Soon to be famous

This recipe was one of my first "Oh my gosh, this is the best thing I've ever had, can't live without it", non-soup crock-pot recipes. I got it from my friend Leslie (whom I must say that I love so much and miss getting to see every day, but I talk to her at least every day or two via some form of electronic communication). I have to give her props that all of her tweaking this recipe to make it fabulous paid off.

This is something I make at LEAST once a month, and never have enough left over to freeze because we eat every single solitary drop! One Sunday evening last summer, Patrick and Richard ate ALL of it. Yes, ALL of it, your heard me right. Anyway, even if there are no more chunks of meat or veggies, I will heat up the straggler remnants and have what I call pot roast soup ( just the juice and the tidbits of meat and veggies that remain). I urge you to try it and not adjust anything - she's right on the money with everything - even changing the seasoning packet seems to make a difference (the notes out to the side are all hers). So without further ado, here's...

Leslie's Famous Pot Roast

• 3 – 4 lb Roast
• Enough Veggies to fill up the Crock Pot with roast (I use baby carrots, new potatoes, mushrooms and sometimes celery)
• ½ Onion (sliced)

In a bowl mix the following ingredients:

• 1 can of Beef Broth
• ½ cup red cooking wine
• 1 tsp Paprika
• ½ tsp Basil
• ½ tsp Oregano
• ½ tsp Thyme
• 3 Cloves Garlic (minced)
• Pepper
• McCormick’s Pot Roast Seasoning (the seasoning that has the bag attached to it – I just like the flavor of this seasoning)
• ½ cup – cup of water

Mix all these ingredients and pour over the roast and veggies. Cook on Low 10 hours or on High 5 hours. I like to serve it with brown gravy.

...And did I mention that this is so way bad easy it's not even funny? Wow, how can I wait until Sunday to make this? Too bad chicken is already marinating for my Chicken Tikka Masala for tonight.

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff

Very easy, very Yummy - enough said. This is another one of those "don't judge before you've tried".
(...Sorry Leslie, this one isn't new to you.)

Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
• 1/8 cup margarine
• 1 package dry Italian salad dressing mix
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (I prefer to use the reduced fat, or nufatchel cheese, but NEVER EVER fat free)
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can reduced fat/healthy requests condensed cream of chicken soup

Put chicken, margarine and dressing mix in slow cooker; mix together and cook on low for 5 to 7 hours. *The chicken will be golden brown and have a roasted taste and appearance - something that wouldn't happen if soup was added at the beginning. Add cream cheese and soup, mix together and cook on high for another 1/2 hour or until heated through and warm. Serve with no-yolks egg noodles or pasta of your choice.

Since I there are a lot of variables (like how many ounces of chicken you use, what kind and how much pasta you pick), I don't feel comfortable giving you nutrition info since it could vary so much. But I can tell you that this is a pretty healthy recipe to taste so rich and yummy. Give it a try and enjoy!

Brown Sugar! (Sung like the Stones, of course)

Good song, good ingredient! I love brown sugar. It has lots of moisture in it and keeps cookies soft and makes good, yummy sauces. Since I'm a big fan, anything that has the ingredient in the title gets a try by me and oh so rarely rarely disappoints, today's recipe is no exception. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to "Brown Sugar Chicken"!

Seriously though, it is rare that I find a "basic" chicken crock pot recipe that excites me that doesn't have cheese and cream and stuff in it, and this one is pretty darn healthy! Before adding rice or veggies, about 284 calories per serving (if you make 4 servings out of it, but I personally think 6 servings is more like it). It is kind of carb heavy, but ultra low fat, and high in protein. I think that I'm going to try to start giving the nutritional breakdown of the recipes as often as I can now and I KNOW, I need to start adding pictures, but come on people, I DO have a life and don't really have time to plate my food in a pleasing manner and then have a mini photo shoot. Anyway, if you ever want to figure your recipes yourself, I would suggest the one at Sparkpeople. There are several out there on the internet, but I like this one the best. I digress though, onto the recipe!

Brown Sugar Chicken

• 2 lbs. boneless chicken pieces (I use breasts of course, but who am I to judge)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup vinegar (I use balsamic, but I like the strong taste, so I leave it up to you – you may HATE it with balsamic)
• 1/4 cup lemon -lime soda
• 2-3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
  

Place chicken pieces in your slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over the top of chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours depending on the size of the chicken pieces.
Serve with brown rice (none of that white stuff folks), and frozen oriental type veggies (nuke them first, of course).


Here's the nutritional breakdown of the entire recipe, so divide it by however many servings...
Calories
1,136.4
Total Fat
1.8 g
Saturated Fat
0.5 g
Polyunsaturated Fat
0.4 g
Monounsaturated Fat
0.4 g
Cholesterol
82.4 mg
Sodium
1,146.8 mg
Potassium
1,158.6 mg
Total Carbohydrate
245.7 g
Dietary Fiber
0.1 g
Sugars
30.5 g
Protein
33.8 g

Crock pot love (and smoked sausage and rice)

Hey guys. Not much going on here (thank goodness). I am partially recovered from the Mercedes half marathon from Sunday. I can now pick up my feet again instead of just sliding them along the floor. Thanks for those of you who supported my fundraising efforts for The Bell Center. It is MUCH appreciated. And for those of you who didn't, there's still time - just click "donate" on the widget on the right side of this blog. ...But onto cooking now!!!!

As you all know, I am quickly becoming the queen of the crockpot. There are weeks that I don't even put it away because I use it so much. OK, another reason that I use it so much might be laziness because the cabinet where I keep it has all of my pots and pans, so there's always a little frustration that goes with putting it away. Regardless of the reason, I'm a die-hard lover of my crock. I have a couple, but the one I use I highly suggest because of the timer on it. I can tell it how long to cook on high or low and once that time is over, it turns itself down to keep warm. I must say too, that its "keep warm" setting is not the pits-of-hell-boiling kind of keep warm that a couple of my other crocks have been. It is a truly superior crock pot if I may say so myself (and reasonably priced at your friendly, neighborhood Wal-Mart too)! Click here for details.

Also, while I'm on the subject of crockpots, here's a good ol' stand by. Nothing fancy, but always good and filling. Not to plain, but not too crazy either. Just a healthy set-it-and -forget-it (if I may plagiarize Ron Popeil's tag line) type meal.

SMOKED SAUSAGE AND RICE

• 1 pound turkey smoked sausage, sliced
• 1 ½ cup long-grained wild rice
• 2 ¾ cups chicken broth
• 1 16 oz can of diced or stewed tomatoes
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped (can sub 1 yellow onion, but has a different taste all together - still yummy, just different)
• 1 large green pepper, chopped
• 1 small zucchini, chopped
• Cajun seasoning, to taste (2 tsp is about my rule of thumb)

Add all ingredients in crockpot, mix well, and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. Checking at hour 4 to ensure rice doesn’t overcook.

Enjoy!
Gina