Crock pot dinners

Ole Betsy

Since I get home late on Mon., Tues., and Thurs., due to kickboxing, I have turned to my crock pot to feed us so we don't have to go out and eat or starve to death waiting for dinner to get done.

So far I've made four meals in the crock pot. Some were fantastic and some were okay. Let's start with the fantastic meals...

Crock pot Lasagna. Yep, you read that right...crock pot Lasagna. So easy and so yummy. I want to preface this by saying I have an old crock pot. I don't even know how old it is; that's how old it is. Easily over 12 years old. So all I have is low and high on my pot. Not the newly added warm function. I so wish I did have that, but I don't. Maybe I'll get a new pot in the near future with the warm feature, but for right now "Ole  Betsy" will have to do. So the lasagna recipe is easy enough. You brown your meat (I use ground chuck or sirloin)and drain the fat. Add a jar of Ragu (or homemade sauce or your favorite spaghetti sauce. I love Ragu traditional so that is what I always use). Get a box of lasagna noodles. It can be a regular box; it doesn't have to be the no boil kind, but you can use those as well. Take about 3-4 cups of mozzarella cheese, a container of ricotta cheese and about 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese and mix them together. You could substitute cottage cheese for the ricotta, but I like the authentic taste of ricotta. Spray your pot with a non-stick spray. Add about 1/3 of your meat mixture to the pot. Add a layer of noodles. I break mine in half to get them in the pot. Now, don't think the meat has to be perfectly covered (this was a little frustrating to me at first, but I slowly realized it wasn't going to happen in the pot). Just cover as best as you can. Then add a layer of cheese mixture. Add another layer of noodles. Another layer of meat mixture. Another layer of noodles. Another layer of cheese mixture. Another layer of noodles and the rest of the meat mixture. Now, this is when I wish I had the newer crock pot model with the warm setting. If you are going to be away all day...you have to have the warm setting or your lasagna will just dry to blech. The first time I made this, I went to the park and was gone for probably 4-5 hours (maybe longer)with it on low. When I got home, the lasagna was DRY. It was still edible but it was, well, dry. The second time I made it I was only gone for about 2-3 hours, again using low. It turned out PERFECT. You can add some mozzarella cheese at the end if you want some on top. Just add it about 10 minutes before serving.

Salsa Chicken. OMG!! This is to DIE for! This by far has been one of the best tasting meals I've ever made...in a crock pot or not! It is so easy and soooo yummy. My mouth is literally watering thinking about it and I just had left overs for lunch! You can use thighs or whatever chicken you have. I never buy thighs, only boneless, skinless chicken breast, so that is what I had. I had three, not over-sized, chicken breast. I sprayed Ole Betsy and added the chicken. Then I opened up a can of whoop ass black beans, rinsed and added to the pot. I open a jar of Pace "original style" picante mild sauce (16 oz) added it to the pot. Then I added a can of drained corn. I also picked some cilantro from my garden and added. If you're using thighs you probably won't need as much sauce but breast will dry out so you need more sauce. Put Ole Betsy on low and let it cook for about 6 hours. The chicken just fell apart in the pot when I stirred it. It was wonderful! I served it with yellow rice (because I don't like the prepackaged mexican rice). I also had Bear stop and get some chips and salsa from our favorite Mexican restaurant. I had cheese dip that I purchased from Wally world. So we made nachos with it. It was so freaking good! For lunch I just had the rice and chicken...still so yummy!

Now for the okay meals. And they were only okay because they were either undercooked or overcooked. Once I get the timing down, they will be fantastic too!

I don't even know what to call this. It's my own recipe that I modified from a couple of recipes. I use eye of round steak (cause that's what my local butcher has) but you can use any steak. I cut it into bite size pieces and brown before putting it into Ole Betsy. Spray the pot first then add tomatoes (canned or fresh). Then slice an onion and add. I also added cut carrots and celery. Then add the beef. I also added garlic but sometimes I don't. Cook on low for about 3 hours. The first time I made this I only let it cook for about 2 1/2 hours. The veggies were still crispy and that didn't go over well with Bear, so next time I'll cook for 3-3 1/2 hours. I made mashed potatoes before I left, put them in the fridge and warmed them up when I got home. Simple, yummy meal!

Philly chicken cheese sandwiches. No, you're eyes are not going wonky on you! I made the filling for the sandwiches in Ole Betsy. I cut the chicken in bite size pieces then salt and pepper them. I sliced some onion. Sprayed the pot and then added the onion and the chicken. That's it! Turn on low.  When I cooked this the first time, I cooked it for way too long (about 6-7 hours). The chicken tasted okay but had the texture of saw dust.  Being new to cooking with a crock pot I have no idea how long things will take to cook and with it being chicken, I didn't want to get food poisoning so I over cooked it. So next time, I'll cook it for about 4-5 hours on low. Put the filling on a bun, add your favorite cheese (white american here) and put it in the oven until toasted and cheese is melted. So yummy and fast.

I'm really enjoying my crock pot and all it offers me. I love cooking but some days, the easier the better. I'll blog later about the new recipes I tried earlier this week. We're desperately trying to save money and our eating out budget was the first to be reduced. I'm trying to make new, interesting meals so it won't feel like we're missing anything. Stayed tuned for that blog.

Happy cooking and eating!