Low & Slow Pot Roast

 This is a recipe that is regularly rotated into my weekly supper menus. I like to buy beef roasts when they are on sale at the grocery store because they are so cheap then and this meal goes a long way. I started this blog entry at home and then finished at a friend's house. We had decided to do dinner together and so my husband and I brought the pot roast. It cooked all day and then all we had to do was bring the crock pot with us to our friends' house to eat! I had done all of the prep work the night before. I always put all the ingredients in and refrigerate everything overnight. I don't have a lot of spare time in the mornings so I usually just ask my husband to turn the crock pot on before he leaves for work in the morning. I leave early in the morning and it would cook too long if I turned it on. You will want to allow the pot roast to cook for about 8 hours on the LOW setting. You can cook it on high for 4 hours but I prefer to cook mine low and slow. This makes the meat more tender and it will easily shred with a fork. I also love this because I get to walk into a house that smells delicious. All I have to do is cook some rice and dinner is ready. Alright, let's get started!

 You will need the following: a boneless chuck roast (3-4 lbs.), 4-6 medium sized potatoes, 5-6 carrots, an onion, and a small jar of beef gravy.

Spray the bottom of your crock pot with cooking spray. Place your roast in the bottom of the pot. Toss in your peeled and diced carrots.

Throw in your peeled and diced potatoes and onion.

Drizzle the jar of beef gravy over the top of all of your ingredients. 

This is the point where I usually place everything in the refrigerator and keep it over night. Whenever you are ready, turn your crock pot on the LOW setting and allow it to cook for 8 hours.

Your roast will look like this when it is done. All of the veggies should be tender and the meat will pull apart easily with a fork. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Low & Slow Pot Roast

-boneless chuck roast (3-4 lbs.)

-4-6 medium sized potatoes

-5-6 carrots

-one onion

-small jar of beef gravy

Begin by peeling and dicing your potatoes and carrots. Chop up your onion into quarters or eighths. Spray the bottom of your slow cooker. Place the roast into the cooker. Toss in the carrots, potatoes, and onion. Pour the small jar of beef gravy evenly over the ingredients. Turn your slow cooker onto the LOW setting and cook for 8 hours. Serve over rice or egg noodles.

Chicken Stew

Thought I would share this recipe as we are entering days of colder weather. When it begins to get dark earlier and the chilling wind sets in, I always love a big pot of hot soup. This is the perfect recipe for a cold fall or winter day. It does make a large pot full of stew, so I like to freeze the leftovers and have meals at hand in the freezer.

For this recipe, you need: about 6 medium sized potatoes, 2 cups frozen corn, 2 cups frozen lima beans, 2 cups crushed tomatoes, 2 cups of tomato sauce (not pictured--oops), sugar (I prefer ideal, a sugar substitute), a whole chicken, salt & pepper, and 2 Tbsp. butter

Cover chicken with water and cook over medium to medium-high heat until it is done.When chicken is done, remove it from broth and set aside to cool a bit. Keep broth for the stew. Do NOT throw it out!

While the chicken is cooking, peel and dice the potatoes.

Pour enough broth into another pot to cook your peeled and diced potatoes. Add potatoes to the broth and cook until they are tender.

 Remove about a cup of potatoes and place into a coffee cup.

Smash these with a fork. This will later be added back to the stew to thicken it.

After the chicken has had time to cool, remove all of the meat from the bones and shred.

Add the corn to the original large pot of broth.

Pour in 2 cups tomato sauce,

2 cups of crushed tomatoes,

3 Tablespoons of sugar,

and salt & pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Then add the cup of smashed potatoes,

the rest of the cooked potatoes in broth,

and the shredded chicken.

That's one FULL pot! Now leave the stew uncovered and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Just before serving, drop in 2 Tablespoons of butter and let it melt.

Chicken Stew

-whole chicken

-6 medium potatoes

-2 cups of frozen corn

-2 cups of frozen baby lima beans

-2 cups tomato sauce

-2 cups crushed tomatoes

-3 Tbsp. sugar

-2 Tbsp. butter

-Salt & Pepper

Cook the chicken in boiling water over the stove. Remove chicken from the broth. Allow the chicken to cool and then pull the meat and shred. Spoon out as much fat from the broth as possible. Pour enough broth into another pot to cook your peeled and diced potatoes. Cook these in your broth until done. Remove about a cup of the potatoes and smash them in a coffee cup. Add corn, lima beans, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, salt, and pepper to your original large pot of broth. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the smashed potatoes, diced potatoes in broth, and shredded chicken to the pot and simmer with the lid off for about 45 minutes. Stir in 2 Tablespoons of butter and allow it to melt just before serving.

Slow Cooker Creamy Italian Chicken

I made the dish that is featured in this post in another kitchen while my husband was house sitting. We will pretend this is my kitchen and my pretty granite counter tops. Hehe :) This recipe is very easy and surprisingly good for how simple the ingredients are. This is a pretty popular slow cooker recipe. It may be one that you already have in your recipe book. If not, try it!

You will need: a package of chicken breasts, 2 cans of Cream of Chicken Soup, a packet of dry Italian dressing mix, 1 package of cream cheese (I used reduced fat), and  pasta (I like bow tie pasta with this dish)

This recipe does have a little bit of prep that needs to be done before you put everything into the slow cooker. Over low heat, mix together the two cans of cream of chicken soup and the cream cheese.

Stir and heat this until the ingredients are mixed thoroughly.

Spray the bottom of your slow cooker dish with cooking spray.

Place your chicken breasts into the bottom of the slow cooker and sprinkle the dry Italian dressing mix over them.

Pour the mixture of cream of chicken soup and cream cheese over the chicken and dressing. Place cover on slow cooker and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours. Just before the chicken is ready, cook your pasta or rice. Serve chicken over pasta.

Slow Cooker Creamy Italian Chicken

-one package of chicken breasts

-2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup

-8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened

-packet of dry Italian dressing mix

-bow tie pasta (or pasta or rice of your choice)

Combine cream cheese and cream of chicken soup in a small pot over low heat. Stir over heat until ingredients are combined. Spray the bottom of your slow cooker with cooking spray. Place the chicken in your slow cooker and sprinkle Italian dressing packet over it. Pour the soup and cream cheese mixture over the chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. You can leave it in there all day.  Once chicken is done, shred it into smaller pieces. Serve over pasta of your choice and enjoy.

You may want to toss some of the following ingredients in at the end as well: 

sun dried tomatoes

asparagus

broccoli

...any other ideas?