We've had a slow cooker sitting here for months and I haven't really been inspired to use it yet! :blush:

I found one good recipe for chicken wings and another for cranberry pork chops on recipezaar....but I was wondering what you like to make in your slow cooker?

Ideas?

TIA! :wave:

I have a very good recipe for beef short ribs if you want it

There's lots of great slow cooker recipes on Recipezaar. I have cookbooks just dedicated to slow cookers. I love using it in the fall and winter. I've used it 3 times this week to just slow cook meat.
My Recipezaar page I have 4 posted crockpot recipes there. :wink:

I have a really yummy one for Enchiladas.... it's my hubby's favorite. I can add it here if you'd like. :)

Cheesy - thanks for the link!

Ace & Brat - please share!!!!

I think my favourite thing to do in a slow cooker is lasagne. It's prettymuch the same as doing it in the oven, I guess, but since I don't have a large roasting pot or cooking pan, I do it in the slow-cooker. I do it the lazy way, too :lol: I buy the Oliviari fresh pasta lasagne noodles in the deli section (no precooking required!) and a can of Thick & Rich pasta sauce (we like the garlic flavour); I also like to use Yves ground round (fake hamburger), but one could just fry up some real ground beef just as easily. My mother used to always put in a layer of cottage cheese mixed with chopped spinach, so I do, too. (I usually buy the frozen packs of chopped spinach, and for the size of my slow cooker I only need about 500ml of cottage cheese.) Then, of course, lots of grated mozzarella. One of the great things about slow-cooker lasagne is that it has gooey cheese. Me, I've always been a fan of the crispy cheese bits, but my 11 year old won't eat "hard cheese" so it's convenient that the slow-cooker lasagne doesn't end up that way. I start with some sauce at the bottom, a noodle layer, my ground round (no precooking required if it's the fake hamburger) mixed with a little of the sauce for moisture, then another noodle layer, my spinach/cottage cheese layer, another noodle, more sauce, prolly another noodle, more sauce and cheese to top it off. Ultra simple. Then I set it to cook on the low temperature setting for 3 hours and I'm good to go! Because it only needs to cook for 3 hours, I generally only make this when I'll be home in the afternoon to prepare it.

My older sister gave me the crock pot for Christmas, so she frequently sends me letters which basically consist of pages photocopied from her recipe books :giggle: so I could share lots of recipes. My father uses his slow-cooker to make pea soup and roast beef and veggies more often than not. My mother has a bean recipe that I really love that involves no fewer than 4 types of beans, apple cider vinaigre and brown sugar and some onions... and a bit of bacon for flavour. I'll try to hunt that one up for you.

OH! And I make exciting bread puddings, too. I love experimenting with bread pudding. I mean, of course, it's generally made with bread, but let me tell you! Tear up some day-old donuts sometime and stir in some dried cranberries for a richer version, or a bunch of cinnamon rolls (with or without raisins) for a real treat! Do you like bread pudding? I'll dig up that recipe, too, for you, if you like.

My family seems to be a big fan of the slow-cooker method of suppers and the like. I could scrape together a reasonable compliment of tested recipies. What kinds of meats does your family like? (I have chicken recipes from my sister that I never prepare because neither I nor my fiancé are fond of chicken, but she really liked the recipes!)

Brat I know I'd be interested in your Enchilada recipe! :wink:

I love my crockpot! I make lots of things in it, including: chilli, spaghetti sauce, chow mein, casseroles/stews, soups, corned beef, curries, porcupines etc etc

Luckaye....what's porcupines? I hope you're not eating the animal. :erm:

I have a pretty good recipe for a Hearty Beef Stew that really easy to make a yummy! Too bad I'm not eating beef anymore :(

I can post it if anyone is interested.

I like to make beef stew, pot roast and chicken and dumplings in mine.
Check allrecipes.com for some recipes too.

I'd love to try you Beef Stew fantasy.

I'm just about to get mine out of the cupboard and start using it since winter is now here. We had our first big frost this morning.

I want the recipes too!!! (Great thread, Breeze, I love all the recipe threads!)

