Tuna and Noodle Casserole in the CrockPot

Day 164.

Hello! It's day 5 of Retro Week. So far we've had instant mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sloppy joes, and cabbage rolls. Today I'll show you how I made tuna and noodles in the crockpot.

I grew up on tuna and noodles, and loved them. I remember eating them cold out of the pot for breakfast because I loved them so much. We either used cream of mushroom soup or golden mushroom soup, and mixed it with a can of drained tuna and cooked noodles. It was wonderful.

I was certain that the tuna and noodles would work well in the crockpot. I have done pasta before, with the ziti, spinach and cheese noodles, and the lasagna. But this didn't work. Well, it cooked, and it was edible, but no one liked it, and it most certainly didn't taste like my childhood tuna and noodles.

This is what I did. If anyone can "fix" it---please let me know!

The Ingredients:

--1 lb dried pasta

--6oz can of tuna (I mistakenly got it packed in oil. that set off a domino effect of bad tuna casserole karma, I believe.)

--2 cups homemade cream of mushroom soup

--2 cups soy milk

--1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese (optional)

--1 cup frozen peas (to add later)

--1/2 cup crushed tortilla or potato chips (to add later, optional)

If you'd like to use canned cream of something soup, measure it out and add enough milk to achieve 4 cups of liquid.

The Directions.

Spray your crockpot with cooking spray.

Add the dry noodles into the crock, and mix in the soup, milk, cheese, and drained tuna.

Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours.

I was AMAZED at how quickly this cooked on low. It was pretty much done at 2 hours. I couldn't believe it.

30 minutes before serving time, stir in frozen peas, and make sure the crunchy pasta on top gets moved to the bottom of the crock. Top with chips, if desired.

The Verdict.

There was nothing wrong with this, but we didn't like it. The pasta got overly cooked and was kind of gloppy and starchy. It needed more seasoning---and I should have thought to add a bunch of salt because I was using my own soup.

We went out for Japanese.

and now my kitchen has a crockput FULL of tuna and noodles sitting in it, that needs to be scraped out since we left it out all night. We might have to move.

--> I just saw that on The Crispy Cook's website, she has compiled a huge list of 70 gluten-free blogs! Holy toledo, what a resource! <--

CrockPot Blue Cheese Potato Soup with Olive Tapenade

Day 189.

I found a Swanson Broth recipe book at the grocery store a few months ago, and impulsively bought it. I like soup, and most soup recipes (I would say all, but they threw in some gazpacho) can be converted nicely to slow-cooking.

I thought the name of this soup sounded fancy and sheeshy, and folded the corner of the page down as soon as I read the title.

I finally had the chance to make it this weekend.

The Ingredients. --12-15 red baby potatoes (chopped, but not skinned)
--4 cups vegetable broth (I would have bought Swanson's to be supportive, but my regular grocery store didn't have any--just beef and chicken. So I went to Trader Joe's.)
--1 T balsamic vinegar
--1 chopped white onion
--4 cloves smashed and chopped garlic

for garnish: -

-1 T prepared olive tapenade (I needed to go to Trader Joe's for this, too)
--crumbled blue cheese

The Directions.

Wash and cube the red potatoes, and throw into the crockpot. Chop up the white onion and garlic, and add them, too. Cover vegetables with the broth, and stir in one tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.

Cover your crockpot with it's lid, and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or on high for about 5. This is finished when the potatoes and onion are tender.

Use a stick-blender to soupify. The soup will be a cross between a soup and chowder in consistency. Top with crumbled blue cheese and olive tapenade.

The Verdict.

This is not good soup. There is hardly any flavor at all, and the color was gross. I didn't like the consistency, either. The only somewhat redeeming value was the blue cheese and the tapenade, but you could put that on a boiled giraffe's tongue and it would taste good. I should have known when I couldn't find the recipe posted on Swanson's website. grr. The picture looked so good, though...




psst... Me! on TV! Wednesday, July 9th.

CrockPot Paella Recipe

Day 233.

I don't really know much about paella, other than the Costanzas invited the Seinfelds over for dinner and they refused.

And with that limited knowledge I attempted to make some. In the crockpot.

I do know that paella uses saffron, and I have quite a bit of saffron in the house, thanks to a gift.

I think I got the flavors right. This tasted good, but the rice turned to absolute mush, and ended up glued to the crock. I've made rice before, and thought I knew what I was doing. I was evidently wrong.

hmph.

