Slow Cooker Meatloaf

Can you do it?

Yes! You can!

I made my Thanksgiving Meatloaf

but any meatloaf recipe will work.

I layered some sliced potatoes and mini carrots

on the bottom then gathered up my 

mixed up meatloaf blend

and just set it on top.

I set it on low for about 7 hours

and there you have it!

This is a turkey meatloaf so there was

not much fat, just some liquid that gathered 

at the sides towards the end. 

If I was going to use a beef blend I 

would probably use very lean beef.

A grease slick on top might be less than appetizing.

I wish I would have figured this out years ago, 

but hey, 

better late than never :)

Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

There is not a thing in that title 

not to like.

Oh, and you make it in a slow cooker.

Aces!

My only problem is I neglected to

take a picture of it.

Sorry.

But, honestly, it's not that great a sight.

Tastes great though!

The thing you kind of forget is that since this 

is made in a slow cooker, those tots

don't get crispy, crunchy, wonderful. 

But they do become something 

different. 

But good.

I'll link to the original recipe site but really all you

do is layer 

 tots, 

bacon,

shredded cheese, 

cut up chicken breasts

(raw)

and repeat then pour 3/4 cup

of milk on top and slow cook away.

Comfort food.

Oh, and PS, 

!!!!BACON!!!!

http://www.thecountrycook.net/2012/07/cheesy-chicken-tater-tot-casserole-slow.html 

Brisket Bowls

It's what Rachel Ray calls it but really, 

there should be a more descriptive name for it. 

But as I have already established, 

I don't have the recipe naming skill.

Apparently neither does Rachel.

But I digress. 

This was really good.

The recipe has you cook it in a dutch oven but

you really could do it in a slow cooker too. 

There is a little asian hint of flavor to it but

not overpowering.

You are supposed to serve it with a slice of 

lime that you drizzle over and believe it or not, 

it was really good.

I did change up one thing in the recipe.

You were supposed to line a bowl with rice

that you have added spinach and cilantro to, 

making it *green* and then spoon the meat and 

sauce into the middle of it. 

Hence the name. 

But we are on a rice moratorium at the moment.

Thank you Consumer's Reports. 

It seems there is arsenic in our rice.

The Chinese have found yet another way to

yank our chains. 

Remember the red dye/paint in kids toys?

Well, now it's arsenic. 

It's running off fields from the pesticides and 

into the rice patties.

Mike thinks we should get rice made in the 

USA.

Are there rice patties in the USA?

But I digress yet again.

I used mashed sweet potatoes. 

So far they are arsenic free. 

And maybe even grown in the USA.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/brisket-bowls-recipe/index.html

Ropa Vieja

In an effort to rid myself of stacks of magazines

I decided to purge my growing pile of 

Food Network magazines. 

Just rip out the recipes I had dog eared and get rid

of the rest.

This one caught my eye and I actually (actually) had

everything it called for in my fridge/freezer/pantry.

I didn't have as many olives as it calls for which

was unfortunate, but still good. 

I also used a top round steak that was in my freezer.

Why it was there I cannot tell you.

It was probably a bit leaner than it should be.

Mike rolled his in a tortilla. 

Because that's what he does.

I ate mine with a dollop of sour cream. 

Because that's what I do. 

All in all a productive day. 

Got rid of some clutter and

had a good dinner to boot!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/slow-cooker-ropa-vieja-recipe/index.html

Slow Cooker Goulash

This is from 

Cuisine At Home.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, 

I really like this magazine. 

There is always at least one recipe in every issue

I want to make and so far they have all been good!

This recipe has you dust the chuck roast with flour and brown it off.

then you saute onions, beets, celery and carrots in the

pan. Then you add tomato paste, garlic, paprika,

cumin, coriander and caraway seeds. 

You deglaze with red wine and beef broth, put the whole mess

in the slow cooker and at the end shred the meat

and finish with red wine vinegar and parsley.

Here's where I went all renegade, 

the first night I served it with the egg noodles it suggested

(hence the errant noodle or two in the photo), 

but the second night I served it over a baked  sweet potato.

Yes!

Perfection!

I think it's funny how very similar all 

"chuck roast in the slow cooker"

recipes tend to be and that just a few variations

can make such a big difference.

This one's a keeper.

Aggie's 3-Bean Pumpkin Chili

That's Aggie of 

Aggie's Kitchen.

She helped me out with Michael and Michelle's wedding.

She's good people.

She also got me started blogging.

Last week she posted this

Slow Cooker 3-Bean Pumpkin Chili

and it just struck a chord with me so I gave it a try.

It's terrific.

Here's my take on it:

I used black, northern and pinto beans,

I added a sweet potato, 

I used mushroom broth,

and fire roasted tomatoes.

It's really good and hearty. 

And pretty colorful besides. 

Thanks again, Aggie!

Roasted Lamb Curry

Or as Aarti likes to call it

Night Night Curry.

It had really good flavor but I thought the meat was 

a little dry so I think next time I will try making this in

the Crock Pot.

It was definitely worth a second shot.

Something not worth  a second shot?

Shelling and hulling enough cardamom pods to equal 2 tablespoons 

of these:

Not the "big " black ones in the front. 

Nooo, you need a tablespoonful of those tiny green ones.

So that you can make your own Garam Masala

of which you will use 1/4 teaspoon.

Live and learn.

I'm just here to help.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/night-night-curry-roasted-lamb-curry-with-garam-masala-caraway-and-apricots-recipe/index.html

Chipotle Brisket with Sweet Potatoes

I love making things I haven't made before. 

