BBQ Pulled Pork and Coleslaw Wonton Tacos

- 1/2 pound boneless pork sirloin

- 1 cup BBQ sauce 

- 2 cups prepared coleslaw 

- wonton wrappers 

Cook pork w BBQ sauce in crockpot on low for 8 hours.

Shred pork with fork. 

Preheat oven to 400.

Spray edges baking dish with non stick spray. 

Place wonton wrappers along edge of baking dish and bake for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.

Fill wonton tacos with pulled pork right when they come out of the oven while they're still pliable. 

Top tacos with coleslaw.

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Cashew Chicken

                                             

Huge fan of slow cooker meals over here. Set and and forget it! I found this recipe and as it cooked I had to tweak the seasonings a bit. It came out pretty good, I would try it without the potatoes next time, or maybe swap out for sweet potato.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite size pieces
• 1/2 red pepper diced
• 1/2 green pepper diced
• 1/2 onion diced
• 2 potatoes peeled and chopped 
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons red curry paste
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can coconut milk.
• cilantro, cashews, pineapple chunks (for garnish)
• jasmine rice (for serving)

Place chicken, peppers, onions and potatoes in crock pot.

In a bowl combine the chicken broth, curry paste, curry powder, garam masala, cumin and salt/ pepper to taste. Adjust seasonings if needed. Pour over chicken and veggies in crock pot.

Cook on low for 5 hours. 

Stir in coconut milk.

In a measuring cup combine cornstarch and 1/3 cup of cold water. Whisk to combine. 

Add cornstarch slurry into crock pot, and cook on high for 15-20 minutes until sauce has thickened. 

Season if needed.

Serve over jasmine rice, garnish with cilantro, cashews, and pineapple chunks.

Great new recipe to try! Another solid slow cooker recipe to add to my Fall rotation. Cheers!

Adapted from: Slow cooker curry cashew chicken

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

This was my Grandfather's recipe. Passed down to my mom, then to me. This really is the only beef stew recipe you will ever need to know. It's classic. Tastes the exact same every time. Perfect for this long cold season we've been having. I've literally made this 3 times in the past month.

We always serve our beef stew with Blueberry Muffins. It's the perfect combination of sweet and savory. The recipe above is a quick, easy, delicious 30 minute muffin that can easily be made while this beef stew is simmering away in the crock pot all day. Or even whip up really quick when you get home from work, before you eat. 

I promise this recipe won't let you down. Cheers!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pounds stew meat
• 4 red potatoes diced (I leave skin on)
• 1 cup baby carrots cut in half 
• 1/2 cup diced celery 
• 1 whole onion chopped 
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire 
• 1 tablespoon gravy master
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic 

Place stew meat in crock pot. Sprinkle flour, salt and pepper over meat. Stir to combine.

Add the potatoes, onion, carrots and celery. 

Add the beef broth, wocestershire, garlic and gravy master.

Stir well to combine all ingredients. 

Cook on low for 10 hours or High for 5 hours.

Do not open slow cooker while its going.

Stir thoroughly after time is up.

Serve with blueberry muffins or corn bread.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tiki Masala

A few weeks ago I made Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken- and it was amazing. I came across this recipe about the same time and couldn't wait to try this out. I really don't know which recipe was better- because this came out just as amazing. So good... I'm making it again later this week :) 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 28 oz can diced tomatoes
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons peeled and minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons garam masala
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• fresh chopped cilantro (for garnish)

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Add to slow cooker. Add in tomatoes, garlic, ginger, paste, garam masala, salt, and paprika. Stir to combine. Cook on low for 6- 8 hours.  Last 15 minutes of cooking add in coconut milk and leave slow cooker uncovered. Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve over rice. 

Just typing this recipe out- makes me want this so bad. So glad I'm making this again this week! Cheers!

Adapted from: Slow Cooker Tiki Masala

Slow Cooker Meatloaf (literally the best meatloaf I've ever had)

OK- so I made this today and I just had to post this recipe. It really is the best meatloaf I've ever tasted. And I know just saying this my mom is rolling in her grave- because I swore by her meatloaf my whole life. I now have a new favorite recipe. It was so moist and delicious.. Just absolutely amazing.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1 medium onion very finely diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper finely diced
• 3 cloves of garlic finely diced 
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 1 beaten egg
• 3/4 cup of tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

For Sauce:

• 3/4 cup of tomato saue
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar

Fold two pieces of heavy duty tinfoil into a long 2x12 (ish pieces) and arrange them as an 'X' in the bottom of crock pot:

Not my picture

In a large mixing bowl combine all of the meatloaf ingredients. Make sure the onion, pepper and garlic are really finely diced. Form into a loaf shape- and place on top of the tinfoil in the crock pot.

Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce and let simmer for 5 minutes. Pour 1/2 of the sauce over the meatloaf- and save the rest for the end.

Cover crockpot and cook on low for 6-7 hours. 1/2 hour before the loaf is finished- pour the remainder of the sauce on the loaf- cover and continue cooking for the remainder of the time.

When done- carefully remove and transfer to serving plate (I used two spatulas to get it out of the crock pot).

Served this with corn and twice baked potatoes (recipe up soon). The kids devoured it- and Mike said this was the best he's ever had. I really can't rave about this enough- I really hope you try this and enjoy! Cheers!

Adapted from: Crock Pot Moist Meatloaf

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken

This was actually really easy to make- and it was so friggen good! It's the garam masala that gives it the authentic Indian flavor. This seriously rivals a lot of curry chicken I've had. You can find the garam masala at any local world foods or Indian market. Of course we ate it all and I didn't even think of taking a picture, you'll just have to trust me!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup baby carrots (cut in half)
• 1 sweet potato (peeled and cut into bite sized cubes)
• 1 medium onion roughly chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic 
• 1 jalapeño cut and take seeds out
• 1 green bell pepper cut and take seeds out
• 1 5 oz can tomato paste
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• fresh cilantro for garnish

Place the chicken, carrots and sweet potato pieces in the crock pot. 

Combine the onion, garlic, jalapeño, pepper, coconut milk, tomato paste, salt, curry powder and garam masala in food processor pulse until everything is broken down into a (smoothish) sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken and veggies in the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Serve over rice, garnish with fresh cilantro.

I will be making this again for sure. I'm actually going to be trying a slow cooker chicken tiki masala soon too- so watch out for that recipe in the near future! Cheers!

Adapted from: slow cooker coconut curry chicken

2 Ingredient Pulled Pork

Hey foodie friends! I'm back from vacation and ready to cook up some yummy summer meals this week! First up is this super easy pulled pork recipe, exactly how my mom taught me. 2 ingredients in the slow cooker for 8 hours and you're done!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 small boneless pork loins
• 1 small bottle of sweet baby ray's BBQ sauce

Place 1/4 of the bottle of sauce in the bottom of the slow cooker, then place the pork in. Pour the rest of the BBQ sauce over the pork. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

When the pork is cooked, shred apart with two forks and allow the shredded meat to soak in the sauce. 

We served our pulled pork tonight over rice with broccoli, cole slaw and potato salad on the side. A nice BBQ themed dinner for a hot summer night. When the last thing I want to do is turn in the stove, anything made in the slow cooker is perfect! Cheers!

Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls

This was actually pretty easy to prep. The best thing about slow cooker recipes is a little prep time, then dinner is all ready later on and you don't have to worry about it. This was my first time doing stuffed cabbage and Mike loved it. Even Ollie the pickiest one, ate this two nights in a row. The sweet tomato sauce really gives it a great kick too.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 head of cabbage
• ½ cup uncooked rice
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ cup minced onion
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. pepper
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Place head of cabbage in a pot and fill it 1/4 with water and cover. Turn stove on medium/ high and steam cabbage for about 5 minutes until the leaves are easy to peel apart. Drain water and allow to cool until you're able to handle the cabbage, peel the leaves off and set aside.

To make hamburger mixture- combine beef, rice, egg, onion, garlic, salt and pepper together.

In a bowl combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, worcestershire sauce (if you want more sauce you can double this). 

Place a spoonful of beef mixture in the center of a leaf of cabbage, tuck edges in and roll. Place seam side down in the slow cooker. Repeat until all of the beef mixture is used. 

Pour sauce over the top of all the rolls in the slow cooker, cook on low for 8 hours.

We served these bad boys with some loaded potato salad, and veggies. So good, and the leftovers reheated pretty well too. The rice cooked perfectly with the beef, and the sauce was sweet and tangy. I'll be sure to use this recipe the next time I make this. Cheers!

Adapted from: slow cooker cabbage rolls

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

Made these super easy chicken sandwiches last night. Oh man, packed with flavor- and add a good roll on top of it, you can't go wrong. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (makes about 4 sandwiches)
• bread or rolls of your choice
• 1/4 cup grated parm cheese
• 3/4 caesar dressing
• 1 teaspoon parsley flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• garlic powder to taste
• romaine lettuce

Place chicken in a slow cooker with 1/2 cup of water. Cook on low for 3-4 hours.

