Crockpot Chicken with Black Beans and Cream Cheese

Have I told you lately how much I love using my crock pot? I love being able to dump a bunch of ingredients into the crock pot in the morning and have a yummy meal ready in a few hours.

I found this recipe on the message board that I frequent. A while ago many of us submitted favorite recipes to share with others. Someone was raving about this particular recipe but didn't mention who originally submitted the recipe.

It was really, really good. Next time I make this I will not use frozen chicken breast. I had to cook it almost 2 more hours. Thank goodness that I begin cooking it early in the day. I would also add some seasoning. It was a bit bland for me. But I always follow a new recipe exactly as written the first time. The next time I may play around with it a bit to suit my tastes. I also shredded my chicken. The breasts stayed intact so it could have been served that way. I chose to shred and I'm glad I did. The sauce was delicious and I liked mixing up the chicken and sauce with the rice. YUM!

This is not a great picture. I served it with brown rice and it looks really blah. Trust me that it was good.



Crock Pot Chicken with Black Beans and Cream Cheese

• 4 - 5 boneless frozen chicken breasts
• 1 can drained black beans (15 oz)
• 1 can drained corn (15 oz)
• 1 jar of salsa (15 oz)
• 1 package of cream cheese (8 oz)

Place 4 -5 frozen chicken breast in crock pot. Add drained black beans, drained corn and jar of salsa over the chicken. Cook on HIGH for 4 -5 hours. Add the cream cheese right on top and let sit for about 1/2 hour. Stir and enjoy!

Crock Pot Apple Sauce

With so many apples from our recent trip apple picking I was looking for some yummy ways to use up about 100 lbs of apples! LOL!!

All 3 of my girls love apple sauce so I knew that this was definitely something that I wanted to make. I also knew that I wanted to use my crock pot. I found a few recipes and finally decided to combine a few elements from each of them and am pleasantly surprised how well it turned it out.

Everyone really liked the way it turned out. I am even eating a bowl as I type this out. I wish I knew what kind of apples we picked. It ended up being a bit tart so I sprinkled a bit of white sugar after it was done cooking. My oldest daughter and I agreed that it tasted better the next day.

Crock Pot Apple Sauce

• 5 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and quartered
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• juice of one lemon (about 3 tbsp)

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low 4 - 6 hours. Mash apples with potato masher. Check for sweetness. Enjoy!

Sour Cream Pork Chops

It's getting entirely too hot to cook here. We don't have a grill so all of my cooking needs to be done indoors in an apartment without central a/c. I do have an oscillating fan in the kitchen but more importantly a crock pot.

I had just finished watching USA defeat Algeria in the World Cup when I realized that I still had not decided how I was going to cook my pork chops. It has been disgustingly hot and humid outside so I turned to my trusty crock pot and began searching online for a recipe.

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. I posted the recipe below without any changes. I only did a few things differently. I only used 4 pork chops and I did not use any onions but only because I didn't have any. When it was time to add flour to the sour cream I decided to also add some more garlic powder and pepper. Salt wasn't necessary since the sauce was already salty. Oh and since I got a late start I cooked it on high for 3 hours and then switched it to low for another couple of hours.

Browned pork chops


YUM...dinner is served!




Sour Cream Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 6 pork chops
• salt and pepper to taste
• garlic powder to taste
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 large onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

Directions

1. Season pork chops with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and then dredge in 1/2 cup flour. In a skillet over medium heat, lightly brown chops in a small amount of oil.
2. Place chops in slow cooker, and top with onion slices. Dissolve bouillon cubes in boiling water and pour over chops. Cover, and cook on Low 7 to 8 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).
4. After the chops have cooked, transfer chops to the oven to keep warm. Be careful, the chops are so tender they will fall apart. In a small bowl, blend 2 tablespoons flour with the sour cream; mix into meat juices. Turn slow cooker to High for 15 to 30 minutes, or until sauce is slightly thickened. Serve sauce over pork chops.

My verdict: Very easy and yummy. It was a bit salty so next time I'd cut back a bit on the salt while seasoning the pork chops. Also my sauce was a bit lumpy even though I whisked in the sour cream mixture. It didn't affect the taste at all though. I'd make it again except that next time I'd temper the sour cream first before adding it to the crock pot.

Spare Ribs & Crock Pot Potatoes

I think that I've mentioned it before but I'm not much of a cook. There are a few things that I make that I think come out well and my critics tend to agree with me. My version of ribs is one of them. I was even told last night that it's one of the best things I make. Score!

I also decided to include my crock pot potatoes. I usually cook them in the oven but since the ribs were in there and I am not blessed to have 2 ovens, I just tossed them into the crock pot.

Spare Ribs

Ingredients

• 3 lbs pork ribs
• 1/4 cup of EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
• 3-4 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 tsp Goya Adobo
• 2 tbsp of lemon juice (I usually just squeeze 1 lemon)
• 1 packet of Sazon Goya with Coriander & Annatto
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp of black pepper

Directions

1. In a bowl mix together EVOO, garlic, adobo, lemon juice, sazon, oregano and black pepper.
2. Place the ribs on a foil lined baking sheet.
3. Rub the marinade all over the ribs and let marinade in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
4. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 350 oven for 1 hour. Remove foil and cook for an additional 20-30 minutes.

