Brew ha ha.

We had some of the brew crew over for dinner last night (Hi Brad, Sandra, Zach, and Katelyn!), so I decided to do the one recipe in the e-book that had beer in it...because I'm awesome like that or something. This was "chapter 4" of the e-book.

"Peppered Beef Brisket in Beer" (6 quart pot)

~1 (4lb) beef brisket (as lean as you can find.)
~1 onion, chopped
~1 t pepper
~1 t paprika
~1 t cumin
~1 t salt
~3 T flour
~3 T brown sugar
~3 garlic cloves, minced
~3/4 c beer (I used Pollinator by LongTrail
~2/3 c chili sauce

Trim the fat off of the brisket and cut in half.
Combine salt, paprika, cumin, and pepper in a small bowl.
Evenly coat brisket with spice mixture
Place onions in crock pot.
Place brisket halves on top of onions.
Combine flour, garlic, and brown sugar in a small bowl.
Gradually add beer and chili sauce to mixture,
Blend well.
Pour mixture over brisket.
Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour.
Reduce heat and cook on low for 8 hours.

12 servings. (Supposedly. Mine was pretty fatty and not quite 4 lbs to begin with, so it ended  up being about 6 servings.)

This was quite a hit. Everyone loved it. (At least that's what they told me.) My other half demands that I make this more often and I'm kind of okay with that.

Naan negotiable.

Way back when I didn't crock on a daily-ish basis, one of our go-to meals was microwaveable Indian pouches (Palak panner, chickpea curry, and the like...) and garlic naan from Trader Joe's. Quick. Easy. Yummy.

"Indian Chole" AKA Chickpea curry (6 quart pot)

The recipe is HERE.

~2 c chickpeas, soaked overnight
~3 garlic cloves, minced
~1 onion, minced
~1 red bell pepper, minces
~1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
~1 inch piece ginger, minced
~1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
~1/2 t cayenne pepper
~1 t coriander powder
~1/2 t turmeric
~1/2 t ground cardamom
~1/4 t ground cloves
~1 T vegetable oil
~1 t garam masala
~1 t ground mustard (I thought I had seeds, but I improvised when I realized I'd misremembered.)
~1/2 t salt

Puree all ingredients except chickpeas. (I had to do it in batches in our Magic Bullet.)
Place chick peas in crock pot.
Pour blended mixture on top.
Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.

This was pretty darn good. Spicy and BURSTING with Indian curry flavor. It could've been fabulous if I'd though/planned ahead and bought some of Trader Joe's garlic naan. Oh man. Yum. That would've been awesome. Next time!

M-I-C-K-E-Y.

We've had mice in our new house for a month or so. My other half evicted one a week ago, but we've seen/heard another one in the last few days, so our traps are STILL out. I hate throwing away food and we all know that I'll eat pretty much anything regardless of how old it is. However, I do draw the line at food that's been moused. Luckily for us, Mickey and Minnie left our couscous alone. (But they liked our various rices and powdered sugar...)

"Mouse In The House Chicken Curry" (6 quart pot)

~3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
~1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
~1 (6 oz) jar quartered artichoke hearts, drained
~1 small onion, diced (From the CSA.)
~2 garlic cloves (From the CSA.)
~1 t curry powder
~pinch salt
~pinch pepper
~couscous, cooked as directed on package

Add all ingredients except couscous to crock pot and mix.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Serve over couscous.

3 servings.

Go make this. Now. You'll thank me.

Great things come to those who wait.

2 1/2 hour gaper delays really, really, REALLY suck. Especially when it clashes with my little helper's nap time. Especially when I forget to take my phone with me. And especially when it clashes with the start time on a crock. Luckily for me, I'd browned the meat before I'd ventured out and as far as I can tell, nobody was seriously injured in the accident that caused my insane delay. (It took nearly 3 hours to get from Severna Park to Brad's.)

What fun things are in Brad's pantry? Day 15.

~1 lb ground beef, browned and drained (From the never-ending moo.)
~1 large mason jar of thai hot and sweet dipping sauce (I had no idea what this was other than something homemade. The lid said it was canned in 4-2012. It smelled yummy when I opened the can, so i decided to use it as a marinade.)
~1 (14.5 oz) jar light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (I bought this.)
~1 c baby spinach (This, too.)
~2 c elbow macaroni, cooked and drained (Expired in 2011.)

