CrockPot Garlic Baked Potatoes

Day 136.

Happy Slow Cooking Thursday! 

These potatoes are so easy, and are so wonderful. All it is is a big baked potato with garlic shoved in it. They are a snap to make, and if you can find fresh garlic already peeled in a bag, all the better.

The Ingredients.

--4 big brown potatoes

--2 tablespoons melted butter

--2 tablespoons olive oil

--salt and pepper

--8 or so garlic cloves

The Directions.

Peel the garlic and cut it into long slivers.

Wash your potatoes, and pat dry. Carefully cut slits into each potato about 1/2 inch thick almost do the very base. The potato should start to separate a bit like an accordion.

Shove as many garlic slices as you can in each slit of each potato.

Nestle the potatoes into your crockpot. I used an oval 6qt Smart Pot, and the potatoes didn't fit all the way down to the bottom, they kind of were halfway on each other. It doesn't seem to matter.

Liberally salt and pepper. Combine the melted butter with the olive oil and drizzle over the top of each potato, trying to get some in the garlic-filled slits, if you can.

Cover and cook on high for 2-4 hours or on low for about 6. They are done when the potatoes reach desired tenderness.

Top with sour cream.

The Verdict.

This is a beautiful side dish to any meat dish, or a wonderful lunch all on it's own. The potatoes were not too wet or slimy as I feared, and the garlic roasted perfectly in the slits.

The kids ate the sour cream off of theirs, and maybe tried the potato. I wasn't watching them too carefully.

All in all, I would definitely make these again.

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CrockPot Corn on the Cob Recipe

Day 152.

Remember how good and how easy the crockpot baked potatoes were? CrockPot corn on the cob is just as easy, and doesn't take as long to cook. The corn steams in it's own juices and is cooked to absolute perfection.

The Ingredients.

--fresh corn

--aluminum foil

I used my 6qt Smart Pot and six ears of corn fit perfectly. I probably could have shoved in one more, but I only bought six.

The Directions.

shuck the corn, or get your kids to do it. because I'm pretty sure that is why kids were invented.

wrap each ear in aluminum foil

place the foil-wrapped corn in the crockpot

DO NOT ADD WATER

cover and cook on high for 2 hours.

I like my corn to have a crunch--two hours was perfect for us, but check and taste for your family's preference.

The Verdict.

Absolutely perfect corn.

CrockPot Instant Mashed Potatoes

Day 160.

Today launches Retro Week at A Year of CrockPotting. Why? I don't know. I just decided.

Instant mashed potatoes---I grew up having them and liked them, yet once I started cooking for my own family I forgot all about them. There is nothing wrong with instant potatoes---food snobs will tell you that they aren't "real" food, but the back of the box says dehydrated potato flakes, some salt and an anti-caking preservative. Huh. Maybe it's the anti-caking preservative that weirds people out?

Anyway, they are creamy, delicious, and easy. My kids prefer them to "real" mashed potatoes and will eat a ton in a sitting. And the cooking is ridiculously fast---it takes maybe 10 whole minutes to prepare a bunch.

Unless you use your crockpot.

Then it will take two hours.

The Ingredients.

--box of instant potatoes

--the stuff on the back of the box that they tell you to use.

I used soy milk, water, and butter in our potatoes.

The Directions.

Follow the directions on the back of the box. I used my 1.5 qt mini crockpot and used the 1/3 of a cup proportions---which is supposed to be enough to feed 3-4 people as a side dish. They must be smufs, though. My kids ate it all for lunch and wanted more.

Cook on low for 1-2 hours---you will know the potatoes are done when you stir them and they look done.

so very scientific...



The Verdict.

This worked. The stove is MUCH quicker, and the results are exactly the same. The only advantage of using the crock in this instance is that you can put all the ingredients in the crock together and leave it alone. Just like making them on the stove, they will thicken once you remove the cooked product from the heat.

CrockPot Green Bean Casserole

Day 161.

It's day 2 of Retro Week!

That is not a picture of dog barf. It's green bean casserole. I've never actually had green bean casserole. It's on the table, lots, during the holidays, and I'm sure I've put some on my plate, but I don't actually eat it.

