Category Archives: Crock Pot

Heaven in a Crockpot.

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Have you ever made a dessert in the crock pot before? I have never done that and I wonder why I’ve waited this long to try it. My cake didn’t take 3 hours like the cooking time suggested, it took only about 2. This dessert is pure heaven and reminds me of a trifle dessert that my husband used to eat all the time at Ruby Tuesday’s. You need one box of brownie mix and one packet of cookie dough mix. Melt 1 stick of butter in the microwave and take out 4 eggs. Take 1/2 of the melted butter and 2 eggs and mix them together in a bowl with the brownie mix and then repeat using the cookie dough mix. Dump everything in a crock pot and let it cook away for 2 hours. To make this even more heavenly scoop some vanilla ice cream on top and drizzle some chocolate fudge sauce on top. Add sprinkles or chocolate chips and I think this would be an awesome birthday cake.

Speaking of birthdays, my birthday is next week. I’m going to be 32 years old. Feel free to send me any gifts. :) I got an early birthday present tonight. I needed a new swim suit that was chlorine resistant and I work out a lot in the water.

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Recipe from My Favorite Things:

Ingredients:

1 box fudge brownie mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 eggs
1 pouch chocolate chip cookie mix
vanilla ice cream, as desired

Directions:

1. Spray 4 1/2-quart slow cooker with baking spray with flour.

2. In large bowl, mix brownie mix with 1/4 cup of the melted butter and 2 of the eggs.

3. In another large bowl, mix chocolate chip cookie mix, remaining 1/4 cup melted butter and remaining 2 eggs.

4. Drop alternate spoonfuls of the brownie and chocolate chip cookie batters into slow cooker.

5. Cover; cook on High heat setting 2 to 3 hours or until cake is set in center. To serve, spoon cake from slow cooker, and top with scoops of ice cream.

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Cheesy Chicken Tator Tot Casserole

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Chicken, Cheese, Bacon, Tator Tots, repeat. How can that be bad? There is also some milk that you pour over every thing in the crock pot, but I’m also wondering what some cream of chicken soup mixed in with the milk would taste like? The whole entire recipe would probably be a lot creamier that is for sure. I thought it could also have used some type of seasoning. Maybe some Lawry’s Seasoning Salt or some sriracha? It’s up to you to decide. Ben just said this recipe was ok. He likes the Bubble Up Enchilada casserole recipe the best. :)

Note: You do not need to make this recipe in the crock pot like it calls for. You can also layer everything in a baking dish like I did. Just make sure you cook the chicken previously, because it takes a little bit longer to bake in the oven if you throw it in there raw. (which is ok)

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Recipe from The Country Cook

Ingredients:

1 (32 oz.) bag frozen tater tots
1 (3 oz.)bag bacon pieces
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup milk
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.

Layer half of the frozen tater tots on the bottom of the slow cooker.

Sprinkle with 1/3 of the bacon pieces.

Add diced chicken on top. Season with salt & pepper.

Now add 1/3 of the bacon pieces and another 1/3 of shredded cheese.

Put the rest of the frozen tater tots on top.

Finish with the remaining 1/3 cheddar cheese and remaining 1/3 of bacon pieces.

Pour 3/4 cup milk all over the top.

Cover and cook on low about 4-6 hours.
Please note: Some slow cookers run at different temperatures. If you are using an older slow cooker (older than about 6 years old), your cooking time may take longer. Newer models run a bit hotter so keep an eye on this around the 4 hour mark. You want to make sure the chicken is cooked thoroughly (to 165F degrees).

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Weight Watchers – Slow Cooked Jerk Pork with Caribbean Salsa

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Man, I think this has been the tastiest thing I’ve ever made in the Slow Cooker for a long time! I got to use my jerk spice seasoning that I got when the husband and I went to Jamaica. The jerk seasoning I got, wasn’t too hot though, I would have liked it on that side a little bit more. I tried it before serving the pork, and decided to throw in an extra tablespoon of the jerk seasoning. If you’ve never had jerk seasoning before it’s a mixture of allspice, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes. I’d like to try a wet jerk marinade in the slow cooker one time. That uses habenero peppers and would be a lot more spicier! Jerk is kind of a funny name for a spice mixture, isn’t it?

I can never find decent ripe mangoes where I live, so I used a pineapple instead. I think the Caribbean salsa was the best part. Instead of rice, I served this over orzo pasta. I would definitely make this again.

