Today is going to be a short post because of parent-teacher conferences. I’m going to feature a recipe from the blog.
We love Spanish-style chicken noodle soup. The soup features orzo instead of egg noodles. The original recipe called for it to be made on the stovetop. I adapted it for the slow cooker, which is the only way I make it now.
The recipe calls for raw chicken breast, but you can use already cooked chicken if you have any already cooked chicken.
This week is a crazy week. I’ve got Parent-Teacher conferences on Tuesday and Thursday. So having food in the crockpot makes sense. Hubby will not have to worry about what to feed the boys.
Menu Plan Monday
Monday – Stuffed Pepper Soup
Tuesday – Crock pot chicken, Leftover Mashed Potatoes Macaroni and Cheese, Veggies
Since it’s Monday, I’m going to share one of my recipes from my blog. Did you know that you can cook a whole chicken in a crockpot? It’s the only way I “roast” a chicken for the family. In the mornings, I prep the chicken, place it in the crockpot, and then eat it for dinner.
You can freeze the chicken for other meals. So it’s a win-win!
Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the chicken. Here is the link to the blog post: Crockpot chicken.
So what can you do with the remaining chicken that you froze? Here are a few recipes that use already-cooked chicken:
Here is another great blog that features crock pot meals – Recipes that Crock. Cris has a lot of recipes that utilizes the crockpot. She has breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes. There are also recipes for desserts.
As I have done in weeks past, I’m going to feature two recipes that I would like to try from the blog.
Crockpot Beef and Noodles – This sounds absolutely delicious! I love beef and noodles so I can’t wait until I cook this.
Crockpot Corn on the Cob – We love eating corn on the cob at our house. Next summer, I will use this recipe to make corn on the cob. I won’t even have to heat up the kitchen with this recipe. Maybe I would cook up some baked potatoes simultaneously for a quick dinner.
I’ve signed up for a 31-day writing challenge. Every day in October, I post a new slow cooker recipe, a link to a previously posted slow cooker recipe, or a recipe from another blog.
The Wee One loves tacos. He will eat 2 to 3 tacos when I make tacos for him, which is good because he needs to eat.
On Friday, the Imaginative One would not be around for dinner. Hubby and I had plans with my co-workers. So I decided to make tacos for the Wee One and my mother-in-law, who would be watching him. He loved this recipe. In fact, he ate 3 tacos on Friday night.
I’ve signed up for a 31-day writing challenge. Every day in October, I post a new slow cooker recipe, a link to a previously posted slow cooker recipe, or a recipe from another blog.
This week I’ve shared many recipes. Click on the pictures of the recipes to go to the recipe.
Last Sunday, we went to an Apple Butter Festival for our lunch. We didn’t eat any apple butter because the line was SUPER long. The boys got to help stir the apple butter while it was cooking. They really enjoyed doing that.
On Wednesday, I went with my school down to Cincinnati to the Freedom Center. For some reason, the class I was chaperoning and another class went to the third floor. The rest of the classes went to the second floor. Since I was on the third floor, I had a great view of the Ohio River. While the other chaperones were watching the restrooms, I watched the students who were not in the bathroom. I took that opportunity to quickly take a picture of the view.
Later in the day, Google pictures stylized the picture. I love the look of the picture because it looks like a postcard. (Click on the picture to find more information about the Freedom Center. It’s an interesting place.)
When I did my research for slow cooking recipes, I noticed a few of the recipes used a casserole Crockpot. I was interested in the casserole Crockpot and decided I was going to treat myself to one for completing the 31 day writing challenge. One reason I want it is to use it on Thanksgiving. I’m going to be cooking the side dishes and desserts for Thanksgiving while my mother-in-law cooks the turkey.
On Thursday I was at Target and quickly looked at the crock pot aisle. I found the casserole Crockpot on sale for $29. So I took it as a sign that I needed that crockpot then. This morning I made Hubby and Wee One French toast and bacon and then put it in the casserole Crockpot to keep warm until they were ready to eat breakfast.
So very convenient!
