Apple Brown Betty

I have realized that none of my recipes are anything but dinner. You can literally cook so many things in a crock pot that extend past dinner. All meals, breakfast-lunch-dinner-dessert, could possibly be cooked in a crock pot! So I wanted to include a dessert recipe I found on the internet for a nice apple dessert that can be cooked in the crock pot. The website I got this from is

http://family.go.com/food/recipe-cp-787113-homestyle-apple-brown-betty-t/

This recipe and many others can be found by searching through there links but here is the recipe for apple brown betty.

Recipe
   6 cups cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
   1 cup bread crumbs
   1 TSP ground cinnamon
   1 TSP nutmeg
   1/8 TSP salt
   3/4 cup packed brown sugar
   1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
   1/4 finely chopped walnuts

Spray your crock pot with cooking spray and line the bottom with the apple slices. Then combine the remaining ingredient together and pour over the apples. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours, or on high for 2 hours.

I would think this recipe would be really tasty, especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! It would be really good after getting a fill of pulled pork sandwiches!

Chicken Mush

So I forgot to mention the story of chicken mush. Earlier on in the semester, I decided to make a chicken soup in my crock pot because it has been cold and I was just really feeling a soup. So I made a soup, couple containers of chicken broth, vegetables, lots of chicken, carrots, celery, basil, the whole shebang. I got this all going in the morning and put it on low so it would cook and make this awesome soup for when I got out of work at 6pm. My roommate was going to put rice in the soup around 5pm so that would cook and be ready for 6pm (putting it in the morning would have made the rice too soft and absorb a lot more of the liquid). So at 5pm, she texted me and asked if she should put the whole bag in the crock pot. I was like no, not the whole bag, like at most a cup! She texted me back to say she put half a bag in and she estimated it to me 3 cups of rice. I was thinking, oh well, it will be more of a chicken and rice soup with more emphasis on the rice part. Well, when I got back, there was nothing soup about what was in my crock pot. It was mush, a big chicken vegetable rice mush. It was delicious but definitely a juicy rice mush! We ate it all over the next couple of days but we joke about chicken mush because it actually came out really tasty!!

Pulled Pork

I have never tried to make pulled pork in a crock pot but my aunt does this all the time! It's super easy and makes great sandwiches all year round.

Recipe
   1 pork should roast (2 1/2 pounds)
   1 bottle (14 ounces) of your favorite BBQ sauce
   1 Tablespoon of fresh lemon
   1 TSP brown sugar
   1 medium onion, chopped

Put the roast in your crock pot on low for 10 to 12 hours, or high for 5-6 hours. When the roast is done cooking, remove from crock pot and drain the liquid that occurs when cooking in the crock pot, the pork broth if you might say, and put back in crock pot. Shred pork with two forks, and add in all the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook again for 2 hours on low or 1 hour on high.

And then finally, get some of your favorite bread or rolls, make sandwiches and enjoy!!! Super easy and delicious and serves 8 people so invite some of your friends over!

Baked Beans

I have been having this craving for baked beans! I really want to try and make homemade bake beans in my crock pot (although the best way would be bean hole beans!) But since I can't do that and I am still trying to find a good recipe for homemade baked beans, this semi-homemade recipe will have to work. I found this recipe by searching baked beans on

www.crock-pot .com

It is really simple and is super delicous!

Recipe
   5 slices of bacon (or more), cut into 1 inch pieces
   32 ounces of canned baked beans, drained
   1 green pepper, cut up
   1 onion, cut up
   1 1/2 teaspoon of mustard
   1 cup ketchup
   1/2 cup barbecue sauce
   1/2 cup brown sugar

All you have to do is put all the ingredients into your crock pot and mix together. I used more onion, green pepper, and bacon than the recipe called for because I like all these ingredients and it was delicious! Just cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

BBQ Bacon Wrapped Chicken

So I found this recipe online the other day and I instantly knew I had to try it. I verged a little bit from what the actual recipe called for but it was super tasty and wicked yummy! Here is a link for the actual recipe and then I will explain what I did.

http://www.momswhothink.com/crock-pot-recipes/bacon-wrapped-apple-barbecue-chicken.html


