Don't you (forget about me).

I have not forgotten about you! I've been crocking, but it's been things I've crocked before. Also, silly things like family weddings and illnesses have gotten in the way this month/last month. I promise that if I crock anything new and exciting, I will let you all in on it. Like...what I crocked today.

"Pulled Pork BBQ Ranch Salad" (6 quart pot)

~1 pork tenderloin
~1 bottle bbq sauce (I used Garland Jack's Secret Six Hickory Spice.)
~1 bag Dole's bbq ranch salad, prepared

Place pork in crock pot.
Dump BBQ sauce on top.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Serve over salad.

6 servings.

So easy. So good. Go make it. Now. Because I said so.

That's what she said.

I've been in the mood for some hot Italian sausage for some reason. I can't believe that 3 years ago, I didn't even LIKE sausage. (Get your minds out of the gutter, people! Ha!)

"Hot Italian Sausage Chili Stew" (6 quart pot)

~1 lb hot Italian sausage, browned and drained
~1 (16 oz) ok pkg frozen "The ultimate southwest blend"veggies
~1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes, halved
~1/2 t salt
~1 t chili powder

Add all ingredients to crock pot.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

4 servings.

 This was yummy. Nice flavor and slightly spicy. My other half thought it was too tomatoey. My anti-tomatoes little helper would probably agree. He ate the beans and corn and that was only after I separated them from the evil sausage, peppers, onions, and juices.

Come together.

I crocked this yesterday. At least, I think it was yesterday. All of my days are starting to blend together for some reason. This was another one of my infamous throw random things in a crock pot and see what happens kid of things.

"Italian Sausage Chili" (6 quart pot.)

~1 lb hot Italian sausage, browned and drained
~1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
~1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
~1 c frozen corn
~1/4 t pepper
~1/2 t chipotle chili powder
~1/2 t cumin

Add all ingredients to crock pot.
Stir to mix well.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

4 servings.

This was really good. REALLY good. Nice flavor Perfectly spicy. Mmm...I'm kind of wishing I'd doubled it. I LOVE when a plan comes together. 3 years into this crocking adventure and I'm still surprised when I don't follow a recipe and the crock tastes amazing. That's normal, right?

Hawaii you?

I finally got around to doing an ACTUAL grocery shopping trip. I crocked this yesterday.

"Hawaiian Luau" (6 quart pot)

~3lb boneless pork roast
~1 envelope Campbell's Slow Cooker Hawaiian Luau
~1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
~brown rice, cooked

Put pork in crock pot.
Pour sauce on top.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
At hour 7, add peppers.
Recover and cook for the last hour.

I served it with sautéed asparagus.

6 servings.

This was pretty good. The cut of meat I bought was fattier than I'd anticipated, but the flavor was there. It's a little sweet, but not overly. My little helper tried it, but his dinner was pretty much rice. At least it was brown rice?

Weather or not.

This came from the Crocktober website. Yes, I do realize October is over. October is not usually this freakin' blustery. It's soup weather.

"Italian Sausage Soup" (6 quart pot.) The original recipe is HERE.

~1 lb hot Italian sausage
~1 onion, chopped
~1 green bell pepper, chopped
~1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
~1 (15 oz) can northern beans, rinsed and drained
~32 oz beef broth (I used a whole box.)

Brown sausage, onion, and pepper. Drain.
Add to crock pot.
Add tomatoes, beans, and broth to mixture.
Cover and cook on lo for 8 hours.

6 servings.

This was pretty good. Nice flavor. Not spicy. My little helper put himself to bed early instead of eating dinner with us, so...yay(?) for that.

Since you've been gone.

There's a little more to it, but I blinked and October it was over. Halloween happened. Friends stayed with us for a week. We went out to eat a lot. I used my oven a lot. (GASP!) And I crocked...sometimes. Some recrocks. Some not. Someday, I'l find the time to post new crock recipes. A pumpkin pineapple chili. A pumpkin dip. A pork roast. A salsa chicken. Today is NOT that day. I'm trying to get back into the groove, but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.

This is what I crocked today. 

"Cranberry Pork" (6 quart pot) The original recipe is HERE.

~3 lb pork loin

~1 (15 oz) can whole cranberry sauce

~1/3 c French dressing

~1 onion, sliced

Place pork in crock pot.

Mix cranberry sauce, dressing, and onion on a medium bowl.

Pour mixture over pork.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

I served this with steamed kohlrabi sprinkled with cheddar.

8 servings.

This was pretty good. It gets points because my little helper actually agreed to try more than one bite.

Help me, help you.

My friend Tricia saw this and thought of me. (Thanks, Tricia!)

"Breakfast Casserole" (6 quart pot) The original recipe is HERE.

~1 (26 ounce) bag southern style frozen hash browns
~12 eggs
~1 cup milk
~1 tablespoon ground mustard
~16 ounces zesty Italian sausage
~1 t salt
~dash pepper
~16 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Grease crock pot.
Evenly spread hash browns at the bottom.
Crack 12 eggs in a large bowl and whisk.
Add milk, mustard, salt, and pepper to eggs.
Add mustard, salt, and pepper to mustard
Brown sausage and drain.
Pour sausage crumbles on top of hash browns.
Add cheese.
Stir to mix.
Pour egg mixture into crock pot.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

8 servings.

It's really hard to make this look pretty, but it sure does taste pretty. Even more amazing? My little helper loved it! OK, 'amazing' is probably not the right word. But LOOK! He willingly ate something I crocked for the first time in...WAY TOO LONG. Too bad it's pretty much a heart attack on a plate. I'd crock this every day just for him! It made a ton, though, so he should be happy for awhile...maybe? If not, my other half and I still will be. Nomnomnom.

Cheap and easy.

The things I buy (and don't buy) when we're watching our pennies VERY closely. This package was originally only $6.99 AND then it was sitting in Safeway's clearance section at a whopping 75% off. I'm sure I would have been breaking a law if it didn't land itself in my shopping cart.

"Al Pastor Pork" (6 quart pot) It's on THIS site.

~1 pkg Al Pastor Pork
~1/2 c water

Place pork in crock pot.
Add water.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
Shred pork with 2 forks.
I put it on top of salad mix, but it's *supposed* to be in tortillas of some sort.

4 servings.

Yum. This was awesome. Bonus points for being ridiculously cheap and easy.

Not that kind of fall.

I will simply say that if you think you don't know anyone affected by the government shutting down, you'd be wrong.

"The Sky Is Falling Sweet and Sour Teriyaki Pork and Veggies" (6 quart pot)

~1 b pork stew meat
~3 carrots, chopped
~1 sweet potato, chopped (From the CSA.)
~1 apple, cored and chopped (From the CSA. It was another one of those reddish greenish ones.)
~1 c low sodium sweet and sour sauce
~1 c low sodium teriyaki sauce

Add all ingredients to crock pot and mix.
Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.

4 servings.

Yum! *pats self on back* Even my little helper devoured the carrots.

Baby steps.

Ah, yes. Another recipe name that tells you absolutely nada about what's in it. My favorite! This showed up in my feed last week. Hooray for sharing!

"Pork Tenderloin" (6 quart pot)

~2 lbs pork tenderloin
~1/4 c low sodium soy sauce
~1 T yellow mustard
~3 T maple syrup
~2 T olive oil
~2 T dried onions
~1 1/2 t garlic powder

Place pork in crock pot.
Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl.
Pour mixture over pork.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

4 servings.

I served this with steamed broccoli (From the CSA.) sprinkled with some shredded cheddar.

This was really yummy. Tender and flavorful. Mmm. For bonus points, I managed to not overcook the broccoli this time. (Yay me!) My little helper tasted everything without too much of a fight (Which is progress.), but he wasn't a fan.

Food fight.

I wanted bbq ribs, so I made some with the easiest crock pot "recipe" ever.

"I'm Feeling Lazy BBQ Ribs" (6 quart pot)

~4 lbs pork spareribs
~1 (16 oz) bottle bbq sauce (I used Garland Jack's Secret Six Original Recipe this time.)

Place ribs in crock pot.
Pour bbq sauce on top.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

I served these with sautéed spinach from the CSA.

6 servings.

Barbecued ribs that fall off the bone. Yum. This is a nice "original" bbq sauce. Nothing fancy, but super yummy. And super easy. I can be down with that. The only thing that would've made it better is if my little helper ate ANY of it without a fight.

Miss shoves a lot.

I worked Tuesday night, so I didn't put a lot of effort into Wednesday's crock. I didn't follow a recipe I just shoved. That's kind of how I roll sometimes.

"Clean Out The Pantry Pork Chops" (6 quart pot)

~4 thickly sliced boneless pork chops
~1 sweet potato, chopped into bite-sized pieces
~1/2 c dried cranberries
~1 c orange juice
~1 t allspice
~2 T brown sugar

Place pork chops in crock pot.
Add sweet potatoes.
Top with cranberries, oj, allspice, and sugar.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.*

I served this with some sautéed spinach (From the CSA.)

4 servings.

*8 hours was a little long, I think. I probably should've done 6. The pork was slightly too dry, but not terrible.

OTHER than that, this was pretty good. Not award winning, but it made my taste buds happy enough. C'mon Fall!

I'm ready.

I was excited to try this because it reminded me of all the yummy fall foods I'm going to be crocking in the not so distant future. (While sipping on my pumpkin flavored iced coffee! Can you tell that I'm excited?)

"Cranberry-Orange Pork Roast" (6 quart pot)

~4 b bone-in pork shoulder (The recipe said 3 lb boneless, but I grabbed the wrong thing.)

~1/2 c cranberry juice cocktail, divided

~1 c dried cranberries

~1 t orange peel

~1/2 c chicken broth

~1 T cornstarch

Place roast in crock pot.

In a bowl, mix 1/4 c cranberry juice cocktail and the cranberries, orange peel, and broth.

Pour mixture over pork.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove pork from crock pot and keep warm.

Pour juice into pan and skim off fat.

In a small bowl, mix remaining cranberry juice cocktail and cornstarch until smooth.

Stir cornstarch mixture into pan juices.

Cook over medium, stirring until thickened. (We were impatient, so I didn't wait long enough for this to happen.)

Slice pork and serve with sauce.

I served this with Brussels sprouts from the CSA.

4 servings.

The cut of meat was pretty fatty (and bony. Grr.), but it was good. This had potential, but I think it could have been so much better. Challenge accepted!

Squealin' hot.

I chose this from the e-book because it had two of my favorite words in a recipe title.

"BBQ Pork" (6 quart pot)

~3 lb pork shoulder
~sugar
~2 c apple cider vinegar
~bottle of bbq sauce (I used one from a new company that I'd never heard before. Garland Jack's Squealin' Hot.)

Trim excess fat.
Roll pork in sugar.
Place pork in crock pot.
Add vinegar.
Cover and cook on high for 1 hour.
Decrease to low and cover and cook for 9 hours on low.
Remove pork from crock pot.
Shred pork with forks.
Mix meat with bbq sauce and serve. (I was going to put it on rolls, but they were too stale, so I just plopped it on a plate.

I served this with green beans from the CSA.

6 servings.

My other half got home from work and said that the house smelled amazing. I hadn't even added the bbq sauce yet! Both of us tasted the pork pre-bbq sauce and thought that it was awesom. Post-bbq sauce? This is some HOT bbq sauce. So...if you're a fan of hot bbq sauce, you should totally check it out. Yum.

Chop notch.

I haven't crock pork chops in a REALLY long time. If these chops weren't "tangy", I was going to have some words with the E-book author.

"Tangy Pork Chops" (6 quart pot)

~4 thick boneless pork chops
~1/2 t salt
~1/8 t pepper
~1 green bell pepper, chopped (From the CSA.)
~1 (14 oz) can stewed tomatoes
~1 onion, chopped (It called for 2, but I did one per my new "1 onion should always be plenty rule".
~1/2 c ketchup
~1 beef bouillon cube
~2 T brown sugar
~1 T lemon juice
~2 T Worcestershire sauce
~2 T apple cider vinegar
~2 T cornstarch
~2 T water

Place pork chops in crock pot.
Add salt and pepper.
Add green pepper, tomatoes, and onion.
Combine ketchup, bouillon, brown sugar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar.
Pour mixture over vegetables.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
Mix cornstarch and water until smooth.
Stir into sauce in crock pot.
Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until thickened.

I served these with a bag of stir fry mixed veggies I found in our freezer last week.

4 servings.

It was tangy! And really good! It ALMOST makes up for yesterday's misnomer. Almost.

A family affair.

My mom is here visiting and requested I crock something Sunday night. She said she didn't care what, but "no onions, peppers, or radishes". I picked this because I know she likes ham and sweet potatoes and it's been awhile since we've had either.

"Ham and Yams" (6 quart pot)

~ 1 1/2 lb ham
~1/2 t mustard (I used dijon because I'm oh so daring.)
~1/4 c brown sugar
~1 (6 oz) can pineapple chunks
~2-4 sweet potatoes (I used 3 because why not?)

Cut potatoes into large chunks and place them in crock pot.
Put ham on top of potatoes.
In a bowl, mix mustard, sugar, and a little pineapple juice.
Mix in the rest of the can of pineapple.
Pour over ham.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

4 servings

Everyone loved it. EVEN my little helper! (Woot!) My mom liked it so much, she's actually said that she's going to try to make it herself...which is kind of amazing because the only thing she's ever crocked is "Crack Pot Spinach".

Loco.

When I hear 'chalupa', I think Taco Bell. Call me crazy.

