Crock Pot Sausage and White Bean Soup

Sometimes I like to just throw some stuff in a crock pot, have it do all the work, and come home to a sweet smelling house after a long day at work. Well, not just sometimes...practically all the time. It is just so dang hard for some reason to find good healthy crock pot recipes. But, I happened across a pretty cool cookbook with some pretty cook recipes. I have made this one several times and it is delish.

Sausage and White Bean Soup

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 lbs sweet Italian sausage, meat pushed out of casings (I use turkey)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 14.5 oz cannellini beans, drained (um, I actually use 3 15 oz cans, I like beans)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon quick-cooking tapioca (not sure why but I did it)

1 14.5 oz can of chicken broth

1 head escarole, washed and chopped (I couldn't find escarole so I used cabbage)

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. In a large skillet cook onions and sausage until meat is brown and onions are soft. Drain off fat (you won't get a lot of fat if you use turkey.

2. Add sausage and onion mixture to crock and then add all remaining ingredients except for the escarole and Parmesan. Mix gently until tomato paste dissolves.

3. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours. Chop escarole, stir well and cook 1 more hour. Scoop into individual bowls and top with Parmesan cheese.

Cheers! 

Chicken Crock Pot Pie

On days that I know I am going to be busy after work I try to simplify things by using my crock pot!  It is nice to come home to a house smelling like someone has been in the kitchen all day. So some strange reason, I have a hard time finding crock pot recipes that I really like. Roast is that "go to" crock pot recipe for me but frankly I am getting a bit tired of that. 

So, I pulled out my iPhone, used my allrecipes.com dinner spinner app, and found a great recipe for the inside of a chicken pot pie. All you have to do is add a biscuit on top! 

Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Stew

4 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into cubes

10 medium red potatoes, quartered

1 (8 ounce) package baby carrots

1 cup chopped celery

2 (26 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup

6 cubes chicken bouillon

2 teaspoons garlic salt

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

1 (16 ounce) bag frozen mixed vegetables

1. Combine the chicken, potatoes, carrots, celery, chicken soup, chicken bouillon, garlic salt, celery salt, and black pepper in a slow cooker; cook on High for 5 hours.

2.  Stir the frozen mixed vegetables into the slow cooker, and cook 1 more hour.

*I did make a few adjustments to this. I did not cube my chicken. I laid the hole chicken on top of the mixture and after it was done cooking, I took a fork and shredded it. It worked great!

*I diced the baby carrots.

*I did not put in celery or the celery salt.

*I didn't add the chicken bouillon, instead I added about 1 cup of chicken broth.

*I used reduced fat condensed cream of chicken soup.

I made whole wheat biscuits to add on the top. This stuff makes a ton so we had enough for dinner the next night. Instead, I put the mixture in an au gratin dish and added Pillsbury crescent dough to the top and backed according to the package. That was good!

Cheers!

Blog Hop Wednesday And Crock Potting!

Crock pots are awesome. Just toss everything in the night before, store in the fridge, plug in when you wake up the next morning, come home to a fantastic smelling house!

I just kind of made this little crock pot dinner up. I have not been to the store in a week or so but thought that I might have enough to make something tasty. So here is what I did.

I chopped a bell pepper and an onion and sauteed for about 5 -10 minutes on a low to medium heat.

I added the onions an peppers in the crock with a can of rotel, a can of strained black beans, and a can of corn (well actually I used creamed corn that I drained because I did not have regular corn). Then I added a teaspoon and a half of cumin and a teaspoon of oregano.

 Mixed it all together and added some chicken breasts.

Cranked that sucker on and it got to cooking!

Then after it was done I took 2 forks and shredded the chicken. 

Cooked it for about 30 more minutes and then we had shredded chicken tacos!

Cheers and Happy Blog Hop Wednesday!

Crockin' Up A Pot Roast

Crock pots are fantastic. You can throw all the ingredients in and then come home to the wafting smell of dinner after work. Since I do all the cooking, it is kinda nice to walk into my house and have it smell like someone has been slaving away all day in the kitchen. So, in celebration on the fall, I will share my crock pot-pot roast recipe with you! Now, for recipes like this I do not measure anything. I just throw it in so just throw in enough to feed everyone you are cooking for!

Ingredients:

chopped carrots
1 white onion, chopped into large chunks
1 red onion, chopped into large chunks
red potatoes, chopped into large chunks
red wine, about 1/2 a bottle (or a little more if you like), and save the rest for yourself!
veggie or chicken broth-enough to fill the crock pot after all the other ingredients are added
kosher salt
freshly ground black peppercorns
fresh rosemary, chopped finely
olive oil
a nice lookin' piece of roast

Season the roast with salt and pepper, pan sear both sides in a skillet until nice and golden brown.

Turn crock pot on to desired setting. It usually takes my crock about 6 hours on high to fully cook or about 10 hours on low. Layer half of the potatoes, onions, and carrots. Season with salt and pepper and half the rosemary. Add the roast and then the rest of the potatoes and veggies. Season the top layer with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Add the wine and chicken broth. Enjoy with the rest of that red wine!

Cheers!