A couple of days ago I tried another one of the freezer crock pot recipes… this time it was teriyaki chicken. To give credit where credit is due, I got the recipe from Melissa Fallis’ blog via Pinterest. The recipe below is for two bags, so if you’re going to freeze, split the ingredients evenly. Again, one bag is perfect for two, so if you have a family, make the full recipe. Enjoy!
Crock Pot Chicken Teriyaki
Ingredients
1 bag of baby carrots (I accidentally used regular ones, just chopped them up)
1 red onion, cut into large pieces
2 twenty ounce cans of pineapple chunks, undrained
Today I decided to try another Pinterest recipe. I wanted something hearty and wintery. This soup was just the ticket – Mike and I both went back for seconds! The garlic bruschetta was super easy and a really nice addition.
Enjoy!
Winter Minestrone with Garlic Bruschetta
Ingredients
olive oil
4 ounces pancetta, diced
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
2 cups (1/2-inch) diced carrots (3 carrots)
2 cups (1/2-inch) diced celery (3 stalks)
2 1/2 cups (1/2-inch) diced peeled butternut squash
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
26 ounces canned tomatoes
6 to 8 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups cooked small pasta, such as tubetti
8 to 10 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup good dry white wine
2 tablespoons store-bought pesto
1 baguette
Instructions
Cook the pasta according to directions, set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy Dutch oven. Add the pancetta and cook over medium-low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Add the onions, carrots, celery, squash, garlic, and thyme and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften.
Add the tomatoes, 6 cups of the chicken stock, the bay leaf, 1 table-spoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
Discard the bay leaf. Add the beans and cooked pasta and heat through. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted. Stir in the wine and pesto. Serve with bruschetta.
To make bruschetta, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Slice the baguette at a 45-degree angle in 1/2 inch-thick slices. Brush both sides of the bread with olive oil and bake for 6 minutes, until lightly toasted. Take the slices out of the oven and rub the surface of each one with the cut clove of garlic.
Today I decided to try another one of the recipes from my Crock-Pot-A-Polooza several weeks back. To give credit where credit is due, I got the recipe from Melissa Fallis’ blog via Pinterest. The recipe below is for two bags, so if you’re going to freeze, split the ingredients evenly. Again, one bag is perfect for two, so if you have a family, make the full recipe. Enjoy!
Crock Pot BBQ Chicken
Ingredients
2 green bell peppers, cut into slices
1 red pepper, cut into slices
1 zucchini, chopped
3 onions, chopped
6 red potatoes, chopped (you can also use sweet potatoes)
A few weeks ago I did some serious crock pot preparation with my Crock-Pot-A-Polooza that I stuck in the freezer for a rainy day. Since the weather seems to not want to head back towards winter, I decided that today was a good day for the first test. I started with the Goulash… and it was amazing. Yes, it looks a little like dog food… I can’t help that it’s not very visually pleasing. Trust me, the taste is worth it. The recipe below is for two bags (just split the ingredients evenly between the two before you freeze them). One bag made the perfect amount for Mike and I – if you have kids or a super hungry husband, you might want to make the whole thing at once. I stole this recipe with pride from Melissa Fallis’ blog!
Goulash
Ingredients
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 onions, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 pounds beef stew meat
12 ounces tomato paste
4 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Cook for 8 hours on low heat in a crock pot.
About 10 minutes prior to serving, add 1/4 cup (1/2 cup if you’re making the whole recipe) sour cream and stir well.
Last night, in the midst of crazy crock potting, I tried a new recipe from Pinterest (click here for the original). It was a bit of a juggling act as it feels like you’re making two separate sauces, one of which needs constant stirring. It was fun to finally use my immersion blender! This was delicious, especially with the bit of fresh basil in it. Yum!
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons flour
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup half & half
2 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 pound farfalle or other short cut pasta
Instructions
Bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Start the tomato sauce. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Score the bottom of the tomatoes, blanch in the boiling water for about a minute, cool and peel. Discard skins. Roughly chop tomatoes and set aside. In a small saucepan, sweat the minced onion and garlic in about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium low heat for about 5 minutes, until soft. Add the tomatoes to the onion and garlic. Blend the sauce with an immersion blender to make it thinner and to break down the tomatoes. Cook about 15 minutes until thickened.
While the tomato sauce thickens, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions.
While the pasta and tomato sauce are cooking, make the alfredo sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth and cook about 2 minutes, until brown. Whisk in the milk, half & half, and garlic and season with salt & pepper. Continuously whisking, bring to a simmer and cook about 2 minutes until thickened. Fish out the garlic with a slotted spoon and discard. Whisk in the parmesan cheese. The sauce will be very thick, so add 1/3 cup of the hot pasta cooking water to the alfredo sauce to thin it out a bit. Remove from heat.
Drain the pasta and add to the alfredo sauce. Mix the basil into the tomato sauce and add the tomato sauce to the pasta. Mix well.
A long, long time ago on Pinterest, I pinned a “recipe” for crock pots. Basically, this girl had pulled together five of her favorite crock pot recipes and “cooked” them ahead of time. The idea is that you do all of the work ahead of time, then freeze what you would put in the crock pot in gallon freezer bags. Then, you pull a bag out the day before you want your meal, let it defrost in the fridge overnight and then plop it in your crock pot in the morning.
I followed her directions and labelled and laid out all of my bags:
Bags Laid Out
Then I started with the tedious part – the chopping of the veggies. I wish I would have taken a picture of them all laid out on the counter… it was impressive! Once I had the veggies chopped, I added the meat and spices to the bags. Then I sealed them up, squished out all the air and laid them flat in the freezer.
Completed Meals!
Pretty impressive, isn’t it? In total, it took me about an hour and a half from start to finish – not bad to have ten ready-made meals! I wrote on each bag the name of the meal, that it was meant for the crock pot, today’s date, and anything that needed to be added in the day of (more broth, water, etc). I’ll post the recipes as I try them… I don’t like to post them on here until I can give an honest review. Everything looked and smelled good though! If you want to see her blog, complete with recipes, click here!
Tonight I decided to try a new recipe for smothered pork chops. I’m not gonna lie, they were pretty darned delicious. And it’s a nice change to the general cooking of pork chops that actually keeps them juicy.
Smothered Pork Chops
Ingredients
4 center-cut bone-in pork loin chops
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 Tbsp. butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and diced
3 stalks celery, diced
5 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp. fresh thyme, minced
3 Tbsp. flour
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy creamhot pepper sauce, to tastesteamed rice
Instructions
Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. In a large frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chips to the pan and cook until the undersides are browned, about 3 minutes. Turn and brown the second side, about 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate.
Add the butter to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. When the butter has melted, add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic, and stir with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits in the pan. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in the thyme. Sprinkle in the flour and stir well. Gradually stir in the stock and bring to a simmer.
Return the pork chops to the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the pork shows no sign of pink when pierced, about 20 minutes. Transfer the chops to a plate. Stir the cream into the gravy in the pan and bring to a boil. Cook until thickened, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and hot pepper sauce. Pour the gravy over the pork and serve with steamed rice.
On a side note, my mom got Kati and I “garbage bowls” for Christmas. We were both a little shocked (I had never heard of one) and joked about it. I used it last night for popcorn and Mom said to call her when I used it for real. Well, I did. And I stand corrected. It really is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It has a non-stick bottom that keeps it from moving around and is way easier to throw everything into as you’re chopping (instead of the plastic bags from the store or running back and forth to the trash). It’s the perfect size and I love the color! Thanks Mom!!!!
Down The Road I Go 