Crockpot Mongolian Beef

 

• -1 ½ pounds Flank Steak
• ▢-¼ cups cornstarch
• ▢-2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• ▢-½ teaspoons Garlic mince, Cloves
• ▢-¾ cups Soy Sauce 
• ▢-¾ cups Water
• ▢-¾ cups Brown Sugar
• ▢-1 cup Carrots grated
• ▢-green onions for garnish
• 
  

• Cut flank steak into thin strips. In a ziplock bag add flank steak pieces and cornstarch. Shake to coat.
• Add olive oil, minced garlic, soy sauce, water, brown sugar and carrots to slow cooker. Stir ingredients. Add coated flank steak and stir again until coated in the sauce.
• Cook in a slow cooker for high 2-3 hours or on low 4-5 hours until cooked throughout and tender. Can serve over rice and garnish with green onions.

Comfort Crockpot Chicken and Noodles

-2 can cream of chicken soup

-2 can chicken broth (15oz each)

-1 stick butter or margarine
-1 lb chicken breasts (fresh or frozen)
-1 packages frozen egg noodles (24 oz) I used Reames. 

In crockpot put chicken on bottom. Pour the chicken broth and soup on top. Then top that with the stick of butter. Put the crockpot on low for 6-7 hours.  Take the chicken out and shred. Put back in crockpot.  Add the frozen noodles and cook for 2 more hours. Stir every 30 minutes until done.

Crockpot Pepper Steak

• 1.5 lbs of beef strips (I used thinly sliced round steaks and sliced them into strips)
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced thick
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced thick
• 1/2 onion sliced thick
• 1 1/2 cups of beef stock
• 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoon brown sugar

1. Place the beef, bell peppers and onions in a slow cooker.
2. Add the seasonings, brown sugar, and soy sauce over the beef and peppers.
3. Pour the beef stock in the crock pot.
4. Stir to combine.
5. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours or until the steak is cooked through.
6. Serve over a bed of white rice.
7. Note: if you could like your sauce to be thicker. One hour before dinner is ready – In a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with a 1/4 cup of cold water. Mix together. Stir in to the crock pot. Turn the crock pot to high and let the sauce thicken for the last hour of cook time.

Slow Cooker Steak Fajitas

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ lbs flank steak
• 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons soy saucepreferably the low-sodium variety
• 1 jalapeño seeded and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 4 bell peppers any color
• 1 onion

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix together the dry spices with a fork including the chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper.
2. Rub the spice mixture over all sides of the flank steak and place it in the bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle the soy sauce on top.
3. Top the flank steak with the diced jalapeno and minced garlic. Slice the bell peppers and onion and throw those on top of the steak as well.
4. Turn the slow cooker onto HIGH and cook for 5 – 6 hours or until the steak can easily be shredded with two forks.
5. Drain the meat and peppers well then serve with the recommended fajita “fixings” (listed above). 
   Enjoy!

Crockpot Beef and Potatoes Au Gratin

• -1 lb. ground beef (plus a touch of salt and pepper to season)
• -3 lbs. peeled russet potatoes, sliced a ¼ inch thick (about 7 cups total after being sliced)
• -1 cup thinly sliced white onion
• -1 tsp. paprika
• -½ tsp. garlic powder
• -1 tsp. parsley
• -1 tsp salt
• -¼ tsp. pepper
• -3 cups shredded sharp cheese
• -½ cup chicken broth (or beef broth)

1. Brown the ground beef on the stove top. Add a touch of salt and pepper to season.
2. In a small bowl combine the paprika, garlic powder, parsley, salt and pepper.
3. Add half of the potatoes in the slow cooker. Sprinkle over half of the onions, half of the seasonings, half of the meat, and half of the cheese. Repeat the layers again.
4. Drizzle over the broth evenly over the layers.
5. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Do not open the lid during the cooking time or the potatoes will not get soft.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Crockpot Kung Pao Chicken