I don't like canned green beans. My grandma makes a 3-bean salad that uses canned green beans, and I like that. But that's it.

I kind of could go on and on about why I find canned green beans icky. But I'm not going to, because they are staple in a lot of homes, and I should be nice.

Canned green beans are not my cup of tea.

I really like fresh green beans, though, and in honor of Retro Week decided to make a new-and-improved green bean casserole. In the crockpot.

The Ingredients.

--1 lb fresh green beans

--2 cups homemade cream of mushroom soup.

--1 cup General Mills Rice Chex cereal (make sure the label is marked Gluten Free if you are gluten free. There are still some old boxes on shelves)

--1/2 t onion powder

--1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

if you would like the recipe using the canned cream of mushroom soup, it is here. This recipe calls for 4 cups of cooked green beans. Since you're going to be using your crock, the fresh will cook nicely, and you can put in raw beans.

The Directions.

Wash and trim the green beans. If you feel the need to cut the green beans so they are all the same length, go for it, but they will cook fine left uneven.

Add the frozen soup, or canned soup and the milk that the canned soup version asks for. Mix the green beans with the liquid.

Put the rice chex in a ziploc and smash to desired crumbiness. Add the onion powder and the parmesan to the bag, and shake to mix.

Pour evenly over the top of the beans.

Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours, or on high for 2-3.

The Verdict.

I liked this much better than the canned green bean casserole. The green beans still had a crunch, even after being slow-cooked. The topping wasn't as crisp as it would have been if I had used the french's fried onions, but the flavor was there, and the cheese added a nice salty flavor. The homemade cream of mushroom rocks, and was quite flavorful.

The brown chunks of mushroom were really unnerving, though. It felt like we were eating dog food. Or puked-up dog food.

But it tasted good. I don't know what to think of this. It worked, it tasted good, and if you like green bean casserole, you'd probably like it. I think I like lightly steamed green beans better with a squeeze of lemon. or stir-fried with some chili oil. or baked with salmon. or in a stew.

CrockPot Tomato Curried Potatoes

Day 179.



I found a new-to-me blog yesterday when I was following link after link after link. I immediately wrote down all the ingredients for Julie's Tomato Curried Potatoes, and shut down the blog. When the potatoes were done I spent forty-five minutes finding the blog in order to give proper credit.



I live an exciting life.



Jan 09: I have re-made and edited this post. The ingredients listed reflect my changes.



The Ingredients.

Adapted from Dinner with Julie



--7 red potatoes

--1 T olive oil

--1 can diced tomatoes, drained

--2 t paprika

--2 t curry powder

--2 t chili powder

--2 t sugar

--1/2 t kosher salt





The Directions.



Use a 4 quart crockpot. The night before cooking, wash and chop the potatoes in 1-inch chunks and put into a zippered freezer bag. Add olive oil, paprika, curry, chili powder, sugar, and salt. Shake well. Add drained tomatoes, and toss again. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, pour bag into crockpot, and turn on. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for about 4. The potatoes are done when they are fork-tender.



The Verdict.



These smelled delicious while they were cooking, and transferred nicely to the crock. The potatoes were tender and had a nice browning of the skin. The first time I made these, I didn't add enough spices. This is the right combination, and if you have time to do so, marinating overnight in the refrigerator is really the way to go.



Thank you so much to Julie!

if you like this, you might like these:

Thai Curry

Indian Curry

Indian Chicken

Vegetarian Curry

Thai Coconut Soup

Lamb Vindaloo

Indian Spinach with Potatoes

CrockPot Ranch Vegetables

Day 195!

One hundred and ninety-five. Holy cow.

I made the easiest vegetables yesterday in my four quart crockpot. We had a busy day planned, and I wasn't able to get to the grocery store. We also have SO many leftovers from last week, that we needed to desperately clean out the refrigerator.

The Ingredients.

--5 cups of fresh vegetables. I had broccoli, two different bell peppers, and tomatoes in the house, so that's what I used. I think carrots would have been a nice addition, and squash, if I had any.