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Recipe and Nutrition Info from Skinnytaste.com

Servings: 10

Calories: 265, Fat: 15g, Protein: 21.4g, Carbs: 11.5g, Fiber 2g

Points Plus: 7

 

Slow Cooked Jerk Pork with Caribbean Salsa

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Ingredients

  • 3 pounds pork shoulder roast
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 2-3 tablespoons jerk seasoning
  • 1 lime (squeezed)
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1 large avocado
  • 2 mangoes (ripe)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons red onion (chopped)
  • 1-2 tablespoons cilantro
  • 2-3 tablespoons lime juice
  • salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions

Step 1
Using a sharp knife, cut slits into the pork and stuff holes with half of the crushed garlic. Combine the remaining garlic, jerk seasoning, and salt, rub all over pork (you may want to wear gloves). Place in a large container, pour the lime and orange juice over the pork; cover and refrigerate 5 hours or overnight, turning pork occasionally so the marinade covers all of pork.
Step 2
The next morning, put everything in the crock pot and cook on LOW for 9 hours.
Step 3
After 9 hours, remove pork and shred using two forks.
Step 4
Remove liquid from crock pot and reserve. Add shredded pork back to the slow cooker. Add about 1 cup of the liquid back into the crock pot and taste for salt and pepper. Let it cook an additional 15 minutes.
Step 5
Meanwhile make the Caribbean salsa: combine all the ingredients in a bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper. refrigerate salsa until ready to serve.
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Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken

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It’s a snow day here! I’ve been super lazy too….

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With snow days comes lazy meals. Lazy as in crock pot meals. If you were really lazy like me, you could just buy a whole bottle of teriyaki sauce at the grocery store and just dump that into the crock pot with some chicken. I almost wish I would have done that too. This sauce wasn’t very thick when the chicken broth was added. It cooked down in the crock pot a little but not to the consistency I would have liked it. If I make this again I’d make some major changes to the recipe. Found the recipe on pinterest. Served some brown rice with it.

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If you like shredded chicken, cubed chicken or the chicken left whole like Ben does do whatever you want with it. I left mine whole.

Recipe from Pinterest Healthy Recipes

Nutrition Info: Calories: 391, Fat: 11.92g, Carbs: 20.82, Fiber 1g

Points Plus: 10

Servings: 6

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken

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Ingredients

  • 1 pound boneless chicken breasts
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 3 cloves garlic

Directions

Step 1
Mix together all the ingredients besides the chicken in a small bowl. Place the chicken in the slow cooker and then add the sauce. Cook on low for 6 hours. I didn't shred my chicken or cut it into cubes but go ahead and do so if you like.
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Crock Pot Roast w/ Gravy

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I’ve tried making a couple pot roasts in my life. One of the recipes I tried, required searing the roast until it comes brown on both sides and cooking it in a dutch oven at low temp for a certain amount of time.  I was able to get that right once and the roast was so tender. After using that recipe a couple times the roast has never been tender since. I don’t get it!

Since this is a crock pot recipe, the meat becomes sooooooooo tender. This is another one of those recipes where  all you use is a can of condensed soup and a package of seasoning mix. The meat when it cooks in the crock pot makes the best gravy ever.

Just look at how tender this roast is. I’m never cooking my roasts in the oven again. Just a crock pot.

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Crock Pot Roast w/ Gravy

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Ingredients

  • 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 package Onion Soup Mix
  • 3 pound roast beef chuck roast

Directions

Step 1
In your slow cooker, mix the two cans of cream of mushroom soup and one envelop of dry onion soup mix. Season the chuck roast with salt (go easy since the soups have a lot of sodium in them already), pepper and garlic powder, and add to slow cooker.

Cook the pot roast on low for 9 - 10 hours, until the meat is tender and falling apart.

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Slow Cooker Chocolate Candy

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This recipe intrigued me because I never had tried making candy in my crock pot before. I read some of the reviews on Food Network’s website and decided to change a few things. 1. Check the chocolate every hour and 2. I used only 1 pound of peanuts.

I learned that your crock pot can be a good way to temper chocolate. However, this recipe can be made in about 20 minutes on the stove top. I don’t have one of those fancy crock pots where you can set the timer to however long the recipe takes. I think it’s time to upgrade my crock pot. Mine only has 4 settings: Keep Warm, Low, High, and Off. Is there crock pots out there where you can set the temperature of it? Best Buy has a crock pot with 7 different settings on it for $80.00 and it had a timer.  That would be really nice to have.