1/3 cup cornstarch (use arrowroot powder for paleo)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1 - 1 1/4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2-3 pieces), cut into bite-sized chunks

3-4 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil

**4 - 6 dried red chili peppers (to taste) found in Asian supermarkets or the International section of a large chain grocery store - see NOTE)

2/3 cup roasted cashews (or roasted peanuts)

1 red bell pepper, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 zucchini, chopped into halves

Sesame seeds and chopped green onions, for garnish (optional)

Sauce (If you like this dish saucier - feel free to double the recipe)

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce (use gluten free tamari or coconut aminos for paleo if necessary)

1/2 cup water

4 tablespoons honey (use raw for paleo)

4 Tablespoons hoisin sauce (use gluten free or a homemade paleo

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper chili flakes

Cornstarch slurry

2 tablespoons cornstarch (use arrowroot powder for paleo)

3 tablespoons water

1. In a large bowl or zip-top bag, combine the chicken, cornstarch, salt and black pepper. Shake until well-coated.
2. Make the sauce In a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the sauce, set aside.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. (You can skip this stove-top step if you prefer or are in a pinch. Just add chicken directly to slow cooker. Chicken will not have that crispy coating) Cook chicken about 2-3 minutes on each side, until lightly browned. Transfer chicken into the slow cooker and pour sauce over top.
4. Cover and cook on LOW for 2.5 - 4 hours or HIGH for 1.5 - 3 hours. (SEE NOTES)
5. About 30 minutes before serving, whisk together the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and stir into the slow cooker. Toss in the dried red chili peppers, red bell peppers, zucchini and cashews, stirring to combine. Cover and cook on HIGH for another 20-30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and the sauce has thickened up.
6. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, green onions and serve over zoodles, cauliflower rice, quinoa or your favorite rice.

Sausage, Spinach, and White Bean Soup

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 (12.8-ounce) package smoked andouille sausage, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 (15-ounce) cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cups chicken broth
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 cups baby spinach

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add sausage, and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes.
2. Place sausage, garlic, onion, carrots, celery, beans, oregano and bay leaves into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in chicken broth and 2 cups water until well combined; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours. Stir in spinach until wilted.
4. Serve immediately.

Crockpot Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches

• 2 green peppers, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 - 2 1/2 lbs. thinly sliced steak (I used top round)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 envelope dry Italian dressing mix
• 1 cup water
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• 6 slices of provolone cheese
• 6 hoagie rolls

1. Place all the ingredients in the Slow Cooker (except for the cheese and rolls).
2. Cook for 6-8 hours in the slow cooker on low.
3. Scoop out the meat/veggies into the rolls.
4. Place the rolls on a cookie sheet and top with a slice of cheese per sandwich (cut in half)
5. Broil for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is nice and bubbly.
6. Dip the sandwiches in the leftover juice.

Crockpot Orange Chicken

-4 chicken breasts
-3/4 cup barbeque sauce
-3/4 cup orange marmelade
-2 T soy sauce
-sesame seeds
-rice
-siracha

Cut chicken into 1" pieces and cook in slow cooker on Medium for 1.5 hours.  Drain chicken juices from crockpot and then add in the mixture of the sauces.  Cook on Medium for 2 more hours.  Sauce thickens as it cools.  Serve over rice and top with some sesame seeds.

Add in red pepper flakes and/or siracha for some heat.  Add chopped onions and green peppers before adding sauce if wanted.

Chicken and Mushroom Stroganoff

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
• 8 ounce sliced mushrooms
• 1 8 ounce cream cheese, softened
• 1 (10½) ounce cream of chicken soup
• 1 envelope (1¼ ounce) dry onion soup mix
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh parsley, chopped for garnish
• 1 pound large egg noodles for serving

1. Place the chicken in the bottom of a lightly greased slow cooker. Add the mushrooms. In a medium sized bowl add cream cheese, cream of chicken soup, and dry onion soup mix. Mix until incorporated and spread on top of chicken and mushrooms.
2. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or high for 3-4. Serve over noodles and top with fresh parsley and salt and pepper.

