HELP - New crock pot/horrid cookbook

[cindergretta]

I want to use my lovely new crock pot. :mrgreen I have the worst crock pot cook book:

Take a loaf (a loaf?! :hunh ) of velveeta - uh, no thank you!

Pour in a jar of barbecue sauce - how about tell me how to make the barbecue sauce??

Now add a can of baked beans.... :no

And so forth! :-/

So, I am willing to run out to the shops for ingredients. Please, share you bestest, favoritest crock pot recipes. I am ALL EARS!! :lol (We have egg and peanut allergies.) We eat meat, but not a lot. We eat beans. What have ya got??? :listen

[Can'tTurnLeft]

I want to use my lovely new crock pot. :mrgreen I have the worst crock pot cook book:

Take a loaf (a loaf?! :hunh ) of velveeta - uh, no thank you!

Pour in a jar of barbecue sauce - how about tell me how to make the barbecue sauce??

Now add a can of baked beans.... :no



:haha :sick:sick

That is sick and hysterical at the same time.

[cindergretta]

I know, right?! :laughtears

[Aerynne]

Lentil rice casserole

3/4 c. lentils
1/2 c. brown rice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1/2 onion, diced

put ingredients in crock pot for 4 hours. Melt cheese on top if desired

I also like to make split pea soup w/ split peas, water, salt, and carrots. No recipe for that one, though.

[TuneMyHeart]

I have an awesome crockpot cookbook - Not Your Mother's Slow cooker cookbook (http://www.amazon.com/Your-Mothers-Slow-Cooker-Cookbook/dp/1558322450/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293905052&sr=8-1). :)

[Kiara.I]

Barley and ake Mushroom Dinner - Mairlyn Smith

1 cup pot barley
4 cups beef broth (or vegetable)
1/2 oz dried sliced ake mushrooms
1 1/2 cups sweet potato, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp cracked pepper
1 cup cashews, chopped

Rinse barley under cool running water. Drain and place in slow cooker. Add beef broth, dried mushrooms, sweet potato, onion, garlic, and pepper.

Cover with lid and cook on low for 3 to 4 hours or on high for 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours.

When barley is soft and most of the liquid has been absorbed, turn of slow cooker. Stir once and let sit for 15 minutes. Divide equally among four plates and sprinkle each with 1/4 cup cashews. Serves 4.

:yum

ETA: Oh yeah, that makes a pretty small amount. If you have a big crockpot you will want to double or triple it (trying to cook small portions in a big crockpot doesn't work very well.) Leftovers reheat fine, but you want to add the cashews fresh at serving time.

[Katigre]

This website = AWESOME crockpot food :rockon

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

[mommylove]

This website = AWESOME crockpot food :rockon

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

I love that blog. :yes

If you want to venture away from meat, here (http://www.globalvegankitchen.com/SampleRecipes_FVSC.html) are some sample recipes from the best vegetarian slow cooker cookbook.

[SilverMoon]

In the crock pot forum here someone put a link to 50+ crock pot/slow cooker recipes. I haven't tried any of them, but I think it's a good start.
ETA: Katigre posted the link, thanks!

Dinner two days ago was a slow cooker Yankee pot roast. I don't do measurements, just eyeball the main ingredients. Like, peel 6 and chop potatoes, does that look like enough for everyone? Peel 3 carrots, slice, looks like enough. Put all in the bottom of the pot.
Put spices on the roast (I like garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and crushed rosemary) and pat them on. Put the roast on top of the veggies. If you like, chop up an onion and sprinkle all around the roast, even on top.
Pour water in the slow cooker until the veggies are covered, but here I do keep careful count. Because then I put in a bullion cube for each cup of water.
Put the lid on, set to high, and 8 hours later, voila! Dinner!

To make beef stew, chop the same veggies (potatoes, carrots, onion), cut a beef roast into bite sized pieces. To be technically correct, coat the beef pieces with a mix of flour, salt, and pepper then brown all sides in a skillet that has a little oil in it. Then transfer to the slow cooker. [I don't have grains, so I just toss the meat into the slow cooker without browning. Plus I hate extra steps :giggle]
Put enough water in to cover everything, plus 1 bullion per cup of water. Turn on. 8 hours later, Dinner!!!


