<p>I’m going to be having early evening meetings one night a week for the foreseeable future and would like to use my crockpot more, at least in the winter. I also want to make enough that I can have leftovers.</p>
<p>My repertoire right now is just pot roast, beef stew and chili. I’ve tried pasta recipes, but pasta just doesn’t seem to hold up for 8 hours and makes for horrible leftovers. I’ll start off sharing my own chili recipe, but would love to hear some interesting new recipes. Spicy is good, as are more ethnic flavors.</p>
<p>Flexible Chili</p>
<p>Four cans of any kind of beans (kidney, garbanzo, cannellini) with liquid
1 can of corn, or can use fresh (NOT optional!)
2 lbs. meat (chicken/turkey/beef)
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, rinsed and sliced
one onion, chopped
one red sweet pepper, chopped
1 pkg. 2 alarm chili seasoning (Wick Fowler’s Products 2-Alarm Chili Kit)
8 oz of shredded cheddar cheese</p>
<p>Saute onion, mushroom and red pepper. Add to crockpot. Brown meat, breaking apart as it cooks. Add to crockpot. Dump in all cans of beans and corn, no need to drain. Add seasoning except for mesa flour. Stir well and let cook on low for 8 - 10 hours. Season with hot pepper to taste. About 30 minutes before serving add in mesa flour mixed in with 1/4 cup water. This thickens chili well. Serve with shredded cheese.</p>
<p>Corned beef and cabbage goes well in the crockpot. Cut up potatoes and carrots in the bottom, add the corned beef and seasoning packet (we also add about a tablespoon of pickling spices) and cover with water. Leave on low about 10 hours, which is great amount of time if you are commuting. About 1/2 hour before eating add cut up cabbage and heat on high.</p>
<p>The next day you can always make reubens or hash with the leftover meat and potatoes.</p>
<p>1- 1 1/2 pound of stewing beef cut in chunks</p>
<p>1 one pound bag of baby carrots</p>
<p>4 large potatoes cut into chunks</p>
<p>1 can cream of mushroom soup</p>
<p>1 packet French onion soup mix</p>
<p>1 TBS Worcestershire sauce.</p>
<p>Put in crockpot in order listed. I mix the two soups and Worcestershire sauce before I spread them on top (note…on top…do not mix all up with meat and veggies.</p>
<p>Cook on low all day, at least 8-10 hours. </p>
<p>Honestly, the gravy from this is THE best. Sometimes I double the carrots and potatoes. No need to double the soups.</p>
<p>Thumper - I mentioned on the linked thread I’m conditioned to cook for an army and watching for smaller base recipes for around 3 people. We are no strangers to leftovers but there are limits. I’m also finally at the point where I think I need to downsize to a smaller crockpot since it will dry things out if you use one too large (ie a 7qt when a 4qt is plenty). How many people does this feed approximately and what size crockpot do you use? When those feeding smaller groups (3-4ppl) use a crockpot what size works best for you?</p>
<p>(Kathie, hope you don’t mind the sidetrack, topic related. Ppl can msg me to stay on point.)</p>
<p>Our main rotations are beef stew (you already have this), a chicken tortilla similar to one mentioned on the linked thread, a minestrone but it uses Wegmans specific ingredients (but it is yummy!), and the salsa chicken mentioned here. Not too original. :o</p>
<p>1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce (I use low sodium)
2 T. Montreal steak seasoning
2 cloves garlic
Fresh ginger, I just grate some in, maybe a half tablespoon</p>
<p>Makes a nice tender, not dry tenderloin. I made a pork roast this way also but the tenderloin. </p>
<p>Not a recipe but just wondering-has anybody tried any of the new Campbell’s slow cooker sauces yet? The Korean BBQ, Tavern Pot roast and Moroccan chicken ones look interesting.</p>
<p>I used the Campbell pot roast sauce, it was pretty good. My problem with it and most recipes I make in my crockpot is how salty they are. I know the recipe I posted above is salty also, I wish I could make good tasting food in my crockpot which isn’t too salty. </p>
<p>Today I am making spaghetti sauce in my crockpot, we will see how it turns out. Last week I made ham and bean soup, it was just ok.</p>
<p>Thanks Kathie, hope your crew are all well! That’s funny about the bay leaf. I never notice them so can’t imagine them ruining anything. Maybe it’s like cilantro. Some people like it, to others it tastes like soap. My beef stew is very similar to the one you posted but uses green beans instead of peas, and diced tomatoes instead of tomato sauce. I also substitute some of the beef broth with red wine, or port wine if I don’t have a bottle open (I’m very heavy handed!). </p>
<p>Terwitt, that SW beef stew looks good. Please post a review! I’ve got the page bookmarked. </p>
<p>Deb, I have a really outstanding bean soup recipe handed down by my mom if you’re interested, but it’s not slow cooker friendly. I’ve tried to modify it several times over the years and it’s never as good so I always go back to stovetop. It’s not hard at all, just needs to be babysat. It freezes very well.</p>
<p>I cook black-eyed peas with ham in the crockpot. </p>
<p>Soak a pound of dried peas overnight, drain and rinse and put in crockpot turned to high or low, depending how fast you want it to cook. In a skillet, cook 2 cups chopped onion, a chopped green pepper, a chopped red pepper, and a couple of bay leaves in olive oil until the vegetables are soft and beginning to caramelize. Close to the end, add 6 or so minced garlic cloves and about a rounded teaspoon each of chipotle pepper and smoked paprika, and about a tablespoon of ground cumin and cook briefly. Add to crockpot. Add as much ham as you like. (This could be anything from leftover ham to a cubed ham steak.) Add enough chicken stock/water to cover the peas, having deglazed the skillet with some of it to capture those flavors. (If you want it to cook faster, add all simmering stock/water) Add about a tablespoon of dried oregano, and about a cup of crushed tomatoes. After it comes to a simmer, taste the liquid and correct the seasoning by adding salt, heat, acid (the tomatoes), or more cumin or oregano. You can do this again later, if you are around. If you want to add kale, either cook chopped kale in a separate pot until as wilted as you like it and add to the cooked peas, or stir it into the basically cooked peas and let it cook there. (For a full crockpot, cooking it separately is probably more practical.) Of course, you can also add more boiling water/stock if you need to. My goal is to have sort of a stew with a very flavorful broth.</p>
<p>Right at the moment I have a bottom round roast I’ve been marinating in red wine with vegetables and herb bouquets for almost 2 days, and I’m planning to cook it in the crock pot tomorrow. Basically, it’s a variation on a classic daube. I’m going to blanche salt pork to make lardons, and cook the drained vegetables in the fat they render, plus some olive oil if necessary. I’m thinking about throwing in some dried porcini. Should make an outstanding pot roast, I think.</p>
<p>Blueiguana, the base stew recipe makes enough for 3 people for dinner, and leftovers either for lunches or another dinner for three. I only have one size crockpot…and it’s a big one. I don’t think the size of the pot matters. Sorry for the digression.</p>
<p>I know I’ve posted my Minestrone for Dummies recipe here in the past…if its really not around, I’ll post it again.</p>
<p>I should have mentioned that I didn’t use the peas in the beef stew (post #12). I love peas, but don’t like them in beef stew.</p>
<p>Around here it’s traditional to do pork and sauerkraut for New Years day. I’m not big on sauerkraut but my husband loves it so I’ll do it once a year for him. Conversely, our son’s complain all day about the smell of the sauerkraut cooking. Fresh brined sauerkraut is sold in all of our grocery stores so I use that, a pork tenderloin and this recipe:</p>
<p>Exactly!! It does seem like several canned goods are now becoming more available as low sodium, which is nice, but it’s still hard to keep the sodium content down (I’m thinking of canned broths, canned tomatoes in their many varieties, and jarred spaghetti sauce, in particular).</p>
<p>This Pepper Steak is pretty good…I usually do a double batch.
• 1 pound beef sirloin, cut into 2 inch strips
• garlic powder to taste
• 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cube beef bouillon
• 1/4 Cup hot water
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 Cup chopped onion
• 1 large green bell pepper, roughly chopped
• 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
• 3 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 Teaspoon sugar
• 1 Teaspoons salt
Season beef with garlic powder and brown in skillet. Dissolve bouillon cube and corn starch in water. Throw everything into Crock Pot. Cook on low 3-4 hours or high 6-8 hours. Serve over rice or noodles.</p>