Slow Cook Pulled Pork

-2-3 pound boneless pork roast (shoulder roast, butt roast, or Boston Butt)

-1 tbsp Cajun seasoning

-1 tbsp liquid smoke

-4 cloves garlic

-18 ounce bottle of barbeque sauce

Put roast in slow cooker.  Cover with seasoning, garlic, liquid smoke, and then barbeque sauce.  Put on lid and cook on low for 8 hours.  

Sausage and Cheese Crockpot Tortellini

-1 lb. Italian Sausage (We use HOT for the spice, but sub in the meat you’d like best!)
-20 oz. Frozen Three-Cheese Tortellini (The Buitoni kind is in the specialty refrigerated case in the deli area of the grocery store. I pop them right in the freezer when I get home)
-32 oz. Low Sodium Chicken Broth
-2 Cans Diced Tomatoes – The kind that are seasoned with basil, garlic, and oregano. If you don’t have the seasoned ones, you’ll need to add in your own seasonings
-8 oz. Cream Cheese 
-Grated Parmesan Cheese for topping!

Take your cream cheese out of the fridge, and let it sit while you quickly brown your meat.

Add the sausage and tortellini to your Crock Pot. Pour the tomatoes, liquid and all, and broth over the top. Add your cream cheese to the Pot in chunks.

Give your Crock Pot a good stir to get everything evenly distributed, making sure the liquids are adequately covering the tortellini.

Cook on LOW for a total of 3 1/2 – 4 hours. Stir at 1 1/2 hours, and again at 3 hours, removing the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking. This will give the sauce some time to thicken up. You can leave the lid off longer if you need more thickening time, but stir every so often.

Slower Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

-4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 3 inch pieces      

-3 potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces

-1 onion, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces     

-4 cups water

-1, 4 pound corned beef brisket with spice packet

-1/4 head of cabbage, coarsely chopped or sliced

                                         

Place the carrots, potatoes, and onion into the bottom of a slow cooker, pour in the water, and place the brisket on top of the vegetables.  Sprinkle on the spices from the packet, cover, and set the cooker on High.  Cook the brisket for about 8 hours. An hour before serving, stir in the cabbage and cook for 1 more hour.  Serve with rye bread, swiss cheese, and mustard.

Mississippi Roast

-1, 3-pound chuck roast
-1 packet of dry ranch seasoning mix
-1 packet of dry au jus gravy mix
-6 tbsp. butter
-¼ cup water
-5-6 pepperoncini

Add ¼ cup of water into the insert of your slow cooker then place the chuck roast on top.  Sprinkle the dry ranch seasoning mix on top of the chuck roast, then sprinkle the dry au jus mix on top, then place 6 tbsp. of butter on top of the roast, and finally 5-6 pepperoncini around the roast. Cook on low for 8 hours.  Shred and serve with gravy/sauce.

III Forks Off the Cob Cream Corn

-10 ears of fresh corn, shucked, cooked and off cob (or large bag -2.5 pound bag - of frozen corn)
-1 cup heavy cream
-1 cup milk
-2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
-1 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon white pepper
-1/2 teaspoon black pepper
-1/2 teaspoon Accent seasoning
-1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
-1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
-4 ounces unsalted butter
-2 tablespoons flour

In a large saucepan, combine the first 10 ingredients.  Slowly bring it to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer.  Allow to simmer for three minutes.

In a separate pan, melt the butter until  it begins to pop, then stir the flour into the butter.  Add  the butter and flour mixture to the simmering corn.  Stirring occassionally, allow to simmer for three more minutes.  Keep warm until served.

From the kitchen of Deatra Smith...courtesty of Chef Vogeli, Executive Chef at III Forks in Dallas, Texas.

