#14 Crock Pot Queen
One of the biggest changes that my husband and I noticed after the boys left the nest began to occur at mealtime. It was suddenly not as exciting or motivating to cook dinner for just the two of us. As much as I enjoy cooking, we are often on the run. Many evenings we sit down to dinner only after we have both worked all day, run errands, worked out, etc., and there is little time for food preparation. However, eating out is both expensive and often not-so-nutritious. It has occurred to me that many of my friends are also dealing with varying meal preparation now that the makeup of their homes are changing.
Many years ago I discovered the magic of using a crock pot; it is fairly easy to get up a few minutes earlier in the morning and throw dinner in than it is to find time in the afternoon. At one point, when the boys were in middle and high school, I even found a fabulous chocolate dessert recipe that was made in the crock pot. The boys’ immediate reaction was, “Really mom? Now you’re even making dessert in the crock pot?” But once they tasted it, they loved it and their rant was over.
For this week’s blog post, I have decided to share a few of my “tried and true” favorite crock-pot recipes. I will do my best to give credit where it is due. These are relatively easy recipes with only a few ingredients. I’d love to hear if you try them out and how you liked them. Also, I will be adding a Pinterest Board of crock pot recipes in the coming days, so feel free to check those out as well.
Recipe #1 – 5 ingredient pot roast
Ingredients:
Any cut of beef roast or even pork roast will work
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 can condensed cream-of-anything soup (We like cream of celery best, or mushroom)
1 can beef broth
1 package onion soup mix.
Simply add all of the ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. I also usually add potatoes and/or carrots to make a complete meal. It makes its own gravy and is delicious!
Recipe #2 – (This one comes from The Frugal Girls website) Creamy Ranch Crockpot Chicken:
4 – 5 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, thawed
2 cans Campbell’s Cream of Chicken with Herbs Soup {10 3/4 oz. each}
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning Mix
Cook chicken in crockpot on high for 3 hours, or longer on low
Drain juices from crockpot, Mix together Soup and Ranch Packet mix.
Pour mixture over chicken, and cook on high for 30 more minutes {covered}, or until done.
Recipe #3 – (From 101cookingfortwo.com) ULTRA SIMPLE CROCK POT WHITE CHICKEN CHILI
This is the EASIEST white chicken chili slow cooker recipe you will ever see. Dump, dump, dump cook for 4 hours with stirring once in the middle. (On low setting you can cook it longer) Author: Dan Mikesell
INGREDIENTS
1 -48 oz. jar great northern beans
3 cups shredded chicken
1 cup medium salsa
8 oz. pepper jack cheese cubed
2 t cumin (optional)
1 – 14 oz. can chicken broth
INSTRUCTIONS
Cube 8 oz. of pepper jack cheese.
In a small (3.5 qt crock pot here) dump one 48 oz. jar great northern beans (un-drained), 8 oz. of salsa, 3 cups of shredded chicken, 2 t cumin and 8 oz. of pepper jack cheese (cubed).
Add a 14 oz. can of chicken broth if you want a normal thick chili. Leave it out for extra thick. Stir very well.
Cook on low for 4 hours, or longer if needed. Try to stir once or twice in the middle if you can to distribute the cheese but it can wait until the end if needed. You can also wait to add the cheese about a half hour before you serve it.
One more hint: Those plastic Crock Pot liners make clean up much easier and quicker!! They are well worth buying!!
Enjoy!