Grease your crock-pot with cooking spray. I then took a package of chicken breasts, it had 6 breasts in them, and then washed them off in cold water. You want to pat them dry after this to get rid of the extra water after you rinse them. Then, take a package of bacon and wrap 2 or 3 slices around the breast, depending on how large the breast is. Place it into your crock-pot and do the same for the rest of the breasts. This will cover the bottom of your crock pot. Next, take some of your favorite BBQ sauces and drizzle all over the chicken wrapped bacon. The recipe online said to cook on low for 8 hours but I did this on high for about 3ish hours. The chicken was so tender and juicy, it was soooooo delicious! I will definitely be making this recipe again! I should also mention if you like onions, that before I put my chicken in, I actually layered the bottom with slices of onion from one onion.

Easy Chicken and Carrots

So when I first got my crock pot, the first thing I tried to cook was a whole chicken. It's relatively simple to do. Buy a whole chicken that will fit in your crock pot, rinse it off and pull the bag of insides out of the cavity (unless you like to keep them... no thanks). So throw them away, rinse the bird off, and pat dry with a paper towel. Rub some of your favorite seasoning on it, and put it in your crock pot on low. If you do this in the morning, it will be all cooked by the time you get back and want supper.

I put the carrots in a few hours before we were going to eat since they would be too mushy if they were in the crock pot all day. You don't need to add in chicken broth because the chicken will make broth itself. This came out smelling and tasting very good! I had put onions on the bottom of my crock pot prior to putting the chicken in but that is optional. The chicken, and the carrots, had a very delicious taste but the chicken was a little dry but this literally falls right off the bone, that is how tender it is!

Relay For Life

Every year over spring break, my friend and I hold a bake sale to raise money for Relay for Life! We bake lots of goodies and sit all day on a Friday (usually pay day for most) at our local credit union and raise money! Patrons usually buy something or donate a dollar or their change and we do pretty well. In past years we have raised over $300 but this year it was only a little over $200. This year was not as busy at the credit union as it has been in past years but we still felt that it was a great bake sale none the less! We had homemade yeast rolls, cookie squares, brownies, banana bread, rice crispy treats, peanut brittle, peanut butter chocolate cup cakes, whoopie pies, and pasta fagioli soup. My aunt makes meatless pasta fagioli soup because it is Lent and many people who participate in Lent can't eat meat on Friday. If you would like me to bake you something for a donation for our Relay for Life team or would just like to make a donation, feel free to see me during class or shoot me an email!

In crock pot news, there is this thing called a Crock-Pot Lunch Crock and it's so cute! Its a little crock-pot so you can take your lunch with you and plug it in and it will be nice and hot when you eat your lunch! Here is a link for more information about it if you think this could be the crock-pot for you!

http://www.crock-pot.com/Product.aspx?cid=113&pid=10151

Chili

Well it has been a little while since I posted about some things I have made in my crock pot. Things have become a little more hectic in the last couple of week at home making meals a little bit harder. But that is what is so great about crock pots! You practically through all the ingredients in, turn it on, do what you need to do, and then come back to a delicious hot meal! A favorite of mine is chili.

Recipe
   2 lbs Ground Beef
   1 Qt Tomato Juice
   1 (29oz) Can Tomato Puree
   1 (15oz) Can Red Beans, drained
   1 Medium Onion, chopped
   1/2 Cup Celery, diced
   1/4 Cup Green Pepper, diced
   1/4 Cup Chili Powder
   1 tsp Cumin (or more for extra flavor)
   1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
   1 tsp Salt
   1/2 tsp Black Pepper
   1/2 tsp Oregano
   1/2 tsp Sugar
   1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper


In a frying pan, brown the ground beef; drain. Put the drained beef and the remaining ingredients into a 6-quart pot. Cover the pot and let simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes.

This is all to the recipe. You can cook this on the stove or just prepare it all and put into your crock pot and put it on low and let it slowly warm up and blend all together for a few good hours, stirring occassionally. When I make it, I usually use less than a quart of tomato juice or none at all and will substitute a small can of tomato paste or sauce. Just something similar to add some liquid. I also really like a thick and hearty, spicy, chili so I also use at least 2 cans of drained beans and about 1/4 cup of cayenne pepper. That is just me though. I really like chili and I always do a little variation just to try different things.

