Slow Cooker Sundays are Back: And here are 5 for you right away!

Yes, we have been slack in the Slow Cooker Sundays. For a while, we were doing them but just repeating old recipes, and then we got lazy altogether and did Chinese Sunday, Cookout Sunday, and Poblanos Sundays. Not healthy and definitely more expensive.

So, I found this pin on Pinterest and was intrigued. And since I was on vacation for the holiday it was the perfect opportunity to try.

I followed the instructions pretty exact. Here is the link and then I listed some of my editorial notes below.

Source: melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

*As the author made the balsamic chuck roast that night, I also did not half the recipe and freeze, but made the next day for dinner. It was delicious. Very tender and flavorful.
*Total cost for 9 dinners was about $85-90. Unfortunately, NO meat was on sale and I did not use coupons (i know, gasp), so this was worse case scenario, but still, $9 a meal is pretty good.
*It took me 1 hour to grocery shop and 2 hours to chop veggies and label/fill the bags so make sure you allot enough time.

*We made our first frozen/defrosted/slow cooked meal this evening. The BBQ chicken was delicious and the meat was tender and veggies tasted fresh. All we did was add a bit of BBQ sauce over the top before serving to add slightly more flavor. So far we are 2 for 2 with successes! Yay!

Slow Cooker Weekend: Apples & Soup

Though I have been awful about posting my Slow Cooker recipes each week, I can assure you that the old Slow Cooker is still widely and regularly used.

In fact, it was brought out, not once, but twice, this weekend.

Saturday, we still had a bunch of golf ball sized apples leftover so I attempted this. Pretty yummy.
Crock Pot Cinnamon Apples

Ingredients:
6 large very tart apples, cored, sliced and peeled (peels on is okay too!)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (or less if you have sweeter apples)
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter, sliced

Directions:
Put all ingredients EXCEPT BUTTER into crock pot; stir well, coating all apple slices, and place slices of butter on top.
Cook on HIGH for 1-1/2 to 2 hours OR cook on LOW 3-1/2 to 4 hours, stirring once half way through.
Serve and enjoy!

Then, Sunday night we came home from church to this heavenly smell!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Source: jonandjenmiller.blogspot.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Slow Cooker Sunday: A few of my "pin"teresting slow cooker meals

Here's what has been cooking in the Slow Cooker this month...

Paula Deen Mac and Cheese

Source: food.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Angel Chicken

Source: cleverlyinspired.blogspot.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

Source: sweettreatsmore.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

All good choices! Happy Slow Cooking!

Slow Cooker Sunday: Italian Cream Cheese Chicken & "Pulled" Pork

Tonight's Slow Cooker meal was a winner! Creamy, yummy, easy, and great over white rice.

Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

Source: forkinit.blogspot.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

And I completely forgot to report last week's but we had a pork dish that was supposed to be a pulled pork sandwich but ended up more as a tenderloin. Tasty to eat but just not what I was expecting. I was definitely not paying attention in my local produce section...

Source: sweetandsavoryfood.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Slow Cooker Sunday: Italian Chicken and Potatoes

I'm sorry I forgot to post this last night. Maybe I was still deliriously exhausted from Saturday's festivities....or maybe I was catching up on Biggest Loser, The Office, and watching an episode of 30 Rock that featured one of my high school buddies, (An)Drew Gehling, as Bradley!

Here is what we ate for dinner last night. Super easy and very tasty.

Source: thedrivewayoflife.blogspot.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

(FYI for non-Pinterest users, you can still click on the pic and get the recipe!)

Slow Cooker Sunday: Cream Cheese Mexi-Chicken

That's not its real name, but the author of the blog didn't have one either, so I did the best I could. :-)

Tonight's Slow Cooker Sunday meal was scrumptious! Chad ate it over white rice, and I ate it over white rice in a tortilla, then without rice in a tortilla, and then when I saw each tortilla was 120 calories, I had a scoop on a plate. Each way was so yummy!

Source: thelarsonlingo.blogspot.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Good Hap"pin"ings

I'm still working on a good blog post title, but here is my latest edition of "what I have been doing with my Pinterest obsession."