The Ingredients.

--2 spicy sausage, cut up (I used chicken spicy Italian)
--1.5 lbs of thick fish steak (I used halibut)
--1 each of a yellow, red, orange bell pepper, cut in chunks
--1 small yellow onion, diced
--1 head of cauliflower florets
--2 T butter
--1/4 tsp kosher salt
--very healthy pinch of saffron (about 1/2 tsp)
--2 cups chicken broth
--1 cup rice (I used white. I should have used brown.)

The Directions.

Dump the rice and chicken broth into the crockpot and stir. Stir in the saffron and the salt. Add the butter, and chopped onion, cauliflower, and bell pepper. Add the cut up sausage and the fish to the top.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 3-4, or until rice has absorbed the liquid and is cooked and the fish is flaky.

I cooked ours in a 6qt Smart Pot for 7 hours on low and it was too long. The rice disintegrated.

The Verdict.

I think I put in too much liquid. I used the standard 1 cup rice to 2 cups liquid measurement, but didn't take into account the juice from the meat or vegetables. I'd like to try this again, but with brown rice and with only 1 1/2 cups of broth.

I really liked the flavor, and Adam and I ended up picking out the meat and the vegetables and got enough to eat that way. The kids had quesadillas.

Saffron has a strong smell. I needed the kitchen windows open, and today I have them open again with the fans on to air out the house. I didn't realize the smell would be quite so strong. It isn't unpleasant, but I am one who prefers her house to smell like vanilla scented candles or Glade Plug-Ins.

which means I guess I prefer chemicals. I've been totally brainwashed.

CrockPot Fruit Leather Recipe

Day 251.

I tried to make fruit leather in the crockpot. It didn't work.

I think it could have worked----everything was right in theory----but I cooked it way too long because I fell asleep and it was my sleep-in day so I didn't get up right away to check on it.

The house now smells like a charred apple pie.

The Ingredients.
blurry picture. I didn't change the lens.

--4 apples, cut in quarters
--2 tsp vanilla
--1/2 cup dried cranberries
--juice from one lemon

The Directions.

I used apples as a base, but you can use any fruit you'd like. Except this doesn't really work, so you'd mostly just be wasting fruit.

I didn't peel the apples, but quartered them (removing the seeds and core) and threw them into a 4-quart crockpot. Add the juice from one lemon, 2tsp of vanilla, and a 1/2 cup of dried unsweetened cranberries.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. The apples will be quite squishy, and it will be like applesauce.
Blend the applesauce mixture in a blender until the mixture is blended into a thin pulp. Cut pieces of parchment paper to fit into the crockpot you are going to use. I ended up using 10 pieces.

Put a piece of parchment into the crockpot, and spoon on some mixture. Layer another piece of parchment on top, and continue layering until you run out of fruit pulp.

Cover, but prop lid open with a chopstick, and cook on low for 12-20 hours. I cooked ours for 20. That was too long.



The Verdict.

I used to have a food dehydrator. It never worked the way it said it would on the infomercial. I tried banana chips, fruit roll-ups, and beef jerky. I was disappointed each and every time. During one of our moves we gave the dusty machine to my father-in-law. He has used it to make deer jerky a few times, and it worked okay for him.

I wanted this to work. I think in principle, it could have, if I had watched it more closely. It wasn't burning, but was drying bit by bit before I went to bed. I think I figured since the food dehydrator never really worked (for me), the food would still be pretty wet in the morning.

I'm beginning to think it's cheaper and better for my self-esteem to stick to buying fruit leather at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. They make quite a few varieties now with no extra sugar and sometimes they are on sale--5 for a dollar.

Little Dipper Southwestern Salsa Dip

Day 261.

yay, a Little Dipper recipe! I love this Little Dipper because it's so gosh darn cute, but I'm having a hard time coming up with mini-sized dips or sauces to cook in it.

I made up this dip. I kind of wish I had something else to post in it's place, but I don't. There is nothing wrong with it---it just tastes a bit different. I can't decide if the different is good or bad. Just different. The kids ate a few chips dipped in it, then asked for a slice of cheddar cheese. Adam came home, I threw a chip in his mouth covered in dip, and he said "huh. that's different."

I love that man.

So. If you have a favorite warm dip and think I can make it in a Little Dipper, please let me know.

'cuz I obviously could use some help.

The Ingredients.