BBQ beef or pork

put a roast in the slow cooker, cover with water. Cook on high for 6-8 hours, the longer the better. After it's cooked, pour out water, use two forks and pull apart the meat (I do this in the slow cooker), removing chunks of fat (ew!). Pour in your choice of BBQ sauce until the meat is the consistency you'd like for sandwiches, then turn back to high and cook another 20-30 minutes, only to warm up the BBQ sauce. Done!
I bet you could slice up some onions in this and that would make the sandwiches even yummier.

I also use the slow cooker to cook chicken to use later for salads, chicken fajitas, bbq chicken, enchilada filling, etc. Just place whatever meat you want into the slow cooker, cover with water, and let it cook for 8 hours on high. It'll fall apart easily, which makes shredding easy-peasy.

I did make baked beans in the slow cooker last summer, but didn't use one recipe. I found several I liked but weren't quite what I wanted so I combined two of them. I remember putting in browned ground beef, some bacon pieces, a few cans of beans (black and kidney and Great Northern), plus some bbq sauce and mustard, then cooking for 6-8 hours. I'm sorry I don't have a recipe.

[hollybells]

:haha :sick:sick

That is sick and hysterical at the same time.

Seriously. :haha

We're out of town but if you eat ground beef (or something equivalent), I have a taco recipe and one for lasagna that we really like. Both have options for using your own sauce etc. or using store bought. :mrgreen I can post them once I'm back home, if you'd like.

I use my (6 :shifty ) crockpots often.

[Waterlogged]

:bag ummmm...velveeta and rotel(diced tomatoes w/green chiles) and sausage makes for an awesome salsa con queso....or if you're in Texas, you can just call it queso. We had many a crock pot of queso during our TX days. Served with tortilla chips.....

Yum....... :bag

:shifty

[cindergretta]

:bag ummmm...velveeta and rotel(diced tomatoes w/green chiles) and sausage makes for an awesome salsa con queso....or if you're in Texas, you can just call it queso. We had many a crock pot of queso during our TX days. Served with tortilla chips.....

Yum....... :bag

:shifty

:hug The thing is, you can learn to make that from the commercial! :laughtears I expect a cook book to give me actual recipes! :giggle

No shame is loving queso, even if it is made with a "loaf of velveeta!" ;) :kiss

[mellifera]

This website = AWESOME crockpot food :rockon

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

This. My super picky dh even eats these recipes. :tu

[Tengokujin]

OK, a totally delicious beef stew if you don't mind/like beer.

Take 2-3 lbs. of beef stew meat. cut up into 1-1 1/2 inch chunks. Flour it and brown it. Dump into crock pot. Quarter a couple of onions. Dump those in too. Throw in some baby carrots. Chop up some potatoes (or not). Pour in about 2-3 cups Guiness beer or something comparable. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook on LOW for 8 hours.

IF you don't use potatoes in it, I microwave/baked some potatoes and crumble/chopped them over my own stew and it was yum.

This is a man pleasing stew.:rockon Also pleases my kids.

[cindergretta]

Ah, yes! We use Guiness to cook our corned beef! :tu That sounds excellent! :yes

[The Tickle Momster]

Lentil rice casserole

3/4 c. lentils
1/2 c. brown rice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1/2 onion, diced

put ingredients in crock pot for 4 hours. Melt cheese on top if desired

I also like to make split pea soup w/ split peas, water, salt, and carrots. No recipe for that one, though.

this needs some liquid, doesn't it? How much? I'd like to try making it. :ty3

I need to go look at that blog again myself. Thanks for the reminder. :tu

[AndiRoo]

:popcorn

Much in the same boat, got a new crock pot for Christmas, DH threw the cookbook away before I even got to look at it...:doh

But if it was like yours, I'm not missing much...:giggle

Thanks!!