"Chalupa" (6 quart pot)

~2 lbs pork roast
~1 lb pinto beans, dried
~4 c water
~2 t minced garlic
~1 T cumin seed
~1 t oregano
~4 t hot taco sauce
~1 T salt
~1/4 t ginger
~Tortilla chips
~your favorite taco toppings (I had sour cream and shredded cheddar on hand, so I used that. I was kind of hoping the CSA would give us tomatoes or lettuce this week, but that didn't happen. Boo.)

Put pork in crock pot.
In a large bowl, mix water, garlic, cumin seed, oregano, hot sauce, salt and ginger.
Add beans to mixture.
Pour mixture over pork.
Cover and cook on low for 10 hours.
Slightly crush tortilla chips on serving plate.
Put chalupa mixture on top.
Garnish with your favorite taco toppings.

6 servings.

I did, however, serve with this with corn on the cob. (From the CSA.)

For some reason, we had 4 opened bags of tortilla chips in this house. I picked one (jalapeño flavored) and went with it. Unfortunately, they were stale. WAY stale. And I didn't know until after I'd plated everything. Other than that, it was pretty good. Although, I am wondering if the amount of salt was a typo. 1 T seemed excessive and it did was on the saltier side of things. I'm making it sound terrible, aren't I? It wasn't! I promise!

It's bean awhile.

This is "Chapter 15" of the E-book. It's another one of those recipes that kind of has a misnomer.

"Arizona Chuck Wagon Beans" (6 quart pot)

~1 (14.5 oz) can navy beans, drained and rinsed (The recipe says 1 lb navy beans, dried or pinto. I improvised.)
~6 c water (I didn't use that much because my beans were already hydrated. I THINK I used about 3.)
~1/4 lb pork loin, diced
~1 onion, chopped
~1 garlic clove, minced
~1 green bell pepper, chopped
~1 1/2 lbs round steak, cubed
~1 1/2 t salt
~1/2 t dried oregano
~1/4 t crushed red pepper
~1/4 t cumin
~8 oz tomato sauce

Place beans in crock pot.
Heat oil in a skillet and fry pork until lightly browned.
Transfer to crock pot.
In the same skillet, sauté onion, garlic, and green pepper.
Transfer to crock pot.
In the same skillet, brown beef in pan drippings.
Transfer to crock pot.
Add salt, cumin, oregano, crushed red pepper, and tomato sauce to crock pot.
Add enough water to bring level just above the beans,
Cover and cook on low for 10 hours.

4 servings.

I think that my substitution made this soupier than it was supposed to be, BUT, as soups go, this was pretty good. It had a nice flavor and the meats were nice and tender. So...yay?

Lost in translation.

This is "chapter 7" of the e-book. This one needed a proof reader, too.*

"Cuban Pork Stew" (6 quart pot)

~1 lb pork loin, cut into 1-inch pieces
~1 lb sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
~1 green bell pepper, chopped
~1 red bell pepper, chopped
~1 (14 1/2) oz can diced tomatoes
~1 (4 oz) can diced chilies
~2 garlic cloves, minced
~1 red onion, chopped
~1/4 c oj
~3 green onions, chopped
~1 t salt
~1/4 t ground cumin
~1/4 t pepper
~2 T lime juice
~2 T fresh cilantro
~1 t dried parsley (Because I didn't have 1 T of fresh.)

*The recipe says "Place pork, tomatoes, potatoes, garlic, chilies, green onions, peppers, 'yellow onion salt' (Whatever that means!) , oj, and pepper in crock pot." Seriously.
Instead, I would say something like place the first 13 ingredients in the crock pot and stir to mix.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Add parsley, cilantro, and lemon juice into the mixture.
Cover (again) and cook 10 additional minutes.

8 servings.

This was REALLY good. Nice flavors and "different". We were quite happy with it. My little helper's tummy was still wonky, so I didn't offer him any.

Such a brat.

Today's crock is something I just kind of whipped together. We're going out of town for a few days, so I decided to use what we had in the house rather than be guided by a recipe. (Because let's face it...do I ever REALLY follow a recipe?)

"Clean Out The Kitchen Brats" (6 quart pot)

~4 Johnsonville brats, original flavor

~1/2 c low sodium chicken broth

~4 carrots, chopped

~2 celery stalks, chopped

~1 c mushrooms, sliced (From the CSA.)

~2 spring onions, chopped (From the CSA.)~

~1 T Worcestershire sauce

~1 T dried parsley

Place brats in crock pot.

Add broth, veggies, sauce, and parsley.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

4 servings.

This was good! Hooray for experimenting! Even my little helper liked it! AND he didn't have to slather it in mustard first! Exclamation mark!

And with that...

Mini-Vacation commences! I'll be back crocking on...umm...Monday? Maybe?