--1 packet dry ranch dressing mix (please read label carefully if you have allergies. I used Hidden Valley Original mix.

--1/4 cup water


The Directions.

--wash and trim all the veggies
--dump them into the crock. 5-6 cups of fresh vegetables will fit in a 3.5 qt or larger crockpot.
--sprinkle in the ranch dressing mix, toss gingerly with a large spoon to coat vegetables a bit
--add 1/4 cup of water

Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours. The vegetables are done when they reach desired tenderness for your family. I like vegetables to have a crisp to them, and took ours out of the crock at 2.5 hours.


The Verdict.

This is a simple way to have steamed, flavorful vegetables as an accompaniment to your main meal. My kids both really like broccoli, and they like ranch dressing.

The flavor is mild, it isn't dripping in flavor; which is okay with me---we like vegetables to taste like vegetables. If you are trying to mask the vegetables completely, you might want 2 packets of seasoning.

I was surprised at how much liquid formed in the crockpot. There wasn't tons, but I think you could get away with 2-3 tablespoons of water instead of a whole 1/4 cup.

CrockPot Quinoa Casserole

Day 209.

We eat a lot of quinoa in our house. I put it in the rice cooker and we eat it a few times a week as our starch. The kids request it for lunch quite often, and eat it with butter and shredded cheese.

Many people don't know what quinoa is. That's okay. We didn't start eating it until just this past year. Here is a quick article on what it is, exactly. I thought it was a grain (because the Trader Joe's box says so), but the article says that's actually the seed of a leafy plant. Huh.

If you've never cooked with quinoa before, this is a great recipe to try---it is full of yummy stuff, and is a light, yet comforting meal or side dish.

The Ingredients.

--1 1/2 cups quinoa
--3 cups broth (chicken or vegetable; I used chicken)
--1 T olive oil
--1/2 t salt
--1/2 t cinnamon
--1/4 sliced or chopped almonds
--1/3 cup dried unsweetened cranberries

--handful of baby spinach
--1 cup baby tomatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
--1/2 block feta cheese, crumbled

The Directions.

You are supposed to rinse quinoa. I didn't know this until I made the disastrous overnight brown rice and quinoa pudding, and read all of the comments. I still don't rinse the quinoa that comes in the orange box from Trader Joe's. If you have a different brand, or are using quinoa from bulk, rinse it in a fine mesh strainer until the water runs clear.

Dump it into the crockpot. I used my 6qt Smart Pot for this dish.
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and mix it around. Add chicken or vegetable broth, the salt, and cinnamon. Stir in almonds and cranberries.

Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours, or on high for 2-4. The quinoa is done when you can fluff it with a fork and it is tender. The liquid should be pretty well absorbed, similar to how you know rice is done.

Fluff the quinoa with a fork, and add the baby tomatoes and feta cheese. Stir gingerly to mix. Add a large handful of baby spinach to the top of the crockpot, and close the lid. Cook on high for about 20 minutes, or until the spinach has wilted. Stir again to distribute the spinach.

Serve.

The Verdict.

We ate this for lunch yesterday, and really enjoyed it. I can see adding garbanzo beans for a bit more protein and to up the heartiness. I was quite pleased with the very mild cinnamon flavor, and loved the cooked cranberries and almonds.

The kids both liked this.

This will be made again. Very soon.

CrockPot Stewed Tomatoes

Day 221.

A hundred million years ago before we had children, Adam and I went to a really fancy restaurant and they served us stewed tomatoes as a side dish. Being the classy folk we are, we immediately began poking fun at how we were spending a bunch of money on canned tomatoes. Then we started in on baby animal hearts.

we're just lovely people, I tell you...

but! Then we tasted them. The tomatoes were delicious. Warm, flavorful, and a bit spicy.

The Ingredients.

--2 cans of whole plum tomatoes (28 oz cans), drained (I used the kind that had basil in them already)
--1/4 t ground black pepper
--1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
--5 T butter, sliced

The Directions.

I used a 4qt round crockpot for this dish. If you only have a huge crockpot, keep an eye on it so the tomatoes don't burn, or double the recipe.