I've become quite obsessed with organizing my Boards. I have pinned so much that I am having trouble finding recipes again, so I started a new Board ("Coming to a kitchen near you") where I post the recipes that I have already bought ingredients for, just yet to be made. And my "Check It Off" board has been frequently used by others since I include my comments on what I think of the recipe. Honest feedback, y'all.

If you are not on Pinterest, then everything I have just said probably sounds foreign and crazy.


But whether or not you are on Pinterest, anyone can enjoy the following recipes that I really enjoyed the last two weeks...

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Source: skinnymom.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Chicken Taco Soup (for the Slow Cooker- holla!)

Source: redsie05.blogspot.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Tater Tot Casserole

Source: cravingcomfort.blogspot.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Sour Cream Chicken

Source: makinglifedelicious.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Parmesan Tilapia

Source: rachaelraymag.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Taco Pizza

Source: realmomkitchen.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti

Source: plainchicken.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Creamy Shrimp and Mushroom Pasta

Source: chaosinthekitchen.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Breakfast Ring (Good for breakfast, but GREAT for Breakfast for Dinner!)

Source: bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Slow Cooker Sunday: Brunswick Stew

I've been kinda obsessed with finding a good slow cooker Brunswick stew recipe. When my BFF Pinterest let me down, I returned to Ole Faithful, Google. I found this on Myrecipes.com and then added my own flair. The Johnson secret is the Sweet Baby Ray's. :-)

Ingredients:
3 pound pork roast, trimmed and cut into two inch chunks
1 bottle of BBQ sauce (seriously, don't use anything but SBR)
1 onion, chopped
3 medium new potatoes, peeled and chopped
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon of salt
14 ounces of chicken broth
18 ounces of frozen veggies (the recipe called for 9 oz of corn and 9 oz of Lima beans but I used a bag of mixed veggies that included carrots, limas, corn, and green beans- yum!)

Directions:
1. Cut the meat, potatoes and onions.
2. Add all ingredients to the slow cooker.
3. Mix well.
4. Cover and cook on low 12 hours.
5. Remove pork chunks with a slotted spoon and shred with a fork.
6. Add pork back to the slow cooker, stir well, and serve.

feed a fever? feed a cold?

Either way, we gotta eat.

By the way, I'm gonna live. But man, that cold/sinus infection/most.annoying.sickness.ever really did a number on me. I'm on Day 10 and finally among the living again. Made it a full day at work and only had to retype a few emails thanks to a bit of fluid on the ears which makes me a bit dizzy and squirrely.

But, by being home for the most part the last week and a half, I have had time to do a lot of Pinterest-ing and then also able to spend more than the 35 minutes I usually have to make dinner between coming home from work and "Jake loses his mind" o'clock.

I thought I would share some of the better recipes with you tonight. These include a Slow Cooker Sunday recipe that I meant to share Sunday but probably fell asleep (and I hear it was good but I couldn't taste a darn thing).

Slow Cooker Sunday: Peach Chicken
*This was a modified "apricot chicken" that I have made several times. I thought it would be good with peach preserves so I altered it a bit, and Chad liked it a lot.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
11 ounce jar of peach preserves
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon soy sauce (that's about 3 packets of the soy sauce you get from take out Chinese btw)
1/4 teaspoon of ginger

Directions:
1. Lay the chicken in the slow cooker.
2. Mix the other ingredients together.
3. Pour mixture over chicken.
4.Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.

And here are some of my Pinterest adventures in the last week or so:

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Source: ivillage.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Source: whatsgabycooking.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Source: food.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Source: turbochef.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Source: insidethekaganoffkitchen.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Slow Cooker Sunday: Double Trouble!

My, oh, my! Has it been a Pinterest weekend filled with yumminess. My house will probably never have all these cute decorations or home DIY projects and the kids birthday parties will still be sponsored by Target, but at least our bellies are full. :-)

In honor of Slow Cooker Sunday, I have two great recipes for you today.

Today for lunch, I made this soup- Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup. It was awesome! Definitely was an all morning affair, though, but it was totally worth it!

