Crock Pot Recipe Day 5

Honey Barbecue Pork Ribs
From: Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two
Page 155

Cooker: 3 qt
Setting and cook time: Low for 7-9 hours

2 lbs pork loin back ribs, baby back ribs, or country style pork spareribs, cut into serving pieces of 3-4 ribs
I used spare ribs
1 small yellow onion, sliced I used dried onion flakes because it's what I had
1 c. store bought or homemade barbecue sauce of your choice I used Kraft Original because I had one already open
1/3 c. mild flavored honey I didn't have quite 1/3 cup so I ended up using whipped honey to make up the difference.  Might have been easier to mix it up if I had melted the whipped honey first.
A few splashes Sriracha hot sauce, or other favorite hot sauce I used a green tabasco sauce - maybe a tsp.   I couldn't really taste the hot sauce.  If you like it spicy I'd add at least 1 TBSP.


1. Arrange the rib portions in the slow cooker, layering them with the onion slices.  Because my slow cooker is bigger than 3 quarts, I didn't have layers.  I laid the ribs in the bottom of the cooker and sprinkled dried onion on top of them.
2. Combine the barbecue sauce, honey, and hot sauce in a small bowl until smooth; spoon over the ribs.  If you have a round cooker, stack the ribs with sauce in between.  Cover and cook on LOW for 7-9 hours, until the meat is tender and starts to separate from the bone.
3.  Serve immediately.  If there is extra sauce on the bottom of the cooker, transfer to a bowl and serve on the side.

These were really tasty.  There wasn't a strong honey flavor.  If you like them with a strong honey flavor, I'd suggest using a honey flavored barbecue sauce.  

New Year's Eve & WOW! My baby is HUGE

 Only in UT, on New Year's Eve can a person find her children playing in a giant pile of leaves while her husband mows the lawn.  Yep.  This is what I saw as I looked out my back window on New Year's Eve:

 To celebrate New Year's Eve we went out to Trav's parents' house.  It was just us, Trav's parents & his sister's family.  The kids had a ton of fun playing together.  We had lots of yummy food and the big boys played their guitars.  Later, we watched The Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  The movie was ok, but I'm glad I didn't pay $6 to see it!

Yesterday I went out to Paradise to visit my cousin (Ashlee).  She's visiting from Oregon with her new baby.  Her kids are super cute.  Her older one is only a month younger than Caleb and her new one was just born the day before Thanksgiving.  Ash's sister, Natalee, was there with her little boy too.  He is about 3 or 4 weeks younger than Brooke (and 6 lbs lighter).  Look at the difference!:  

Little sister looks like a small buffalo for sure now!  My mom told me to check my baby book to see how old I was when I hit 20 lbs.  I was 8 months.  Brooke was about 7 months when she hit that mile marker.  I'm curious to see how old my other kids were when they hit that pound mark.  I think Sam was about 9 months because that's when we turned her car seat around.  It's crazy to think she's only gained 10 lbs in 7 months (she eats like a starving horse).  She looks so HUGE next to the boys though!  I'm pretty sure she out weighs my niece who's 2 months older than her too!  How sad.  I can't believe how fast they grow up!

Crock Pot Recipe Day 4

Travis really liked yesterday's recipe.  The kids, however, were not such big fans.  I noticed that since it tells you to put the peppers in at the end, they stay crisp and maintain a stronger pepper smell.  I don't think that's why the kids didn't like it.  I think it was just a smidge of the fear of the new and untried.

Here is today's recipe:

Slow Cooked Pulled Barbecue Chicken
From Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two
page 108

Cooker size: 1 1/2-3 qt
Setting and Cooking time: Low for 7-8 hours

1 small white or yellow onion, chopped I used dried onion flakes because it's what I had
1 small clove garlic, minced I used 2 because I put them in my garlic press & increased the recipe
4 boneless, skinless chicken THIGHS I used 4 boneless, skinless breasts 
1/2 cup ketchup
2 TBSP cider vinegar I used regular white vinegar because it's what I had
2 TBSP light brown sugar
1 TBSP olive oil I used vegetable oil because it's what I had
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp chipotle chile powder I used a Mexican seasoning because it's what I had
1/4 tsp salt
Hamburger buns

1. Sprinkle the onion and garlic over the bottom of the crock and arrange the chicken thighs on top.  I threw in some chopped green bell peppers too.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the ketchup, cider vinegar, brown sugar, oil, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, chipotle chile powder and salt; pour over the thighs.  Cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours, until the chicken is fork tender and pulls apart easily.
3. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker.  With two forks, pull apart the meat into shredded chunks; return to the slow cooker and stir to combine.  Cover and leave on the KEEP WARM setting until ready to serve.  Serve spooned onto warmed hamburger buns.