Add beef, sauce, and beans to crock pot and mix well.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
Add baby spinach and mix.
Recover and continue cooking.
Meanwhile, prepare macaroni.
Add cooked macaroni to crock pot and mix.

4 servings.

This goes in the favorites pile. SOOOOO good. Sweet and spicy and nomnomnom. My other half said that he couldn't stop eating it and that he wanted to lick the crock pot clean. He's demanded that I make this more often.

So uh, Brad? Sandra? Care to share the recipe for the dipping sauce with me/the class?

Four exclamation points!!!!

I chose this because a friend of mine crocked it last week and said that it was "AMAZING!!!!" (Hi Kelly!!!!) It comes from my favorite gluten-free crocker's blog. I've crocked so much of her stuff, I'm kind of surprised that I hadn't come across it yet.

"Mongolian Beef" (6 quart pot)

The original is HERE.

~1 1/2 lbs flank steak

~1/4 c cornstarch

~3 garlic cloves, minced

~3 green onions, chopped

~1/2 onion, diced

~1/2 c soy sauce

~1/4 c white wine (I used Feltzer's Pinot Grigio)

~1/4 c cooking sherry

~1/2 T white wine vinegar(The original crocker forgot to add it. I had intended to remember to use it, but I didn't realize that we'd run out.)
~1 t sesame oil
~1 t molasses
~1 t crushed red pepper flakes
~1/4 t black pepper
~1/2 T peanut butter
~3 T brown sugar
~rice, cooked

Toss flank steak in cornstarch to coat.
Add garlic, green onions, onion, soy sauce, white wine, sherry, sesame oil, molasses, ginger, pepper flakes, pepper, peanut butter, and brown sugar to crock pot and mix.
Place beef on top and toss to coat.
Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
Serve with rice.
Top with a green onion. (OR forget this step like I did.)

 3 servings.

 

 It IS "AMAZING!!!!".  It deserves the 4 exclamation points!!!! We liked this so much it's going on in the favorites pile. The carnivores out there should make this. Now. Thanks Kelly!!!!

Fancy shmancy.

I keep hearing about cruises in the Mediterranean. Someday (When I'm a rich and famous food blogger, perhaps?), I'll go on one. Until then, I'll just crock food that sounds fancy.

"Mediterranean Chicken with Wild Rice" (6 quart pot)

~ 1 lb boneless skinless chicken (I used one breast and one thigh.)

~salt

~pepper

~1 c wild rice blend

~10 garlic cloves, smashed

~1/2 c sun-dried tomatoes

~1/2 c capers, drained

~2 c water

~1/2 c lemon juice

~1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Place chicken in crock pot.

Add rice, garlic, tomatoes, and capers.

Stir well.

Mix water, lemon juice, and oil in a small bowl.

Sir once to coat chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

4 servings.

This is AMAZING. It smells amazing. It tastes amazing. Go make it. It's going in our favorites pile.

Never gonna give you up.

Today was another two for one deal.

Ingredient number 1? Garam masala.

Ingredient number 2? Red curry paste.

Safeway was/is having a buy 2 spices get one free sale, so when I bought the star anise the other day, I said to myself, "Self? What fun new spice do we not have right now?" Self answered, "Garam masala. And we also need ground ginger." I had no idea what garam masala is, but I didn't care.

THEN, Krista sent me this link to the food challenge. (Thanks, Krista!) I scanned it for things that were crockable and things that I've never had and self said, "Chicken Tikka Masala, eh? That sounds like it would have garam masala in it." Guess what? Self was right!

I couldn't find the perfect recipe (whatever that means), so I improvised. Most of it comes from this recipe, but it has a little bit of this recipe mixed in.

"Chicken Tikka Masala" (6 quart pot)

The chicken tikka part:

~6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
~1 c plain greek yogurt
~1 T lemon juice
~2 t cumin
~1 t cayenne pepper
~1 t cinnamon
~1 t pepper
~1 t salt

Add yogurt, lemon juice, cumin, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, pepper, and salt to medium bowl and mix well.
Add chicken to bowl and slather it with the mixture to marinate.
Refrigerate covered for at least 1 hour. (Mine was in there for 2.)

