Needing Crockpot Recipes

Here is a great website with tons of different (and very simple) slow cooker recipes. I use it all the time- it's a lifesaver!
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/?spref=fb
I highly recommend the recipes for lettuce wraps and for the harvest soup. Really yummy.

ANYTHING you make in the stove or oven can be made for the crock pot! My favorites are meatloaf (any way you make it), stew, ribs (although the meat gets so tender it will fall off the bone, some people like it chewy), pork chops, chili, pulled pork for tacos (similar to the recipe already given). I like to make the main dish, then when I get home, I just steam asparagus, cook a side of vegetables, or prepare a salad. That only takes 10 to 15 minutes to get the side dish ready and the main course is ready when I come home.

The biggest family favorite is chicken and rice with mushroom gravy, which is super easy. I put 6 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts in the crock pot, and add 2 cans of reduced fat cream of mushroom soup. Add in a dash of salt and pepper and a soup can full of milk and put it on low for 8 to 10 hours. Then when I get home, I put rice to boil and in the 20 minutes till that is done, we do homework and unwind from the day. I have also done it with cream of broccoli and chicken. There's a similar recipe I saw online that used pork and included the rice in the crock pot, but I always make it separately.

One of our family's favorites in the following which was in the November 2008 issue of everyday food as Tex Mex chicken and beans:

Ingredients
Serves 4
1 cup dried pinto beans, rinsed
1 jar (11 ounces) mild or medium salsa (1 1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), chopped
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream, for serving
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, for serving
Directions
1.In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, stir together beans, salsa, chiles, flour, and 1 cup water. Season chicken with salt and pepper; arrange on top of bean mixture. Scatter onion and bell pepper on top of chicken.
2.Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours. (Do not open lid or stir.)
3.Remove chicken from stew; shred into large pieces and return to stew. Serve topped with sour cream and cilantro.
From Everyday Food, November 2007 | Send Me a Free Preview Issue Now! .Helpful Hint
Oven method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Follow step 1, using a 5-quart Dutch oven or large pot, substituting 2 cans (15 ounces each) pinto beans, drained and rinsed, for dried beans, and increasing water to 2 cups. Cover pot and bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Transfer to oven, and cook until chicken is tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Proceed with step 3.

Pulled pork :

You can also take a pork shoulder roast or pok butt roast. Place in pot with thinly slice onions and cook on low 8 hours or more. Shred pork and drain water from pot. Place pork back in pot and add favorite bbq sauce and heat through. Serve on rolls with favorite sides.

I like cooking recipes in my slow cooker that will make two separate meals.

Here's one of my favorites:

Meaty Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb ground beef
1 lb bulk Italian sausage
1 med. green pepper, chopped
1 med. onion, chopped
8 garlic cloves, minced
3 cans (14.5 oz each) Italian diced tomatoes, drained (drain very well or your sauce will be watery)
2 cans (15 oz each) tomato sauce
2 cans (6 oz each) tomato paste
1/3 Cup sugar
2 TBL Italian seasoning
1 TBL dried basil
2 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

(if you don' t like sweet sauce just omit the sugar, or use a little less)

Brown meat until longer pink, drain.
Transfer to 5 qt slow cooker. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Serves 12 or you can do what I do:

Freeze half the sauce for a second meal or put a lasagna together with it some of it and freeze. Then all you have to do is pull the lasagna out of the freeze and bake.

This is a new one I tried yesterday (I haven't made the second meal yet but it looks really good):
I couldn't find tostada shells so we used tortilla chips instead.

Adobo Pork Tostadas

Ingredients:
1 3 to 3 1/2 lb boneless pork shoulder roast
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp finely chopped canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
6 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup canned refried beans
8 corn tostada shells
1 cup packaged mixed salad greens
1 cup chopped tomato (2 medium)
1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled, and thinly sliced
1 cup queso fresco cheese, crumbled (4 oz)
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:
Trim fat from roast; cut pork into chunks. Place pork in a 4-5 quart slow cooker. In a medium bowl, stir together tomato sauce, chicken broth, chipotle pepper, garlic, salt, cumin, coriander, and pepper; pour over pork in cooker.

