Summer Harvest Crock Pot Dinner

With the girls back in school and the start up of our extra curricular activities, it's time to get back into the routine of using the crock pot on a weekly basis. It looks like Wednesdays are going to be our Crock Pot Night. We have to eat in shifts because my middle one has gymnastics over the traditional dinner hour. Having a meal ready in the crock pot means she can eat a bit more heartily when she comes home from school before she leaves for gymnastics, and the meal can wait on the warm function until the other four of us are ready to sit down around the table.

A friend recently shared some of his garden harvest with us, and this Crock Pot Dinner was a great way to use some of the produce (potatoes, onions, beans) he had shared with us. We actually had this meal a couple of other times over the summer when we picked up produce at the Farmers' Market, and all three girls cleaned their plates. The simple combination of potatoes, sweet onions, smoked sausage, and green beans makes for a tasty dinner. The fact that it can be prepped and put in the crockpot in under 10 minutes is a bonus. Hearing my pickiest eater say, "I love that dinner!" when she peaks into the crockpot upon coming home from school makes this meal worthy of repeat on our family menu plan.

You can use red or white potatoes without too much variation in the overall taste. We like skinless smoked sausage, and I try to buy the turkey kind when I can. This particular batch was made with the John Morrell smoked sausage that was on sale last week for $1 each at Meijer making this a very budget friendly meal. You can use canned, frozen, or fresh green beans. If you use fresh or frozen, you may want to add just a little bit of water to the pot (1/3 cup or so).

We like to pair this dinner with sweet fresh fruit and bread or corn muffins. Some fresh corn on the cob would be a great accompaniment if you can still get your hands on some fresh corn from the fields or thought ahead to flash freeze some for your freezer.

Here's the recipe:

Summer Harvest Crock Pot Dinner

1-2 tsp olive oil
8-10 small red or white potatoes, cut into halves or quarters
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 sweet onion, cut into chunks and separated into pieces (about 1/3 cup)
1 1/2 lbs smoked sausage, cut into chunks
3 cups of green beans (2 cans, 1 bag of frozen)


1. Drizzle 1-2 tsp of olive oil in bottom of crock pot.
2. Place potatoes in bottom of crock pot.
3. Sprinkle with salt.
4. Place onion chunks on top of potatoes.
5. Place sausage on top of onion.
6. Place green beans on top of sausage. (drained if using canned)
(Pour water over the top if using frozen or fresh, about 1/3 cup)
7. Put lid on and cook on low 3-4 hours until potatoes are tender.

Serve straight out of crock pot or separate into different serving bowls.



Summer Harvest Crock Pot Dinner
Add some fresh corn on the cob and garden tomatoes,
and this is the perfect summertime garden harvest meal!



 

What's your favorite Summer Harvest Meal?

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes

We belong to our community pool, and the girls LOVE to go swimming on hot summer days!  In years past, we have spent the early part of the afternoons at the pool and then headed home so the littlest one could get a nap before dinner.  Now with the 3 year old just about giving up her afternoon naps, we're finding that we like going to the pool in the late afternoons when the crowds die down a bit.  My girls say they can do just as much in a two hour swim session when the crowds are less than they can in a 3 hour session when the diving board lines and slide lines are so long.

The only downside to going late in the afternoon is figuring out what to have for dinner because the girls are STARVING after a couple hours of swimming. If they have a big snack while I try to get dinner together, they won't eat much dinner.  So, I've been trying to use my crock pot in new and different ways to have meals ready to eat as soon as we get home, showered, and changed. 

Maybe the rest of you already know about baking potatoes in the crock pot.  I had not ever tried it because I usually just fix our baked potatoes in the oven or the microwave.  I also usually just fix the number of potatoes we'll eat for one night.  I never really thought about making extra baked potatoes to re-purpose later in the week.

As I was reading through some other food blogs and recipe books about crock pot cooking, however, many reported how much they love making baked potatoes in their crock pots.  So, I gave it a whirl last week. 