The masala part:

~1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
~5 oz tomato paste
~2 inches of ginger root, peeled and grated
~4 garlic cloves, chopped
~1 onion, diced
~1 T garam masala
~1 T red curry paste
~1 T lemon juice
~1 t cumin
~1/2 t chili powder
~1 t dried coriander

The part at the end:

~1 c cream
~2 T fresh cilantro
~brown rice, cooked
~1/2 c frozen peas

In a saucepan, lightly brown chicken over medium-high heat.
Add chicken to crock pot.
Add some olive oil/butter/whatever your grease of choice is to skillet.
Saute onion, garlic, and ginger until fragrant.
Add mixture to crock pot.
Add tomatoes, tomato paste, garam masala, red curry paste, cumin, chili powder, and coriander to crock pot.
Mix everything well.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Add cream and cilantro to crock pot and stir to combine.
When rice is done cooking add peas and stir them in.
Spoon tikka masala over rice.
Top with more cilantro.

6 servings.

Go make this.

Now.

Watch your back.

I decided to make this because it was different. Greek! And because it had fennel bulb in it. AND cauliflower. Fennel is new to me, obviously. Cauliflower is old to me, but I don't know what to do with it other than slather it with cheese, so I don't buy it. Ever.

"Greek Chicken Stew" (6 quart pot)

The original recipe is HERE.

~1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
~1 (14 oz can) diced tomatoes
~1 c veggie broth
~1/2 cup plain, fat free Greek yogurt
~1 small head cauliflower, chopped
~1 fennel bulb, sliced
~1 (12 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained
~1 large red onion, sliced
~1 T dried oregano (I thought we had fresh, but I thought wrong.)
~8 garlic cloves, minced
~2 t orange zest (I forgot to get lemon...again.)
~1 t salt
~1/2 t pepper

Brown chicken in a skillet over medium-high heat.
Turn once.
Spray a large nonstick skillet with non-fat cooking spray and set at medium high heat. Add the
Transfer chicken to crock pot.
Add cauliflower, fennel, and onion to crock pot.
Add garlic, zest, oregano, salt, and pepper.
Add broth and tomatoes.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Stir in yogurt and artichokes and cook for about another 15-30 minutes while you hightail it to the back yard to rip out the poison ivy you found this afternoon.

6 servings.

This was AMAZING. Go make it. Now. The end. (You can even put the olives in it if you're one of the weird people of the world who actually likes that kind of thing.)

Back to forgetfulness as usual.

I chose this because I'd never had goulash. I didn't even know what it was. AND I got to buy a new spice.

"Hungarian Beef Goulash" (6 quart pot)

The original is HERE.

~2 lbs beef stew meat
~2 t caraway seeds
~2 T smoked paprika
~1/4 t salt
~Freshly ground pepper
~1 onion, chopped
~1 red bell pepper, chopped
~1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
~1 (14 oz) can beef broth
~1 t Worcestershire sauce
~3 garlic cloves, minced
~1 T cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
~smashed red potatoes (This wasn't in the recipe, but I found 4 red potatoes in the pantry growing all sorts of crazy eyes, so I nuked them and smashed them in the bowl before serving the goulash.)

Place beef in crock pot.
Crush caraway seeds with the bottom of a saucepan.
Transfer to a small bowl and stir in paprika, salt and pepper.
Sprinkle mixture over beef and toss to coat.
Top with onion and bell pepper.
Combine tomatoes, broth, Worcestershire sauce and garlic in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer.
Pour mixture over the beef and vegetables.
Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.
Add the cornstarch mixture to the stew and cook on high, stirring 2 or 3 times, until slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve sprinkled with parsley.
Serve over smashed potatoes.

6 servings.

I sorta kinda forgot to add the bay leaves that were in the original recipe. Possibly because I was having one of those doing 800,652 things at the same time kinds of days. And then I forgot to add the fresh parsley at the end because the day just wasn't quite over yet.

AND it still somehow managed to taste delicious. My other half would be very pleased if I made this more often.

Everything Blue

I still like blue cheese. Did I mention that? I also like balsamic vinegar. Putting the two on a salad is delicious, and so clearly putting them together on other things has to be delicious, right? So, when I saw this recipe, I had to make it.

