Slow Cooked Stroganoff

We make beef stroganoff every once in a while, but this was the first time we tried this recipe. This recipe came from the back of a Lipton Recipe Secrets Beefy Onion Soup Mix box.

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff:

2 lb. boneless chuck steak, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 envelope Lipton Recipe Secrets Beefy Onion Soup Mix
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves, crushed
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
1, 8-ounce container sour cream

In slow cooker, toss beef with flour. Stir in remaining ingredients except sour cream. Cook covered on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours until meat is tender. Stir in sour cream. Serve, if desired, over hot cooked noodles.

This recipe is linked to Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen.

Thrown In

We use our crockpot ALL the time. In fact, we have more than one of them. Often, we will use them at the same time. The other day, I had a roast I wanted to make, so I literally just took what I had out of the pantry to throw this together.

Clean Out The Pantry Roast:

1 pot roast-2-3 lbs.
1 pkg. Lipton Beefy Onion Soup Mix
2 small cans tomato juice
1 large carton beef broth
1 bag crinkle cut carrots-(Yes, I realize they were not in the pantry.)

Salt and pepper the roast. Dust with a little flower. Brown in the skillet with a pat of butter. Transfer the browned roast to the crockpot. Turn on low and add the beef broth, carrots, tomato juice, and soup mix. Cook for 8 hours.

Mayberry Meets the Crock Pot

Growing up, my family watched countless episodes of Andy Griffith and we still do today. All these yesrs later, the show is still funny, and I still wish I lived in between Mayberry and Mayfield (Leave it to Beaver).

Yesterday, James and I watched a marathon of the show, ironically on the same day that we were making a new recipe from the Mayberry Cookbook. You see, every time we go on vacation, my souvenier is a cookbook. So, it was fun to find the Mayberry Cookbook last week. I am sure we will have a good time with that.

Even though pork chops aren't usually my first choce, hubby really likes them. So, this was our first trial recipe from the book. I have to say they turned out really well, and we will make this again. I would like to get away from using so many cans when I cook, so I might alternate with beef broth and Velveeta next time.

Mayberry Pork Chop Casserole in the Crock Pot:

4 pork chops
4 potatoes
2 cans cheddar cheese soup
2 cans french onion soup

Season the pork with salt and pepper and coat both sides in flour. Brown on both sides. (This is optional, but I did it). Cut the potatoes in thin slices. Combine all of the soup into the crock pot, turning it on low. Add the potato slices and top with the browned pork chops. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Easy Peasy

One day recently, as I was talking to my mom, we were discussing the fact that neither of us really had any great plans for our dinner menus that were in the near future. She began telling me about one of our friends and the easiest chicken that she had recently made because she simply had those ingredients on hand.

So, I thought I'd give this a try. You won't believe how easy it is, and we really enjoyed it. You could add to this, but it was just fine as is.

Chicken with Tomatoes:

1 lb. of chicken-I used tenderloins
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans Rotel tomatoes

Dump everything in the crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve chicken over rice, ladling the extra sauce over the chicken.

Slow Cooked Chicken

This recipe comes courtesy of Stephanie O'Dea's cookbook "Make it Fast, Cook it Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking"... She used steak, as I did in the previous post. On a whim, we decided to try the same recipe using chicken. Though it worked well, we will likely stick to the original recipe that uses the steak. Try it out and let me know which you prefer.

A-1 and Dijon Chicken:

2 tablespoons A-1 steak sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 lb. chicken cutlets
1/4 cup white wine

Use a four-quart slow cooker. Combine A-1 sauce and mustard in a little bowl. Paint the mixture on all sides of the chicken. Put chicken into slow cooker. Add wine. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Chicken: It's What's for Dinner

Since I'm off tomorrow, I will have a chance to make dinner in the crock pot. This is our dinner for tomorrow night -- a twist on one of our favorite main dishes. We enjoy Chinese food, and while this isn't quite the real thing, it's close when you don't want to leave the comfort of your own home.

Chinese Chicken:

8-10 pieces chicken
1, 12-ounce jar apricot jam
1 package onion soup mix
2, 8-ounce bottles Russian salad dressing

Mix jam, onion soup mix and salad dressing. Pour mixture over chicken pieces in crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours if using chicken tenders, 6-8 hours if using chicken breasts.

Rib-Tickling Meal

Another slow cooker recipe, as I got a new crock pot for Christmas.

Slow Cooked Ribs:

4 pounds boneless country-style pork ribs
1 cup BBQ sauce
1 cup Catalina salad dressing
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cold water

Cut ribs into serving-sized pieces. Place into a 5-quart slow cooker. Combine BBQ sauce and salad dressing. Pour mixture over ribs. Sprinkle with garlic. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. Remove ribs and keep warm. Strain liquid into small saucepan over low heat. Combine flour and water until smooth and stir into liquid from the crock pot. Bring to boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Spoon sauce over ribs.

More Slow Cooker Magic

Crock Pot Smothered Steak:

1-1/2 pounds chuck or round steak
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1-2 green peppers, sliced
1, 14-ounce can tomatoes
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 large onion, sliced

Put steak strips, flour, salt and pepper in crock pot. Stir well to coast steak. Add all remaining ingredients. Cook and cover on low for 8-10 hours. Serve over rice.

Chop Chop!

We love anything that can be made in the crockpot.

