Crockpot or Slow Cooker Meals

Slow Cooker Chili

serves 6 recipe adapted from spoonful.com

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp. canola oil
• 1 pound London broil or top round steak, trimmed of fat and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced 
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 to 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1- 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes (preferably Mexican style), with liquid
• 1 cup light or nonalcoholic beer, water or chicken broth
• 1/3 to 1/2 jalapeno chili, halved, seeded,and finely chopped (optional)
• 2-15-ounce can kidney beans (or pinto beans), drained and rinsed

Directions:

• Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large, nonstick frying pan or skillet. Add the beef, onion, and garlic and cook until browned, stirring occasionally (about 8 minutes).
• Spoon the beef mixture into the slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or high 3 hours.

Best Ever Beef Stew

Serves 6 recipe adapted from spoonful.com

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 large potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 to 1- 1/2 cups peeled and diced rutabaga or turnips or sweet potatoes
• 1 cup fresh green beans, cut in bite-size pieces
• 1 pound beef stew-meat chunks
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 can diced tomatoes (oregano, basil, garlic)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 3 cups low-sodium beef stock
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• Pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste

Directions:

• Put everything but the flour and the tomato paste in a slow cooker; stir to combine.
• Cover and cook on the low setting for 8 hours or on high for 4  hours or until the beef is tender and the potatoes are just fork tender.
• Stir the stew once or twice as it cooks, if possible. About 30 minutes before serving, transfer 1/2 cup of the broth to a small mixing bowl.
• Add the flour and tomato paste and whisk until smooth. Stir the mixture into the stew and cook for the remaining half hour.

Pork on a Bun

Serves 8 recipe from spoonful.com

Ingredients:

• 3- to 4-pound pork-butt roast or beef brisket
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 1-16-ounce jar barbecue sauce
• Soft rolls

Directions:

• Carefully trim the meat of visible fat and season it with salt and pepper. Place the onions in the bottom of the crock, then lay the meat on top of them. (You may have to cut the brisket in half and stack the pieces.)
• Pour about a half cup of the barbecue sauce over the meat and flip it around to coat it. Cover and let it cook for 9 to 10 hours on low.
• Carefully remove the cooked meat from the crock and pour out the fat and juices, retaining the onions. For the pork: Using two forks, shred the meat into stringy chunks, discarding any fat.
• Put the meat back in the crock, mix in the remaining barbecue sauce, and let it cook another half hour or so. 
• For the beef: Slice the brisket across the grain and place it on a platter, discarding any fat. Cover it with sauce and let it sit for 10 minutes or so if you can bear it! Serve on soft rolls, onions on the side.  

Chicken Corn Chowder 

Recipe adapted from Fix It and Forget It Cookbook Slow Cooker by Dawn Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Goud

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless chicken breasts or one rotisserie cooked chicken from the deli 
• 2 large sliced carrots 
• 2 celery ribs 
• 2 medium potatoes peeled and diced 
• 1 tsp. mixed herbs (1/2 tsp. thyme and ½ tsp. basil) 
• 12 oz. can cream style corn 
• 12 oz. can regular corn drained 
• 1 onion sliced and diced 
• 1 small box white mushrooms 
• 2 minced cloves of garlic 
• ¼ cup fresh Italian parsley or 1 TB. dried parsley 
• 3 cups chicken stock 
• optional diced red peppers

Directions:

• Saute in 2 TB. butter garlic, mushrooms and onion 
• Combine all ingredients and place in slow cooker or crock-pot 
• If chicken is cooked cook chowder on high 4-5 hours 
• If chicken is raw cook on low heat 8 hours 

Alternatives to the above recipe: 

• Add 1 cup light cream that has been mixed with 2 TB. flour in the last 30 minutes of cooking time for a thicker creamier version. 
• Cook 5 bacon strips till very browned , crumble and set aside. 

that you can clean the bottom of an iron that has sticky residue by using salt.

Remove scorch marks on your iron by turning off the steam setting and place several heaping tablespoons table salt on a soft cloth. Next, place the cloth on an ironing board and turn the iron on to the cotton setting. Once the iron heats up, place it on the salt and rub back and forth until the scorch marks disappear. Turn off the iron, allow it to cool completely, and then wipe the sole plate with a damp cloth.