"Herbed Balsamic Chicken With Blue Cheese" (6 quart pot)

The original is HERE.

~5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
~1/2 c balsamic vinegar
~3 T olive oil
~2 t sea salt
~1 1/2 t pepper
~2 t herbs de provence
~4 oz blue cheese crumbles.

Add chicken to crock pot.
Mix remaining ingredients in small bowl.
Pour mixture over chicken.
Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.

5 servings.

I'm not afraid to say that I'd never heard of herbs de provence before, but it's very good. A smart woman can be quoted as saying this is "really yummy." It's not heavily blue cheesy, though, and could even use more (did I mention I like blue cheese?). I'd like to have this more often.

Since I chose extra recipes this week, we also got to have dessert. I like cobblers. I also like non-cobblers. Pretty much anything sweet, really. I suppose it's a problem. Today, sweet came in the form of a cobbler...

"Black and Blue Cobbler" (6 quart pot)

The original is HERE.

~1 c flour
~3/4 c sugar
~1 t baking powder
~1/4 t salt
~1/4 t ground cinnamon
~1/4 t ground nutmeg
~2 eggs, beaten
~2 T milk (I used evaporated milk because we had some leftover from yesterday's French toast.)
~2 T vegetable oil
~2 c fresh (or frozen!) blueberries
~2 c fresh (or frozen) blackberries
~3/4 c water
~1 t grated orange peel
~3/4 c sugar

Combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl.
Combine eggs, milk, and oil in a separate bowl.
Stir into dry ingredients until moistened.
Spread the batter evenly over bottom of greased slow cooker.
In saucepan, combine berries, water, orange peel, and 3/4 cup sugar.
Bring to boil.
Remove from heat and pour over batter.
Cover and cook on high for 2 hours. (Or until it passes the toothpick test.)
Turn off crock pot.
Uncover and let stand 30 minutes before serving.
Top with cool whip. (Or ice cream if you happen to have it. We didn't.)

6 servings.

Fantastic. Just trust me and make this.

Black and Blue Cobbler ends Other Half week. I'll have another sometime, but now we return you to your regularly scheduled crocking.

Addicting like Pinterest.

I added yesterday's menu at the last minute. Possibly because I am addicted to my crock pot and didn't want it to go unused for three. whole. days. (The horror!) This was a popular pin whatever random day of this week I'd searched Pinterest.

"Parmesan Garlic Chicken with Orzo" (6 quart pot) The original is HERE.

~2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
~2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
~4 tablespoons olive oil
~6 tablespoons dry white wine (I used Pomelo's Sauvignon Blanc.)
~1/2 teaspoon salt
~1/2 teaspoon pepper
~4 garlic cloves, minced
~1 teaspoon dried basil
~1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
~1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese + 2 tablespoons
~1 cup uncooked whole wheat orzo
~3/4 cup broccoli, steamed

The night before, season chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
Combine 3 tablespoons olive oil, cheese, basil, parsley, garlic and 3 tablespoons of wine in a bowl.
Place chicken in a resealable Tupperware container.
Pour marinade over top and coat chicken.
Shake the heck out of the container for funzies.
Place the container in the fridge overnight.
The next morning, place chicken in your crockpot with 3 tablespoons of wine.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Prepare orzo according to directions.
Once cooked, combine with remaining olive oil and parmesan.
Cut chicken into pieces/chunks, and toss together with orzo.
Add broccoli and mix.
Top with additional parmesan.

6 servings.

The original crocker liked this and she doesn't even like broccoli. Imagine how good it is if you actually like the little green trees! It's yummy. My other half says I need to make this more often. Because I tend to recrock things all of the time, right?

Right.

This was the first crock pot recipe I'd seen pinned that I'd actually seen before. It's from a blog I've mentioned here a few times. (The "crazy" gluten-free chick who crocked for an entire year.) I remember wanting to make this "someday" because I had it on a cruise and it was AWESOME. So...when I decided I was making dessert for friends who joined us for movie night last night, I had to make this. It was the law. Or something. Some of the reviews said that this tasted super alcoholic. I figured that was right up all of our alleys (Hi Brad & Sandra!) and didn't feel the need to cook it off beforehand as suggested.