The verdict?  I'm sold!  The potatoes were cooked perfectly and ready to be topped with the small crock pot of chili I had going on the other kitchen counter when we walked in the door, exhausted from a 3 hour swim session and ready for something to eat.  I also loved that the two littler girls helped me wash and season the potatoes before we headed off to the pool.  Because they had helped with the prep work of the meal, they were excited to try their creation without complaining.  I'm not sure I would have had the same results if I would have just placed a baked potato as the main dish on their plates at the dinner table.

I had about 10 small to medium sized potatoes in my pantry that I picked up a couple of weeks ago at Meijer for around $3 for 8 pounds of potatoes.  We filled the kitchen sink with some water and the 8 year old set off on her mission to scrub those potatoes clean.  The 3 year old perched upon a bar stool and helped me rub the potatoes with a little canola oil and sprinkled them with salt before we wrapped them up in foil.  Then we placed them in my large slow cooker and set the control to cook on high for 4 hours.  My largest crock pot has automatically switches to "keep warm" at the end of the cook cycle, so the potatoes were cooked but not overcooked when we were ready for dinner.  I had premade a tossed lettuce salad and a fruit salad and placed some shredded cheese in a bowl before we left for the pool.  All we had to do was set everything out on the table and sit down to eat.  The kids gobbled up their dinners and the 3 year old even asked if she could have the leftovers for breakfast.  That's endorsement enough for me!

I used the leftover baked potatoes to make a batch of home fries later in the week.  I just cubed them and cooked them in a couple tablespoons of canola oil in a large fry pan on the stove over medium high heat.  I seasoned them with just salt and pepper and added in some sauteed onions at the end.  They, too, were a hit with all the eaters around the table.

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes

Potatoes (as many as you want to fix; the leftovers make great homefries)
Canola Oil
Kosher Salt
Aluminum Foil
Toppings of your choice (butter, sour cream, chili, cheese, bacon, chicken, veggies, etc)

1.  Wash and dry potatoes. (great job for kids)
2.  Rub the potatoes with a little canola oil (or even use canola oil spray)
3.  Sprinkle with a little kosher salt.
4.  Wrap each potato in foil.
5.  Cook in slow cooker on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.

Crock Pot Baked Potato Night will definitely be making a repeat appearance on our weekly menu due to its low cost, ease of prep, and the clean plates that were the end of result of our dinner table that night! While we topped our baked potatoes with chili and cheese this particular night, I can think of a whole slew of other ways we can top them in the weeks to come.

What do you like to put on top of your baked potatoes?

Crock Pot Sesame Chicken

Do you own a 2 qt crock pot? I just bought one, and I'm loving it!  I use my larger 4 qt and 6 qt crock pots frequently, but I've noticed that sometimes the pots are just too big for the things I'm trying to make which results in overcooked food.  So, I found a 2 qt crock pot on sale at Target for $10 a couple weeks ago, and we've been enjoying some delicious meals that are just the right size for our family.

Here's one of our new favorites.  This is another Asian dish that just did not photograph very well with my limited photography skills.  Let's just say it looks a lot like a Chinese take out container filled with sesame chicken - brownish chunks of chicken in a light brown sauce topped with itty bitty light brown spots (sesame seeds).  Atop a bed of brown rice, this did not look dramatically appetizing, but the taste was superb, so I wanted to share it with you.  The sauce was a good combination of sweet and spicy with just the right amount of thickness, and the chicken was super tender and moist.  It also reheated well the next day for lunch.

I first read about this recipe at Mom on Mission.  She prepares a Sesame Chicken Freezer Meal Kit.  I basically followed her recipe without the freezer sauce step.  After buying chicken breasts on sale for $1.77/lb, I cut the chicken into cubes before I put it in the freezer. I then made the sauce on the day I prepared the meal.  She states that you can make the sauce and freeze it in a separate bag beside your chicken and then combine it on cooking day.  I will likely try that the next time because this dish will certainly be making a repeat performance on our menu.  The 2 qt crock pot makes a generous one night meal with enough leftover for 1-2 small lunches for our family of 5. 