Cover and cook on low heat setting for 10-12 hours or high heat setting for 5-6 hours.

Remove pork from cooker. Using two forks, shred pork. Reserve half of the pork (about 3 cups) and 2 cups of the sauce; store in separate containers (keeps 3 days in fridge or 3 months in the freezer). Mix the remaining pork with 1/2 cup of the sauce. Discard any remaining sauce.

Spread refried beans over tostada shells. Top evenly with pork mixture. Divide greens, tomato, avocado, and cheese evenly among tostadas. Top each with sour cream.

Second meal with reserved meat and sauce:

Chipotle Pork Tamale Casserole

16oz tube polenta, sliced 1/2 inch thick
Reserved meat and sauce from recipe above
! C shredded cheddar cheese
!/2 tomato
!/4 sliced green onion

Preheat oven to 375. Arrange polenta slices in 2 quart casserole dish. Top with pork, spoon 1/2 C sauce over pork.
Bake covered for 30 minutes. Top with cheese and uncovered 5 minutes to melt cheese. Sprinkle with tomato and green onion. Serve with warm sauce.

Ok here goes some SUPER easy ones: (I like as FEW ingredients and steps as possible!)
RECIPE 1:
Pork Roast
1 Can Coke or Diet Coke
1 bottle Chili Sauce
1 packet onion soup mix.
Cook on low all day.
You can put it on rolls with cheese for pulled pork sandwiches, serve it with instant mashed potatoes, etc

RECIPE 2:
Chicken breasts (I always use frozen)
1 Can Sprite
1-2 Cans Cream of mushroom soup (or cream of chicken, cream of celery - you get the idea)
Cook all day on low. (or half day on high)
Put over instant rice. An hour or so before it's done you can also add a bunch of cheese and like a cup of sour cream for variety.

RECIPE 3:
4-6 Chicken breasts (frozen seem to work better with this one)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken
1 can chicken broth
2-3 Cups frozen veggies
1 Can pillsbury biscuits

Put the cream soups, the chicken, and the broth in the crock pot. About 2-3 hours before it is done cut up the biscuits and lay them in the liquid. Cover. About 20-30 minutes before serving add the frozen veggies under the biscuit layer. It almost comes out as a chicken pot pie in a crock pot.

Hope that helps! :)

Pork Verde:
Giant chunk of pork butt (u could use chicken too)
2 jars Green Verde salsa...any kind will work
4 tsp chopped garlic
2 bay leaves
chicken broth- to cover meat
1 Jalapeno-optional
corn tortillas

We like our like tacos...so we like it to be shredded after it cooks...and then leave the lid cracked to allow it to thicken.

I put mine on low for 10 hours the night before and then when you wake up shred it and crack the lid to allow air in and set it for low again...all day....yummy! Very yummy!!!

White Chicken Chili~ 1 jar 48oz of white Northern Beans, Chicken, 1 1/2 cup salsa, 2 cups cheese (whatever kind you want) and a teaspoon of Cumin. I like to melt provolone cheese on the top of the bowl before serving.

Chicken Enchilada soup- 2 cans cream of chicken soup, one can of cheddar cheese soup, 2cups milk, 1 cup salsa and chicken some corn and black beans. I like to add cheese and eat with tortilla chips.

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken- 4 chicken breasts boneless skinless, 1 can of cream of chicken or cheddar cheese soup, 1 packet taco seasoning, 1 cups salsa 1/2 cup sour cream.
Add chicken to slow cooker.
Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken.
Pour salsa and soup over chicken.
Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.
Serve with rice or in a tortilla. I like to add black beans cheese and corn if I am serving in a tortilla.

http://www.50plusfriends.com/cookbook/crockpot/index-5b.html

this website was sent to me via email and it is wonderful! hope it helps!