"Bananas Foster" (6 quart pot) (The original is HERE.

~3 overly ripened bananas or 3 nearly ripened bananas (More on that, later.)
~1/4 c butter
~1 t vanilla extract
~1/3 cup brown sugar
~1/4 cup brandy (I used E&J)

Smush bananas like you would if you were making banana bread. (I use my hands because I like getting messy. Cooking is supposed to be FUN, right?)
Shove bananas into crock pot.
Add butter, vanilla, brown sugar, and brandy.
Cover and cook on low for 3 hours OR on high for 1 hour.
Serve over vanilla ice cream.

6 servings.

I had to make this twice. And NOT because it was so crazy good we wanted seconds. The first time, I used the 3 ripened bananas that were on the counter begging me to make this. After about 2.5 hours on low, I peeked through the lid and noticed that they were looking done. More done than they should've been. Black. In fact, my (back up) crock pot will now have to take the next 3 days off because it's soaking in an attempt to get the charcoal off of it. It was probably sue to the size of my pot. (Having not a lot of stuff to crock in a 6 qt pot makes it crock faster.)

The second time I crocked this, I tried crocking it for 1 hour on high. It. Was. Fantastic. If the bananas had been ripened like the ones I used the first time, I'd have to see if the English language has a word meaning "more than fantastic". Fantastic-er?

Since our fridge is filled with leftovers from this week, I won't be crocking again until Monday. Don't be too sad, though! Next week is "Mexican Week" and it's going to be fantastic-er!

It's crocked rice, you pick!

My other half picked number 21. (Thanks, other half!) The twenty first card in the stack was...

"Burgandy and Mushroom Pilaf" (6 quart pot)

~2 T vegetable oil
~2 c long-grain rice
~1 onion, chopped
~1 c sliced cremini mushrooms
~1 zucchini, thinly sliced
~3 1/2 c broth (The card says beef or veggie. I used some of both because I had some opened in the fridge. 1 1/2 c beef. 2 c veggie.)
~1/2 c red cooking wine
~1/4 t pepper
~1/4 c butter, melted

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat until hot.
Add rice, onion, mushrooms, and zucchini.
Cook and stir for a few minutes until rice is slightly browned and onions are soft.
Transfer mixture to crock pot.
Add broth, wine, salt, and pepper.
Drizzle butter over everything.
Stir once.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

6 servings.

This. Was. Awesome. My other half had to ask me to keep him from having another bowl or two or three. I'm definitely making this more often. I'm sure it'd be great with all sorts of random veggies in it. I could even try making my own "crocked fried rice". Oh, man. The possibilities are endless!

¡Ganar!

Heather picked number 38. (Thanks, Heather!) Number 38 in the pile was...

"Spanish Paella with Chicken and Sausage" (6 quart pot)

~1 T olive oil
~4 chicken thighs (I used bone-in this time because Lauers was out of boneless. Imagine that.)
~1 onion, chopped
~1 clove garlic, minced
~1 lb spicy Italian sausage, quartered (It was supposed to be hot smoked sausage sliced into rounds, but I didn't know what that was when I went shopping, so I bought the same sausage I used last Friday and improvised.)
~1 (14 1/2 oz) can stewed tomatoes, undrained
~4 c chicken broth
~1 c arborio rice, uncooked
~1/2 c frozen peas, thawed*

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.
Add chicken and brown on all sides.
Transfer chicken to crock pot.
Add onion to same skillet and cook until translucent.
Stir in garlic, sausage, tomatoes, and chicken broth.
Stir in rice.
Pour mixture over chicken.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Add peas and stir just before serving.*

4 servings.

*I totally forgot to add the peas.

The chicken and sausage were delicious. My other half ended up coming home from work later than I'd planned, so I had this sitting on warm for a few hours. I'm PRETTY sure that was the demise of the rice. The flavor was amazing, but it ended up like mush. Still, he says I should add this to the Make More Often list. I'll count that as a win.

Pumpkin not soupy soup.

Perhaps the theme for this week should've been "Oops".

Tonight's dinner was based on this recipe. The only MAJOR change I'd planned was to skip the half and half.

This is what I did.

