More Of The Crock Pot

I wish I could take a picture of my crockpot but it's dirty. :( Anyway, it's a 6qt Rival with the buttons that let you program how long it cooks. It's got the oval shaped insert instead of the round. I'm hoping it is as good as my old one. It's a Rival too. Big difference though cause it's avocado green with a broken lid.



Here's what I've been doing in it....

Breakfast: I made an apple/peach crisp by cutting up a whole bag of apples and putting them in the bottom. I topped this with a bag of frozen peaches and some raisins. Then I made a topping with oatmeal, nuts, sucanat, and butter. I don't remember how long I cooked this. It was very good but came out a little dry. So we ate it sort of like oatmeal and added milk.



Since Honey comes home for lunch our lunches have become a little more elaborate than they used to be. I feel guilty feeding him pb&j everyday. I do a lot of soups though since it's so cold here. I can do the prep work for a soup in the morning before school and let it cook in the crock pot til lunch. I can also get bread started in the bread machine and they're both done about the same time with little effort from me.

One of the greatest benefits of a crock pot for me is the ability to make something ahead of time and have it ready when I need it. Since I have so many little ones I have to take advantage of nap time in a big way. I don't have time to start dinner at 4:30 or 5pm b/c everyone is up and babies need my attention. I need to do it at nap time instead. I also try to start lunch at breakfast time.

With this programmable crockpot I will also make more freezer foods. Meaning, I can cook something all night and in the morning package it to bank in the freezer. That is so handy to have for a busy day. I did that this week with beans.

So here's some of my crockpot faves:

Ziti...

1 box of ziti noodles
1 container of cottage cheese mixed with 1 egg, 1 T. italian seasoning, s/p
grated mozzarella
spaghetti sauce to cover
about 2 cups of water

Mix all together in the crockpot and cook on low until noodles are tender.

This soup is delicious!
Meatball Minestrone

1 chopped onion
2 crushed garlic cloves
1T oil
1 can of small white beans, undrained
32 oz chicken broth
1 T. each oregano, basil
16 oz frozen meatballs (or homemade)
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 shake of crushed red pepper flakes
1 C. small pasta, uncooked
1 package of fresh spinach washed and torn.

Put everything in the crockpot except the spinach. When the pasta is tender add the spinach and cook a little longer.

Last night I put navy beans in the crockpot before I went to bed. I covered them with plenty of water and peeled a head of garlic to dump in with it. I set in on low for 6 hours. The beans were done when I woke up. I made these for the freezer to use later. I ended up with 4 quart sized baggies.

At Christmas time we took advantage of the grocery sales and bought a big turkey. I cooked it this week. We ate the breast for dinner then I picked off as much of the meat as my stomach could take....Oh, I hate touching that stuff! Then I tore off the smaller bones and filled up the crockpot and cooked this on low all day covered with water. The whole carcass was too big to cook on the stove at one time. It was a huge bird. I cooked the bigger part on the stove until the meat fell off the bones. We got a bunch of meat from this as well as 5 quarts of broth. I froze all this to use later. I'll use this meat in all my chicken recipes.

Here's another yummy one. It takes a bit of prep work but it's worth it.
Smothered Chicken
3-4 lbs of whatever boneless skinless chicken pieces are on sale
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. soy sauce
1/4 C. dried chives
4-8 oz sliced mushrooms
2/3 C. water

Place all this in the crockpot and cook on HIGH for 3 hours. In the meantime, make the sauce:
4 T. butter
2T. oil
6 heaping T. flour
4 cloves garlic minced
1 C. chicken broth
1 C. cream or milk (cream makes a good difference but milk works)
1T soy sauce
s/p

In a sauce pan, melt butter mixed with oil. Add garlic and saute briefly. Whisk in flour and cook until smooth. Add milk and broth and cook until bubbly. Add spices. This will thicken as it gets hot and makes a nice gravy. I usually double this. The left over gravy freezes well.

Pour this over the chicken at the end of 3 hours and cook on HIGH for 1 hour. Check the doneness and continue accordingly. You can also cook this on LOW if you're gone all day.