ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS

 I was browsing through my deep freeze on Friday morning looking for something for dinner that night when I found a half a pack of Italian sausage. Hum I thought! What did I use the other half for?  I couldn’t remember. But I decided I better use this half soon. So I knew I had a bell pepper and onions that I could use and probably some diced tomatoes in the cabinet. It was decided, we are having Italian sausage and peppers for dinner tonight. Yea! That was easy and I didn’t have to go to the grocery store. So I quickly cut up everything and threw it in the crock pot and went back to doing more fun things like lying on the couch watching the Chew. Eight hours later my next decision was what to eat with it. Noodles and a dinner salad, or chips and a hoagie roll. Since I had spent the better part of the day on the couch I went for the noodles and salad just trying to be a little healthy. Beside I knew we were going to have enough leftovers that I could have my chips and hoagie rolls for lunch tomorrow.  I love it when I can recycle leftovers that easy. You can tell by my pictures I halved the recipe, but then again I only need to feed a family of three. So this would be great recipe to throw in the crock pot before going out for the day and have a quick and easy dinner waiting at night. Warm some hoagies rolls , throw on the sausage and peppers, top with some provolone or grated parmesan cheese on top and add some chips, or fix some noodles or even rice and call it a day.

 

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs. of Italian sausage cut in to 1 inch pieces

2 bell peppers

2 medium onions

2 14 oz. cans of Italian style chopped tomatoes

2  6 oz. cans of  tomato paste

1 tbs. of Italian seasoning

 1 tsp. of minced garlic

DIRECTIONS:

Spray the crock pot first with PAM. Then cut up the Italian sausages and place in the bottom of the pot. Then cut up the peppers and onions into strips and throw on top of the sausage. Pour in the cans of tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the seasonings and stir until combined. Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours.

 

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

This week my crock pots were the most used item in my kitchen. I used one of them about 24 hours straight. I only took time to wash it out and started it back up again. I slow cooked 3 pork roasts, shredded them, and then froze them for a retirement party next week. When I bought the roasts I thought the bigger the better, but that wasn't such a good idea after all. They would only fit in 2 of my crock pots. So of course I was cooking pork roasts all day and night. Thank goodness I didn't have to watch them cook! Later I will thaw them out and add fresh homemade BBQ sauce for pork sliders at the party. Then two days later we had a luncheon for Boss’s Day. We decided to keep it simple so we had soup, salad, and dessert. Since I would be cooking the soup at work I wanted something quick and easy without a lot of cutting involved. I found this recipe for chicken tortilla soup and kind of revamped it for our tastes.  It was really easy to carry to work and quickly prepare using canned vegetables. I went ahead and cooked the chicken, and cut up my onions and peppers the night before so my soup would not have to cook as long. This would also work well with left over rotisserie chicken or even leftover turkey after Thanksgiving. You could also substitute Rotel tomatoes if you like more of a kick to your soup. The soup was very tasty with just the right amount of kick to it. I think the enchilada sauce makes the difference in the taste of this soup compared to other versions I have tried. Next time I make this soup I’m thinking about using adding some zucchini and avocados to it as well. This one will stay in my rotation files for a long time.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs

1 10 oz. can of red enchilada sauce

1 can of black beans

1  15 oz. can of diced tomatoes

1  can of corn

2 cloves of minced garlic

1 medium onion chopped

1 green bell pepper chopped

1 tsp. of cumin

1 tsp. of chili powder

1 tsp. of salt

¼ tsp. of black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Spray the crock pot with PAM. Combine all the ingredients in the crock pot and cook on high for 3- 4 hours or on low for 6- 8 hours. When the soup is done remove the chicken and shred it with a fork and then return it to the soup. Stir well and serve with tortilla chips and shredded cheese on top. 