Because I used chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs, I increased the garlic.  I'm thinking I should have doubled the sauce as well.  There was enough sauce to cover the chicken breasts (I spooned it on top of them).  There was also a little bit of sauce that went down under the chicken.  I'm thinking I would have liked to have put sauce on the chicken breasts, flipped them over and sauced the other side as well.
When I've done pulled pork, I've melted cheese on the hamburger buns in the oven.  That's probably how I'll toast the hamburger buns this time too.

Crock Pot Recipe Day 3

The slow cooker enchiladas I made turned out awesome.  My husband said they were good warmed up as left overs too.

This recipe comes from 175 Essential Slow Cooker Classics p. 107

My notes are in bold again.

Beef & Rigatoni Bake

2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided didn't use this

2 lbs lean ground beef

2 onions I only used about 1/4 of one because it's all I had

4 stalks celery left this out

4 cloves garlic, minced I used 2 & I put them through my garlic press

1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves I didn't have thyme so I used oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns I just used regular black pepper

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed tomato soup

1 cup tomato juice, beef stock or water I used tomato juice because I had some open from a recipe I made the other day

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

4 cups rigatoni, cooked until barely tender (about 7 minutes) and drained I used Penne Rotini because it's what I had

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 green bell pepper, finely chopped, optional I only used about 1/2 of one

1 fresh hot chile pepper, minced, optional I'm leaving this out

1. In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp of the oil over medium high heat for 30 seconds.  Add beef and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 10 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer to slow cooker stoneware.  Drain liquid from pan.  I cooked 3 lbs ground beef so I have some cooked on hand for next time.  I ended up putting all my meat in a bowl to let it cool while I got other stuff going.  So, technically, if you use a large enough pan, you'll only dirty the one pan for the meat & sauce & 1 pan for the noodles.

2. Reduce heat to medium.  Add remaining oil to pan.  Add onions and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, thyme, salt and peppercorns and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.  Stir in tomato soup, juice and Worcestershire sauce.  Transfer to slow cooker stoneware.  It's kind of a "duh" thing to say, but be careful, it splatters A LOT.

3. Add cooked rigatoni and stir well.  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours, until hot and bubbly.  Stir in cheese, green pepper and chile pepper, if using.  Coer and cook on high for 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and pepper is heated through.

Once I got going on this recipe, I started to think it would be similar to the beef and noodle casserole one I did the other day.  We'll see how it turns out though.

The book also said you can make this ahead:

This dish can be partially prepared before it is cooked.  Complete steps 1 and 2.  Cover and refrigerate meat and vegetable mixtures separately for up to 2 days.  When you're ready to cook, combine in slow cooker stoneware and continue with the recipe.

Crock Pot Recipes Day 1 & 2

Here's the first recipe in my month long attempt at a new crock pot recipe every day ( except days we have left overs).  Tomorrow I am attempting Slow Cooker Enchiladas.

Beef Noodle Casserole

Comes from 175 Essential Slow Cooker Classics p. 101

*Notes in bold.

Large (minimum 5 qt) oval slow cooker

Lightly greased slow cooker stoneware

2 TBSP vegetable oil, divided Didn't use this

1 lb lean ground beef I used about a pound and a half

2 onions finely chopped I used much less

4 stalks celery thinly sliced I left this out

4 cloves garlic minced I only used 2

2 tsp dried oregano leaves I used dried oregano but it wasn't the leaves

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cracked black peppercorns I just used regular black pepper

1 c. beef stock I used chicken stock because it's what I had

1 c. tomato sauce

4 oz cream cheese softened and cubed

8 oz egg noodles cooked and drained Pretty sure I used more than that

Cheddar Crumb topping

1 c dry bread crumbs I used crushed Ritz crackers

2 tbsp melted better I just cubed the butter and put it on top

1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

1. In a skillet, heat 1 TBSP of the oil over medium high heat for 30 seconds.  Add beef and cook, stirring and breaking up with the back of a spoon until no longer pink, about five minutes.  Removed with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Drain off liquid in pan.

2. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining oil to pan.  Add onions and celery and cook, stirring until softened, about five minutes.  Add garlic, oregano, salt and peppercorns and cook stirring, for 1 minute.  Add stock, tomato sauce and cream cheese and cook, stirring until cheese is melted.  It takes longer for the cream cheese to melt than I thought it would.  Make sure you already have the onions cut up because I just cut them into the pan and I think I ended up cooking them a little too long.

3. To assemble casserole spoon 1/2 c. tomato sauce mixture in bottom of slow cooker stoneware.  Cover with half of the meat then half of the noodles.  Repeat layers of meat and noodles.  Finish with a layer of sauce.  Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours until mixture is hot and bubbly.  I did more than 2 layers, hence using a pound and a half of ground beef.  I cooked it on high and it was done after an hour so that's when I did the topping.  It would have gone mushy if I would have cooked it longer than that.  Once I put the topping on, I turned it down to low for about 30 minutes.  My casserole never got bubbly.  I don't know if it's because I did more layers so there wasn't as much sauce in one area as there would have been with just two layers.  I also ended up stirring my casserole after it had been cooking for a bit because it looked like some of the noodles were starting to dry out a bit.

4. Cheddar Crumb Topping: In a bowl, combine bread crumbs and butter.  Add cheese and stir well.  Spread over casserole and cook on high for 30 minutes until cheese is melted and top is bubbly.  Again, mine never got bubbly.  I just crushed Ritz crackers on top of the casserole & the chunked the 2 TBSP of butter over the crackers and then covered with Cheddar.

I was worried it was going to taste funky because the smell of the tomato sauce wasn't too great.  The sauce does turn a slightly different color after the cream cheese melts too.  It ended up looking a bit like Hamburger Helper and tasting a little like Goolash.  Nash really liked it and the other two weren't big fans.  I thought it was ok.  I would probably make it again if I could get the other two to try it.

The book says you can partially prepare the dish before it's cooked.  Complete steps 1 and 2, chilling cooked meat and onion mixture separately.  refrigerate for up to 2 days.  When you're ready to cook, continue cooking as directed in the recipe.  If the tomato mixture has thickened with chilling, heat it gently until it is a spreadable consistency.  To facilitate preparation, the night before you plan to cook the casserole, shred Cheddar cheese, cover and refrigerate.

Here's today's recipe.  

Slow Cooker Enchiladas

Comes from Fix It & Forget It Big Cookbook p. 285

*My notes are in bold again.

1 lb lean ground beef I used about a pound and a half

1 c. onion, chopped

1/2 c. green bell pepper, chopped

16 oz can pinto or kidney beans, rinsed & drained I used pinto b/c that's what I had

10 oz can diced tomatoes and green chilies I used a 14 oz can

1 c water

1 tsp chili pwd

16 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

dash of dried red pepper flakes and/or several drops Tabasco sauce, if you like

1 c. shredded low fat sharp cheddar cheese

1 c shredded low fat Monterey Jack cheese I used Motzerella & mild Cheddar

6 flour tortillas 6 or 7 inches

1. In a nonstick skillet, brown beef, onions, and green pepper.  I started with a skillet, but ended up having to switch to a big pot like what I'd boil spaghetti noodles in.  I'd start with a bigger pot so you don't have to dirty two pots.

2. Add remaining ingredients, except cheeses and tortillas.  Bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Combine cheeses in a bowl.

5. In a slow cooker, layer about 3/4 c. beef mixture, one tortilla, and about 1/4 c. cheese.  Repeat layers until all ingredients are used.  I didn't measure beef, etc.  I put enough beef to cover the bottom and then put a tortilla on top.  It didn't cover all the meat, so I put a second tortilla on and there was a little overlap.  I continued to layer.  However, on the other layers, I only did 1 tortilla and centered it.  On the last layer (the top) I did use 2 tortillas with an overlap again.  I finished with the double tortilla and a good amount of cheese.

6. Cover.  Cook on low 5-7 hours.

It looks and smells tasty!  I'm excited to try this tonight!