Crockpot Mondays...

Mondays have become my "crockpot cooking" days! This is the day that I call all my CBS ladies and now my daughter is back into tumbling. So, needless to say, I have no time for cooking in the evenings on this day of the week! I got this great recipe over at Jadi's Favorite Recipes - thanks Jadi for making my life easier!!! I'd love to hear from y'all if you have any crockpot favs - I need all the help I can get!!! :O)

Taco Soup

1 lb ground beef
1 (16 oz) can pinto beans
1 (16 oz) can kidney beans
1 (11 oz) can of corn
1 (28 oz) can of diced tomatoes
1 (4 oz) can of green chilies
1 envelope of taco seasoning
1 envelope of hidden valley ranch dressing mix
garnishes of choice

Cook and drain the ground beef. Add all ingredients to the crock pot. Do not drain cans. Stir it all together and cook on high for a couple of hours or on low for 4-5 hours. Garnish soup with shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips. You can also use avocados, chopped green onions, and cilantro if you desire.

Quick snapshot, but OH SO GOOD!!!

This is Shredded Beef for Tacos that I've posted here in the past, but had no photo to go with it. Well, here it is finally. This is a wonderfully easy meal, which seems to be my ongoing theme these days. Just throw the meat in there frozen - it can't get any easier than that!! Let me know if you give it a try.

Italian Herb Chicken

If you love slow cooker recipes...you HAVE to try this one, Italian Herb Chicken!! It's from McCormick...they have the most wonderful slow cooker packages...all you do is add a few ingredients and YUMMO!!! All 3 kiddos and hubby ate it up. With it we had asparagus, but salad and crusty bread would be PERFECT!!!

ENJOY!!

Arrr...

My son celebrated his fourth birthday this past weekend. He loves all things pirate!!! So, the food we served at the party was pirate themed. We had baked potato boats with Jolly Roger flags on top. I know you're probably thinking my kids are weird, but all four of them love baked potatoes!!! They topped theirs with cheese, bacon bits, sour cream, etc... For the adults, we made BBQ'd pulled pork to go on top. Or they could have theirs on buns, if they preferred it that way. Anyway, I was asked for this recipe a few times, so I figured it would be easier just to post it.

The BBQ Sauce that we used was Sweet Baby Ray's Original. If you can't find it, just go with your favorite! Sweet Baby Ray's tends to be pretty sweet, so if you don't like your's sweet - I would look for another brand. And of course you can double or triple this recipe depending on how many you're cooking for.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle root beer
1 (18 ounce) bottle your favorite barbecue sauce

Place the pork tenderloin in a slow cooker; pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 6 to 7 hours. Drain well. Stir in barbecue sauce. Serve over hamburger buns or baked potatoes. Serves: 8

hello again......

Well, as Kathy mentioned, we've been neglectful, some of us more than others....heehee! Anyway, tonight I'm making this recipe I tried at our local HEB...it's so yummy and easy (only 4 ingredients)!!!! AND, my kids tried it and are begging me to make it!!

Wednesday:
Tomato Basil Tortellini Casserole
1/2 jar canyon foods tomato basil soup (i've only seen this at the HEB cooking station)
3 cups cooked chicken (i'm using a rotisserie chicken)
2 bags tortellini (i use cheese ... frozen, but thawed)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 400°. In a large bowl, combine tortellini, chicken and tomato basil soup. Spread mixture in a 9x13 baking dish and top with shredded cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes till hot and bubbling.

YUM!!!!!!

This with crusty bread and a good salad!!

Thursday:
Beef with broccoli and shrimp fried rice

Friday:
Kathy's crockpot steak & gravy.....YUMMY!! Gotta wait for the hubby to be home for this yummy one!!!!

I will keep you posted with the coming weeks!!!!!

YUM YUM....

"half menu"!!

Happy New Year!!
Thought I'd share a few recipes that I'll be doing this week....
Wednesday: Chicken Pot Pie the recipe is actually for Turkey, but I've always used chicken...it's our fav!!
Thursday: Quick French Onion Meatballs - this will be our taste test day!! I'm changing the jar gravy to Mushroom Soup though AND it's a crockpot recipe....I'll let y'all know how it turns out!! YUM!! Serving with egg noodles and Tara's broccoli cornbread...second time this week it's made the menu...can't get enough!!
Friday: Fried Pork Chops, butter onion potatoes and salad....
The rest of the weekend will be YOYO!!

Have a great one!!!

I must confess...

I've also been a very bad girl! I didn't post my menu this week because we have several carry-over meals from last week. I always plan my meals but I'm not a stickler about cooking only what that day says to. If on Monday we're in the mood for Wednesday's meal - we'll swap nights! I can only handle so much pressure guys!!! ;) lol...

Anyway, the point is... last week's Taste Test Tuesday never came to be in our house! I did make the Texas Black Bean Soup though and it was wonderful!!!! 4 1/2 stars all around our dinner table!!! :o) It's a keeper!!! No1here came up with a great idea... this stuff is pretty thick so we might even try serving this over grilled chicken next time.