GateGypsy - I LOVE bread pudding and would love your recipes! I don't have a good recipe for it and I really miss having it as a treat at one of my fave restaurants back home.... I've tried it a few different places here but haven't found a good one yet - it doesn't seem as popular down here as it is back home....

I have a few on my Zaar list:
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?q%5B...6&ls=d&Searchr=

Heather's Italian is AMAZINGLY GOOD. Seriously, try that one.

My fave thing to do is buy a big big roast and toss it in there with 2 packs of lipton onion soup mix, some taters, carrots, onions and cook it all day. Serve with rice or whatever. Then shred it up the left overs and freeze them. Then the next week, add the meat back to the crock shreded up with a bottle of BBQ sauce... voila... BBQ beef sandwiches :)

Others that are really good that I've tried:
http://www.recipezaar.com/photos.php?q%5B%...&ls=pd&Searchr=

Slow Cooked Harvest Beef And Veggies

2 1/2 lb beef stew meat cut into 1 1/2-2-inch cubes
1/2 t salt
1/2 t garlic pepper seasoning
3 c baby carrots
1 lb medium red potatoes, cut into 1 1/2-2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with green pepper, celery and onion
1 envelope beefy-onion soup mix
2 t dried basil
1/2 t dried marjoram
1/4 c flour (optional)
1/3 c water or beef broth (optional)


Place beef in slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt and garlic pepper; toss well. Add carrots, potatoes, onion, tomatoes, soup mix, basil and majoram, mixing well. Cover and cook 8 to 10 hours on low setting until beef is very tender.

If desired, thicken stew by blending 1/4 cup flour into 1/3 cup water. Stir into beef mixture. Cover. Cook on high 10 to 20 minutes or until thickened. Serves 10.

Per serving: 297 calories, 10g carbs, 25g protein, 18g fat, 3g fiber, 78mg cholesterol, 387mg sodium.

______________

So looking this over, I definitely made some modifications to this. First, I didn't have the basil or the marjoram, and they're not my favorite spices anyway, I probably loaded up on garlic and oregano instead. I wasn't able to find diced tomatoes with the peppers and onions - my options were diced tomatoes with some kind of italian seasonings, or stewed tomatoes with peppers and onions, so I went with that. I also threw in whatever bags of open veggies I had, so mine also had cut corn and green beans. Lastly, I can't imagine I had the patience to wait 8-10 hours for anything, so it's entirely possible that I cooked it on high for 4 hours. Either way it was delicious!!

Bread pudding mmmmmmm. :drool: I haven't made it in years. Last time I ate it was at a local restaurant a few years back and it's closed now. :(
I saw Paula Deen make bread pudding with Krispy Kreme donuts on Food Network. :o

Here's the enchilada recipe I mentioned. It's a bit messy in the prep. stage, but it is soooo good and VERY filling. A quick note.... anytime I have an ingredient and something in ( ) after it, that means it can be switched for either or ....NOT both.

:drool: Crockpot/Slow Cooker Enchiladas :yum:

INGREDIENTS .......
1 lb Ground Burger (Ground Elk or Shredded Chicken) - UNcooked
I Diced Green Pepper
1 Diced Onion
1 - 30z. Can of Jalapenos (Fresh) - Diced
3 Cups Shredded Cheddar
3 Cups Shredded Monterey Jack
1 Can Diced Tomatos - drained (We use w/ Green Chilies by Rotel)
1 - 3oz. Can Diced Black Olives
1 - 10 Count pack of FLOUR Tortillas (corn didn't work as well)
1- 2 Lg (24 oz+) Can of Enchilada Sauce (Red or Green - Your Choice)