Oh definitely love the crock pot. Makes life a lot easier when you get busy

Here's my best one
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
1 cup chicken broth
2 cans fire roasted tomatos with garlic
4 chicken breasts
1 package frozen spinach
2 tbs each garlic powder, salt, oregano, and basil
mozzerella cheese shredded

Put rice, broth, spinach and chicken in crock pot. pour tomatos( don't drain them) in and sprinkle all the seasonings over top. Then cover and let cook 6-7 hours on low. When you serve top it with the cheese.. yummy and covers all the food groups

quick beef tips
2 pounds stew meat
1 package sliced mushrooms
2 tbs worchestershire sauce
2 tbs mustard
2 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 cup beef broth

brown the meat and mushrooms in a pan. Mix all other ingredients and pour over top. cook on low 6-8 hours. I serve it over rice or noodles

cream cheese chicken
1 package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter or margerine
1 package dry italian salad dressing mix ( I use good seasons)
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 chicken breasts
toss it in the crock pot on low for 6-7 hours then use a fork to shred the chicken and stirr it around. Really yummy and a big hit with picky eaters

Almost anything can be adapted for crock pot cooking... even lasagna! (You use uncooked noodles, layered in the pot and add a little extra liquid or water to the pot before cooking. YUMMY!)

But, seriously, just about anything you can cook on the stove or in the oven can easily be prepared in the slow-cooker/crock pot. You're limited only by your own imagination. Don't be afraid to experiment. You'll be amazed at what you can create and 'discover'!

Also, when trying to simplify, remember cooking double recipes of family favorites can make life much simpler. Make twice as much meat load mix. freeze one loaf and cook the other. Does your family like homemade burritos? make twice as much mix and freeze half of it for a future night. consider pork chops and rice casserole (also a very easy crock pot dish!) in double batches and freeze half.

Another great time saver convenience ... buy a (good quality) vacuum sealer. stick leftovers in a sealer bag or container.

Little changes make for big savings - both in time and money. You might also want to consider shopping at Costco or Sams Club or some other bulk discount warehouse. Buy ground beef and roasts, etc in bulk and separate and freeze in single meal sizes. Roasts are absolutely the easiest thing to cook in a crock pot -- dump the roast in, add cut up potatoes and seasonings or, if you like BBQ, pour in a couple of bottles of BBQ sauce and a little extra liquid and let it cook on high all day. Juicy and tender when you get home from work! Buy canned goods and frozen foods that you use on a regular basis in bulk. Coffee? Veggies? Garbage bags and light bulbs and dishwashing soap? Buy them in large, bulk sizes and you will only have to shop once a month or two for the majority of your needs. Then you'll only have to shop on a weekly basis for perishables like milk, butter, eggs, etc.

Another great energy and time saver is to get your kids involved in the running of the household. No matter how old they are, if they are walking and talking age, you can teach them about being a responsible person and cleaning up after themselves, even if it's little things like picking up their own toys and putting them in the toybox. Any good lesson is a step in the right direction.

Okay I love my crockpot but I do nothing fancy...

throw a roast of some sort (beef or pork) in with onion soup mix, garlic, pepper, and I like penzeys old world seasoning but really any spices you like. Put on low, throw in carrots and potatoes. Cook while at work and when you get home it's done. If it's frozen put it on high before work. Oh and add enough water to cover potatoes.

For chicken I add water to cover half to 3/4 worchestersire sauce and same spices as above cook on low and same when you get home done

I don't think this is healthy, but we love it.
Put a 3-4 lb. chuck roast in the crockpot with about a half inch of water. Cook on high 4 hrs or low 8 hours.
When done, drain out any liquid and shred the beef with 2 forks.
Mix about 1 cup BBQ sauce and 1/2 cup apricot preserves and pour onto the beef and mix it. Let it heat in there for about 15-20 min on high.
Serve on small soft rolls and with a salad. Very yummy.

My father used to make us White Bean soup. Here is a link to what was basically his recipe: http://southernfood.about.com/od/crockpotsoup/r/bl16c12.htm

I always throw a chuck roast into the crock pot with no water or anything. After a few hours it's totally tender and falls apart. Tonight, I'm taking the shredded beef and mixing it with carmelized onions and I'm stripping whole green chilies and can of crushed tomatoes with it and salt, pepper and garlic powder and I'm putting them in tortillas for shredded beef greed chili tacos...

Some times I put dried beans in there with water covering about two inches above the beans. I cook on high if I don't soak or low if I do soak for several hours. You can make chili, bean burritos or just rice and beans. I season the beans with salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder etc.... for however I decide to serve the beans...