It's funny, when I go to a favorite restaurant  I 

will frequently order the same thing.

But when it comes to cooking I really enjoy experimenting. 

So here you have today's adventure:

This came from my friends at Relish.

http://www.relish.com/recipes/chipotle-brisket-with-sweet-potatoes1/

Try to ignore the ads, I am not a fan but I guess

everybody needs to pay their bills.

This was really good. I have a couple of comments.

The only time I have prepared a brisket was one that was corned.

As in Corned Beef.

I was tempted to grab a chuck roast, they were quite a bit cheaper,

but hey, you have to spread your wings.

I'm glad I did. The brisket was really 

tender but not all shreddy and fally aparty (technical terms)

like a chuck roast would be. 

It also had great flavor but different from chuck. 

My other point of interest was the 

Chipotles in Adobo sauce.

The instructions call for you to "seed" the chilis.

Good luck. 

I gave up and just tossed the whole mess in. 

Well, it was a bit on the *hot* side and 

I did need a glass of milk at my side. 

But, the smoky flavor they imparted was amazing.

Bottom line, I will make this again, but somebody.

PLEASE, 

Give me a clue about "seeding" chipotles in adobo sauce!

Asian Pork With Snow Peas,

Red Peppers, and Soba Noodles.

Boy, that's a long name for something.

But worth every syllable.

I love Asian flavors and as long as I refer to them as such and not

"Chinese" I seem to be able to get away with it.

Mind you, my husband has nothing against the ethnicity,

just what he perceives as their cuisine. 

So Asian it was tonight!

This recipe came courtesy of Real Simple Magazine. 

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/slow-cooker-asian-pork-with-snow-peas-red-peppers-and-soba-noodles-00000000052428/index.html

Real Simple Magazine came courtesy of Indra.

Thanks, Indra :o)

K, so here's the scoop; 

I followed the recipe pretty closely, 

I did substitute wheat spaghetti for the soba noodles

and cashews for the peanuts. 

The meat I used was called a 

"pork shoulder blade steak".

I cut the meat into pieces as the recipe instructed but then I 

tossed the bone in for the heck of it.

I think this would be really good with pork country ribs too. 

Just cook them whole and then shred them at the end.

The recipe has you slice the ginger. I pulled the slices

out before serving, biting into a hunk of ginger just

doesn't sound like a good thing to me, but I

could be wrong.

Happens sometimes.

Yum!

It's a keeper :o)

Mediterranean Beef and Pasta

I'm always on the look out for something different to

make in the Crock-Pot and today I hit upon this on 

the official Crock-Pot Facebook page.

Yep, they have one.

It's pretty straight forward and turned out good. 

I think next time I would:

add some italian sausage,

sprinkle some toasted pine nuts on top,

and use twice as many olives, maybe even throw in some green ones.

Oh, and the sauce is pretty thick so I felt the farfalle was a better

pairing than the fettuccine they called for.

Gotta love those canned green beans. 

But I had issues.

Wednesday nights are pretty rushed around here. 

Mike has to leave for church at 5:45 and I work till 5 so

something that cooks while I'm gone is the best bet.

And this would have been great had I been able to work today :o(

I went shopping this morning.

I spent $160.00.

(don't even ask why I have a picture of my haul)

Once I got done photo-documenting said purchase I opened

the fridge to load it up and noticed the yogurt I picked up to move

didn't feel cold.

At all. 

Nothing. 

Was. 

Cold.

A call to my regular repair guy got me an appointment on Monday. 

I don't think so! They did give me a referral who upon calling told

me they could be here between 3 and 5.

Can I tell you, I don't work much but when I do, it's from 3 to 5. 

Argh.

Best laid plans.

But, whatever, there are blessings all around.

I didn't have to wait till Monday.

I live in Illinois.

It's February.

My entire garage is one big refrigerator.

It went out before I loaded it with $160 worth of groceries.

The repair was less than the cost of a new fridge.

All the shelves are clean.

There is no "old" food lurking about.

I was able to write a check.

Worst part, we had to eat canned beans.

Hey! I had issues. 

How was your day?

http://www.crock-pot.com/Recipe.aspx?rid=202

Can you make Stew Without Stew Meat?

You can if you use ground beef and call it soup!

I had a Crock Pot.

I had 2 pounds of ground beef.

I had an uncontrollable need to combine the two.

So I did and I got this:

Here's the original recipe:

http://www.food.com/recipe/aromatic-beef-stew-with-butternut-squash-405303

I have made as written and we really liked it.

I just thought , why couldn't I brown off some ground beef

and do basically the same thing?

The answer is, I can!

Here are the changes I made:

I used a sweet potato and half and acorn squash.

Just because I had them, kinda like I "had" the ground beef.

I browned the beef with the onions and then 

added the spices, garlic and ginger to "bloom" them.

I threw everything in the Crock Pot.

Just because that was part of my basic premise.

Low for 5-6 hours.

I made an Israeli couscous/pasta blend from Trader Joe's

and put a bed of that in a bowl and spooned the stew/soup

on top and then topped that with some sliced almonds. 

(I'm not gonna go all "Rachel Ray" and call it a 

"stoop", but that is kind of descriptive of what you get)

Oh, and a little PSA for you,

Whereas that big ol' 6 quart Crock Pot will 

serve you well when making a huge batch

of America's Test Kitchen's Sunday Gravy,

it will over cook the dickens out of a nice little

stew for the two of you. 

Make room in your cupboards. 

It's worth it.

You gotta have two.

Hmm, nice to see I have product loyalty :o)

http://www.facebook.com/CrockPot