<p>We call Wednesdays “Crockpot Wednesdays” at my house because that is the day I work the latest. I don’t use recipes (I’m a wing-it-by-nature girl).</p>
<p>As to rice, pasta or any thing that cannot “hold up” for several hours, I seperate those things out and have my daughter add them after she comes home from school or for really delicate stuff I throw it in as I walk into the house and by the time I am done walking the dog, it’s done. </p>
<p>I JUST bought a new crockpot I am trying out tomorrow with a probe that is supposed to shut down the heat once it hits the magic temp…we will see…probably going to try something with chicken and lemon juice and herbs and …not sure of my veggies yet.</p>
<p>I recently bought three Crock Pot connectables units - an oval 3.5 quart, a round 2 quart, and a double oval 1 quart to replace the chafing dishes and Sterno I’ve used for years to keep foods warm on the buffet. I’ve never used a slow cooker before, but I’ve started using the largest unit to make stew or chili - I’m definitely going to try panhandlegal’s pepper steak which will be a big hit here.</p>
<p>I like to make a 5 Spice pork tenderloin in the crockpot. </p>
<p>I mix a few tablespoons of soy sauce (and use the low sodium type always), a tablespoon of brown sugar, a tsp or so of Chinese 5 Spice blend, minced garlic and dump it over the pork. It smells heavenly. </p>
<p>We use the leftovers for BBQ pork sandwiches the next day. I just shred the meat and mix with some BBQ sauce before reheating it. </p>
<p>Although we rarely use canned soup due to health reasons, one simple favorite is simply dumping a can or two of cream of mushroom soup over beef stew meat. I serve this with noodles cooked on the stove. </p>
<p>To avoid the salt and sugar in jarred pasta sauces, I’ve taken to making my own in the crock pot. It’s a pretty basic marinara sauce. I use canned crushed tomatoes, salt free if possible, some red wine, and spices. I saute the onion and garlic on the stove top before adding it to the mixture. If I have mushrooms on hand I toss those in also. Having done this for the past year or so I don’t think I could eat jarred sauces now. </p>
<p>Since the kids are now out of the house, I’ve had to adjust to cooking for two again.</p>
<p>I made this a couple of weeks ago. So easy.</p>
<p>The chicken I used was not frozen. I also didn’t add the Italian dressing.
I simply threw the chicken in the pot, added a splash of chicken broth, a bottle of BBQ sauce,
and a little seasoning of my own choice. Put it on low and let it cook for about 5 hours or so.
Then I shredded the chicken and threw it back into the sauce and let it stew a little longer.</p>
<p>Instead of serving it on buns, I served it on the side with yellow rice and a vegetable. No one complained. :)</p>
<p>I made this last week. I used boneless skinless chicken breasts. I diced my carrots. I added extra gnocchi and chicken. Added a little more broth because of the extra chicken and gnocchi. Served it with warmed semolina bread and freshly grated parmesan to sprinkle on the soup if desired. Again, no complaints :)</p>
<p>PS–I almost forgot. I had some baby spinach in the fridge so I cut that up and added it (in place of peas).</p>
<p>It was a hit. Of the four new crockpot recipes we tried this week, this was my favorite. I would highly recommend it. Of all the recipes I tried, this was the only one that did not quite make enough for two nights of dinners, so next time I will probably increase the recipe just a little so there will be more. Don’t omit the optional lime slices at the end when you spoon it up. It added an extra little bump to the taste. We served this over brown rice.</p>
<p>Crockpot Cilantro Lime Chicken
1.5 lbs. of chicken
juice from 2 limes
1bunch cilantro chopped
1 16 oz. bag of frozen corn
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 red onion chopped
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
1 tsp. cumin
Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Top with favorites toppings if desired… salsa,cheese,sour cream,etc.</p>
<p>PackMom, Your cilantro lime chicken looks great. Would you serve it with rice?</p>
<p>Nysmile, The gnocchi chicken soup appeals to me, but I wonder why you can’t use frozen gnocchi. It seems like you could if you cooked it on the stove for a very short time and threw it in. I think spinach sounds much better than peas! </p>
<p>Thanks everyone for sharing your delicious recipes! Next time I go shopping I will get the ingredients to make a few of these things!</p>
<p>Teriwtt - Thanks for the review! It looked so good I’d already copied it into my virtual cookbook. I’m sending one of my peeps out to get the things we don’t already have now, making sure to include the limes!</p>
<p>PackMom - I agree with kathie, the cilantro lime chicken looks great. Our local grocery makes this in their rotisserie and it’s my kids first choice. I’ll definitely try it. </p>
<p>Has anyone else tried Tastebook? It’s an online/virtual recipe book builder. You can enter your own, search for others. There’s an app for smartphones you can sync so you can check ingredients at the grocery if you want to pick stuff up last minute. You can also print books (where they make $). I’ve been entering recipes over the last year, and gathering family recipes from my mom, MIL, and SIL, with the intention of eventually printing books for the boys. Realistically I see them logging online virtually more then using a book (I use my iPad), but will print them anyway. I’m sure there are other sites, this is the one I liked best.</p>
<p>Yes, the cilantro chicken is tasty. I might even do it tonight now that I think of it!
