantry will do if you don’t have any soup or bouillon cubes. Cover and cook on low until dinner or on high if you want to eat it for lunch. Remember everything is pretty much cooked already. Have some fun and enjoy. Drop me a comment with your new creations, I would be interested in some new recipes!

EGGPLANT PARMESAN

Happy Labor Day everyone! I am off from work today but I still need to labor around my house. Everyone still expects food and clean clothes at the very least. So I am brining some chicken right now to be put out on the grill later this afternoon. I hear it is supposed to keep the chicken really moist and not dry out and become stringy. So I thought about putting some side dishes in my crock pots because I do plan on some pool time today. One of my favorite side dishes is eggplant parmesan. Ok, I have a confession.  I actually made this last week when the Food Network was tweeting about eggplants being friend or foe. I thought about it a while and decided that I loved eggplant whether it was fried or put into a casserole. So I got out my recipe for oven baked eggplant parmesan. I decided I was too lazy to fry it so I just put everything in the crock pot and of course it turned out so tender and cheesy we ate it all. I think for casseroles the longer something cooks together it gives the flavors a chance to infuse properly.  Eggplants are in season right now and this recipe was so good that I am making it again today. So my pictures will be from last week’s dinner. This recipe would also work really well for a Meatless Monday if you doubled it. I have even heard of people putting tofu in it as protein or even beans. I have tried mixing Italian sausage in it but I really prefer it without any meat. So I think if eggplant is your friend you would really enjoy this recipe. Takes a little time to prepare but since we cut out the frying it can go together much quicker without all the mess.

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 large eggplant

1 can of petite cut tomatoes

½ onion, chopped

½ of a green bell pepper chopped

1 ½ cup of grated cheese ( I used mozzarella this time, sometimes I use cheddar or whatever you have on hand)

1 cup of breadcrumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp. of Italian seasoning

1 egg

DIRECTION: I used my 2 quart crock pot for this recipe. If you doubled it a  4-5 quart crock pot would be big enough.  First I peeled my eggplant because I wasn’t going to fry it first and I don’t care for the skins. Then slice it and salt it and leave it to sit for 30 minutes. This will help pull out any bitter taste in the eggplant and allow it to be tender and not so mushy after cooking. Next scramble the egg in a small bowl and set to the side. Then take the breadcrumbs and add the Italian seasonings and salt and pepper on a small plate. Wipe the moisture from the eggplants. Then dip the slices in egg and then roll in the breadcrumbs and place in the crock pot. Remember to spray the crock pot with PAM first. Then add some chopped onion and bell pepper, then some tomatoes, and top with some cheese. Then repeat the layers until out of eggplant with the last layer cheese. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.