Drain the tomatoes--use a strainer--you don't need any of the can liquid. Plop the tomatoes into the crockpot. Sprinkle on the ground black pepper. Add the Parmesan cheese. Slice your butter into thin squares, and dot them over the top of the cheese.

Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or until cheese is bubbly and is beginning to brown.

The Verdict.

so so good. I really liked these, a lot. I'm not a big tomato eater; I take them out of sandwiches usually,and I don't use ketchup on french fries. I am surprised, REALLY surprised, how much I like tomatoes this way.

I ate them for dinner, instead of as a side dish.

The kids didn't come close to attempting a bite. I blame the baby animal heart conversation.

Southwestern CrockPot Sweet Potato and Corn Medly

Day 229.

This is a great side dish. The flavors dance in your mouth---which is a saying I never, ever thought I'd ever say (or type), but there you go. That's what they do.

Simple to put together, but looks great on a buffet table--this is a great dish.

The Ingredients.

--3 med. sweet potatoes (1 1/2 lbs)
--1 can corn, drained
--1/4 cup chopped onion
--2 limes, juiced
--1 tsp chili powder
--1/2 tsp kosher salt
--3 T chopped fresh basil leaves

The Directions.

This is a good recipe for a 3-4 quart crockpot. If you have a larger one, consider doubling for leftovers, or stay close by so the sweet potatoes don't over cook and turn to mush.

Peel and cube the sweet potato into 1-inch or so chunks. Plop them into the crock. Add diced onion, the drained corn, and the fresh basil leaves. Sprinkle in the chili powder and salt. Squeeze the limes, and then toss everything so the seasoning is dispersed somewhat evenly.

Cover and cook on low for 5 hours, or on high for 3-4. This is done when the potatoes have reached desired tenderness.

The Verdict.

A delicious, and incredibly healthy side dish, or in my case, lunch for the next 3 days. The kids didn't like the lime flavor at all.
oh well, more for me!

CrockPot Layered Dinner--Steak, Potatoes, Corn on the Cob

Day 232.

I made a complete meal in the crockpot last night, and it wasn't a soup, stew, or casserole. I made rib eye steak, baked potato, and corn on the cob. It wasn't soggy, nor was it dried out, and I was able to leave the house for six hours.

The crockpot rocks.

I had been meaning to try a layered dinner in the crock for a few months, now, but kind of forgot. I am so glad that Julie emailed me! She made steak and sweet potatoes that way last week, with great success.

The Ingredients.

This is what I used. You can use whatever meat or vegetables you have in the house. The trick is to not use too much liquid when cooking the meat, so the potatoes and the corn (or whatever you're using) isn't floating in juice.

--1 1/1 lbs rib eye steak
--1 T of your favorite seasoning rub
--1 T dried onion flakes (a fresh onion would be fine. I wasn't in a chopping mood.)
--2 T Worcestershire sauce (Lea and Perrins is GF)
--1/4 cup tequila (or broth, apple juice, etc.)

--2-4 potatoes
--2-4 ears of fresh corn
--aluminum foil

In my 6 quart Smart Pot, I used 2 whole brown potatoes, and 4 ears of corn. I could have fit another potato in, probably.

The Directions.

Put meat in the bottom of the crockpot. Rub with seasoning and onion, and flip over to get the other side. Add tequila and Worcestershire sauce.

Wash potatoes and cover with foil. Add to the pot. Shuck the corn, and wrap each ear in foil. Add to the crockpot.

It doesn't seem to matter if the potatoes are closer to the meat, or the corn. The new crockpots heat from the sides as well as from the bottom, so everything will cook through regardless of location.

Cover and cook on high for 5-7 hours, or on low for about 8. I cooked our dinner for 6 hours on high. My crockpot was quite full.

The Verdict.

This was a great dinner. It's out-of-the-norm for us to have such a complete meal on a Monday night, which made it fun and new. I plan on doing more layered crockpot cooking---it's so nice to have everything plopped in and the kitchen clean by noon.

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.

Jalapeno Corn Pudding CrockPot Recipe

Day 241.

I've never had corn pudding before. There are a lot of things I've never had before. I don't seem to get out much. I'm working on it.

The kids and I went to the library with my mom last week and I checked out a bunch of cooking books and magazines. One of the books was on Southern Cooking, and I xeroxed a corn pudding with chiles recipe. When I went to make it yesterday, I realized I didn't have a few of the listed ingredients, and wasn't in the mood for heavy cream and a bunch of butter.

So I tweaked. The finished result is sweet and velvety with a tangy-spicy kick. If I wasn't badly sunburned, I'd give myself a pat on the back.

The Ingredients.

--2 cups of frozen or fresh corn kernels (I used frozen, 1 cup regular corn, and 1 cup roasted)
--2 T unsalted butter, melted
--1 cup milk (2% or lower)
--2 eggs
--2 T white sugar
--2 T flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
--1 tsp baking powder (I omitted this because Bob's has it in there already)
--1/2 tsp Kosher salt
--2 T jalapeno pepper slices, chopped
--1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

The Directions.

I used a 4 quart round crockpot for this recipe. It was a good size.

Spray the inside of your crockpot with cooking spray. Melt the butter in the microwave and put it in. Add milk, eggs, salt, sugar, flour, and baking powder. Whisk the ingredients together. Stir in the corn kernels, cheese, and chopped jalapenos.

Cover and cook on low for 3-5 hours. This is cooked through when the edges brown and begin to pull from the sides and the center is set. Take the lid off for 20-30 minutes when set and continue to cook on low to get rid of the added condensation.

I cooked our pudding for exactly 4 hours on low, then let it cook for another 20 with the lid off.

The Verdict.

Adam and I loved this. The kids had plenty of leftover food in the house to munch on---but did try a spoonful or two with the jalapenos removed. Adam and I had this alongside a spinach salad.
This would be a welcome addition to a holiday dinner or potluck supper.

CrockPot Stuffed Tomatoes Recipe

Day 243.

More tomatoes! Tomatoes are good for you. They have stuff in them that is good. Vitamins.

I had more tomatoes on the counter, and decided to stuff them with some leftover cheese I had in the fridge. I had a little baggy with some goat cheese, some feta, and a little block of cream cheese that I must have picked up on sale.

I have stuffed jalapeno peppers and bell pepper with success, and assumed that the tomatoes would work the same way.


The Ingredients.

--5 or more largish vine-ripened tomatoes
--creamy cheese. You'll need about 2 T per tomato. I used a mixture of cream cheese, goat, and feta. Ricotta and maybe even cottage cheese would work, too.
--one garlic clove, chopped
--2 T fresh chopped basil

The Directions.

Cut the core out of each tomato. This is much more difficult that I thought it would be. I got slimy and gross and made one of my new back-to-school tops polka-dotty. Wear an apron.

In a bowl, cream together the cheese that you are going to use with the chopped garlic and basil. Stuff the cheese mixture into the cored tomatoes.

Pour 1/4 cup of water into the crockpot you are going to use. I used a 4 quart with 5 tomatoes, and easily could have put another 5 in there.

Nestle the tomatoes into the bottom of your crockpot.

Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours. These will not take long at all. If you overcook, it's not the end of the world, they will just begin to lose their shape and you'll get a stewy tomato covered with yummy cheese.

The Verdict.

I ate them all. We were going out to dinner, and were meeting Adam. The kids already had on nice(ish) clothes and I didn't want tomato juice on them.

So I took one for the team and ate them all myself.

Then I went out and ate an entire platter of Flautas.

I'm going to go for a run today.

Lima Bean Casserole Cassoulet CrockPot Recipe

Day 269.

I googled casserole vs. cassoulet and didn't get a very good answer. Somebody should write an article really laying out the differences---it'd get a lot of hits. In my very (very) limited breadth of knowledge, I'm going to decide that they are the same thing, but cassoulets use beans as a base instead of rice or pasta.

And cassoulet is French, so your coolness factor goes up just by using the word.

I also googled "are lima beans vegetables or beans" and only got an answer about whether or not they are a fruit or vegetable. I can't imagine anyone could really think they are a fruit, but whatever. Growing up, I was certain they were vegetables, because they were greenish and came in a little container swimming in butter at the school cafeteria. And they are in the frozen vegetable section of the grocery store.