The recipe doesn’t call for it but I think I might add a can of tomatoes or some salsa to the mix. The boneless/skinless chicken breast don’t put out as much “juice” as the bone-in breasts.</p>
<p>Your boys cook??? lol. My S1 lives on protein shakes twice a day and eats out for lunch pretty often as far as I can tell! S2 doesn’t mind cooking but he hates to do the grocery shopping…arrgh. Neither of them live with me so I try not to worry about it.</p>
<p>Wow… the cilantro chicken looks really good. I have a question about cilantro, though. I love the stuff! But every time I use it (and this just may be me), I pick the leaves off of the stem before I put them in a recipe. And I’m also the kind of person who has to pick bulky stems off of spinach before I use it in a salad, too. These are time-consuming tasks, that maybe I don’t have to do saving me more time. When you use the cilantro in this recipe, do you just chop up the bunch, or do you pick apart the leaves from the stems, then chop it up and add it to the recipe?</p>
<p>blueiguana, I will have to check out tastebook. My S periodically calls me for recipes, and I’m sure he would love to be able to just look it up on his phone.</p>
<p>Teri, I just chop it all up - pull off the leaves but there will be a little stem on them - and then chop them up. I’m not patient enough to pull them off!!!</p>
<p>My pot roast was really delicious, but all attempts to slice it failed even after letting it sit on the cutting board for quite a while, so I just shredded it roughly instead. I strained out the vegetables and defatted the liquid with a gravy separator, then added the vegetables and liquid back to the pot and pureed them with a stick blender. Added the shredded meat. Fabulous with cauliflower puree. (Would have been great with potatoes, of course, but a no no on my low carb diet.)</p>
<p>blueiguana, Tastebook looks interesting but not sure about the $24.95 price. I’ve been uploading my recipes to skydrive so I can share them with my kids and find my new recipes later. I’ve also been using Pinterest more for the same reason.</p>
<p>kathie, Tastebook is free to use. You only pay if you buy recipe chapters or sets to add to your own collection, or if you print your book. That is unless something has changed since I signed up. I’ve never paid anything. I have an online account I access from the laptop, and apps from my iPhone and iPad.</p>
<p>I just looked and saw where it says Start the New Year With Tastebook $24.95. I think that’s very deceiving. I believe they are talking about printing a book. Right below it says:
“upload your favorite recipes from 2013 and create a custom book today”</p>
<p>Teri, I just chop the cilantro up and throw it in. I might throw out the really big stems but the rest gets tossed in. I made for dinner tonight. I’ve decided that 1 tsp cumin is not enough. If you try it, add more! After I put it on our plates I put some salsa and a dollop of plain Greek yogurt on top… yum.</p>
<p>Here’s an easy crockpot Texmex Chicken Chili recipe:</p>
<p>1 can black beans (15 oz)
1 can kidney beans (15 oz)
1 can corn (15 oz)
2 cans rotel tomatos and green chilis
1 can tomato sauce (10 oz)
1 small can green chilis (optional–I like green chilis!)
1 packet taco seasoning mix
2-3 Chicken breasts</p>
<p>Place all canned items in crockpot. Mix in taco seasoning. Place chicken breasts on top. Cook on high 4 hrs or low for 6-8hrs. Remove chicken, shred, then return and mix in well.<br>
Serve with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream, etc as desired.</p>
<p>This is a staple at my house. Makes enough for two full meals for 4. We usually use leftovers for work lunches.</p>