Source: 365daysofcrockpot.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Then, tonight for dinner, I made Cashew Chicken. It was incredible (and fairly easy to prep before leaving for church).

Source: sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com via Jaclyn on Pinterest

Both are definite keepers!!

Slow Cooker Sunday: Paula Dean would be proud

Anything that ends with a stick of butter on top has to be good, right?

I made this Beef Roast Sunday night. The recipe came from my co-worker, Rebekah. I actually smelled this yumminess in her office from down the hall and requested the recipe right away!

It was super easy and yes, tasted as yummy as it smelled.

Beef Roast

Ingredients:
2-3 pound beef roast
1 packet of ranch seasoning
1 packet brown gravy
1 stick of butter or margarine

Directions:
1. Place meat in the crock pot.
2. Rub the gravy and ranch seasoning over the meat, leaving remainder in the bottom of the crock pot.
3. Place a stick of butter or margarine on top of the meat.
4. Cook on low 6-8 hours.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Slow Cooker Sunday: Sweet & Sour Chicken Catalina

Tonight's recipe was a new one (shocker, I know!)...and it was super easy and very yummy.

Sweet & Sour Chicken Catalina

Ingredients:
1 (16 oz) bottle of Catalina salad dressing
1 cup of brown sugar
1 (20 oz) can of pineapple chunks, drained
4 boneless chicken breasts

Directions:
1. In a separate bowl, mix the dressing & brown sugar until smooth & easy to pour.
2. Spray the Crock Pot w/cooking spray & add in the cubed chicken. (Add a little salt and pepper here.)
3. Evenly layer the pineapple chunks over the chicken.
4. Pour the dressing mix on top of the pineapple and chicken.
5. Cover and Cook on Low 6-8 hours.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Slow Cooker Sunday: Crocksgiving 2011

'Tis the season for not having time to blog, but late or not, I wanted to share our week of "Crocking" with you all.

We have the honor of hosting Thanksgiving for our families each year in our home. Usually there is anywhere from 20 to 30 people in attendance. Everyone brings something to contribute, and we use "real" dishes and silverware. In preparing for the meal, side dishes brought early may find themselves cooling prematurely, and though we do have a dishwasher, there is still quite an abundance of pots and pans to wash in addition to the meal dishes. It gets kind of overwhelming and a few of us find ourselves washing dishes for what seems like hours.

So, last year, my mom and I discussed "Crocksgiving 2011." By inviting everyone to bring their sides in a crockpot, we eliminate extra dishes AND keep the food fresh and warm until dinnertime. Genius!

I have to say that it was quite a success! We had so many yummy sides- a green bean/new potato casserole, sweet potatoes, stuffing, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese- ALL made or at least transferred to a crockpot before arriving.

I was in charge of one of the turkeys, but of course wanted to participate in the Crocking fun, too. So, I found this great recipe for mulled apple cider. Yum! [Though due to a mixed crowd, I did eliminate the brandy. :-)]

That Sunday, I was desperate to get one more meal out of that yummy turkey so I found a recipe for a Turkey and Rice casserole. I tweaked the original recipe in order to use as much of my current food as I could, and I really liked how it turned out.

Ingredients:
2-3 cups of cooked, chopped turkey
3 cups of converted white rice
3 cups of water
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
1 cup of sliced baby carrots (the recipe called for celery, but I had carrots on hand)
1/2 cup of chopped onion (or you could use 1 tsp of onion powder)
1 tsp of poultry seasoning (I used "Perfect Pinch Rotisserie Chicken.")
2 cups of frozen veggies (I used a bag of Steamfresh Garlic Peas and Mushrooms. GREAT flavor)

Directions:
1. Mix the cream of mushroom soups, seasoning, and the water in the crock pot.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
3. Cook on High 4 hours.

Slow Cooker Sunday: BBQ Apple Chicken

Another yummy and healthy slow cooker meal for us last night!



BBQ Apple Chicken
Ingredients:
1 package (about 6-8 Pieces) Chicken Thighs, Bone In
1-½ cup Apple Juice Or Apple Cider
1 cup Barbecue Sauce
1 Tablespoon Dried Mustard (did not have so I used regular mustard)
1 pinch of spices (to taste- I sprinkled some "Perfect Pinch" seasoning.)

