Fall Crockpot Pork

I love my Crock Pot!  Especially on Tuesdays!  K has ballet so we don't get home until 7:00.  Which means, we have an hour to eat, bath (which usually doesn't happen), read Bible story, say prayers, sing bedtimes songs, and get her to bed.  Obviously, there is not time for making supper in there.  So, I love my crock pot.  Soup is my absolute favorite thing to make with it, but pork loin is a good second.  It just stands up well to the prolonged cooking.  Chicken doesn't work quite as well unless you are making some sort of dish that needs to be shredded.  I have made a really good lime chicken which we used for enchiladas before, but I digress.  Back to pork. 

I found a recipe for a really yummy sounding fall pork recipe.  It was for apple pork loin.  You just cut up some onions and apples and throw it in with the pork loin and seasonings.  The pork loin had a really good flavor.  I thought the apples were good but the rest of my family wasn't thrilled about them.  Oh, well.  You can't win them all.  At least the pork was a hit! 

Slow Cooker
Ingredients
2-3 lbs. pork tenderloin
2 apples, cut into chunks
1 onion, cut into chunks

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (I used regular)
3 Tbsp. gluten free soy sauce
3 Tbsp. Dales
1 tsp. powdered ginger
1 Tbsp. Dijon or yellow mustard
Onion Salt
Garlic powder
Thyme
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
Put apples and onions in bottom of slow cooker. Put tenderloins on top of the onions and apples. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, onion salt, garlic salt and thyme.  In a bowl mix together soy sauce, white wine, apple cider vinegar and dijon mustard and pour over tenderloin.  Cook on low all day.  Enjoy!

Vegetable Soup He Liked

It appears cool weather is trying to make a go at staying here in Mississippi.  For a good vegetable soup recipe that cooks in the crockpot...and that David even liked!...visit the Mississippi Women Bloggers site. I was the featured blogger today for Foodie Friday.  :-)

Crockpot Indian....Really!

When we went to London on our honeymoon (which I STILL need to post about...but first I have to finish the wedding!), one of my goals was to have different foods that usual.  Since London isn't especially known for food, that could be difficult except that they do have lots of ethnic foods available...and the Mexican isn't stellar which kept us from eating there.  :-)  The last night we had Indian.  We both REALLY enjoyed it.  Fast forward 6 months and I'm trying to find quick dishes for Tuesday nights when K has ballet until 630.  Score...crockpot Indian chicken!  I actually combined two recipes, sort of.  The night before, we had the yummy eggplant dish, which was very tomato-y; so, I didn't want to have another tomato dish the next night. So, I planned to combine recipes.  The first recipe was from here but it appears that domain name is no longer working...alas!  The other recipe I ended up not using at all...I forgot to add the spinach!  Again...alas!  In the end, the recipe ended up being good.  David enjoyed it and took leftovers one day.  My mom came in that weekend and had some for dinner and said it was perfect.  I'd make it again to shake things up in our routine for sure!

Crockpot Curry Chicken
1 pound ground chicken
1 can chickpeas
1/2-1 cup water
2 tsp curry
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
rice

Put all ingredients in slow cooker.  Set to low and cook for 8 hours.  Break up chicken.  Enjoy over cooked rice.

Cuban Black Beans

The early part of the week is busy for me.  A long day on Monday (simply meaning clinic all day) then K has ballet on Tuesday at 545.  So, one of these two days it's nice to have a quick or crock pot meal to make.  The other day, K came home from school saying that she had eaten rice and beans for lunch and liked it.  Now, the girl loves just about any food, so I wasn't surprised. 

However, David enjoys beans as well and I'm always looking for vegetarian options we'll all like.  So, I decided to try this out.  I ended up finding a Cuban black bean recipe on pinterest.  So, I set it up and turned that crock pot on.  When we got home, we had dinner waiting.  The recipe has you cook the onions and peppers first but I just threw it all in the crock pot raw.  It turned out good.  I forgot to get cilantro, which I think would have added a lot to the dish but no biggie.  You serve this over rice then top with whatever you want.  K and David enjoyed cheese on theirs.  I just enjoyed mine with salsa!  It made a lot and was perfect for topping salads and making wraps.

Cuban Black Beans

1 pound dried black beans (see soaking method below...I used slow soak)

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 large onion, diced

1 small green bell pepper, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

sea or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

fresh cilantro leaves, chopped 

 

Instructions

Soak the black beans using one of the methods below before using. 
 
Crockpot Directions:
1. Put all ingredients in crock pot (after draining the beans)
2. Cook on high 4-5 hours on high or 8 hours on low until beans are very soft.  Remove bay leaf. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with rice and your choice of toppings.
   
Quick Soak Method: Sort and rinse beans. Add to a large pot with 6-8 cups cold water, bring to a rapid boil and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 water. Drain and rinse before using.
Long Soak Method: The night before sort through the dried beans and throw away any stones. Rinse under cold water and place in a pot with 6-8 cups of water and allow to soak overnight.* Drain and rinse before using.