TOPPINGS .......
Shredded Lettuce
Sour Cream
Diced Green Onions
Guacamole
Salsa

In large fry pan.Brown the Ground meat. Add in green pepper, onions, and jalapenos, cook just till they start to soften slightly.Drain well!
Pour a small amount of enchilada sauce into bottom of crock pot, just barely enough to cover the bottom.
Add 1 1/2 cups of each cheese, tomatos, and olives to meat mixture,Blend well.
Pour about a third of the remaining sauce into a wide bowl.
Dip the tortillas into the sauce one at a time until they are well coated on both sides.
Place dipped tortilla on a second plate, put a decent sized scoop of meat/cheese mixture in center and roll up, tucking in ends first and then rolling sides.
Place roll-up into crockpot in single layer.
Continue this until you have a complete layer at bottom of crockpot, then add a light coat of cheese and enough sauce to cover.
Start another layer.
Continue until all tortillas & meat are gone.
Pour any remaining cheese (1st) and sauce(2nd) over the top of final layer. Be sure you save atleast some sauce for this otherwise the top layer gets a bit dry.
Turn crockpot on low and let cook for 4-5 hours.
Scoop out enchiladas and top according to taste.
Enjoy!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BTW - I asked hubby to bring me my recipe box.He asked what for, as it was well past dinner time. As soon as I told him he said " Oh Damn - now I'm gonna be craving those!" I guess I know what I'M making for dinner Monday (tomorrow's is already defrosted or I'd be making them tomorrow :rofl: )

The thing I make the most is the pot roast with veggies around it.
My daughter Meg loves it :rolleyes:

German Short Ribs



Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3 lb beef short ribs
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
pepper
2 tbsp shortening
2 med onion -- sliced
1/2 c dry red wine
1/2 c chili sauce
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tbsp flour

Coat ribs in mixture of flour & salt
Melt shortening in skillet & add ribs & brown
Pour off excess fat
In slow - cooking pot, combine ribs,onion, wine, chili sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard & chili powder
Cover & cook on low for 6 - 8 hrs
Turn control to high
Thicken with flour that has been dissolved in small amount of water
Cook on high for 10 min or until thickened

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Porcupines are meatballs with rice (they look like little porcupines all sticking out) in tomato sauce - very yummy!

Here are a few of my favorties off the top of my head.

Chicken and Beans

2 cans drained cannellini or other white beans
1 can Ro*tel tomatoes
3 or 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Mix beans and tomatoes together in bottom of the pot. Layer chicken breasts on top. (You may want to season the meat with salt & pepper) and cook on low for about 6 hours. Makes a wonderful dinner.


Pork Chops with stuffing

2 cups dry cornbread stuffing mix.
1 can chicken broth
1 can Green Giant mexican corn
3 - 4 pork chops

Mix stuffing mix, flavor packet from stuffing mix (this is optional), and corn in the bottom of the crockpot. Layer seasoned pork chops on top. Cook on low for 6 hours.

Roast and gravy
Chopped onions
3 - 4 carrots cut in large chunks
2 ribs of celery cut in large chunks
1 roast
3 - 4 cloves garlic
1 packet lipton onion soup mix
1 can Campbell's cream of mushroom soup (I don't like mushrooms so I often sub cream of celery.)

Put onions, carrots and celery in the bottom of the crock. Make slits in the roast with a paring knife. Stuff the slits with garlic cloves. Place meat over veggies. Pour contents of onion soup mix over beef. Pour can of soup over that. Sometimes I will add a bit of water - like 1/2 of the envelope of dry soup - sometimes I don't. Cook on low for 8 hours. The combination of soups make an excellent gravy that SCREAMS for creamy mashed potatoes.

And probably the most famous crock pot recipe is Sticky Chicken. I got this from the Cooking Light message boards. There are tons of crockpot/ slow cooker recipe threads over there. I came across about 5 just doing my search for the sticky chicken.,

Slow cooker links from Cooking Light:
What a crock
More What a crock...

Mmmm all the recipes look yummy! :drool:

Try "New Baby Chicken". The recipe comes from a La Leche League cookbook and is recommended for moms with new babies who don't have a lot of energy or time to spend cooking a meal for the family. This works best in one of the old-fashioned, deep and narrow crock-pots.

1 whole chicken
1 bottle (8-10 ounce) barbecue sauce

Put the chicken into the crock-pot, neck down & tail end up. Fill the cavity in the chicken with barbecue sauce. Set crock-pot to low heat and cook for 6-8 hours.

(You can make this in the newer crock-pots that are shallow & wide, but the barbecue sauce doesn't fill the cavity the same way.)

So why is it called Sticky?