Directions:
1. Lay the chicken on the bottom of the crockpot, skin side up.
2. Pour enough apple juice to come just below covering the chicken.
3. Add the bbq sauce, dried mustard, and whatever spices you want depending on your taste preference. Rosemary, thyme and oregano all work well. Some of the blended spices are nice also. Experiment.
4. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and be certain to pull out the bones and skin.

Slow Cooker Sunday: Chicken Divan

Tonight's dinner was a gem that I found on the Crock Pot Guys Facebook Page. I seriously have not been this excited about a meal in a few weeks, but this one is now a new favorite.
It was DELICIOUS!

Chicken Divan

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
4 cups broccoli florettes
1/2 cup mayo
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt and white pepper to taste for chicken
1 cup of bread crumbs
2 Tbl spoons olive oil
1 Tbl spoon worcheshire
1 Tbl spoon Garlic
1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Pour 4 cups of broccoli florettes into the crock pot. (I used frozen that I defrosted in the microwave but next time I would use fresh because the frozen left a little too much liquid in the bottom of the crock pot.)
2. Cut the thawed fresh chicken into bite sized cubes 1-2 inch cubes.
3. Heat up the olive oil in a skillet over med. heat.
4. Cook the garlic (I used fresh cloves) with the Worcestershire for about 1 min only.
5. Add the chicken and lightly brown it, stirring with a spatula 1-2 mins. max. (Just a very quick searing.)
6. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the cut up chicken and evenly place it in the pot, covering all of the broccoli.
7. In a separate bowl, mix the mayo, soup, and lemon juice (didn't have any lemon juice in the house so I just left this out and I don't think it affected the taste at all), and then evenly pour this mixture into the pot.
8. Evenly pour the breadcrumbs into the pot and then the cheese to cover it all.
9. Cover and cook 3-4 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low.

Slow Cooker Sunday: Cheesy Chicken

O.M.G. This was the richest, goo-iest, cheesiest chicken I have ever made.

In other words, it was good.

I would tweak it a bit, though, for next time (and oh, there will be a next time), so I just went ahead and gave you my directions on how I think it SHOULD be done.

Ingredients:
6 boneless chicken breasts
2 packages of cream cheese
4 cans of cream of chicken soup
2 cups of shredded chedder cheese

Directions:
1. Mix 4 cans of cream of chicken with 2 blocks of cream cheese until smooth.
2. Pour half of the mixture in the bottom of the slow cooker.
3. Lay chicken breasts on the mixture.
4. Sprinkle chicken with any seasonings to taste. (I did salt, pepper, and a little Mrs. Dash.)
5. Cover with remaining half of mixture.
6. Sprinkle 2 cups of shredded cheese on top.
7. Cover and cook on low 6 hours.

Slow Cooker Sunday: Hawaiian BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

I got caught up in watching some of the great 9/11 tributes on TV last night and didn't get around to posting this recipe. It made me realize just how blessed I truly am to be able to do simple things like crock pot meals with my family when so many are still grieving. I just thank God everyday for how lucky I am and just how wonderful and free this country truly is.

I am also home with a sick baby boy today so I have some time for some blogging. :-)

Last night's recipe came from the awesome Mama Carson, who found the recipe and posted it on my Facebook wall. I invite any of you to do the same. :-)

The recipe is here, but I tweaked it a bit as I indicated below.

And my picture does not do justice to just how yummy this meal truly was. I served these sliders with Bush's baked beans (not pictured).

Hawaiian BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Ingredients:

6-8 boneless chicken thighs (Using thighs was perfect. The meat was so juicy and super easy to pull apart.)

1 can of pineapple chunks, drained

1/2 bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce

Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

*The recipe also called for one small onion, diced, but when Chad cut into our onion it looked a bit sketch so we chose to toss it and do without.