But I think they are beans, which are legumes. And this ends pretty much everything I know.

my brain is now empty.

Don't be scared to try lima beans. I got the kids to try them---and my parents each had two bowls.

The Ingredients.

--1 pound of dried lima beans (soaked over night)
--28 oz can diced tomatoes
--2 cups diced ham, or turkey ham
--1 medium yellow onion, chopped
--3 smashed and chopped garlic cloves
--1/2 tsp black pepper
--1 T dried mustard
--1 cup water

The Directions.

Soak the beans overnight in a bunch of cold water. They will expand, so use enough water to cover them at least 4 inches.

In the morning, drain and rinse the beans. Dump into a 4 quart or larger crockpot. Add a fresh cup of water.

Dice up the ham or turkey ham (I think chicken and apple sausages would be good, too) and add on top.

Open the can of tomatoes, and pour in the whole can. Chop the onion and garlic and add. Stir in the spices.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. I cooked our beans for about 7. This is done when the beans are tender. If you cook this too long, the only harm will be that the beans begin to fall apart.

The Verdict.

I really was astonished at how much I liked this. I couldn't get enough, and I'm pretty sure I was annoying Adam by going on and on (and on some more) about how amazing it was that lima beans could taste so good.

Lima beans have been given a bad rap. We should change that.


yes, I'm writing this at 3 in the morning. I couldn't sleep. Should I just be up for the day, or go back to bed. That is the question...

CrockPot Boston Baked Beans Recipe

Day 272.

These are very good beans. Our family always has an 8-pack of Bush's Baked Beans on the shelf in the garage. We buy them in bulk at Costco, and they are a go-to for an easy snack or lunch for the kids (and me!). Because I like them so much, I never really played around with making a Baked Bean anything of my own.

Until Friday. We brought these beans to a PTA potluck, and everyone who tried them commented on how good they were.

I'm going to make another batch today for lunch, because we weren't able to eat as much as we would have liked.

The Ingredients.

This is enough food to feed 8-10 as a side dish. Next time I will make more.

--3 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
--2 medium onions, chopped finely, or 2 T dried minced onion (I used dried, because I didn't want to get to the store. I wish I had been able to get fresh)
--1/2 cup brown sugar
--1/4 cup molasses
--1/3 cup ketchup
--1 tsp salt
--1 1/2 tsp dried mustard
--1/4 tsp black pepper
--1/2 pound of bacon, or equivalent. I used chicken and apple sausage.

The Directions.

I used a 4 quart crockpot, but this will fit in as small as a 1.5 quart.

Drain and rinse your beans, and add them to the crockpot. Add onion and brown sugar. Pour in the molasses and ketchup. Add spices. Stir to combine.

Lay slices of uncooked bacon over the top of the beans, or slice chicken and apple sausage and lay it over the top.

Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours, or high for about 4. I think you would discard the bacon after cooking, but I kept the chicken and apple sausage and mixed it in.

Our beans ended up being cooked on low for 6 hours, and then were on warm for another 3. They tasted great, but got a bit more dried out than I would have liked. I think if I had used bacon, they wouldn't have---the bacon would have created more juice. Using fresh onion would have helped, too.

The Verdict.

Very tasty.
This is a keeper. We'll make this often. The flavors were much richer than canned beans. If I was going to use dried beans, I'd probably use pinto or a white bean, after learning about that freaky kidney bean toxin.

Acorn Squash CrockPot Recipe

Day 279.

Autumn is here, and the grocery stores and produce stands are full of squash and colorful seasonal produce. I love the colors and smells of fall and the cooler weather. I purposely find piles of leafs to crunch through when walking the kids to school---this is a great time of year, and the perfect time to dig out the crockpot.

The hardest thing about this recipe is cutting through the squash. My mom told me (too late, I had already plopped the pieces in the crock) that she usually microwaves squash for a few minutes to soften the skin before cutting. I look forward to trying that next time. I ended up using the little orange serrated knife that comes with the jack o'lantern carving kit to get through the tough skin.