Ranch House Pork Chops

Soccer has started again and this year I have 2 kids to get to and from practice and games.  There are a couple days a week when I have to feed the kids dinner at 4pm because we leave the house for practices at 5 and don't get home until bedtime.  These are my crockpot days.  I'm always looking for quick and easy crockpot recipes that my kids will eat.  They don't always like the consistency of chicken out of the crockpot so I thought I'd try a new pork recipe.  This one was a hit!

-6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick (I use boneless)
-1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning
-10 oz. can Cream of Chicken Soup

Place pork chops, Ranch seasoning and soup into a medium sized crock pot over high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours.  I serve with mashed potatoes and use the sauce as gravy.

Recipe courtesy of Real Mom Kitchen.

San Francisco Pork Chops

Here's another Pinterest find that's a keeper.  Unfortunately, I can't find the original link to give the owner credit. 

-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
-4 pork chops, about 1-inch thick
-Salt and pepper for seasoning
-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
-1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
-1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
-2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
-1 tablespoon cornstarch
-1 tablespoon cold water
-Mashed Potatoes or Hot Cooked Rice (for serving)

In a large 12-inch skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until it is simmering and hot. Season the pork chops on both sides with salt and pepper. Brown the pork chops for 1-2 minutes on each side in the hot oil until golden. Transfer the chops to the slow cooker. Add the garlic to the drippings in the skillet and stir constantly over medium heat until the garlic is aromatic and golden (but not burned or it will turn bitter!). Stir in the soy sauce, broth, brown sugar and red pepper flakes; cook and stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour over chops.

Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours until the meat is tender. If using bone-in pork chops, fish out the bones from the slow cooker. Remove the chops from the slow cooker to a shallow pan or plate – they will most likely be falling apart in tenderness at this point. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Pour the sauce into a pan and place it over medium heat on the stove. Add the cornstarch slurry and bring the sauce to a boil. Boil for 1-2 minutes until the sauce is thick. Add the pork and heat through.

Balsamic and Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Tenderloin

I'm always looking for new crockpot recipes to try.  Here's a great one I found on Pinterest...it's courtesy the blog,  C+C Marriage Factory.   I make pork tenderloins all.the.time (seriously about once a week).  However, I have yet to make one in the crockpot.  This recipe is seriously tasty.  I served it with my favorite Brussel Sprout recipe.

-1 (2 pound) boneless pork tenderloin (or regular pork loin)

-1 teaspoon ground sage

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1/4 teaspoon pepper

-1 clove garlic, crushed

-1/2 cup water

Glaze

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-1 tablespoon cornstarch

-1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

-1/2 cup water

-2 tablespoons soy sauce

Combine sage, salt, pepper and garlic. Rub over roast. Place in slow cooker with 1/2 cup water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. About 1 hour before roast is done, combine ingredients for glaze in small sauce pan. Heat and stir until mixture thickens. Brush roast with glaze 2 or 3 times during the last hour of cooking. Serve with remaining glaze on the side.

A Year of Slow Cooking

Here is another of my favorite websites to check for new crockpot recipes to try....

A Year of Slow Cooking

A few years ago, the author of this blog made a New Year's resolution to use her slow cooker every day for a year.  That was in 2008 and she is still blogging new crockpot stuff.  She has tons of fantastic recipes on her blog including making yogurt and baked sweet potates in her crockpot.


 

Crockpot Beef Stew

If possible, I always try to double recipes so I can freeze half for a future meal.  This makes enough for me to freeze half for another meal in a few weeks. 
-2 lbs stew meat
-2 cans beef broth
-2-3 cans tomato juice
-2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
-1 large bag of frozen mixed veggies (green beans, corn, peas, carrots)
-1 can of lima beans, drained
-1-2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
-3-4 bay leaves
-2-3 garlic cloves (minced)
-black pepper
-paprika

Mix all ingredients together in your crockpot.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours.