Cheap, easy Crock Pot ideas.

[pumpkinfish]

Mom gave me one of her crock pots last night. I'm stoked as I have been budgeting a lot more and doing more at-home meals for DH and myself rather than eating out.
The only problem is I don't know what to do! LOL. I've never cooked in a crock pot and have no idea what to use it for. I know I can make meals and leave them in all day (which will help me out since I am so tired at the end of the day after work).

Can anyone share a great site for ideas or maybe share some of your own?

TIA!

 

[neatokimmo]

My crockpot is running right now

I am experimenting with dried beans. Last week it was 10 bean soup with ground beef and BBQ sauce in it - yum! This week is going to be white beans with Tabasco and leftover rotisserie chicken (that I froze a couple of weeks ago). I'll probably add an onion to it.

I like to make pot roast in mine. 2/3 pound roast, a few dried Chinese dried mushrooms, a can of cream of mushroom soup and a can or two of water (depending on how big the roast is). Add a second can of soup if you want to put it over noodles.

Have fun with your new toy

 

[EnchantedPrincess]

Santa Fe Chicken

Combine the following in your crockpot:

1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn
1/2 cup salsa

After stirring, add:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup more salsa

Cook on low for 3 hours. Then add,

1 block of cream cheese

Cook one more hour. Serve over rice with flour tortillas.

 

[EnchantedPrincess]

Here's another favorite of ours and really easy:

1 beef roast
1 can of coke
1 bottle of heinz chilli sauce
1 packet of onion soup mix

Cook on low for 8 hours.

My dh loves it with a little kick, so I normally substitue the heinz chilli sauce with about 10 oz of ketchup and 2 oz of chilli sauce (the vietnamese kind)
I also don't use the packet of onion soup mix since I want to avoid msg in the mix, so I use a few teaspoon of Mrs. Dash.

 

[Lisa_M]

ETA: 8 hours on low is generally the rule with this stuff

I make a roast with 1 packet of onion soup mix and 1 cup of water
another roast recipe: 1 packet of gravy mix, 1 cup of water, chopped up onions
or sometimes I use a dried italian dressing packet, onions and 1 cup of water

chicken: throw some chicken breasts in and (CHOOSE 1) 2 cans of cream of chicken soup or cream of mushroom soup or a bottle of italian dressing

pork chops: (boned or boneless) toss them in with a bottle of bbq sauce (or make your own by mixing ketchup and italian dressing

The Fix it and Forget it Cookbook is really good. I have made Turkey Chili from it as well as meatloaf.

Meatloaf recipe:
1.5lb ground beef
¼ cup chopped onions (I chop them small)
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
A little garlic powder
1 ½ -2 cups of Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg
¼ cup of milk

~First, beat the egg and milk together in a bowl. In another bowl put the beef, everything else and dump the egg and milk over it. Mix it together really well and shape into a loaf that is at least an inch smaller than the inside of your crockpot.
~Then I chop up about 6-8 potatoes in cubes, toss them in the bottom of the crockpot, so they are cover the bottom, Toss some chopped onions over it. I usually add a little salt and pepper then. Then I put some baby carrots on top of the potatoes.
~ Put the loaf on top of the potatoes and carrots and then spread some ketchup on top of the meatloaf.
~Cover. Cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to Low and cook 7-8 hours. Don’t lift the lid, just let it cook.

Here's are 2 threads that have loads of recipes on them:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=275509

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=922893

 

[Lisa_M]

How big is your crockpot? I cook mostly in our 4 qt one since it's just the 2 of us. I also have a 6qt one, but since it's so big, I don't like cleaning it. I recently tried those Reynolds crockpot cooking bags (4 bags for $1.69 Target). They were awesome. It really made cleanup after my Thanksgiving meatloaf so much easier. When I make Chili again in the big pot, I'm definitely using one of those bags.

 

[karinbelle]

chicken n duplings

4 frozen chicken breasts skinless
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 small onion, chopped
1 can refrigeraton biskets

put 1st 3 ingredents in crock, add water to cover top of chicken.
cook on low all day.
1 hour or so before serving, shred chicken with fork and return to crock. cut biskets into 1/4 pieces and add.
finished when biskets are cooked through (about 1 hour). don't overcook.

this is like real chicken n dumplings.

recipie frm allrecipies.com

 

[blanq]

Santa Fe Chicken

Combine the following in your crockpot:

1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn
1/2 cup salsa

After stirring, add:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup more salsa

Cook on low for 3 hours. Then add,

1 block of cream cheese

Cook one more hour. Serve over rice with flour tortillas.

This sounds really good! I completed my grocery shopping for the week, but started my list for next week and put the ingredients on it to make your Santa Fe Chicken.

 

[blanq]

I am a big fan of making soups and chili in the crockpot. My mom gave me a bunch of leftover smoked turkey (it tastes a lot like ham), so I have been making soups in my crockpot over the last couple of days, and then I am freezing them. I made pea soup, potato cheese soup, and this afternoon I have 15 bean soup cooking in my crockpot.

 

[Sandy321]

The roast with the coke sounds good - how does it turn out? How do you serve it?? (does the meat slice? Does it matter what kind of beef roast?)

Italian Beef Sandwichs:

1 large chuck roast - trim fat off, cut the meat into cubes
1 jar of pepperocinis (I think its the 12 ounce jar I buy a large jar and just toss in about 1/2 cup with some juice, these make it spicy so it is to taste, and dh likes the solid pepperocinis on the side )
1 packet of onion soup mix - and 1 cup of water... (like another poster I often just substitute a can of campbell's double strength beef broth and a palmful of dried onions! )

after about 6 hours on high you take 2 forks and see if you can pull apart the meat - if not, it needs more time - if it pulls apart (kinda like strings) its ready and you just pull and pull each meat cube until you have a pot of Italian beef!

