Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken


This chicken tasted great with fried rice! Originally found here.


Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thighs would be fine too)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (could also use olive oil or canola oil)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 6 Tablespoons water
• Sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Season both sides of chicken with lightly with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. 
2. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. 
3. Pour over chicken. 
4. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through. 
5. Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. 
6. Dissolve 4 teaspoons of cornstarch in 6 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. 
7. Stir to combine with sauce. 
8. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened. 
9. Cut chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving. 
10. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice or noodles.

Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

I found this recipe online here and slightly modified it and reduced the portions.   I didn't use roasted garlic but it looks like a good recipe. 

Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

Pork Chops

• 6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick
• 1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning
• 10 oz can Cream of Chicken Soup

1. Place pork chops, Ranch seasoning and soup into a medium sized crock pot
2. Cook on high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours.
3. Serve on mashed potatoes

 Potatoes

• 4 lbs peeled, cubed potatoes
• 5 Tablespoons real butter
• 1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 6 cloves roasted garlic (directions are below, I just used some garlic salt and didn't add any other salt)
• 1- 1 1/2 Cups warm milk
• 1 Tablespoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper, or to taste

1. Place potatoes into a large pot of cold water. Place onto stove top over high heat and bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, cook for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. 
2. Drain and transfer to the work bowl of a stand or electric mixer. Mix on low until potatoes are mashed then add butter, Parmesan, garlic, milk, salt and pepper. Season to taste if needed. For thinner mashed potatoes add more milk, slowly until your desired consistency.

Roasted Garlic
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place bulb of garlic with skins on, wrap lightly in tin foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove from foil and let cool for 15 minutes. Remove garlic from skins, place in a bowl and mash with a fork until completely mashed. Set aside. One garlic bulb will have around 12 cloves.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:

• 6 large baking potatoes, peeled, cut in 1/2 -inch cubes
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 3 garlic cloves, minced (or pressed)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup cream or 1 cup half-and-half cream
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 1 cup sour cream (optional)
• 8 slices bacon, fried & crumbled
• cheese, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Combine first seven ingredients in a large crock pot; cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours or bring to a boil on the stove for about 30 minutes (potato should be tender).
2. Mash mixture until potatoes are smooth and soup is slightly thickened
3. Stir in cream, cheese and chives, and heat thoroughly.
4. Top with sour cream (if used), sprinkle with bacon and more cheese.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-style-loaded-baked-potato-soup-301754#ixzz1bBijfP1G

Chicken Dinner in a crock pot

Crockpot Chicken Dinner

Ingredients:

• chicken (boneless or with bones)
• potatoes, chopped
• carrots, chopped
• onion, sliced
• about 2 cups (or 1 can) of chicken broth
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Place the chicken on the bottom of the crockpot. 
2. Put the veggies on top of the chicken. 
3. Stir the broth and soup together with the salt and pepper.  
4. Pour over the veggies and chicken.  
5. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-8 hours.

GRAVY:
You can thicken the broth to make gravy.  Remove the chicken and veggies from the pot.  Turn the heat to high.  In a container with a tight fitting lid, add several Tbs. of flour.  Add some water and shake to make a thick paste.  You want it to pour, but still be thick.  Slowly whisk the flour mixture into the broth.

Original recipe found here

Beef Stew

This is the quick beef stew recipe that I made today.  I've never made stew before and although I'm not a huge fan of stew in the first place Brett said it was delicious so I guess it turned out good.  We had some stew meat that the Brett's parents gave us and we needed to use up.

Beef Stew (Crockpot style) 

• Stew meat (cut into bite size pieces)
• Potatoes (cubed)
• Carrots (cut into similar sized chunks)
• Onion (cut into medium size pieces) 
• Large container of Beef broth (it was 3 cups I belive)
• Packet of Beef stew seasoning/mix

Add all ingredients into the crock pot and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 3-4.

I served it in a bread bowl and we were thoroughly full by the time we finished.  I'm glad we got it in on a cold day although I'm hoping spring will be here soon!