Here's the recipe:
Sesame Chicken
1.5-2 lbs of boneless chicken breasts cut into large cubes (boneless thighs would also work)
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup rice vinegar
6 Tbsp brown sugar
6 Tbsp soy sauce
1 cup water
2 Tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less to suit tastes)

1.  Place flour in a ziploc bag and add chicken chunks; shake to coat evenly.
2.  Place floured chicken pieces in 2 qt crock pot.
3.  Mix together all other ingredients in a small bowl.  Stir to combine.
4.  Pour sauce over chicken.
5.  Cook on low for 5 hours or high for 3 hours.

Serve over a bed or rice with favorite green steamed vegetable.  Sprinkle with additional toasted sesame seeds if you want.  Chop sticks optional.

What's your favorite Asian inspired crock pot meal?

Crock Pot Italian Chicken

I love easy crock pot meals!  I created this version of an Italian chicken dish one winter when it was too snowy to go to the grocery, and I had to find something to make with the ingredients I had on hand.  I have made variations over the years, but the version I made this week is worth sharing because of its ease, cost, and reviews of "This is yummy, Mommy!" from the dinner table.

I have learned to use my crock pot more and more over the last couple of years.  In fact, I just bought my 3rd crock pot a couple of weeks ago because I needed a smaller size (2 qt) in addition to the larger ones (4 qt and 6 qt) that I have.  With these various sizes to fit our dinner needs, I'll be looking for new recipes to try.

The chicken in this recipe turns out tender enough that kids can cut it with a fork.  The longer the chicken cooks, the more the chicken falls apart.  It can turn out more like a shredded chicken in the sauce.  That works well over a larger noodle (like a rotini).  The sauce is thick and flavorful, and the aromas will lead to watering mouths if you come home right at dinner time.  The kids must have told me they needed a snack 10 times as we waited for the bread sticks to heat up in the oven!  For this night's dinner, my chicken remained in serving size pieces which we served over angel hair pasta with garlic bread sticks and a tossed Italian salad.

For today, here's the recipe:

Crock Pot Italian Chicken:
1-2 lbs boneless chicken pieces (I used breasts, cut into large serving size pieces)
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 lg can of crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder + a little for sprinkling on top of chicken
1 tsp onion powder + a little more for sprinkling on top of chicken
1/2 tsp salt (or more to taste)
1/4 tsp pepper + a little more for sprinkling on top of chicken
hot cooked pasta
parmesan cheese

1.  Sprinkle 1 Tbsp olive oil in the bottom of your slow cooker. (I used my 4 qt)
2.  Add in your chicken pieces.
3.  Drizzle a little more olive oil over the top of the chicken.  Add a few shakes of garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper. (not too much; less than 1/8 tsp for the measurers out there)
4.  To the opened can of crushed tomatoes, stir in the remaining spices.
5.  Pour the seasoned crushed tomatoes over the chicken.
6.  Cook on high 3 hours or low for 5 hours.
7.  Serve over hot cooked pasta garnished with grated parmesan cheese.

Crock Pot Italian Chicken

What's your favorite Crock Pot Recipe?

Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan

I love chicken parmesan!  When we received meals after my 8 year old was born, we received a large pan of chicken parmesan!  It was so good!  I loved it.  My husband loved it.  My oldest loved it!.  After receiving that meal, I tried to find a good easy recipe for chicken parmesan.  I tried several and while they were usually tasty, they all seemed to take more time than I like to spend on meal preps.  There were just too many steps.  You know, prep the chicken, pan fry the chicken, bake the chicken, etc. Remember, I'm Queen of the Easy Meal so I like things that can come together without all those steps.  But I like food that tastes like you've spent a long time making it, so I kept searching and trying new recipes.