Serve on a crusty, crunchy Italian hard roll!!

 

[pumpkinfish]

Mmmm...wow everyone! Thank you so much for your ideas!
Tomorrow I plan on trying the Santa Fe chicken with what I have available right now.
Question, I go to work at 8 am. I won't be home until after 6pm. Will I be okay leaving the crock pot going all day without me around? Will it be okay if it cooks longer than 8 hours on low temp?
Thanks for the advice, I'm so nervous of messing this up and ruining my food (don't want to go back tot he store and spend more food money, KWIM).

Oh, and to the PP, mom gave us a regular old school one. It's the round style...not too big since it's just me and DH.

 

[pumpkinfish]

The roast with the coke sounds good - how does it turn out? How do you serve it?? (does the meat slice? Does it matter what kind of beef roast?)

Italian Beef Sandwichs:

1 large chuck roast - trim fat off, cut the meat into cubes
1 jar of pepperocinis (I think its the 12 ounce jar I buy a large jar and just toss in about 1/2 cup with some juice, these make it spicy so it is to taste, and dh likes the solid pepperocinis on the side )
1 packet of onion soup mix - and 1 cup of water... (like another poster I often just substitute a can of campbell's double strength beef broth and a palmful of dried onions! )

after about 6 hours on high you take 2 forks and see if you can pull apart the meat - if not, it needs more time - if it pulls apart (kinda like strings) its ready and you just pull and pull each meat cube until you have a pot of Italian beef!

Serve on a crusty, crunchy Italian hard roll!!

DH is Italian and would LOVE this! I might have to go ahead and make a trip to the store anyways for this!

 

[EnchantedPrincess]

The roast with the coke sounds good - how does it turn out? How do you serve it?? (does the meat slice? Does it matter what kind of beef roast?)

I have use different kind of roast, but normally just the cheaper chuck roast. The meat usually falls apart if I slow cook them 8 hours. I have shredded them and serve them on rolls/buns...I guess kinda like shredded beef sandwiches, but my family really like them with rice. The sauce makes the rice really yummy!

 

[familyfirsttimer]

There was a thread here before about chicken crock pot recipies: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1344088

Also, anthoer alternative with lots of recipies that was recommended here on the Budget Board before was: http://www.halfmysize.com/crockpotrecipes.doc

It really it so simple and the dinner turn out so well, I have to start doing it more, I am never sorry when I do!

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Sigh.... I am highly allergic to onions and almost all of these recipes have some sort of onion product in them. Do you think they would taste good if I left the onions out?

Any great non-onion recipes out there for the Crock Pot? I would love to make a great beef stew but don't know what to use to make the gravy from scratch.

 

[mamalle]

santa fe looks good. I normally just cook the salsa and chicken and put it on top of rice and beans but may have to try making it this way..

 

[JRLINK3]

We love, love, love our slow cooker!

Banquet has in the freezer section bagged meals that you toss in your slow cooker. Those are pretty yummy. We usually toss in extra steak meat into the beef stew and the stroganoff. Those usually run are around $4.99 a bag then another $2.00 for a cheapy steak.

We toss a bottle of bbq sauce in with beef or pork to make bbq beef or pork sandwiches.

We just found a recipe for "roasting" whole chickens. You put balls of aluminium foil on the bottom of the cooker, place the chicken on top (the aluminium foil keeps the drippings away from the meat). I then used lemon pepper on the outside and cut up lemons and stuffed the inside. That turned out really good.

Another favorite is roasts with onion soup mix.

I have a chili recipe started on the stove then transferred into the slow cooker for all day simmering.

We've done french dips with roast beef and au jus sauce. We've even done sloppy joes.

There's a ton of stuff to do!

 

[Lisa_M]

chicken n duplings

4 frozen chicken breasts skinless
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 small onion, chopped
1 can refrigeraton biskets

put 1st 3 ingredents in crock, add water to cover top of chicken.
cook on low all day.
1 hour or so before serving, shred chicken with fork and return to crock. cut biskets into 1/4 pieces and add.
finished when biskets are cooked through (about 1 hour). don't overcook.

this is like real chicken n dumplings.

recipie frm allrecipies.com

excellent recipe! I made it today without the onion. I cooked on low all day and when I came home, I just shredded the chicken in the crockpot. I added some frozen carrots and peas and put it on high for an hour. I made the biscuits in the oven and served it over the biscuits. Very easy, very tasty! Thanks for sharing!

 

[SarahKate]

We do the Italian Beef thing too, but slightly different....

Approx 3 lb chuck roast
1 lg. jar of pepperoncinis (MILD)
Minced Garlic

Just cut slits in the meat and push in the minced garlic w/ a knife or even your fingers.

Put in the crock pot w/ the jar of peppers and juice, then low for 8 hours or until the meat falls apart.

It's so easy and very yummy.

 

[Kimmumum]

Santa Fe Chicken

Combine the following in your crockpot:

1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn
1/2 cup salsa

After stirring, add:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup more salsa

Cook on low for 3 hours. Then add,

1 block of cream cheese

Cook one more hour. Serve over rice with flour tortillas.

I make a version of this.

I use chicken breasts (as many as I need and I put them in frozen)
1 jar of salsa
Cook on low all day. A 1/2 hour before I'm ready to eat I add 1 1/2 cups of MINUTE rice. After I put it on plates my kids like to top it with cheese and sour cream. Yummy