Crock Pot Chili

To me, chili definitely means fall is here. Nothing is better on a cold day than a hot bowl of chili with some corn bread or crackers. When I was a kid I couldn't wait until my mom made the first pot of chili of the season. It's also one of the first things I learned to cook, too. Up until now, I've never had an actual recipe for chili. I've made it differently probably every time I've made it. Today, however, I made an effort to remember what I was putting in.

Now my husband and I differ on our idea of the perfect chili. I prefer my chili with beans and he prefers no beans. Normally I make it without beans because I'm not the picky one, or if I'm feeling rebellious I'll add beans and he picks them out. But tonight I made 2 pots; one with beans and one without. It turned out so great!












Here's my recipe:


Crock Pot Chili

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz can tomato sauce
1 15 oz can chili beans in mild sauce
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 a large bell pepper finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 a large onion finely chopped (about 1 cup)
3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup (maybe a little less) chili powder
1-1 1/2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Begin by browning the ground beef in a skillet. Add onions, garlic, and bell pepper to the pan as well. Once the ground beef is done, drain the mixture. Add ground beef, peppers, onion, and garlic to the crock pot. Add tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes, beans and seasonings. Cook on low 5-6 hours. Adjust seasonings to taste as it cooks.

A vegetable-less dinner

This never happens but tonight we had dinner without vegetables. I always try to make a balanced meal for dinner; protein, carbs, and at least one non-starchy vegetable, but tonight I was just not feeling the veggies. So I didn't make any. But what we did have was very good... barbecue pork sandwiches, made in the crock pot and homemade mac 'n cheese. So I guess I don't feel so bad about the veggies. Eh, I'll do better tomorrow.


Crock Pot Pulled Barbecue Pork

2 lb pork loin roast
1 jar barbebue sauce (I use a honey bbq sauce for a sweeter flavor)
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups broth or water

Place roast in the crock pot. Add 1/2 bottle sauce, mustard, worcestershire sauce, and garlic on top of the roast. Pour broth or water in the bottom of the crock pot. This helps to keep the roast from burning or drying out. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs. Before serving, take two forks and shred the pork in the crock pot. Turn the crock pot on keep warm and allow the pork to warm in the juices in the bottom of the crock pot for 15 min or so. Remove pork from the crock pot and place in a bowl. Add the other 1/2 bottle of sauce and toss to coat. Serve on buns or rolls.



I'm especially proud of how the macaroni turned out. It was the first time I have made this dish that it turned out well. You would think any proper southern girl would be born knowing how to make a killer mac 'n cheese, but I have never had any luck with it until tonight. This will be my go to mac 'n cheese recipe from now on! I basically just took ideas from several different recipes and came up with this.


Creamy Baked Mac 'n Cheese

8 oz elbow macaroni
6 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Begin my boiling the macaroni in salted water until done. Drain. Heat the milk for about 1 min in the microwave just to get it warm. In a skillet, melt the butter. Add flour and stir in with a whisk. Cook over medium heat for about 2-3 min. Slowly add warm milk to the pan and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup cheddar, 1/2 cup mozzarella, salt and pepper. Stir in macaroni. Pour into a greased baking dish. Top with additional cheddar, mozzarella and bread crumbs. Bake for about 25-30 min or until bubbly and golden brown.

Mmm Meatloaf

Meatloaf, nothing fancy about it. I've made it plenty of times but it never turned out quite right. It was always too dry or too plain for my taste. I saw the recipe for this meatloaf on a website that I visit often. It sounded really good so I figured I would give it a try to see how it compared to my previous mediocre meatloaves. I knew I'd be busy tonight trying to do a hundred things to get ready to go on a weekend trip so I started this cooking in the crockpot this morning before I went to work. Well I'm so glad I gave this recipe a try. It was moist on the inside with a slightly chewy crust on the outside and the sauce was sweet and tangy. My husband said it was "wonderful!" which always makes me feel good. If you are looking for a good meatloaf recipe you should definitely give this one a second look. I served this with mashed potatoes and peas.