I will be making the Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings on Friday and I promise to let you know the results!!! And yes, Tara - I still plan to share with you!!! ;)

Kathy's menu - week 5

Sunday - Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry and Egg Rolls
Monday - Potato & Leek Soup and crusty bread
Tuesday - I'll be taste testing this!!!
Wednesday - Beef & Beer Stew and cheese bread
Thursday - Texas Black Bean Soup
Friday - Chicken Marsala, Roasted Garlic Cauliflower, green beans, and rolls
Saturday - Taco Ring

Sorrry about the delay....

but, I'm really embarrased to put up my menu for the week. It's very lame! Anyway, here it goes:

Monday - Fish sticks for the kids and Mexican Fish for me...will put recipe at bottom.
Tuesday - Tuna Helper Creamy Parmesan...I know you are all going YUCK, but this is the best tuna and my kids devour it! They don't even know they are eating tuna. You will have to try it!
Wednesday - "HAPPY HALLOWEEN" - fast and quick hot dogs with chili and cheese with Fritos on the side for frito pies.
Thursday - Slow Cooker beef stew ( http://www.mccormick.com/recipedetail.cfm?id=11601 ) I love all these McCormick slow cooker packets!!

**Don't know what's in store for the weekend yet! I'll let ya'll know as soon as I come up with some stuff!

Mexican Baked Fish (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mexican-Baked-Fish/Detail.aspx )...I made this for Bunko and everyone loved it!!

McCormick Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork

This is our fave for BBQ Sandwiches....you really need to try this one. And, it's soooo easy!!

http://www.mccormick.com/productdetail.cfm?ID=11718

For Fifi, our #1 fan!!!

She has requested more crock pot recipes! Here are a few favorites from our house...

Beef and Beer Stew

2 1/2 lbs. lean beef stew meat, cut in 1-inch cubes
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, cut in 1-inch slices
2 ribs celery, cut in 1/2-inch slices
2 medium potatoes, cut in 1-inch cubes
1 cup beer
1 cup beef broth, or use all beer
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. oregano
2 Tbs. tomato paste
3 Tbs. melted butter
1/3 cup flour

Place all ingredients, except butter and flour in crock pot; mix well. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Mix melted butter with flour; add to the stew. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed. Turn to high and cook until thickened, about 15-20 minutes.

* This is an OMGosh meal!!! This goes great with cheese bread!


Italian Beef
This is so good that it will make you do the Jameka "mmmmmmm"!!! ;) lol...
This really goes great with twice baked potato casserole.

4 - 4 1/2 Brisket, Rump, or Pot Roast
2 pkg. Zesty Italian Dressing mix
1 pkg. Peppercorn Sauce Mix
1 can beer
1 1/2 cup Red wine - Cabernet
3 Tbs. Beef Base

Trim all visible fat from meat. Place the meat in your crock pot. Add remaining ingredients and cook on low for 10-12 hours or until meat is done. When meat is done, shred using two forks.

We eat this as a roast w/ mashed potatoes using the sauce as gravy. We then eat it over hamburger buns as sandwiches for lunch the next day, or in tortillas for breakfast during the week!

Here is what I use but if you can't get the brands - it will still be wonderful!!!
* Beer is JW Dundee's Honey Brown
* Wine is Peter Valla Cabernet Sauvignon
* Zesty Italian is Good Seasoning's dry mix - 1 big one or 2 small
* Peppercorn is Lowry's or McCormick's seasoning pkg. and it's a picture of green peppercorns on the front of the pkg!

** you can always have your butcher trim your meat for you!!! ;)
** no1here thinks that this dish can be a bit salty at times depending on the size of your meat - so he has cut the the Zesty Italian down to 1 small pkg. It's up to you really. You can always throw in a potato at the end if it's too salty.

Shredded Beef for Tacos

I love this meal because you can put the meat in frozen!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Shredded-Beef-for-Tacos/Detail.aspx

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Pepper-Steak/Detail.aspx

Chicken soft taco in the Crockpot

This is a wonderful easy meal in the crockpot, which my family loves...bascially a chicken soft taco....

4 skinless/bonless chicken breasts
1 jar picante sauce (I use a flavored one with cilantro, but you could add fresh cilantro if you wanted)
1 package of chicken taco seasonings
tortillas (corn/flour..your option)

Place thawed chicken breasts in crockpot and cover with a little over half of a jar of picante sauce. Cook on high about 4 hours (or until chicken will shred with a fork). Shred the chicken in the crockpot and add the package of chicken taco seasonings (I don't add the entire pack, makes it too salty). Stir to blend flavors. Serve on tortillas. YUMMY!!!

Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!! Sorry about no specific amounts of this and that, this is one that you just have to throw to together...sometimes those taste the best!!