After its been cooking on low in your slow cooker for a few hours and is nice and hot, scoop yourself some into a bowl with some shredded cheese on top, with a nice hot roll and enjoy!

Spaghetti Sauce

So, I decided to make a spaghetti sauce for the first time last week for my boyfriend one night since he really wanted pasta. We were going to have dinner on tuesday, which is also the night my roommates and I watch Glee and I invite a couple of my friends over. And normally we make something in the Crock Pot for everyone but this week I didn't feel like it and nothing was planned. So I decided to just do something for my boyfriend and I. We both like onions and peppers but when I finished chopping them and starting cooking them, it was clear that this was becoming a Crock Pot dinner since our biggest pot would not have held all the peppers and onions I wanted to put in it. So slow cooked spaghetti sauce it was!

Recipe
   1 Green Pepper
   1 Red Pepper
   2 Medium Onions
   1 Can of Mushrooms
   1 Package of Sausage
   Salt and Pepper
   Cayenne Pepper (optional)
   Small Can Tomato Paste
   Large Can Tomato Sauce
   Large Can Tomato Chunks
   Oregano
   5 Cloves Garlic
 
I started this the night before. First, I cut up my onions, peppers, garlic and opened the can of mushrooms. Saute this all together in a large frying pan. At this point I realized that this was going to turn into a Crock Pot dinner. I could have finished cooking the vegetables before I decided to put the sausage in but I just put it the pan with the vegetables.

I cooked the sausage all the way because I didn't want to worry about making sure it cooked all the way in the Crock Pot although I am sure it would have. At this point, I put the tomato paste, tomato sauce, and tomato chunks in the Crock Pot with the cut up pieces of sausage and sauteed vegetables. Mix it all together, throw in some oregano as desired, salt and pepper, cayenne pepper if you like a little spice and stir. Put on low and let simmer for a few hours. 

I was always told that spaghetti sauce tastes better the next day. So I turned it off after a few hours and put in the fridge until the next day. A few hours before we were going to have supper the next day, I put the sauce back in the Crock Pot and slowly started to heat it up. It was a very delicious sauce for my first one!

Chicken Pot Pie

So... for the first blog I decided to try something I hadn't already done in my crock pot and my roommates and I really wanted to have chicken pot pie. But how to do a pot pie in a crock pot, and not an oven. We searched, and found a recipe for it to be done in a crock pot. We modified it a little bit to better fit our needs and this is how it went

Recipe
   2 medium minced onions (my roommate doesn't like the texture of onions, so I mince them but chopped onions would be fine)
   1 red pepper - chopped
   1-2 cups carrots - I didn't measure how many carrots I used, it was somewhere between 1 or 2 cups, closer to 2 cups. I stopped cutting them up when I thought it looked like enough

   1-2 cups broccoli - Same thing as carrots, I chopped them up until it looked like it would be enough (we were serving 8 people so I put more in the recipe called for.)

   Garlic - I like garlic, so I minced 5 or 6 cloves but you can have less or more depending on what you or your family likes)

   4-6 chicken breasts cubed - This doesn't need to be cooked ahead of time. We cut them into small cubes and mixed them right in with the vegetables.

   2 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup

   1 cup celery - Or more, if you like celery

   Pre-made roll out pie crust - You can get this at any grocery store

   Salt and Pepper

Add all your vegetables and chicken into a big bowl and add the cans of cream of chicken soup and mix very well. Sprinkle some salt and pepper in as well.

Place into a crock pot that has been sprayed with cooking spray and roll pre-made pie crust on top.

Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-5 hours. We were short on time to make this before we had planned to eat so we set it on high and it went for about 3ish hours.

How It Tasted

   The pot pie itself kind of came out more like a stew... but... it was a very delicious stew! We were short on time so we didn't let the crust harden up as much as it needed to and the cream of chicken soup didn't stay as thick as we thought. But good news is I have another pre-made pie crust and we want to try it with gravy or do something to thicken up the cream of chicken soup. I also was going to add in a chicken bouillon packet or two to the mix vegetables but it slipped my mind before I put it all together in the crock pot. I made homemade yeast rolls to go with it and those were delicious! This is a picture of them from my annual bake sale for Relay For Life.