--2 cups of prepared salsa
--1 package of dried Ranch salad dressing/dip mix
--1/2 cup shredded white cheese (I had Monterey Jack in the house)

The Directions.

The Little Dipper says that it only holds 1 cup. I started with 2/3 of a cup of salsa, and stirred in the Ranch dressing packet. It was so tangy and weird, I added another 2/3 of a cup. That gave me 1 1/3 cups inside. And it still tasted weird. So I added another 2/3 of salsa. And I'm pretty sure that gives me 2 whole cups.

So the Little Dipper can hold 2 cups. I did stir in the cheese, but it mostly melted away (except that I used Kraft because it was on sale and it's coated with some weird anti-stick coating so it doesn't melt as nicely as other shredded cheese or cheese that you shred yourself. I should know this. But I still get sucked in to the buy-one-get-one deals at Safeway.)

Cover and cook for about 2 hours (there is no heat setting on a Little Dipper). Since the Dipper is so full, it will take longer than normal.

The Verdict.

It's not offensive, but it's not very good. Ranch may taste good with teriyaki sauce, but it doesn't go well with salsa.

CrockPot Pumpkin Black Bean Soup Recipe

Day 294.

This soup recipe has been floating around the Internet the past few weeks----Yahoo linked to it on their front page as a good Halloween night dinner to eat before trick-or-treating. I had planned on making this soup anyway but last week I got a few emails pointing it out again, so I pushed it up a few days.

This weekend, Denise posted a pumpkin soup roundup on BlogHer and shared that Smitten Kitchen made a version of pumpkin black bean soup, which really inspired me to get cracking (those Smitten Kitchen people? They work with Martha. They know their stuff.)

So I did.

I made this soup.

I made 6.5 quarts of it. Anyone want any? Because it's still sitting here.

We didn't like it.

At all. It sort of made us gag. We gave it a valiant effort, and I even let it sit overnight, because a lot of times soup tastes better the next day.

This didn't.

The Ingredients.
adapted from All Recipes

--3 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
--1 can tomatoes and chilies (Rotel)
--1 tsp salt
--1/2 tsp black pepper
--4 cloves chopped garlic
--4 cups gluten free beef broth
--1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
--1 small yellow onion, chopped (didn't make it into the picture)
--1/4 cup sherry
--2 T butter
--crumbled bacon or cooked ham (optional, to add at end of cooking time)
--sour cream to garnish (optional)

The Directions.

I used a 6.5 quart crockpot. If you attempt this soup (you really shouldn't), use at least a 5 quart.

Chop up all the onion and garlic and add to the pot. Dump in the black beans. I used my homemade black beans!
Add the whole can of cooked pumpkin and the beef broth.
Stir in the salt and pepper. It seems like a lot of salt, but you're not going to end up eating it, anyway.
Add a pat of butter.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4. Stir well. If desired, use an immersible blender to puree about half of the soup. I did do this. If you don't have an immersible blender, scoop out about 2 cups and blend carefully in your stand mixer.

If desired, add crumbled bacon or diced ham.

Garnish with sour cream (this was the best part).

The Verdict.

The kids made me open a window in the kitchen and light a candle while this was cooking.

Adam and I tried twice to eat it, and we were not pleased. It reminded us of hot V-8 juice, which we both despise.

After I made it, I read all of the reviews on All Recipes. The positive reviewers added things like salsa, cumin, chili powder, and coriander. I wish I had, too. A few of the reviewers mentioned liking a Jamaican pumpkin soup. I do have a recipe for that, which I think I'll give whirl this week.

CrockPot Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe

Day 301.

Hey! You can roast pumpkin seeds in the crockpot!

but that doesn't mean that you should.

They take a really long time and are kind of a pain, and the end result is the same as it always has been for me when I make them in the oven: mixed. Some are good, some are burnt, and some are squishy.

But, if you have 6 hours on your hands, and want to fool around with this, by all means---go for it.

The Ingredients.

--fresh pumpkin seeds
--1 1/2 T olive oil
--1 tsp salt (I really like Kosher salt, but table salt is fine. Sea Salt might be fun, too.)

The Directions.

I cut and gutted two pumpkins yesterday and they yielded about 2 1/2 cups of seeds.

I tried Elise's method of boiling the seeds first, and then simmering for 10 minutes. The idea is that the inner seed separates a bit from the outer shell resulting in a nice pop when you crunch them. I have issues with using the stove correctly (hence this crockpot thing) and probably over-cooked the seeds. They turned color.

