recipes anyone?

[April]

I'm looking for easy crockpot recipes.  Ones that take less than 10-15 minutes to put together and I can cook all day while I'm gone to work.  The only requirement is that it not be loaded in sugar (like added sugar in baked beans) and that it be pretty much a meal by itself.  Cooking is nearly impossible with Elf running around now and she doesn't like to share my attention with something pesky like food preparation!  LOL  I would like it to be something she could eat as well so not too heavy on the meats as she doesn't eat meat very well.  (Actually I have to trick her to get a few bites in her, but she doesn't have "grinding" teeth yet so that's understandable.)  She loves red beans and tomatoes and will eat spicy foods like chili without problems.  I'm pretty open to almost anything really so let's see what all you cooks out there can come up with! 

[Jen]

Crock Pot is my specialty :)

All Day Macaroni and Cheese

8-oz. elbow macaroni
4 C. shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 (12-oz.) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 C. milk
2 eggs
1 t. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
In a large pot cook macaroni pasta until al dente. Drain. In a large bowl, mix together 3 cups of the sharp Cheddar cheese, cooked macaroni, evaporated milk, milk, eggs, and salt and pepper.

Transfer to a slow cooker which has been coated with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of shredded sharp Cheddar cheese.

Cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours, or until the mixture is firm and golden around the edges. Do not remove the cover or stir the mixture until the mixture has finished cooking.

"Red Beans and Rice"
3 Cans of creamy or regular style kidney beans
1 package of smoked sausage
1 medium onion
1 small bellpepper
Salt and Pepper
Tabasco sauce (optional)

Dump your cans of beans in the crock pot. Saute your onion and bellpepper until just tender. Cut up your smoked sausage and add to the crock pot. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Let cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve over rice.


"Baked Chicken"

Whole 2-3 pound chicken
Salt / Pepper
Any herbs that you may like
Lemon Juice
Olive Oil
Wash chicken throughly
Rub down with olive oil
Salt and pepper
If you like herbs, sprinkle some on there
Spritz with lemon juice (as much or as little as you like)
Dump it in the crock pot.
Cook on low all day or on high 5-6 hours

You can serve this with Stovetop Stuffing which takes about 10mins to make and some sort of frozen veggie you can nuke in the microwave :)

I have tons more these are really basic and hopefully kid friendly ... also you can do a search on online for Crock Pot Recipes. I have made all of the ones above and they are good :)

Jen

[MindyKay]

You may want to halve this recipe, as it was given to me for a pot-luck meal.  The chicken cooks up fairly soft, so it would be easy to chew.

Chicken Spectacular

3 C cut-up cooked chicken
1 16-oz can cut green beans, drained
2 C cooked rice
1 10-1/2 can cream of celery OR mushroom soup
1/2 C mayonnaise
1 6 or 8-1/2 ounce can water chestnuts, drained and sliced
2 TBS chopped pimento
2 TBS chopped onion

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.  Pour into crockpot that has been sprayed with Pam (or other favorite spray).  Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours; low 4-8 hours.

[April]

Jen, on the mac and cheese, if the pasta wasn't cooked before would it still cook provided I added a little more liquid before putting it on to cook?  (I was thinking it would but just may take a little extra time.)

The chicken spectacular sounds delish!  Is the cooked chicken on the bone or cut up/cubed?

[MindyKay]

I get it cut-up/cubed.

[Jen]

I have always pre-cooked the pasta :)

Jen

[April]

Hmmm.  Do you think it'd hurt it if I couldn't take it off the heat for longer than the 5-6 hours?  I actually work longer than that most days.  That really sounds good - like the baked mac and cheese I loved as a kid.  Sometimes I work a short day on Fridays so if nothing else I could make it then! 
I have started making "Baked chicken" in my crockpot like you posted above too and it is so tender and juicy!  I add some veggies like carrots and onions and potatoes to it and it makes a whole meal!  It makes wonderfully rich broth as well! 

[Laurenlove22]

Those crock pot pre-package were ok, we've tried them. The best place to look is foodnetwork.com, you can have your own recipe box stored there, thousands of recipes. Plus for us watching our tummies, they have a wonderful calorie calculator.