Crockpot Meatloaf

2	beaten eggs
3/4	cup milk
2/3	cup fine dry breadcrumbs
2	tablespoons grated onions
1	teaspoon salt
1/2	teaspoon ground sage
1 1/2	lbs lean ground beef
Sauce
1/4	cup catsup
2	tablespoons brown sugar
1	teaspoon dry mustard
1/4	teaspoon ground nutmeg

• Comfort Food Main Dish
  
  
  
• Crock Pot Main Dish
  
  
  
• United States Main Dish
  
  
  
• Ground Beef Main Dish
  
  
  
• Reduced Carbohydrates Main Dish
  
  
  

1. Combine eggs with milk, bread crumbs,onion,salt,and sage,and meat.
2. Mix well and shape into a 9x5 in.
3. rectangle or oval.
4. Carefully place into slowcooker pot.
5. Cook on low for about 6-7 hrs.
6. Combine sauce ingredients and pour over meat loaf and cook on high for about 15 minutes.

I added chopped green and red peppers, 2 cloves garlic, some red pepper flakes and parsley flakes in the mix too.

Original Source: Nestie tbrp2005 (Trisha)

* I pretty much halved this recipe, except for the sauce, and it was the perfect amount for 2 people with just a little left over. I also didn't add sage because I didn't have any. I added a couple dashes of worcestershire sauce to the sauce as well.

Crock Pot Lasagna

Mmm, lasagna. One of my favorite foods to eat. Not a favorite food to photograph. It's difficult to take a good picture of a big mound of cheesey, tomato-ey pasta on your plate. But don't let my photo deter you from trying this recipe. It is awesome! I was first introduced to this recipe by my nestie friend, Mrssisler. It has become my favorite lasagna recipe. It's so easy to make because it's done in the crock pot. Also, the crock pot gives the noodles the perfect texture when done and gives you a combination of gooey cheese with the golden brown, chewy cheese edges that everyone loves about lasagna. You should definitely give this one a try! We had this for dinner tonight with a romaine and baby spinach salad with balsamic dressing and buttery garlic bread.


Crock Pot Lasagna

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 lb. ground beef
* 1 large onion, finely chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
* 1 large jar spaghetti
sauce (such as Ragu in the
1 lb. 10 ounce
jar)
* 1 package (8 ounces no-boil
lasagna noodles
* 16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
* 1 lb. ricotta cheese
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan/Romano cheese
* Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION:
Brown the beef, onion, and garlic in a little
oil in a frying pan. Drain off
any grease.

Add the spaghetti sauce into the browned meat
mixture. Mix well.In a separate bowl, mix the
ricotta cheese, milk, and egg.
Beat until thoroughly mixed and smooth.
Then mix in the mozzarella
cheese and the grated cheese, so that all the
cheeses are combined.

Grease the slow cooker/Crock Pot with some
vegetable shortening on thebottom and sides.

Put about 1/4 of the meat and sauce mixture in the
bottom of the slow cooker/Crock Pot. Put a layer of
noodles on top of that (break or cut them
if needed). Put about 1/3 of the cheese mixture on
top of that. Then repeat with sauce, noodles, cheese
for another 2 layers. Top with meat sauce.
Cookon low for 4-6 hours or until noodles
are tender.

*I use regular lasagna noodles (not the no boil
kind). Also,my crock pot cooks this in 3 1/2 hrs on
low so you have to watch it to be sure it doesn't
burn. 

The crockpot, a great little invention...

I spent my whole day off yesterday cooking and baking. By the end of the day, I was beat! So today I wanted to have dinner waiting on me when I got home from work. Since my husband doesn't cook, I went for the next best thing--a crockpot dinner. One of my favorite things to make in the crockpot is beef stew. I made up this recipe a while back and it's been my beef stew recipe ever since. It's great comfort food and makes for some awesome leftovers as well. It was so nice to come home and have dinner ready and waiting with little effort on my part.

Beef Stew

1.5 lbs stew meat
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
5-6 medium red potatoes, cut into 1" chunks
2 cups baby carrots
3 small cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 14.5 oz can green beans, drained (you could also use fresh or frozen)
1 29 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 14.5 oz cans beef broth
1 packet McCormick beef stew seasoning(yes, I cheat a little here)

Toss stew meat in flour to coat. Heat vegetable oil in a pan over med/hi heat and add meat. When meat is slightly brown on the outside remove pan from stove. In your crockpot, combine meat with all other ingredients. Stir to combine. Turn the crockpot on low and cook for 6-8 hrs.

*I served with Jiffy corn bread muffins. One day I will try to make my own cornbread...but not today. ; P