Last year I stumbled across this recipe for Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan on A Year of Slow Cooking.  She claimed it tasted just like the real thing without all the steps.  I wasn't so sure, but I gave it a shot on a busy day when I had all the ingredients for traditional chicken parmesan and a taste for traditional chicken parmesan, but not the time for making traditional chicken parmesan.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this dish to taste very similar to what I have made traditionally in the past.  The crunch on the chicken is not quite the same, but it still is very good.  To me, it tastes more like traditional chicken parmesan leftover the next day than when it first comes out of the oven.  The ease of the prep of this meal, however, trumps the texture issue at this busy stage of our life.  The fact that my husband and my kids make "mmmm" noises throughout dinner also make it a family favorite around our house.  Because you can use your favorite jarred sauce and even throw in frozen chicken that you find on sale, this meal is very economical. We like our served with pasta, a tossed salad, and garlic bread.

Here's the recipe:

Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan
1 Tbsp olive oil
4-6 chicken breasts
1/2 cup bread crumbs
14 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1-2 cups mozzarella cheese (sliced or shredded)
jar of favorite marinara sauce ( I only used about 3/4 of a jar)

I found the chicken on sale for $1.77/lb, the cheese for $1.50, and the sauce for $0.75!

1.  Mix together bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and spices in a shallow bowl.
2.  Whisk egg in a separate shallow bowl.
3.  Drizzle oil in the bottom of your crock pot; spread it around a bit.
4.  Dip each piece of chicken in egg mixture and then roll in bread crumb mixture.

 5. Place chicken in crock pot.

6. Top with cheese; use a little or a lot; whatever you like.

7. Cover with sauce. (I only used 3/4 jar; I don't like mine swimming in sauce, just covered)

8.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours. (I used my programmable crock pot; it stays warm until we're ready to sit down and eat)
9.  Serve over your favorite cooked pasta; add a little extra parmesan for pizazz.

Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan
Tender, melt in your mouth chicken wrapped in rich, cheesy, tomato sauce
This is Italian Comfort Food at it's Finest. . . .And it's so easy!

What's your favorite recipe that you've learned to simplify from the original recipe?

Honey Garlic Chicken

I made this dish several weeks ago and realized I never posted the recipe.  This is another one that I don't have a picture for.  We served it for company on Chinese New Year, and I got distracted as I was setting the table with all the excitement and did not photograph the plate before we started eating.  There were no leftovers, so I sort of missed my photo opportunity. 

This dish is just too good, however, to not share the recipe until it makes a repeat performance on our dinner menu.  This is the recipe that I included in our annual holiday letter to family and friends as it became one of our favorite new recipes in 2011.  I hope you'll give it a try and it will become one of your family favorites in 2012.

I first read of this recipe in Stephanie O'Dea's book, Make It Fast, Cook It Slow that I picked up at the library.  I was intrigued with the simple list of ingredients.  Plus I just love anything that has a combination of salty and sweet.  I also love that you can put the ingredients in the crock pot in less than 5 minutes and come back later and have the whole meal ready to eat.  I also often find boneless, skinless thighs on manager special which make this meal very easy on the budget.  No matter how much I make, there never seems to be leftovers of this meal.  I think that speaks for itself.

Here's the recipe:

Honey Garlic Chicken
1 1/2 - 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (breasts would also work, but we like thighs)
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup soy sauce (we like LaChoy better than Kikoman)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup honey

1.  Place your chicken in the bottom of a greased slow cooker.
2.  Mix together all the other ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the top of the chicken.
3.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours.

Serve chicken over a bed of steamed rice and a steamed green vegetable of your choice (we like broccoli or edamame)

The sauce is the best part, according to my kids, so I've learned to thicken the sauce after the chicken has cooked.  You can remove the chicken and add a little corn starch and water to the sauce in a small saucepan on the stove.  Bring to a boil for a couple of minutes until it thickens up.  Spoon the thickened sauce over the cooked chicken in a serving bowl.

What was your favorite new recipe of 2011?

White Chicken Chili

Yesterday was one of those days when I walked out the door at a little after 8, and did not walk back in the door until almost 5.  For many moms, this is the norm.  For me, this is a challenging day.  We had early morning orchestra, 2 dentist appointments, a big volunteer project at the girls' school, and an afterschool errand.  I needed a meal for this busy day that I could put in the crock pot before we left the house and have ready to eat when we walked in the door.  I love my programmable crock pot for nights like these.