Remove chicken and shred it with a fork.

Toss chicken with the dressing, cheese and seasonings. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Serve on a bun with romaine lettuce.

This is perfect to make on a summer day when you don't want to turn on the oven. Or if you want something easy that doesn't take to much work. One of the best sandwiches I've had in a while! Cheers!

Adapted from: slow cooker caesar chicken sandwiches

Shredded Beef Stew

When I make beef stew, I make my grandfathers recipe. In the crock pot, low and slow for 8 hours. I've never even attempted to make any other variation of this tried and true recipe. Until today. 

I made a roast last week in the crock pot to make shredded beef for burritos. I had a good amount of shredded beef left in the fridge from this and today was probably the last day it'd be good to use. So I decided to make some soup. Its February in New England, so why the hell not. 

INGREDIENTS:
 (For shredded beef)

• boneless roast ( any kind will do, I just happened to use a 3 pound eye roast. Remember this was left over beef from something else I made, so If you're just making beef for this stew than a small 1 pound roast would do. I only used about 2 cups of shredded beef for this stew).
• 1/2 can of pickled jalapeños and carrots with the juice (The kind I used for my spicy steak tacos)
• 3 beef bouillon cubes
• 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 10 peppercorns

Add all of these ingredients in the crockpot together, then add enough water to just cover the top of the roast.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove the roast from the crockpot and let cool until it's easy to shred by hand.

Strain the broth from the crock pot and set aside (this will be used for the soup).

INGREDIENTS:

(For Stew)

• 2 medium onions chopped
• 3 medium carrots chopped
• 4 medium celery stalks chopped
• 2 medium red potatoes chopped
• 4 garlic cloves chopped
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup of red wine
• reserved beef broth from crock pot (see above)
• 2-3 cups of water
• 3-4 beef bouillon cubes 
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon gravy master
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine onions, carrots, celery, garlic and potatoes in a large pot. Add in 4 tablespoons of butter and over medium high heat cook the veggies down. This will take about 15 minutes. Cook until the veggies are softened and the potatoes are pretty much cooked through. Add more butter during the cooking process if more moisture is needed.

Once the veggies are cooked and soft, add in the red wine and deglaze the pot. Scrape up all of the browned bits at the bottom of the pot (this is a ton of the flavor), cook for an additional 3-5 minutes until everything is unstuck from the bottom of the pot.

Add in your reserved beef broth from when you cooked the beef in the crock pot. And depending how much of that broth you have left add anywhere between 2-3 cups of water and 3-4 beef bouillon cubes. Finally add in your shredded beef. Bring everything to a simmer then reduce the heat to low. Everything is fully cooked, so just leave it on low/ warm until it's ready to be served.

If you have saved a ton of the reserved broth you might not need any water at all for more broth.  It's up to you on the broth/ veggie & meat ratio you want. I like a good amount of broth, because I could just drink it warm by itself. Especially now with this cold that I'm coming down with, the warm broth really helps my throat. Theres only so much tea I can drink, ya know? Also, when I make soup I like to keep it on the stove on low/warm through out the day. For lunch, a snack for the kids with some crackers or a little cup of broth. Its the perfect thing to have available all day long. Cheers!

Adult Famous Bowl (Onion Pulled Pork)

"Adult Famous Bowls" - as me and my husband like to call them (after the KFC Famous Bowl), are a really awesome- easy and filling meal that isn't just for adults. The bowls differ depending what we have in the house, but usually consist of a layering of potatoes, corn, meat and shredded cheese. This one that I made last night was especially delicious, if I do say so myself. This is how it did it:

INGREDIENTS:

• small piece of pork loin ( we had about a half pound of frozen pork loin, you can pretty much use any kind of pork since its going in the crock pot- it just depends on how many people you're serving.
• French onion soup ( we had about a cup and a half of left over home made soup from the day before, but I'm sure canned would be fine. You just need the liquid to cook the pork in)
• can of creamed corn
• potatoes for baking
• shredded cheddar cheese (for topping)
• scallions ( for topping)
• dollop of plain greek yogurt (for topping)

Place the pork in the crock pot with the french onion soup, cook on low for about 8 hours until you can pull it apart.

Bake some potatoes, this is the awesome recipe I used: easy baked potato

When the pork and potatoes are done, you are ready to assemble. Place the baked potato in the bottom of a bowl, break up a little with a fork and add a little butter. Then add your desired amount of creamed corn on top of the potato. Top that with the onion pulled pork. Finally add the cheese, greek yogurt and scallions if you'd like as a final touch. 

