Making Crock Pot Meals Even Lazier

I love my crock pot. Last winter, we used it pretty often. The only thing was, there was not a lot of variety in our crock pot meals. And you had to wake up early enough to cut up all the ingredients, or brown the meat first. It took WAY too long. But the pay off was still worth it...leave for work, come home and magically, dinner is all ready! Then recently a light bulb went off for me. I could use a day off of work to do all the cutting and hard stuff and put each unprepared meal into a bag in the freezer. Then all I would have to do in the morning is dump the contents of the bag into the crock pot. Brilliant! So I started looking for recipes where there aren't any stages like "add biscuits for the last 30 minutes" or "brown the beef in the seasonings and butter or whatever first". This morning, I only did two meals, but I found a whole bunch and intend to do more so I can use trusty ol' crock pot all fall and winter long!

Cilantro Lime Chicken

Ingredients:

1 16oz jar of salsa

1 packet taco seasoning mix

3 tablespoons cilantro

juice of 1 lime

3 lbs bonesless skinless chicken breast

Directions: When it's time to make it, cook it on low for 6-8 hours. Shred it up and serve with rice or tacos or some kind of salad. Pretty much whatever's easiest.

Beef Stew

Ingredients:

1 lb stew meat

2 potatoes cubed

1 cup baby carrots

(you could add celery, but I find it detestable)

1 tablespoon herbs provence

2 cloves minced garlic

if your husband doesn't hate onion, 1 chopped onion. or if he does hate onion, sneak in some onion powder

1 can/bottle of beer or 2 cups beef broth

Directions: Cook on low for 8-10 hours. If you WANT to do a little extra work here, you can combine 3 tbls melted butter with 3/4 cup flour to make a gravy. Add that to the stew and let it thicken for 15-20 minutes.

And there you have it, people. Do a little work one day so you can be lazy on the other days. It took me about 30 minutes to prepare both of these lovely little recipes.

Penne Alla Vodka

Cooking for two is hard! We try to eat healthy, but we are rarely together for meals and we don't like a lot of the same things. I try buying veggies I like (zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, onions), but since Gabe doesn't eat them, I have a hard time eating them before they go bad. I end up throwing out fresh fruit and veggies and it feels so wasteful! We haven't really come up with a solution yet other than just keeping trying. So we try...but occasionally, we like to indulge. And our favorite indulgence is penne alla vodka. I tried to "healthy it up" by using whole wheat pasta and fat free half and half instead of heavy cream, but it just wasn't the same. So here it is in all it's unhealthy glory.

You'll Need:

- 1 lb box penne

- 1/4 cup butter

- 1/3 cup vodka

- 1-1/2 cups pasta sauce

- 1/2 cup heavy cream

To Prepare:

Melt butter in a saucepan. When butter turns frothy, add vodka. Evaporate the vodka then add in the cream and pasta sauce. Tada! Add in pasta and you are finished. Sprinkle some cheese on top if you like!

P.S. I was going to take a picture, but then I ate it instead....oops!

Almost Fall Chicken (flavored) Soup

ee, I just can't be bound by rules. And that's what a recipe is. When I cook, it's a creative expression. At least, that's my excuse for not being a good recipe-follower. Lunch time rolled around today and not much of anything sounded appetizing. Today was a chilly day, so soup seemed logical. I was too hungry to go through the process of looking online for a recipe and risking me not having all the ingredients. I made my own soup with ingredients I did have.

And here's the recipe!

1) Bring some water to a boil. Measure or don't measure. Toss in some delicious Jamison's chicken flavored soup base.

2) While that is stewing a bit, chop one carrot, some onion, and a handful of broccoli florets.

3) Add onions, carrots, and some noodles since those take longest to cook.

4) Toss in some parsley, thyme, and basil.

5) When everything seems almost cooked, add broccoli.

Yeah, I'm not great with the whole measurement thing. It tasted really good though. That Jamison's stuff is a godsend. I like having the chicken flavor without having to have chicken. So, if you try this recipe and it doesn't work out...I guess you are not as skilled at eyeballing ingredients ; )