[JustMandy]

This website = AWESOME crockpot food :rockon

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

I came to reccomend this site as well. :heart it! She has two cook books as well that I've been coveting for...ever!

[cbmk4]

you got some great links already. I'll just add that I make any soup or stew recipe I find in my slowcooker whether the recipe originally said to or not. Only thing I do differently is add lentils, rice or noodles toward the end of cooking time so they don't fall apart to mush.

[Marrae]

I make my favourite soup in the crock pot.

Italian Lentil Soup
1 1/3 cup lentils
1 cup carrots (chopped)
1 cup celery (chopped)
1 cup onions (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
3 1/2 cups broth
2 1/2 cups water
14 1/4 ounces Italian-style tomatoes or regular stewed tomatoes or crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons cider vinegar (optional)

Rinse lentils and put crock pot, along with carrots, celery, onion, garlic, dried herbs and bay leaf. Pour in broth, water, and tomatoes. Cover and cook on low heat for 12 to 14 hours, or on high heat for 5 to 6 hours. Discard bay leaf and just before serving stir in parsley and vinegar (if using).

I omit the garlic as I can't eat it and make the broth from a smoked ham bone the day before in the crock pot. :) Very tasty. :)

[shaslove]

my favorite:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/20/Create_Your_Own_Soup56048.shtml

It is the COOLEST recipe I have ever found-and every soup is amazing.

Ingredients:
***Chose your base:***
6 cups chicken, vegetable, or beef broth
1 jar spaghetti sauce
plus
4 cups water
***Chose a protein***
2 cups beef, chicken, turkey, pork -- cubed
1 cup ham -- diced
3 cups canned or cooked dried beans
***Chose a starch***
2 cups cooked rice
2 cups cooked barley
2 cups pasta
2 cups corn -- cooked
***Chose vegetables***
4 cups total of any combo of up to 4 listed below
carrot -- sliced
celery --diced
cabbage --shredded
onion --chopped
potato --cubed
tomato --diced
green beans
zucchini --sliced
peas
***Chose spices and seasonings***
4 tablespoons fresh
OR
2 tablespoons dried total of 1-4 combined (listed below)
basil
chives
cumin
garlic
marjoram
oregano
parsley
rosemary
thyme
cayenne
chili powder


Directions:
Combine all ingredients in crockpot - putting any root vegetables (potato, carrots, etc) on the bottom. Cover; cook on low for 8-12 hours.

This recipe from CDKitchen for Create Your Own Soup serves/makes 6

[ShangriLewis]

Do you like Au Jus sandwiches? Get one cheap roast. Whatever is on sale. Before you go to bed put it in a dry crockpot. Sprinkle one packet of Au jus dry mix over it. Turn it on low. When you wake up, it will be ugly and black. You will think it is horrible and ruined. Add water at least to cover or more. It will make more Au jus than the packet says because of all that horrible looking stuff. Let cook till lunch or dinner. Serve on crusty rolls. If you have any leftovers you can add some frozen mixed veggies and a bit more water if needed. Then you can have soup the next day. If your crockpot is big enough you can shove two roasts in there.

My newest crockpot will get to a boil. I regularly use it make dry beans for burritos. I often add some salsa or enchilada sauce at some point for some flavor. I just soak my beans overnight and cook on high all day. If you buy flour tortillas and stuff at Costco, it makes some cheap good food. We like to heat up a can of enchilada sauce on the stove. We spoon that over the top of a burrito to make it a wet burrito.

I make lasagna in mine. I use regular dry noodles. I just add some water to the jar of spaghetti sauce to kind of rinse it out and add that to the layer I am on. They cook up just fine. I just cook it on low or mine cooks fast. I sometimes use that giant can of spaghetti sauce from Costco. It makes a lot of lasagna for the price.

[lalani]

favorite crockpot cookbook. i especially love the recipes for meatloaf and boston brown bread.

http://www.amazon.com/Gourmet-Slow-Cooker-Regional-Comfort-Food/dp/1580087329/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1294348691&sr=8-1