crock pot

Enchilada Soup

Anna Blankenheim Cooking, Recipes , , , ,

This last week Mike and I tried another InstantPot recipe that I found here. I’ll confess, thus far we’ve mostly used it to make rice, but decided to give the slow cooker a go with Enchilada Soup. It was absolutely delicious!

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Ingredients

For the enchilada sauce:
Neutral cooking oil, such as canola or safflower
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Mexican-style chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon sugar
2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
2 cups chicken stock, plus more for thinning if needed

For the soup:
1 (15-ounce) can yellow corn, drained
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
2 to 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Heavy cream, to taste, optional
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Cayenne pepper, optional

To serve:
Grated cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Tortilla chips
Cilantro

Directions

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large Dutch oven or skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and jalapeño and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and sugar and stir until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle boil, then transfer to the bowl of a slow cooker.

Add the corn, beans, and chicken thighs to a 5-quart (or larger) slow cooker. Cover and set on low for 6 to 7 hours (or high for 4 hours).

Shred the cooked chicken using two forks. Stir in a splash of heavy cream if desired. Give the soup a taste and season the soup with additional salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper, if needed.

Serve with cheddar cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, and cilantro for garnish.

 

Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef

Anna Blankenheim Cooking, Recipes , ,

Tonight we tried a slow cooker barbacoa beef recipe… it was delicious!

I didn’t take pictures because, to be honest, it’s not really pretty… but trust me, it tastes good! We took this beef and used corn tortillas to make street-style tacos.

Ingredients

1 can of chipotle peppers, plus all the adobo sauce it sits in
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 red onion, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 head garlic, peeled and cloves smashed
5 dry bay leaves
2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Juice of 4 limes
1/2 cup cider vinegar
5 to 7 pounds beef brisket
4 to 6 cups beef stock

Directions

Stir together chipotle peppers and sauce, cilantro, red onion, garlic, clove, salt, lime juice, and cider vinegar in the insert of a slow cooker. Place the brisket on top of this mixture. Add stock to cover the meat and place bay leaves on top. Use tongs to move the meat around gently to combine everything and put the lid on.

Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. It’s done when the meat can be pulled apart and shredded easily with forks.

Remove meat from slow cooker and place on rimmed baking sheet. Use two forks to pull the meat apart. Discard the fat, if desired. Place shredded beef in large bowl and ladle cooking liquid over the top a few scoops at a time. You want the meat to hold the liquid but not swim in it

Crock Pot Balsamic & Onion Pot Roast

Anna Blankenheim Cooking, Recipes , , ,

Tonight we tried the last freezer crock pot recipe. This is a really great alternative to the standard carrots & potatoes crock pot roast. Mike said that of all the crock pot recipes we’ve tried, this was his favorite! I did one thing a little differently than the original recipe… when everything was done, I took what was left in the crock pot and made gravy. It was absolutely delicious on our pasta and on the meat! Again, the ingredients below should be divided into two gallon freezer bags.

Crock Pot Balsamic & Onion Roast
Crock Pot Balsamic & Onion Roast

Ingredients

3-4 pound boneless roast
black pepper to taste
2-3 large onions, peeled and thickly sliced
15 oz. cup beef broth
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup tomato sauce

Directions

Add all ingredients to crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken

Anna Blankenheim Cooking, Recipes , ,

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
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

4 cloves garlic, chopped

4 chicken breasts

1 cup teriyaki sauce

 

Instructions

Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

Serve over Rice.

 

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

Anna Blankenheim Cooking, Recipes , ,

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
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)

4 cloves garlic, chopped

4 chicken breasts

1/2 tablespoon quick cooking tapioca

one 15 ounce can of tomato sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire

1 tablespoon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

 

Instructions

Cook in crock pot on low for 8 hours.

Serve over rice or egg noodles.

 

Goulash

Anna Blankenheim Cooking, Recipes , , ,

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
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.

Serve over egg noodles.

 

Crock-Pot-A-Polooza 2013

Anna Blankenheim Cooking

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
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!
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!