The recipe states that this chocolate takes 3 hours to melt in the crock pot. That is WAY to long. My chocolate was done melting in an 1hr and 30 minutes. It’s a pretty easy recipe too, just chocolate and peanuts. Next time, I may try adding other ingredients to it or try different chocolate.

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Slow Cooker Chocolate Candy recipe from Trisha Yearwood

Slow Cooker Chocolate Candy

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Ingredients

  • 2 pounds dry roasted salted peanuts
  • 4 ounces german sweet chocolate
  • 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 1/2 pounds almond bark

Directions

Step 1
Put the peanuts in the bottom of a 4-quart slow cooker. Layer the chocolate over the peanuts, beginning with the sweet chocolate, followed by the chocolate chips and then the almond bark. Set the temperature on low and cook for 3 hours. Do not stir the mixture.
Step 2
After 3 hours, stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until smooth. Drop the candy into cupcake pan liners using about 2 tablespoons per liner. Allow the candy to cool completely before removing the cupcake liners.
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Spicy Pop Pulled Pork

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You can never go wrong with one of Ree’s recipes. Every recipe I’ve tried of her’s, I just love. This one was so super simple and I threw everything into a slow cooker instead of a dutch oven. The pork roast cooked on high for 4-5 hours and it was ready. The meat was just falling apart when I shredded it and it was so tender. I served mine on some fresh sandwich buns that I got at Hornbacher’s grocery store here in town. Tomorrow I want to try this meat inside some quesadilllas.

If you’re on a diet, you can go ahead and use a can of diet soda. Make sure to remove all the fat. There was a really big piece of it that just fell off when it was done cooking and I just threw that away. 1 serving of this pork is about 8 points.  I used coke because that is the drink of choice in our house. It’s not too spicy either with the can of chipotle peppers in there. I’d definitely make this recipe again.

P.S. I’ve got to stop watching Food Network…. Instead of having my website be recipe-diaries.com I should just change my name to The Food Network Cooking Blog or something dumb like that. Yesterday I made Alton Brown’s fudge, today was Ree’s pulled pork, and tomorrow I’m going to make the peanut butter balls featured on Trisha Yearwood’s show. Am I addicted?

This isn’t the prettiest picture sorry. Just trying to show how tender it was. :)

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork

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Ingredients

  • 1 large onion
  • 1 whole pork shoulder roast (5-7 pounds)
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 can Chipotle peppers in adobe sauce
  • 1 can Dr. Pepper ((I used Coke))

Directions

Step 1
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Peel the onion and cut it into wedges. Lay them in the bottom of a large dutch oven.

Generously salt and pepper the pork roast, then set it on top of the onions in the pan.

Pour the can of chipotle peppers over the pork (include the sauce.) Pour in both cans of Dr Pepper. Add brown sugar to the juice and stir in.
Step 2
Place lid tightly on pot, then set pot in the oven. Cook for at least six hours, turning roast two or three times during the cooking process. Check meat after six hours; it should be absolutely falling apart (use two forks to test.) If it's not falling apart, return to the oven for another hour.
Step 3
Remove meat from pot and place on a cutting board or other work surface. Use two forks to shred meat, discarding large pieces of fat. Strain as much of the fat off the top of the cooking liquid as you can and discard it. Return the shredded meat to the cooking liquid, and keep warm until ready to serve. (You can also refrigerate the meat and liquid separately, then remove hardened fat once it's cold. Then heat up the liquid on the stovetop and return the meat to the liquid to warm up.

Serve on warm flour tortillas. Top with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, grated cheese, avocado slices, salsa, and whatever else you'd like.
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Pork Chalupa Bowls

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This was my first experience cooking a  frozen pork loin in the crock pot. It worked though, and now I know for future reference. This was a 3 1/2 pound poin loin roast. I turned the crock pot up on high for an hour and then back down to low at about 8:30. At 3:00ish, my mom and I came home from shopping and it was done.

This dish was good, however it lacked in some seasoning. It’s pretty high in points, but it’s mostly protein. I’ve never had a chalupa bowl before, and this was my first time. I served it with some rice and topped it with cheese, sour cream, gaucamole, and green onions. Serve it with tacos, on top of nachos or on top of some rice. I found this recipe on the Weight Watcher boards under Community/Reviews. NCbeaches had posted it there.