ANGEL HAIR CHICKEN

I love my crock pots! I can’t say it enough. This week I bought a new wave digital cooker thinking that cooking dinner would be quicker and easier. NOT! I had to watch my food cook constantly. The cooking times did not match up with the cookbook. My brisket came out a little crispy around the edges and very chewy on the insides. The next morning I cut the meat up and made a vegetable beef soup in my crock pot. The meat ended up being very tender after simmering all day. I knew I should have just bought another crock pot. So after one bad dinner, I felt that I needed to redeem myself the next night with an awesome dinner. Last week I found this wonderful quick and easy chicken dinner that looked really good. I had tried a recipe similar to this that used a whole block of cream cheese and 8 oz. of sour cream and thought that was too cheesy and tart tasting. This one called for only 4 oz. of cream cheese and golden mushroom soup.  I think the soup made the big difference for us. The taste was kind of a buttery, cheesy, creamy taste that went over the angel hair pasta perfectly.  You could even get creative and add mushrooms to this to make it even better. I had plenty of gravy left over dunk my garlic toast in. YUM!! It was so good we only had enough leftovers for 2 lunches the next day. That was okay because my mother wanted vegetable beef soup  I made from the previous night's fiasco. I also think this would be really good with pork chops and potatoes cut up in the bottom of the pot. I think I’ll have to try that next week.  
 

INGREDIENTS:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used chicken tenders)

1 can of golden mushroom soup

½ cup of chicken broth

1/4 stick of butter

4 oz. of cream cheese

Angel hair pasta cooked according to the directions

DIRECTIONS:

Spray the crock pot with PAM. Place the chicken in the bottom of the pot. Then melt the butter in a bowl and add the cream cheese, salad dressing, soup, and chicken broth. Mix thoroughly and pour over the chicken breasts. Cover and cook on low for 4 – 5 hours.
Serve over angel hair pasta, rice, or even mashed potatoes.

 

CROCK POT KING RANCH CHICKEN

We love rotisserie chicken from the store. It makes for a quick and easy dinner. The only problem is we don't like dark meat which is half the chicken. So instead of wasting the dark meat it I use for soups and casseroles where my family knows its chicken but can't tell which part of the chicken. So this week I had some leftover chicken and decided I really wanted king ranch chicken for dinner. I usually cook this in the oven, but I thought maybe I'll just try it in the crock pot. Normally this casserole would only take about 30- 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven but since it was going in a crock pot I would have to allow more time. So I did a little quick math in my head and decided I had just enough time before dinner to try this. With the chicken being cooked it would only take about 2 ½ - 3 hours to cook. My casserole came out awesome! It tasted just the same as it would have in the oven. The difference was I didn't have to stay home to cook it or heat up my kitchen. Now I changed up the usual recipe for king ranch chicken and used Tostito chips.  I found that the corn or the flour tortillas got too soggy after cooking and the chips held a better texture especially for leftovers. I think you could use either tortillas or chips with this recipe. Here is a quick oven to crock pot conversion chart so you can try some of your favorite recipes in the crock pot. Now this is for only using cooked meats. It would take a lot longer if the meat needed to cook. When converting from the oven to the crock pot I always have a tendency to start with a low setting and start checking my dinner at the earliest time to prevent burning the edges. Remember if everything is already cooked it will take less time to heat and blend together.

OVEN   350 – 375                              DEGREES	CROCK POT
15 -30 MINUTES	1 ½- 2 ½ HOURS ON HIGH 3- 6 HOURS ON LOW
35- 45 MINUTES	2 -3 HOURS ON HIGH 6-8 HOURS ON LOW
50 MINUTES TO 3 HOURS	4- 6 HOURS ON HIGH 8 -18 HOURS ON LOW

   

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 cups of cooked chicken

1 onion chopped

1 green bell pepper chopped

2 cans of cream of chicken soup (can substitute one with mushroom or celery)

1 can of Rotel tomatoes drained

1 tsp of chili powder

1 tsp. of minced garlic

2- 3 cups of grated cheddar cheese

1 bag of Tostito chips

DIRECTIONS:

Spray your crock pot with PAM. First take a large bowl and mix all your soups and Rotel tomatoes together. Add your chopped bell pepper and onions, then your cubed chicken and mix together well. Place a layer of chips in the bottom of the crock pot. Then add a layer of the chicken soup mixture. Top this with a layer of cheese. Repeat the layers 2 more times ending with the cheese on top. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 -3 hours.

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.