"Turkey Rice Pumpkin Not-Soup" (6 quart pot)

~1 onion, chopped
~2 celery stalks, chopped
~4 cups turkey broth
~1 can (14.5 oz can) pumpkin
~2 lb turkey tenderloins, cut into bite-sided pieces and cooked
~1 cup rice, uncooked
~1 t sea salt
~1/2 t ground cinnamon

Add all ingredients to crock pot.
Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.
6 servings.

My crock pot beeped at 7pm. It looked like this:

See how non-soupy that looks? I should've cooked the rice first like the recipe said. The uncooked rice absorbed all of the broth and VIOLA! I get non-soupy soup. Oops. Why didn't I cook the rice, you ask? Because I'm a bonehead. Plain and simple.

I scooped it out and plopped it on a plate. And then ate it with a fork.

See?

This was actually really, really good. Nothing like soup, CLEARLY, but yummy. My little helper LOVES it which is an unexpected bonus.

I'm going to have to make it again. The right way and the wrong way.

Vegetarian leftovers.

This was leftover from the vegetarian weeks.

"Stuffed Tomatoes" (6 quart pot)

~5 large tomatoes, cored using the sharpest knife you own (I froze the innards because I KNOW I'll have a recipe for crushed tomatoes someday)
~5 oz goat cheese
~1 garlic clove, chopped
~2 T fresh basil, chopped
~1/4 c water

Add water to crock pot.
Mix cheese, garlic, and basil in small bowl.
Spoon into cored tomatoes.
Cover and cook on low for 2 hours.

5 servings.

The only issue was trying not to eat all of them in one sitting. So good. I forsee other versions of this crocking in the future. Yum.

Gobble.

My little helper loves the little jars of turkey and rice baby food. I decided to buy the cheapest turkey I could find and serve it with rice and carrots. Kiddo loves carrots more than the aforementioned baby food jars. I'm sure you've figured that out considering every meal so far this week has had carrots in it. Tomorrow's won't.

"Creamy Dijon Turkey Tenderloins with Carrots" (6 quart pot)

~1 pkg of Shadybrook Farms' Creamy Dijon Turkey Tenderloins (Safeway)
~4 c baby carrots
~1 c water

Pour water in crock pot.
Dump turkey in pot.
Dump carrots on top of turkey.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

3 servings. (The package contains 3 tenderloins and it says it's 7 servings. Riiiight. On what planet?)

Yum. My other half has demanded that I make this more often. My little helper went to bed before he could try it, but I'm pretty sure he'll gobble it up tomorrow.

Kind of like mom used to make.

This week's theme is "Growing Up". It's going to be a week of things I grew up eating only BETTER because I'm crocking everything. (At least that's the theory).

My mom made lots of meatloaf. It was one of my favorite things to eat as a kid. I'd slather it in ketchup and gobble it up like it was the best stuff on the planet. I like that you can shove pretty much anything into one and it'll taste good and it never really tastes the same way twice. She's given me her recipe and I've made it in the oven plenty of times, but I wanted to try to crock one that was different. Her recipe is good, but it's pretty run of the mill. I wanted to do one that was different. WAY different. That's when I found this. I was intrigued. I HAD to make it. And so I did.

"Blue Cheese and Dried Cherry Meatloaf (3.5 quart pot)

~1 lb ground beef (I actually used beef this time)

~1/2 c crumbled blue cheese crumbles

~1/2 c dried cherries

~1 egg

~1 t onion powder

~1 t salt

~1/2 t pepper

~1/2 c bread crumbs

Mix all ingredients and form a loaf.

Place loaf in greased crock pot.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

My mom's meatloaf has parmesan. Blue cheese is so.much.better. And the cherries? They're fabulous. I've found a new meatloaf. AND no ketchup was needed. My other half tried it with some because he was curious, but he said that it totally took away from the awesomeness that is blue cheese.

Dessert.  

My mom makes an amazing applesauce cake. I don't have the recipe for that, yet, so I turned to my pal Betty C. for this cake recipe. It wasn't a crock pot specific recipe, so I had to convert it. 