Slow Cooker Pork Chops:

6-8 boneless pork chops
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 medium onions, finely diced
2 celery stalks, finely diced
1 green bell pepper, finely diced
1 12 oz. can stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 beef bouillon cube
2 Tbsp. corn starch
2 Tbsp. water

Place chops in crock pot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add onion, celery, green pepper, and tomatoes. Combine ketchup. vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire, lemon juice, and bouillon. Pour over vegetables and chops. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.
Mix corn starch and water until smooth. Stir into liquid in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high 30 minutes or until thick. Serve over rice.

*This also works with chicken.

Prelude to a Feast

Back in early October, I bought the Taste of Home Halloween Magazine. I love Taste of Home Magazine, and I buy just about every issue. I noticed this recipe and mentioned to hubby that we needed to try this. Then, I noticed that Crockpot Lady made it, and I knew we had to try it. We loved this, and it was so different. We will most likely be having this at Thanksgiving this year. I love to switch up the Thanksgiving side dishes from year to year, and I think everyone will like this. Crockpot Lady adapted this somewhat from the original version. I then took a step out from her modified version. If you have the Taste of Home Halloween magazine, you will find this on page 48. Thanks to Crockpot Lady, we now might have to purchase an additional crockpot before Thaksgiving approaches.

Crockpot Pecan Crusted Sweet Potatoes:

4 peeled and sliced (1/4 inch thick) sweet potatoes
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 cup nonfat evaporated milk
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 T butter
1 cup chopped pecans

Peel and slice the sweet potatoes and stack in the crockpot. Cover with the 3/4 cup of brown sugar. Spoon the cranberry sauce all over the top of the sugar and potatoes. Mix the 1 tsp of vanilla with the cup of milk, and pour over the sweet potatoes. Slice the butter into about 8 pieces. Dot it on top. Sprinkle pecans over the top. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 5-6.

Corn, No Cob

Last month when James and I went to visit my in-laws, I came home with a cookbook as a souvenir. My in-laws had recently moved from one part of the country to another. When I found the cookbook that is local to their new community, I felt that I needed to have it for my ever growing collection. As I was looking through it, I mentioned to Regina, my mother-in-law, that I had found one particular recipe that sparked my interest. It was indeed the first recipe I made from the book. We will most likely add this to our Thanksgiving menu this year. It was so very easy to make, which makes this even better.

Crockpot Corn:

1 2lb. bag frozen silver queen corn
1 stick butter, cut into small pieces
1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese, cut into small pieces.

Place the butter and cream cheese into the crockpot. Turn on low. Pour the corn over this mixture. Cover and cook for 4 hors. I stirred mine every hour. Season with salt and pepper before serving. This is yummy!

Ridiculously Easy Roast

This recipe is one that we make quite often. It is a very easy Sunday night dinner. We make it probably once every month or two. Serve it alongside mashed potatoes.

Crockpot Roast

1 3lb. pot roast
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can french onion soup
salt
pepper
garlic powder
1 pkg. onion soup mix
1 32 oz. box beef broth
1 bag microwaveable carrots

Season both sides of the roast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Combine both soups in the crockpot. Whisk together. Turn the crockpot on low. Pour beef broth into the soup mixture, combining well. Stir in onion soup mixture. Place roast and carrots into the liquid. Cook for 7-8 hours. The meat will fall apart when you are ready to take it out of the crockpot. If you wish to make gravy from the liquid, make a paste to stir into the broth. Mix 4 Tbsp. cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water together until smooth. Once you remove the roast, stir the cornstarch and water mixture into the broth. Stir well and allow to thicken. Place roast back into the gravy.`

Crockpot Creation

Today, I have felt a little under the weather with what I assume is a cold. So, I decided to let the crockpot do the work for me. A friend gave me this recipe recently. Today was the perfect day to try it while we were laying low. We were sure glad we did because it was really good. We had it served over yellow rice.

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

4 chicken breasts, pounded thin
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 jar salsa
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream

Pound your chicken to thin it out. Coat each side of the chicken with taco seasoning. Lightly spray your crockpot with nonstick cooking spray. Combine your salsa and soup in the crockpot, whisking together until well combined. Place your coated chicken into the salsa soup mixture. Turn crockpot on low and cook for 7 1/2 hours. Remove chicken to a plate. Stir sour cream into the salsa and soup mixture. Whisk together to combine well. Place your chicken back into the crockpot. Cover and cook another 20-30 minutes.

Busy Week

Greetings everyone! Hopefully you have had a restful weekend. James and I knew we had a busy week coming up ahead of us, so we planned ahead to use the crockpot today. I love the crockpot, especially in the summer. It is also helpful way to get a head start on your weekly menu. We sometimes stockpile on the weekend so that we are not eating dinner at nine o clock during the week.

I also wanted to note that I have become aware that some men (friends of both of us) are reading my blog too!! If you are reading, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Crockpot Chicken

8 chicken tenderloins
Lawry's seasoned salt
pepper
1 envelope onion soup mix
8 oz. cream cheese
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 soup can milk
8 oz. sour cream
2 cups shredded cheese-any cheese that you have will work)

Beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Add the onion soup mix, cream of chicken soup, and milk. Blend well. Meanwhile, season both sides of chicken with Lawry's and pepper to taste. Pour cream cheese mixture into the crockpot. Turn on low and add the tenderloins. Cook for 7 hours. Remove chicken to a plate. With crockpot still on low, add 1 cup sour cream, stirring well. Follow with the shredded cheese. Stir until sour cream is mixed in and cheese is melted. Put chicken back into the crockpot for 15-30 minutes. Serve chicken over rice with sauce poured over top. YUM!