Soup's On!

We've been having the typical MS winter weather...3 days of "cold" weather followed by 3 of 70+ temps and back again.  When it gets cold (or even when it's not!) I like to have soup.  K went to see her grandparents last week, so D and I were alone.  We had a couple of parties to go to but several days in between.  I told D that I thought about soup or Mexican for dinner; so, he went and found a Mexican soup recipe after his clinic was over.  :-)  We ended up not having enough time to make it that night; so, I changed it to make overnight in the crockpot.  At first, we weren't so sure about it...but it turned out really good!  The recipe calls for 2 quarts of chicken broth, which I think was a little too much and I added an extra can of rotel tomatoes and red kidney beans.  YUM!  I still have some in my refrigerator and can't wait to have it for lunch.

Mexican Bean and Squash Soup adapted from AllRecipes
2 cups butternut squash - pealed and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 Chipolte peppers (canned in adobo sauce) seeded, and minced
2 teaspoons basil
1 teaspoon cumin
2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes
2 quarts chicken broth (maybe 6 cups next time?)
1 can cannellini beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 can corn

For serving:
limes
tortilla chips
cheese
sour cream
green onions

Put all ingredients into crockpot and cook on high for 6-8 hours or low for 10 hours.  When ready to serve, squirt lime juice on each bowl and top with desired toppings.  Enjoy!

Crock Pot Chili

The other day, D said that he thought we should have chili soon...in the 90 degree MS weather!  Ok, I can do that.  So I went in search of a crock pot chili.  I found several good looking ones and we will be trying them. 

We started with a pretty classic looking recipe.  It called for ground turkey but of course D wanted ground beef...we compromised and did half and half.  I honestly think that in this venue you wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference.  Then just add some beans, onions, chiles, and tomatoes. 

Simple and good.  K ate it up!  D liked it...deemed it too "brown."  I think he was tasting the chili powder.  Might decrease that some next time and add some red pepper or jalapenos for spice.  We all enjoyed it and I'll probably make it again...though D says I never make the same thing twice.  :-)

Crock Pot Three Bean Chili from SkinnyTaste
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground turkey - I'd use 90/10 - you could use all turkey
1 small onion, chopped
28 ounces diced tomato
16 oz. tomato sauce
4.5 oz green chiles, drained (I used about 7 oz.)
15 oz. chickpeas (garbanzo beans), undrained
15 oz black beans, undrained
15 oz. small red beans, undrained
2 tablespoons chili powder

Brown turkey in a medium skilled.  When cooked through, drain fat off.  Original recipe says to cook onion with mean...I missed this and just added onion to crock pot...worked fine.  Put mean and all remaining ingredients in crock pot. Stir well.  You can put this together the night before, store in the refrigerator and then put the "bowl" in the electric portion the next morning, and go.  Cook on high for 6-8 hours (or low for 12 hours).  Top with cilantro and cheese.  Enjoy!

Crock Pot Chicken

Last week I thought about doing NoMo....whatever it is when you blog everyday in November. Then I decided that I'd get stressed trying to do that. So, I'll just try to post frequently! Last week, I decided to make a recipe that I found on a friend's website. Casey is a cute and precious friend from college who is now married to Jonathan (a dentist), has a cute 1-year-old Nora, and is expecting again! Needless to say, she's busy. So, this recipe is a great one if you don't have time to stand around in the kitchen. It is a crockpot version of chicken stroganoff. Usually, I'm not a big fan of chicken from the crockpot, and, at first, I thought this was going to have that same texture; but once you put the chicken over whatever you're serving it with, it's a non-factor. I chose to serve mine over spaghetti squash (SO GOOD) but you could use angel hair pasta or rice or even mashed potatoes. I really enjoyed this and even have another post coming with a way to use the leftovers. Originally, I didn't think there was enough chicken, but it ended up being fine. However, I think that if you did want to spread out the sauce some, you could put more chicken and/or mushrooms with no problem. I'd make this again but have a "real" chicken stroganoff I want to try first! Casey, thanks for the recipe.

Crockpot Chicken Stroganoff (from Weight Watchers)
1 1/2 lbs of chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used 2 breasts)
1 package of Onion Soup mix (I used Kroger, Lipton's is recommended)
1/4 cup water
1 8 oz. fat free or low fat cream cheese, softened (I used fat free)
1 can fat free cream of mushroom soup
1 4 oz. can of mushrooms, drained (I used 6 oz)

Directions:
In crockpot, combine chicken, soup mix, and water. Cook on low heat for 4 hours. I cooked for 3 hours and it was ready.
In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese, mushroom soup, and mushrooms. Combine with cooked chicken in crockpot. Continue cooking for one additional hour. (4-5 hours cooking time total). Serve over angel hair pasta, spaghetti squash, rice, mashed potatoes...whatever you want!