Directions:

1. Place chicken in crock pot.

2. Place onions (if not nasty like mine) and drained pineapple chunks on top of chicken.

3. Cover everything with the 1/2 bottle of BBQ sauce. (And if you are not using Sweet Baby Ray's you are truly missing out.)

4. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.

5. Remove chicken, shred with two forks, and then add back to the crock pot to mix with the sauce. (Now, I did not see in the beginning of the recipe that the chicken needed to marinate about an hour like this to soak up all the sauce. We were hungry so it sat maybe 10 minutes and was still really good. But, I bet after an hour it would have been awesomely soaked and flavorful.)

6. Spoon chicken BBQ mixture on hawaiian sweet rolls and serve!

Slow Cooker Sunday: Creamy Chicken and Potatoes

So, because it's a holiday weekend I find it excusable that I forgot to post this last night, right? :-)

I'm not sure if you have heard of a group on Facebook called Crock Pot Girls. They have just a few followers....like 1.1 MILLION after about 2 weeks!! While I can silently congratulate myself for hopping on the crock pot train way before Facebook made it cool (hey- just like Glee), I am a bit close to slapping myself saying, "Why the heck didn't I start a "Slow Cooker Sunday" page?

But, I digress. And just to show I am a good sport, I decided to utilize this new resource and try one of their recipes.

The bad news? It actually kinda stunk. The good news? It actually kinda stunk.

But, I do see possibility and if you tweak the recipe a bit, you could actually have a great, filling meal.

Creamy Chicken and Potatoes

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8-10 small new red potatoes
8 oz. sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
black pepper, to taste
poultry seasoning, to taste

Directions:
1. Sprinkle poultry seasoning on chicken and lay in the crock pot. (This is where I would tweak and really add more seasonings. It was pretty bland with just the little bit of poultry seasoning.)
2. Arrange the potatoes around the chicken.
3. Mix the sour cream and cream of chicken soup and add a generous amount of black pepper.
4. Pour the mixture over the chicken and potatoes.
5. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
*Ok, here is where we must have had issues because I did 4.5 hours and the chicken was perfect but the potatoes were way under cooked. If you go longer, you will have cooked potatoes but tough chicken. I think instead of the small potatoes I would either do the teeny red potatoes in the store and do 5 hours or use bigger, fatter chicken breasts so I could cook everything longer. The flavor had potential but wasn't knock-your-socks-off.

So there you have it.

Maybe I will visit the Crock Pot Guys page next week. :-)

Slow Cooker Sunday: Tangy Pork Roast

Ok, so Chad made another "hubby declaration" tonight. This was, by far, after Crock Pot Lasagna, his FAVORITE meal I have made so far. That's huge. :-)

I paired it with instant garlic mashed potatoes. Yum!

Tangy Pork Roast

Ingredients:

2.5 pound pork roast

1 small onion, sliced

1/2 green pepper, sliced

1 cup of hot water

3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon of ketchup

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 dash of hot pepper sauce

Directions:

1. Slice onion and pepper and layer in the bottom of the slow cooker.

2. Lay the meat down on top of the onion and pepper.

3. Mix all the remaining ingredients in a bowl, and then pour on top of the roast and onion.

4. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.

Slow Cooker Sunday: Crockpot Chicken Supreme

I went out on a limb this week and did two things: (1) tried something completely random off a website and (2) chose a recipe with an "extra" step that I had to do once home from church. Since the extra step involved bacon and melted cheese, all was forgiven. :-) I served the chicken with a side of Steamfresh brown rice, and we loved it.

Crockpot Chicken Supreme

Ingredients:

6 boneless chicken breasts

5 slices of bacon

4 oz. jar of mushrooms, drained

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 cups shredded Swiss or Havarti cheese

Directions:

1. In large skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon, lay on paper towel to dry, crumble, and set aside in fridge.

2. In same skillet (and bacon drippings), brown the chicken 4-5 minutes, turning once.

3. Remove chicken and lay in bottom of crock pot.

4. Cover with mushrooms.

5. Heat cream of chicken soup in skillet and then pour over chicken and mushrooms.

6. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.

7. Before serving, sprinkle cheese over chicken and cover with bacon. Cover and cook on high 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.