With the chicken I found on sale at Meijer last week for $1.77/lb and my stash of pre-cooked beans in the freezer, I decided to put together a batch of White Chicken Chili for our menu plan.  I did some of the prep work the day before so that all I had to do was throw it into the crock pot in the morning.  This recipe came from my friend, Brenda, who shared her recipe in our Cypress Wesleyan Church MOPS Cookbook in 2008.  Brenda has been making this chili for her family for years and even pureed it for her kids when they were babies.  She also won 2nd place in a chili cook off with this recipe.  I made a few changes to her original recipe to suit our family's tastes, but it still got rave reviews from the hungry eaters around our family table.  You might have heard the clinging of the kids' spoons against their empty soup bowls. I love when our dinner table is filled with those sounds! 

I did not get a good photograph of this chili, however.  The white chili just did not photograph well in my white soup bowls.  I guess I'll have to invest in some new serving pieces if I decide to make this blogging thing more than just a place for me to organize my recipes and use the other side of my brain!  You'll have to just trust me that this recipe is worth making due to it's ease, low cost, and taste. 

Here's the recipe:

White Chicken Chili
3 lb jar of pre-cooked Great Northern White Beans (I used 5 cups of pre-cooked, frozen)
2 lbs of boneless chicken breasts, cubed (I used raw chicken, you can also used cooked)
1/3 cup chopped onion (leftover from the Pico de Gallo prep; can add more to suit taste)
1 tsp minced garlic (can add more to suit tastes)
2 cans of chopped mild green chilies (I used only 1 can)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I used 1/4 black pepper)
1/2 tsp salt
6 cups chicken broth (I used 3 cups homemade, 3 cups water + 3 bouillon cubes)
3 cups grated Monterrey Jack Cheese (add just before serving; we added ours at the table)

Mix all the ingredients except the cheese in a slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.  Stir in cheese just before serving.

We had a side salad of mixed greens topped with a generous scoop of leftover Pico de Gallo and crushed tortillas on top.  A bowl of apples, oranges, and blackberries and a loaf of artisan bread rounded out our meal. 

What's your favorite meal that is ready for you to enjoy when you walk in the door after a busy day?

Suit Yourself Shredded Chicken

As yummy smells filled our kitchen on Sunday afternoon, the kids came in wondering what was for dinner.  When the 8 year old saw what I had cooking, she exclaimed, "I LOVE that dinner!  YES!"  Try to visualize the hand motion that accompanied her enthusiastic endorsement of another very easy to fix, budget friendly, family favorite meal - shredded chicken sandwiches.

Shredded chicken sandwich, corn casserole, tossed salad, and apple slices

This is one meal I have made for literally hundreds of people over the years.  I have fed the youth group kids at our church, the teen volunteers at VBS, several families who have welcomed new babies into their families or faced hardships and were in need of a meal, and football fans rooting for the Buckeyes.  Every time this meal is served, plates are cleaned.   The two big girls each asked for a second sandwich tonight.  It's just that good.

I put together today's batch of shredded chicken using a 10 pound bag of chicken quarters my parents brought me from their freezer in Michigan when they stopped by our house last week on their way to Florida for the winter.  My dad had found a "great deal" on the chicken and threw it into the freezer.  The only problem was that the leg quarters had all frozen together in a big chunk, so they would need to be thawed and cooked all at once.  Now that's not a problem if you're the Dugger Family, but two retirees who eat out as much as they eat in don't need to cook 10 pounds of chicken all at once.  Not wanting to waste the chicken and knowing that I often cook for large groups of people, my mom brought me the bag of chicken.  When I planned my meals for January, I planned meals with this bag of chicken in mind.  I like to do a quick fix meal on Sundays, so it was a good day to get it cooked.

There is a two part cooking process to get the shredded chicken.  First I cook the chicken in the crock pot on high for 4 hours.  Then I take the chicken off the bones and shred it.  It takes less than 15 minutes for the total prep of this meal (5 minutes to prep the chicken and put it in the crock pot, 10 minutes to pull it off the bones).  I like to use my crock pot that has the timer on it.  It automatically goes to the Warm setting after the cook time is completed.  The chicken is always done perfectly this way and I don't have to worry about turning the crock pot off after 4 hours of cook time.  See, I told you.  Easy.  That's me!