The Ingredients.

--acorn squash
--2 T brown sugar
--2 T butter
--2 tsp cinnamon
--4 pinches of salt

The Directions.

I use a 4 quart crockpot. Cut the squash in quarters, and scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp. I gave the innards to the guinea pigs; they were thrilled.

Put 1/2 T of butter and 1/2 T of brown sugar into each quarter. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of cinnamon onto each brown sugar pile. Add a small pinch of salt to each quarter.

Lower the pieces into your crockpot. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, or on low for about 3. The squash is finished when it is fork tender and peels away from the skin easily.

The Verdict.

My mom and I ate this, and liked it a lot. I was able to get one kid to try a bite, and she liked it, but I think she mostly got brown sugar. Adam doesn't like squash, but ate a few bites to be nice.

I will make this again. It was simple, tasty, and smelled wonderful. I'll just share with my mom.

CrockPot Baked Sweet Potatoes with Chili, Cumin and Lime

Day 296.

This is a Tyler Florence recipe. He pricks sweet potatoes with a fork, rubs equal parts cumin, chili powder, and kosher salt all over the skin, wraps the potato in foil and throws it on the grill.

This is the same thing. Instead of the grill, you can use your crockpot. I made regular baked potatoes earlier in the year, and was pretty confident that this would work nicely.

The Ingredients.

--4 large sweet potatoes, washed well
--1 tsp cumin
--1 tsp chili powder
--1 tsp kosher salt
--2 to 4 limes

The Directions.

I comfortably fit four sweet potatoes in a 6.5 quart crockpot. I couldn't have fit another.

Scrub the skin of each sweet potato with a vegetable brush under running water. Pat dry. Use a fork to prick the skin of each potato--maybe 6 times.

In a small bowl, combine the dry spices.

Lay out a length of foil big enough to encompass one sweet potato. Put the potato in the middle of the foil, and rub 1/4 of the spice mixture on the potato skin. A bunch will fall off. That's okay.
Wrap the foil all around the sweet potato. Repeat for each of your potatoes.

Put them all into a large crockpot and cover. Cook on high for 6-8 hours. The potatoes are done when a knife inserts easily and the potato flesh is fluffy. Ours cooked for 6.5 hours.

Squeeze lime juice on before eating.

The Verdict.

Delicious. I loved the flavor and the kick of lime. Adam didn't use the lime, because he thought the flavor was so good he didn't want to screw with it.

The chili, salt, and cumin made the skin tasty, but didn't really penetrate through to the inner flesh.

The kids didn't have any.

CrockPot Sweet and Sour Caramelized Onions

Day 300.

It is the 300th day of the year, and the day my youngest turns 4. If it wasn't for writing the day of the year each morning, I'd have no idea that every leap year her birthday falls on the 300th day. That's kind of neat.

She was awake at 5:51 this morning, hopping on her bed. Thankfully her older sister continued to sleep. She and Adam are in the living room playing with her birthday request: a toy barbecue. It has wheels, a little rotisserie complete with plastic chicken, and 'realistic' cooking sounds.

She couldn't be happier.

I made these onions last night on a whim because I had found this recipe in one of the Cooking Light magazines my mom brought over, and I liked the picture. They tasted fantastic and would be great paired with a nice juicy steak.

The Ingredients.
adapted from Jan. 2008 edition of Cooking Light, page 164

--2 pounds tiny onions (sometimes called boiler or pearl onions)
--1/2 cup raisins (one box)
--1 T butter
--2 T balsamic vinegar
--1 T sugar
--1/4 tsp kosher salt
--1/4 tsp black pepper
--1/4 cup pine nuts

The Directions.

I used a 6 quart crockpot, but anything 4 quarts and up will work.

Cut the top and bottom off of all of the onions and peel away the skin. If you get some of the onion and peel that off an outer layer, that's okay. It takes a while to peel the onions; make sure you're in a good mood.

Put the onions in the crockpot and toss with balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add the pat of butter and the raisins. Toss in the pine nuts.