After draining, I tossed the seeds into the crockpot ----I used a 6 quart----and added the olive oil and salt. I stirred well and turned it to high.

For six hours, stirring every hour or so.

And they probably could have gone on for longer, but I got annoyed.

The Verdict.

The kids like these. They munched on them all evening, and have requested a baggie packed in their lunches.

I like about every third seed.
Adam is being polite.

Making Fudge in the CrockPot

Day 339.

You can't make fudge in a crockpot. I've tried. Twice.

It just doesn't work.

I'm pretty disappointed.

When I started this year, I took it for granted that I'd be able to make fudge (a few different kinds!) in the crockpot. I even dreamt about it (I'm thinking this sounds weird, but I dream and day dream a lot---so it's really not weird if you know me. Eh. I guess maybe it is a bit weird. Whatever.)

We make fudge every year in our house, and it always works----but that's because Adam does it and he follows the directions and uses a candy thermometer. I hate following directions. But I also am quite bummed about this soupy fudge that I just fed to the garbage disposal.

Again.

Out of the 13 flops I've had this year, this one is the toughest for me. I really wanted this to work.

sigh.

I did find a totally awesome fudge recipe board, however: Skaarup Fudge.

Here's the Maple Ginger Fudge I was hoping would work:

--4 cups sugar (Baker's Sugar is great because the fine granules melt easily)
--1/2 cup butter
--3/4 cup maple syrup
--1 cup milk
--1 cup mini marshmallows
--1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
--1 tsp vanilla extract
--1/4 tsp ground ginger

Instead of cooking this in the crockpot, cook it on the stove. Stir it around until it forms threads and reaches whatever temperature fudge is supposed to reach that evidently can't be reached in the crockpot.

Pour it into a prepared 9 x 9 pan (line your pan with parchment paper or Release foil. Pam doesn't seem to work well enough on fudge.)

Let it sit on the counter for about an hour to cool, then cool completely in the refgrigerator before cutting into 1-inch cubes.

The chocolate fudge recipe we always use is on the back of the jar of marshmallow fluff.

The Verdict.

I am so impressed with my kids. They've really put up with a lot this year, and have had a great sense of humor about the whole thing. They kept checking on the fudge not setting in the refrigerator, and reset the microwave timer a bunch of times so they could keep tabs. My seven-year-old told me, "the cooking science just didn't work, mom," and my four-year-old simply asked for a spoon. The reason the above picture is streaky is because we ate a bunch of the marshmallow that floated to the top.

My fingers are crossed that this is the last flop for the year.

other candy and fun snacks that DO work:
rice krispie treats
rocky road candy
peanut not-brittle candy
cracker jacks
nuts and bolts snack mix
chex mix

CrockPot White Bean with Fennel and Spinach Soup Recipe

Day 365.

It's the 365th day of the year. But I'm going to post tomorrow---I didn't realize it was Leap Year when I started this project, and I have black eyed peas soaking to be turned into soup. When I made black eyed peas a year ago, I wasn't terribly impressed, but the soup recipe I have sounds pretty good.

Unlike this soup.

This soup is boring and bland and a waste of time. I should have known better. It came out of a little pamphlet of recipes. This was in the vegetarian slow cooker section. I thought we'd have a nice light meal so then we could eat a bunch of junk at New Year's without regret.

Instead, we each ate a bite or two and then made nachos. With extra sour cream.
and pizza fondue.

mmm.

The Ingredients.

--4 cups vegetable broth
--1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
--1 can (15-ounces) white kidney beans
--1 yellow onion, diced
--1 small bulb fennel, chopped
--2 cloves garlic, minced
--1/4 tsp black pepper
--1 bag (10 oz) baby spinach (to add later. but don't. don't waste your spinach. you shouldn't make this soup.)

The Directions.

Use a 5 quart or so crockpot. The best part of this whole thing was chopping the fennel. It makes your kitchen smell like a licorice factory, and provides great adult entertainment while the kids search for candy.

Combine everything into the crockpot except for the spinach. Cook on low for 8 hours, high for 6, then add the whole bag of spinach. It will wilt. It will look yummy. But there isn't any flavor.

I'm kind of annoyed at myself because I KNOW this! I know (just from this year. Before this year I was clueless) that if you put a bunch of bland stuff together the result will be bland and tasteless. But I did it anyway. I wanted this to work. I thought the picture was pretty.

The Verdict.