Today’s slow cooker meal is not a real meal but a kitchen tip. Did you know you can make freezer kits for slow cooking meals? It makes life so much easier. Make a batch ahead of time. Then place the meals into freezer bags. The night before you are going to cook the dinner, pull the meal out of the freezer into the fridge to allow it defrost. Then on the morning you are going to cook the meal, you just put the food in the slow cooker. (Sometimes I don’t even defrost the meal.)
I saw a great idea where you make the bags and place inside a bread pan. Then you freeze the bag inside the bread pan. The freezer bag would be a perfect size for the freezer and the food inside would fit into the crockpot.
Here is the blog post about freezer kits with some links of blogs that have great slow cooking recipes that could be frozen.
I’ve signed up for a 31-day writing challenge. Every day in October, I post a new slow cooker recipe, a link to a previously posted slow cooker recipe, or a recipe from another blog.
Have you ever had a day where you wished you could go back to bed? Thursday was one of those days. So it was nice to come home to some comfort food.
We love pot roast at our house. I’ve made the same recipe for pot roast for over a decade. That is, until I found this recipe back in May. We have had it 3 times since, and we’ve enjoyed the meat each time.
The meat becomes super tender when cooked in vinegar. Yum! Plus, the flavor is out-of-the-world delicious. This pot roast is going into rotation at our house.
This is also a super easy recipe. You need only a few ingredients to make this dinner.
I’ve signed up for a 31-day writing challenge. Every day in October, I post a new slow cooker recipe, a link to a previously posted slow cooker recipe, or a recipe from another blog.
This pulled pork is super easy and only requires three ingredients.
I went on a field trip to the Freedom Center in Cincinnati yesterday. When I got home, I was exhausted, so having the pork in the slow cooker made having dinner easier. I shredded the pork and made some root beer barbecue sauce for the sandwiches. Imaginative One made some French fries to go with the sandwiches. The pulled pork sandwiches were such an easy dinner.
I ended up freezing the remaining pulled pork for future meals.
I’ve signed up for a 31-day writing challenge. Every day in October, I post a new slow cooker recipe, a link to a previously posted slow cooker recipe, or a recipe from another blog.
My family loves simple meals like sandwiches. These sloppy Joes are an easy meal to put together, especially if you bulk-cook the hamburger and use frozen peppers and onions.
Hubby enjoyed his sandwich. The boys balked at it because of the onions, peppers, and mushrooms. Wee One refused to try it, while the Imaginative One took out the onions, peppers, and onions. I loved it, but then again, I love cheese steaks!
So who and where did the cheese steak begin? I looked on the Internet and found the history of the first cheese steak, even though there was no cheese on the first sandwich.
1930s – During the 1930s in the Italian immigrant section of South Philadelphia, brothers Harry Olivieri (1916-2006) and Pat Olivieri sold hot dogs and sandwiches. Tired of hot dogs, Pat suggested that Harry go to a store and buy some beef. Harry brought it back, sliced it up and grilled the beef with some onions. The brothers piled the meat on rolls and were about to dig in when a cab driver arrived for lunch, smelled the meat and onions and demanded one of the sandwiches. Pat never got a bite because a cab driver drove by, smelled the sandwich, and asked how much? He didn’t know what to charge, so he charged a nickel. The cab driver supposedly said, “Hey . . . forget about those hot dogs, you should sell these.” It was not until 20 years later that cheese was added to the sandwich by a longtime employee, Joe Lorenzo, who was tired of the usual sandwich and added some cheese.
Each day in October, I’m going to share a meal or snack that can be cooked in the slow cooker. It may be from my blog, a new recipe, or one I found on the Internet. I’ll continue to post my other blog posts, so I may have a new blog post with a slow cooker recipe or the new blog post plus the slow cooker recipe.
I’ll link all slow cooker recipes to this page so you can find them easily.
I will share two recipes today because I only came up with the idea on my way home today.
The first recipe is one of mine on the blog. I’m reminded of my grandma whenever I make green beans, ham, and potatoes. I use frozen or fresh green beans. Grandma would use canned green beans that she would drain and rinse off.
The second recipe is from the other cooking blog that I quit writing on. It’s a way to bulk-cook hamburgers. Cooking it in the slow cooker makes it easier to prep for the week or in the freezer.
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