Ribs drenched in the yummy marinade.


Just taken out of the oven.



My yummy dinner!



Crock Pot Potatoes

Ingredients

• 2 - 3 pounds of red potatoes cut into large chunks
  
• EVOO
• salt
  
• pepper
• garlic powder
• oregano
• paprika

Directions

1. Place potatoes in a large bowl an drizzle with EVOO.
2. Add whatever seasonings you like. I used S&P, garlic powder, oregano and paprika for color. DO NOT UNDER SEASON!
   
3. Cook in crock pot on high for 4 hours
   

OR

1. Cook for 45 minutes in a 400* preheated oven turning halfway through.
   

Before

After

Crock Pot Pot Roast

I'm not sure who I got this recipe from. I know that I got it from the Nest but I had copied this recipe and saved it as a document on my computer.

I always make my pot roasts in the crock pot and I always just use one of the McCormick envelopes and add a bunch of veggies. We were supposed to have a snowstorm so I had planned on making some comfort food. I woke up this morning and there was barely a dusting of snow. Oh well. I had a cup of coffee and began assembling dinner.

I was a bit unsure of the ingredients but decided to give it a shot anyway.




Crock Pot Pot Roast

Ingredients

• pot roast (mine was about 3 lbs)
• sliced onions (half of a large onion)
  
• potatoes (I used 2 large ones)
• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can condensed tomato soup
• 1 packet dry onion soup mix

Directions

1. Place the pot roast in the crock pot.
2. Add the sliced onions and potatoes on top.
3. Mix together the condensed soups with dry onion soup mix.
4. Pour mixture over the pot roast, onions and potatoes.
5. Cook on low for 8 - 10 hrs or on high for 4 -6 hrs.

My verdict: Not bad. I forgot to take a picture, though. (EDITED TO ADD PIC OF LEFTOVERS) I served it over white rice. I think that the next time that I make this I will pierce the roast before placing it in the crock pot and add some carrots and some black pepper. I will make this again and I hope to remember to take a picture!

Crock Pot Lentil Soup

It is soooo freaking cold out. Thanks goodness that I don't have to go out with the babies. It's the perfect day to stay home in sweats (oh who am I kidding....we're still in out pajamas) and make some soup. I got this recipe for lentil soup from one of the ladies from a message board that I frequent. The ingredients are things that I always have on hand.

Crock Pot Lentil Soup





Ingredients

1 c. dry lentils
1 c. chopped carrot
1 c. chopped celery
1 c. chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. dried basil, crushed
1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1/4 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
1 bay leaf
3 1/2 c. chicken broth or veggie broth
1 1/2 c. water
1 (14 1/2 oz) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes
1/4 c. snipped fresh parsley
2 Tbs. cider vinegar

Preparation

Rinse lentils. In crock pot place lentils, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, basil, oregano, thyme, and bay leaf. Stir in broth, water and undrained tomatoes. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 12 hours or on high-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours. Discard bay leaf. Stir in parsley and vinegar (if desired). Makes 6 servings.

My verdict: Very good. Even my super picky 19 month old ate some. I ended up adding chunks of pork into the crock pot because, well....why not? I had a couple left over and cut them up into bite sized pieces. I liked it and maybe next time I'll make it with beef and use beef broth instead. I also cooked some pasta separately and added it to the bowls as I was serving dinner. I hate mushy pasta so I always cook it separately.

First snow storm = Pasta Fagioli

We're supposed to be getting a ton of snow today. As I type it still hasn't started but I already started cooking dinner. I thought that soup would be perfect on a day like today. I'd been eying a recipe for Crock pot Pasta Fagioli soup from Crockpot Tuesdays. I love being able to throw everything into a crock pot for a few hours and have a yummy meal without being cooped up in a kitchen all day. An active toddler and newborn make it very difficult to get dinner on the table sometimes.

I bought all of the ingredients and started assembling the soup and then....DAMN!! It doesn't fit into my crock pot. I poured the soup into a pot and its now simmering away on the stove top. I'm sure that it will taste the same but now I have to actually check on the soup and stir it ;-)

Pasta Fagioli

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups beef broth
1 jar (16.5 oz) pasta sauce
2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup dry pasta (to add at end)

Directions:

Brown the meat and drain well. Let cool a bit.

Chop up the carrots, onion, and celery. Add it to the crockpot. Drain and rinse the beans, and add them. Add the whole cans of tomatoes, and the pasta sauce. Add the beef broth. Add the salt, pepper and oregano. Stir in the meat.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. At end of cook time, stir in 1/2 cup pasta. Cover and cook for another hour on low.

Serve with parmesan cheese if you’d like. Enjoy! This recipe makes about 8 generous servings.