Ingredients

Servings: 10 1 cup

Points Plus: 9

1 pound dried pinto beans
1 (3 1/2-pound) bone-in pork loin roast
2 (4-ounce) cans chopped green chiles
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (32-ounce) box chicken broth
1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles with lime juice and cilantro
8 taco salad shells
1 small head iceberg lettuce, shredded

Toppings: shredded Monterey Jack cheese, pickled jalapeño slices, halved grape tomatoes, sour cream, chopped avocado

Rinse and sort beans according to package directions.

Place pinto beans in a 6-quart slow cooker; add roast and next 6 ingredients. Pour chicken broth evenly over top of roast.

Cover and cook on HIGH 1 hour; reduce to LOW, and cook 9 hours. Or, cover and cook on HIGH 6 hours. Remove bones and fat from roast; pull roast into large pieces with two forks. Stir in diced tomatoes and green chiles. Cook, uncovered, on HIGH 1 more hour or until liquid is slightly thickened.

Heat taco salad shells according to package directions; place shredded lettuce evenly into shells. Spoon about 1 cup pork-and-bean mixture into each shell using a slotted spoon. Serve with desired toppings.

 

 

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Slow Cooker Jambalaya

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I know, I know… Mardi Gras was on Tuesday. Sorry, I’m 5 days late. I always seem to forget about that Holiday by the time it comes around. I didn’t get to post any recipes for Mardi Gras, a long with all the other food blogs out there. oh darn. I really, really wanted to make something on Tuesday, but I didn’t have all the ingredients to make this recipe. I patiently waited until this weekend to try it. (grocery shopping day is on Fridays)

Anyways.. If you’ve never made anything like this before, you should. And…. if you like spicy food, you’ll really like this dish too. You can normally find cajun seasoning mix in the spice aisle. Andouille sausage is really spicy too. The recipe called for smoked turkey sausage, but I used Andouille. We had it with some rice. If you’re going to try this with shrimp instead of chicken, just add in the shrimp about the last 5 minutes of cooking. They’re done when they turn pink. I’d definitely make this again.

Recipe from Plain Chicken
Servings 6
Calories 294 | Fat 11.16g | Carbohydrate 9.88g | Fiber 3g | Protein 33.09g
Points Plus: 7 (without rice)

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into 1 inch cubes (I used shrimp)
1 pound smoked turkey sausage, sliced
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
3 Tbsp dried minced onion flakes
1 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 tsp minced garlic
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
white rice or instant rice (I used 2 packs of Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice – Garlic & Butter flavor)

In a slow cooker, mix the chicken, sausage, tomatoes with juice, onion, garlic, celery, and broth. Season with oregano, parsley, Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, and thyme. (I do this the night before and put it in the fridge. I put it in the slow cooker before I leave in the morning.)

Cover, and cook 7 to 8 hours on Low, or 3 to 4 hours on High. Mix in cooked rice cook for about 15 minutes to warm through.

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Slow Cooker Beef Stew

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I realized something today. If I put together all the ingredients for a slow cooker recipe the night before, stick that in the fridge, and take it out in the morning when I wake up….. I would have lunch ready AND dinner ready for me when I come home. I’ve been stuck in this lunch rut lately, and have been trying to find new things to eat. This will definitely help me out I believe.

Anyways… the beef stew was really good. I read the reviews on Taste of Home website before I made this and quite a few people said that this stew was really bland and missing something. They have those beef stew mix packets that you can buy at the grocery store to help flavor and thicken the stew. I looked for a beef stew flavoring recipe on line and had most of the spices to make it. Also, the recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of oil, which I didn’t even use. Don’t need to even brown the meat in my opinion, since the meet cooks in the pan.

Ingredients from Taste of Home

Servings 8 (1 cup)
272 calories | 11 g fat | 23 g carbohydrates | 4 g fiber | 19 g protein
Points Plus: 7

1-1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
6 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch slices
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
3 celery ribs, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon browning sauce

Directions

Layer the potatoes, carrots, onion and celery in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Place flour in a large resealable plastic bag. Add stew meat; seal and toss to coat evenly. In a large skillet, brown meat in oil in batches. Place over vegetables.

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, broth, mustard, salt, pepper, thyme and browning sauce. Pour over beef. Cover and cook on high for 1-1/2 hours. Reduce heat to low; cook 7-8 hours longer or until the meat and vegetables are tender. Yield: 8 servings.

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