Cover and cook on high for 2-4 hours, stirring every 45 minutes or so. I cooked ours for a bit more than 3 hours, and stirred 3 times. I wanted the onions to get brown and caramely on all sides.

The Verdict.

Adam and I liked this a lot. This would be a great accompaniment to a holiday meal, or to bring as an addition to a potluck dinner.

It looks fancy, and tastes fancy, but is easy to throw together. The raisins plumped and took on the vinegar flavor, and the pine nuts added a bit of crunch and some smokiness.

I'm off to eat a plastic chicken. I can't wait.

Pecan Topped Baked Sweet Potatoes CrockPot Recipe

Day 304.

ssshh. Don't look now, but Thanksgiving is around the corner. Tomorrow is actually Halloween, but I decided to get a move on and test out this sweet potato dish while I had 4 fresh in the house.

This is good. The kids liked it, Adam liked it, and while it was sweet, it wasn't overly sweet. No marshmallows were involved, which is usually how my kids enjoy baked sweet potatoes.

The Ingredients.

--4 peeled and sliced (1/4 inch thick) sweet potatoes
--1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
--1 cup nonfat evaporated milk (in a can in the baking aisle---I don't know how fresh transfers)
--3/4 cup brown sugar
--1 tsp vanilla extract
--4 T butter
--1 cup chopped pecans
--2 cups crumbled pretzels (I used EnerG gluten free)

The Directions.

I used a 4 quart round crockpot, and it was a great size. If you have a bigger one, go ahead and use it, but the cooking time will be quicker.

Peel and slice the sweet potato and stagger-stack in your crockpot. Cover with the 3/4 cup of brown sugar. Open the can of cranberry jelly and squish it out all over the top of the sugar and potatoes.

Mix the 1 tsp of vanilla with the cup of milk, and pour over the entire top.

Slice the butter, and dot it on top.

Crumble the pretzels and mix them with the chopped pecans. Sprinkle over the top.

Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 5-6. This is done when the sweet potatoes have reached desired tendency. We like ours pretty squishy.

Unplug and uncover. Let sit for 15 minutes before cutting into.

The Verdict.

These are some good sweet potatoes. The pretzels completely disappeared and are probably not necessary. I guess they added a bit of salt, but otherwise the texture was only from the pecans.

I liked the mixture of the tartness of the cranberries with the sweetness of the sweet potatoes.

I'd proudly serve these for Thanksgiving dinner.

I adapted this from the Halloween edition of Taste of Home, page 48. The original recipe asked for 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar, and a WHOLE cup of butter. Woah.

CrockPot Corn Risotto Recipe

Day 310.

I got this recipe from Terri (who gave use the awesome 3-packet roast) and she got it from the Dallas Morning News.

I made risotto earlier in the year, and was quite impressed with the results. Usually making risotto is quite a pain (I've been told. I haven't actually made any on the stove top because after reading the directions, I need a nap.), but it's quite easy in the crockpot. You plug it in and turn it on.

The Ingredients.

--1 1/4 cup arborio rice
--1 T olive oil
--1 T butter
--1 tsp onion flakes
--4 chopped cloves of garlic
--4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
--package of frozen corn (16 oz)
--1 tsp salt
--1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, depending on taste

to add later:
--1/4 cup heavy cream (I used fat free half and half)
--1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

The Directions.

I used a 4 quart crockpot.

Put the tablespoon of olive oil into the bottom of the crockpot, and swirl the rice and the onion flakes in it.

Chop the garlic and add, along with the salt and cayenne pepper. Add the frozen corn and the broth. Stir well. Drop in a pat of butter.

Cover and cook on high for about 2 hours, checking every 45 minutes or so. This is done when the liquid has absorbed and the rice is tender.

Unplug, and add the cream and parmesan cheese. Cover for 5 minutes, or until cheese melts completely.

Serve.

The Verdict.

Creamy and delicious. I didn't serve this right away and my rice sort of disintegrated, but it still tasted wonderful. The kids said it was like corn oatmeal, and they're right---it kind of is. The first risotto I made came out with a better texture, but this was fun to try and had a neat creamed corn flavor.

Thank you, Terri!