Today I used the chicken quarters, because that's what I had in my freezer.  Typically I use a whole chicken or any other chicken parts that I find on a good sale.  I always use chicken that has bones in it for this dish because it just tastes better than making it with boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  This is a meal that requires you to actually touch the chicken, and I know for many of you that might gross you out.  But for those of you who don't mind touching the chicken parts, this is a great meal idea to add to your collection.

I started by thawing the huge bag of frozen chicken in my frig for 24+ hours.  It was still slightly frozen when I got ready to cook it, but with my easy method of cooking it in the crockpot, that's not a problem.

Next I took off the skin off of each leg quarter.  I don't like to cook with all that extra fat.  Yuck!  That went straight into the trash can.

Place the chicken in your crock pot.  I like to spray mine with non-stick spray because that makes the clean up much easier.

Sprinkle the pieces in the crock with some salt, pepper, and onion powder. 
(I don't measure this.  I just sprinkle.  I would guess I use about 1 tsp of salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp of onion powder.)  Sometimes I throw on a little bit of poultry seasoning, but I didn't have any in my spice rack today, so we went without.  I didn't really notice any difference. 

Drizzle a little olive oil on the top of the chicken; not too much, maybe 1-2 tsp.  The olive oil gives it some nice color and a richer flavor. 

Put about 1/4 cup of water in the base of the crock pot.  This will give you some nice chicken stock to work with later on.  You don't want too much water or the chicken gets too much like soup.

Put the lid on the crock pot. 

Plug in the crock pot.  (One time when I was making this dish for 100+, I forgot to plug in one of my crockpots!  I had turned it on and went out the door and couldn't figure out why the house didn't smell heavenly when I came home 3 hours later!)

Turn the crock pot on HIGH and cook for 4 hours.

When the chicken is cooked, you need to remove it from the crock pot.  I like to use a pair of tongs.  Place the chicken on a large plate.

This is just 1/4 of the chicken I cooked today.  This is enough for 1 meal.

Let the chicken cool for about 5-10 minutes so you don't burn your fingers trying to pull it off the bones.  (Make sure the dog and the kids are far away from the chicken while you leave it on the counter!)



While your hands are messy, go ahead and shred the chicken with your fingers.  Some cooks like to use two forks, but I prefer to just use my hands because they are already messy and I find that the chicken is so tender, it practically falls apart anyways. 

Taste the meat and add additional salt, pepper, or onion powder to taste.

Here's the Queen's secret ingredient. . . . . . .

Pour a few tablespoons of the chicken broth that is left in the crock pot over the shredded meat.  You want the meat juicy enough that it melts in your mouth but not so juicy that it soaks through a bun. 

Take a little taste and see if it needs any more liquid or seasoning.  Add if necessary.

Place a heaping scoop of shredded chicken between your favorite type of bread/bun product.  We've used white hamburger buns, wheat buns, sandwich thins, sub rolls, kaiser rolls, etc.  We like whole wheat rolls the best, but anything will do.

Offer a variety of sauces to pour on the top of the sandwich.  My two big girls like Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, the little one likes ranch dressing, and John likes hot sauce.  I go back and forth depending on my mood, and sometimes I just like it plain! 

Serve with your favorite sides.  Tonight we had corn casserole, tossed salad, and apple slices. 

This is a great meal that can be made in a large batch and then frozen into smaller meals.  Today's 10 pounds worth of chicken quarters made enough for 4 meals worth of chicken.  I shredded two dinners worth for sandwiches and left two meals worth of chunks that we can use later for tacos, nachos, salads, wraps, etc. 

At dinnertime tonight, the family decided that this meal should be called "Suit Yourself Shredded Chicken" because it's a meal that can be easily altered to suit the tastes of every family member.  By simply adding a favorite sauce, the sandwich can go from plain to spicy to sweet and sassy.  The possibilities are endless.

What's your favorite way to enjoy shredded chicken?