I love when we make these bowls. They truly are just the right amount of everything, and will fill you up. This whole meal cost under $5 to make, and with all ingredients that I had in the house already. Try it out, you won't be disappointed! Cheers!

Chicken Continental

I really wasn't sure if I wanted to post this recipe yet. It's a really special recipe to me that I don't hear of a lot of people making. My Mom used to make it when we were growing up. When I finally started cooking on my own, my Mom gave me the recipe and I started making it for her and my Dad on their birthdays. It's both of their favorites. Sadly my Mom passed away almost 2 years ago. So now I'm just cooking it for my Dad on his birthday. Actually my brother in law loves it so much he asked for it for his birthday this year too. Last night we did birthday dinner for my Dad and of course every one knew that I would be making this. And since I don't make it that often I decided that I would shard the wealth and post my version of the recipe. Tried and true, this might be one of the best things you will ever make in a crock pot. This will make a big crock pot full and make a ton of portions.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large pack of boneless skinless chicken thighs about 10
• 10 slices of bacon (or how ever many chicken thighs you are using)
• 1/2 jar of hormel sliced dried beef
• 2 large family sized cans cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 package (2 cups ) sliced baby bella mushrooms
• 2 bags of egg noodles
• 
  

First you want to line the bottom of your crock pot with the dried beef.

Then wrap each individual chicken thigh with 1 piece of bacon, and place on top of the dried beef.

Place half of the mushrooms on top of the chicken.

In a bowl, mix together cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, flour and the rest of the mushrooms. Then pour into the crock pot. Cook on low 8-10 hours.

Cook egg noodles according to direction.

When it's cooked, break up all the pieces of chicken in the crock pot and serve in a bowl over egg noodles.

This is not a weight watchers meal by any means. It's hearty and filling and salty and delicious. It is worth the preparation and the 10 hours of  waiting. I highly suggest making this and trust me, your life will never be the same. Enjoy!

Beef with Broccoli and Mushrooms in the Crock Pot

Ok, This will be the second night this week that I'm doing an "Asian Inspired" dish... But when I did my shopping this week I got a really good deal on the two main ingrediants (beef and broccoli)- and I remember seeing this recipe, so I decided to give it a whirl.

I got the beef and broccoli for about $7.00 together. And the rest of the ingredients are things that I usually have in my kitchen. The mushrooms are what was left over from the package I used for my stuffed peppers last night. 

I plan on this feeding 5 people tonight (3 adults, 2 kids) and having left overs too. For $7.00- not to shabby! 

INGREDIENTS:
(This was almost doubling the original recipe)

** This is a crock-pot recipe

• 2 pounds boneless beef chuck (I used stew meat and cut each piece depending on the size in half or thirds to make a nice bite size)
• 2 cups beef broth or stock ( I usually have my own stock in the fridge, what I used was left over stock from a corned beef I made)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons of minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon of powdered ginger
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 cups broccoli (rinsed and cut into florets, I used fresh broccoli)
• 1 cup mushrooms
• 1/2 white onion sliced thinly
• a few sliced scallions

To make the sauce, combine beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and red pepper in the bottom of the crock pot and whisk together. Add the cut beef and stir to combine. Cook on low in the crock pot for 3 hours.

At the 3 hour mark start preparing your veggies, if you haven't already done so. I threw them in a pot and steamed them for about 5 minutes, because once they are added to the beef in the crock pot- it is only going to cook for an additional 30 minutes to an hour.

Before you add the veggies into the crock pot take out about 1/2 cup of the 

broth, add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and whisk to make a slurry (to thicken up the sauce) then add back into the crock pot

Once quickly steamed, strain the veggies- then add to the crock pot, Then add the sliced scallions. Stir everything and cover. Check after 30 minutes - taste the sauce and add any more seasonings you may want according to taste. I added a little more sesame oil and ginger.

I served this with basmati rice.

Ollie and Maxx enjoying their fake out, take out :)















While the flavor of this was really good, (you cant go wrong with sesame oil and ginger) I think the next time (if there is a next time ) I do this dish I will probably apt out of it being a crock pot meal.

 I'll probably make the same sauce in a sauce pan, do the slurry to thicken it, but do a dredge of seasoned flour on the beef and fry it in vegetable oil in a pan then add the steamed veggies to that once the beef is cooked and top it off with the sauce. I think what this is lacking is the authentic crunch to the meat the flour and frying would provide. This would be a good meal however, for the time and efficiency that you can just throw everything in the crock pot and forget about it if you so choose to.


Credits:
Crock Pot Beef and Broccoli