Zangy BBQ Chicken

Zangy BBQ Chicken

A quick and easy sauce for chicken that you can use in so many ways. 

• 1/2 cup bbq sauce
• 1/2 cup Italian dressing
• 1 1/2 lbs. boneless chicken breast

1. Mix the BBQ and Italian dressing together.  Pour over the top of the chicken.  
2. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour.
   OR stick it in a crock pot for 5-6 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low.
   OR use it as a marinade and then grill it up on the BBQ

Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork

 Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Pulled pork sandwiches are a favorite go to easy recipe.  The way I make them is so simple you can hardly even write out a recipe.

INGREDIENTS: 
We use:
Pork Roast (Shoulder, Butt, whatever I find at the grocery store for cheap)
BBQ Sauce (we prefer Sweet Baby Rays)
Onion

We could also use (but usually don't):
Garlic
BBQ Rub Seasoning
Liquid Smoke

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut the onion and garlic into large rough pieces and place in the bottom of the crock pot. 
2. If you have it, season the pork with your seasoning and then place it on top of the veggies.
3. For added BBQ flavor add 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke
4. Fill up the crock pot about 2/3 with water
5. Cook on low for 7-8 hours (or high for 3-4)
6. After its done cooking separate the meat from the fat/juices/onions and put the meat back in the crock pot.
7.  Use two forks to pull apart the meat
8. Add about half a bottle of BBQ sauce and mix it up
9. Allow it to warm up a little, but be careful not to let it burn now that there is sugar in the mix. I usually stick the lid back on and place the setting to warm while I finish setting the table etc.
10. Top with some more sauce to taste and serve on toasted buns 

Pot Roast

What a great Sunday dinner!   We love coming home from church to the smell of a pot roast cooking.  If I'm on top of my game I'll have remembered to get the bread machine going also.  My pot roast recipe is pretty simple.  It changes/adjusts depending on what I have on hand.  Usually my roast is frozen (because I don't often remember to think about those things the night before).  I've read that cooking frozen meat in the crock pot is frowned against because it might not get hot enough fast enough and/or it doesn't turn out as yummy, but I've never had a problem with it. 

Pot Roast

1. Stick the roast in the crock pot, add some carrots, potato chunks and some onion.  I just fill the pot up (about 2/3 full), but we usually end up with more veggies than meat.  So either I always make too much, or we just like the meat better than the potatoes and carrots.
2. Top it off with some sort of seasoning and a little bit of water.   Either a onion soup mix packet, or a beef gravy packet or today's choice was a beefy onion soup mix packet.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  I'm not too smart with spices, so I like these packets as a simple and easy way to add flavor.
3. Cook the meat on for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.  I check the meat temperature when we get hungry and it is usually plenty warm and falls apart easily so I know its done.

BBQ Chicken Salad

BBQ Chicken Salad

2 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 cup BBQ sauce

1/2 head Romaine lettuce, chopped

1/2 head Iceberg lettuce, chopped

1 can corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped (optional)

4 Roma tomatoes, diced (optional)

2 Haas avocados, diced (optional)

shredded cheese, Mexican blend or cheddar

crispy tortilla strips (or chips)

1. Stir shredded chicken in with the BBQ sauce until well coated. I usually do this over heat so that flavor gets cooked into the meat.  Or cook the chicken with the BBQ sauce in a crock pot all day and then shred.

2. Toss together the lettuce, cilantro, corn, beans, and chopped veggies. 

3. Top with shredded chicken, cheese and crispy tortilla strips. 

4. If desired, drizzle ranch or cilantro lime dressing over salad and enjoy!

Taco Soup

This soup can be made quick and easy on the stove top or in the crock pot.

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 c. water
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 pkg. taco seasoning mix

STOVE TOP:
In a heavy saucepan cook ground beef with onion. Drain off fat. Then add water, tomatoes, un-drained kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce and seasoning. Simmer together for 20 minutes!

CROCKPOT:
First brown ground been and drain the grease. Then add ground beef and all the other ingredients in the crock-pot (undrained) and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Top with cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips etc and enjoy!