Family Friendly Recipes

[jessp1021]

I am looking for some new recipes that are sure to be crowd pleasers..burnt out on meatloaf, spaghetti, and bbq anything I use chicken breasts/tenders and hamburger most (trying to stear away from this one more though!) and would LOVE LOVE LOVE anything crock pot oriented!

 

[Mama Who]

We love cheater pot roast.

Throw your roast in the crock pot with some scrubbed small potatoes (or big ones cut up) and oinions.
Add 1/4 cup of water, salt, pepper, some garlic or garlic powder and a package of lipton soup mix.
Turn on crock pot
Ignore for 8-10 hours
Serve

People will think you actually cooked.

I also do chili in the crock pot

2 lbs of ground turkey
2 cans of kidney beans
2 cans of diced tomatoes (I like "chili ready")
salt, pepper, chili powder and any other spices to taste
Break the meat up so it will crumble *** it cooks
Turn on crock pot
Ignore for 8-10 hours
Serve

 

[Pesky]

Ditto on the crockpot pot roast. Soooo easy and I do a slightly more involved prep but everyone loves it. I use the Pioneer Woman's prep method. Salt and pepper your raw roast, heat some oil in a dutch oven and pop that bad boy in there and brown on all sides. Pop into the crockpot (with a liner if you want super easy clean-up). Cut an onion into quarters and brown it -- then into the crockpot Cut carrots in 1-2" segments and brown those a bit too. Into the crockpot. Potatoes -- brown a little and into the crockpot. Couple ribs of celery - barely throw in and into the crockpot. Then deglaze the pan with red wine, water and better than boullion beef along with some rosemary, two cloves of garlic (I just smash with a flat side of a knife blade or you can use the pre-minced) and even a little herbs de provence if you have it (if you don't, it's not essential). Then pour over everything in the crockpot. I often do this the night before and chill in the fridge and then put in the crockpot the next morning on low for about 9-10 hours depending on the size of your roast. You can thicken and defat the liquid afterwards for great gravy or just use the au jus as is. It's fabulous.

Next: chicken piccatta. Big crowd pleaser and deceptively simple. Use chicken breasts and cut width wise and pound flat. You may want ot cut again if you want smaller pieces. Salt and pepper slightly and dredge in flour. Cook up in a bit of hot olive oil and butter (you can use all butter but I try to reduce the fat) and set aside to stay warm (I never bother warming it). Then deglaze the pan with chicken broth, some dry white wine, throw in a bit of chicken better than boullion (the double chicken stuff adds a richer flavor). Add the juice of one lemon and some parsley (fresh Italian is great but dried is just fine). You can add capers if you like. Serve over pasta with the sauce. My kids scarf this like nobody's business.

Shrimp scampi: even the kids love it. I use Tyler Florence's recipe and it's great. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/shrimp-scampi-with-linguini-recipe2/index.html

Also there are some great pulled pork crockpot recipes out there.

Thought of another and it is a comfort food that sounds weird but everyone seems to love. Noodle-O Pork Chops. Mix 1 tbspn regular yellow mustard (think French's) with 1/2 tspn Kitchen Bouquet (usually around the bullion and spices). Coat the front and back of 4 porkchops with it and place into a pyrex pie dish. Cover with plastic wrap with one side peeled back to vent by about 2". Cook in microwave for 6 minutes on 50% power, then flip and repeat. Then pull out and take 2 cans of Campbell's Chicken Noodle O's and pour oven the pork chops. Recover with the corner turned back and cook on 50% power for 20 minutes. Honestly, I've found that too much so you might want to back that back by at least a couple minutes. Super easy and folks love it.

 

[PlasticRedTopHat]

I love my crockpot too! I work night shift, and a lot of times I hate getting up to just make dinner. Look on allrecipes.com. They have some great recipes that are simple. I do alot of breakfast for dinner. Or one of my family favorites is take chicken breasts, put them in a crockpot for 8 hours with salsa, any type of beans, and chili seasoning. Low for 8 hours +, then shred them. Great for tacos/burritos! easy to freeze for later for enchiladas.


MmmmMMM!!

 

[mjkacmom]

My kids' favorite sauce for pasta is vodka sauce, and SO easy. I grind up a package of sliced or cubed pancetta, brown it with a chopped onion for about 15 minutes, add a 28 ounce can of tomato sauce, bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes, turn off heat, and add a pint of heavy cream. Then you are supposed to add a shot of vodka, but I always forget that part.

Another weekly is chicken noodle soup. I usually get a $5 costco chicken for this. Bring a big pot of chicken broth to a boil, add chopped carrots, celery, and onion, boil until soft, blend all together with hand mixer (some of mine used to pick out the veggies), add egg noodles, boil 7 minutes, adding shredded chicken at the end. I serve with bisquick bisquits, which have to be the easiest thing on earth to make.

A big favorite is make ur own chipolte. I buy whole wheat burrito sized tortillas, and make some kind of meat filling (sometimes just seasoned grilled boneless chicken breasts, which I slice). Topping include rice, sour cream, salsa, nuked onions/peppers, cheese, olives, beans... Lay a tortilla on some foil, add fillings, roll like a burrito, and then wrap with the foil. Bake in the over (400?) for 5 - 10 minutes, until hot and steamy.

 

[jessp1021]

Thanks yall