~1 c brown sugar, packed

~1/2 c butter, softened

~1 egg

~1 t vanilla

~1 c applesauce 

~2 c flour

~1 t salt

~1 t baking soda

~1 t cinnamon

~1/2 t ground cloves

~1 c raisins

~1/2 c walnuts, chopped

Cover and cook on low for 3.5 hours or until toothpick comes out cleanly.*

Allow to cool for 1 hour before inverting onto plate.

Part of the reason I love this cake so much is for the icing my mom puts on it. Luckily for me, she shared THAT recipe with me a few months ago.

~3/4 c shredded coconut

~1/2 c brown sugar, packed

~1/3 c walnuts, chopped

~1/4 c butter, melted

~3 T milk

Top cake with icing. 

Broil 6 inches from broiler for 2 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

*I checked it at 3 hours and it wasn't done yet. I then checked it at 4 hours and it was done. I think that if I had crocked this for 3 1/2 hours or so, this would've been perfect. It was a drier than it was supposed to be, but's still a darn good applesauce cake. At least I got the icing right. Soooo good.

Springtime!

This recipe has been on my to-do list for awhile. I was going to make it for Shamcrock, but I changed my mind at the last minute for some reason. The last few days have been dreary, but today was the perfect spring day to make this. I wish I could say I'd planned it that way.

"New Potatoes and Spring Vegetables" (6 quart pot)

~2 lb small red potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
~2 c baby carrots, cut lengthwise
~1 large sweet onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
~2 t salt
~1 lb fresh asparagus, cut into bite sized pieces
~1/4 c olive oil
~6 T fresh dill weed, chopped
~2 t grated lemon peel
~2 T Gulden's mustard

Place carrots in crock pot.
Top with onion and potatoes.
Sprinkle with 1 t salt.
Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.
Add asparagus to crock pot.
Turn setting to high.
Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
Mix dill weed, lemon peel, mustard, and 1 t salt in small bowl.
Pour over veggies and stir to coat.

8 servings.

I'm so glad I finally made this. It's so unbelievably flavorful and delicious. I really wasn't expecting it to be as tasty as it was. I'd never used dill weed before, so that was a fun experiment. I'd also never used grated lemon peel. I got to use my grater (that I've had for about a decade) for the very first time! My other half said he could've done without the dill weed, but I think it really makes the dish. I am definitely making this again. (We almost filled our plates with a third serving each...that'll be our little secret, k?)

I'm powerful and it's special.

I rattled off my list of potential themes for this week and my other half said that he'd really like to do another vegetarian week. This coming from a dude who didn't eat veggies at all when we first met.  (Potatoes don't count.) He now eats a wider variety of veggies than I do. I'm just that powerful.

"Zucchini Special" (6 quart pot)

~1 large zucchini, peeled and sliced
~1 onion, sliced
~1 quart stewed tomatoes
~1/4 t salt
~1 t dried basil
~2 cups shredded mozzarella

Layer zucchini, onion, and tomatoes.
Sprinkle salt, basil, and cheese on top.
Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.

This was really easy and really good. The cheese really brings the dish together. My other half told me that I HAVE to make this more often. Who am I to argue?

You should cook old clothes in your crock pot.

As I've mentioned before, my Spanish is pretty limited, but I CAN read it. Kind of. I came across this recipe and thought I was crazy when I translated it in my head. "Old Clothes". Really? Really.

"Ropa Vieja" (6 quart pot)

~1.5 lb flank steak
~salt and pepper
~1 T olive oil
~1 green pepper, diced
~1/4 t red pepper flakes
~1/4 c beef broth
~4 oz diced green chilis, drained
~24 oz chunky pasta sauce

Season meat with salt and pepper.
Brown flank steak on medium heat with olive oil.
Mix green pepper, red pepper flakes, broth, chilis, and pasta sauce in crock pot.
Add meat and cover with sauce mixture.
Cover and cook on low for 10 hours.

6 servings.

This was delicious. And didn't taste like old clothes at all. I accidentally bought 1/3 of the meat I was supposed to, so our meat to sauce ratio was way way WAY off, but still super flavorful. (I put what it SHOULD'VE been in this post, so you don't make the same mistake). My other half liked the sauce so much, he made some pasta so he could have something to put the leftovers over. I'd definitely make this again...just with more meat next time.  Maybe I should learn how to read English before I pretend to know how to read Español, eh?