We've been having ants in the house because of the rain. I left the crock out overnight with the lid off. The ants didn't come.

This soup repels ants.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Sweet Potato Southwestern Stew

I was playing in the garden yesterday and realized a bit before 2pm that I had forgotten about dinner, and scrambled to throw something in the slow cooker. This is a completely made-up clean-out-the-pantry meal. Wednesday is usually our leftover night, but I kind of ate all the leftovers in the house for lunch. oops.

The Ingredients.


4 frozen chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 2 inch chunks
1 (15-ounce) can baked beans
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 (4-ounce) can fire roasted diced chile (a last minute brainstorm!)
1/2 cup pineapple juice (leftover from the Easter Ham)

The Directions.

Use a 4 quart slow cooker. Put the chicken into your stoneware, and drop the sweet potato chunks on top. Add all the contents of the baked beans, tomato paste, and diced chile. Pour on the pineapple juice. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 6-8. Your stew is done when the chicken is cooked through and the the sweet potatoes are fork-tender.

The Vedict.

This is gross. Really gross. I think it's the tomato paste. I took a few bites to be a good sport, but could tell about 2 hours into it that this wasn't going to be a very good dinner. I thought maybe with some shredded cheese it could be palatable, but it just wasn't. The house smelled like burnt tomato stew, even though the tomato paste mixed with the pineapple juice and bean and chile liquid and there was plenty of moisture. It was just not good.

really bad.
really really really bad.

We ended up having McDonalds. I drove through in my slippers.

other memorable flops:

coconut chicken curry
fruit leather
bacon wrapped scallops
hard boiled eggs
roasted pumpkin seeds

Pineapple Salmon Slow Cooker Recipe (flop!)

When Adam and I were in our first year of marriage we lived in an apartment about a half-mile away from his brother and family. We were lucky enough to be invited over for dinner pretty often, and always happily accepted.

Adam's sister-in-law, Angela, is an excellent cook. Her family owns restaurants, and she's grown up in the kitchen and around food. I've always been quite impressed with the way she can open a fridge and just start throwing things together to make a really fantastic meal--- no recipe required.

She made us a salmon dinner one night (gosh, a good 12 years ago) that I still think about. It was the best salmon I have ever eaten. Ever.

ever.

She says she doesn't remember what she marinated the salmon in, but I knew pineapple juice was involved. and soy sauce.

I think.

I've been trying, unsuccessfully, to recreate this salmon. Last week I tried again.

It did not go so well.

The Ingredients.

(do NOT make this!)

4 salmon fillets

1 fresh pineapple, skinned and cubed

1 large orange, juiced

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat-free are gluten free)

2 cloves garlic, smashed 

1 teaspoon red chile flakes

aluminum foil

an outdoor garbage can

The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker (but not really. don't attempt to make this. please.) In a blender combine the pineapple, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and chile flakes. Blend until you have a creamy sauce (the color will not be pretty. that should have set off some bells and whistles for me...)

Place the salmon fillets into a flat baking dish with high sides (a pyrex or corningware with a lid works best). Pour the sauce blend evenly over the top. Refrigerate your fish in the sauce for two hours or so (or don't. this tastes really bad and you shouldn't be doing any of this anyhow.)

After the time has elapsed, spread a length of foil out on your kitchen countertop. Place the fish inside (lots of the sauce will stay in the dish. this is fine. trust me,  you don't want the sauce.) and crimp the sides of the foil to make a fully enclosed packet. You can stagger-stack all the fish fillets to make one large packet with all of the fish, or you can wrap each fillet individually. 

Your choice.

Put the packet(s) into your crockpot and cook on high for 2 hours, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Taste. 

Then take outside and throw away.

The Verdict.

The "finished" picture up top is taken on the brick outside by the garbage bins. Thankfully I made this the night before the garbage was picked up---

I've made fish in the crockpot dozens and dozens and dozens of times, and have NEVER had this happen. The fish smelled really really fishy (I think it was a weird chemical break-down with the vinegar?) and the sauce tasted just how it looked.

really, really bad.

We had baked potatoes for dinner instead.

still want fish? these are the good ones!

Salmon with Lime Butter

Sweet and Spicy Salmon

Cedar Planked Salmon

Jamaican Salmon

Orange Honey Tilapia

Parmesan Tilapia

My Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life book/planner hits bookstores today. You should get it! :-)

have a great day! have any flops? feel free to share!