Crock Pot Cooking-

Thanks so muck to Kathy Perry for sharing your experience and wisdom in the ways of crock pot cooking.  I  for one am dying to try some of these tips and recipes out.  This is my first ever blog post so feedback would be very helpful.
Here is the hand out Kathy presented for us:



Guidelines for cooking with a crock pot:

• Vegetables take longer to cook that most meats. Slice or chop the vegetables and put them near the bottom and sides of the crock pot.
• Trim fats from meats.
• Liquids don't evaporate much, so you may want to use less liquid than in conventional cooking.
• Frozen foods such as vegetables and shrimp may be used. However, do not thaw or cook large frozen foods unless you first add at least 1 cup of warm liquid. Cook recipes containing frozen meats an additional 4 to 6 hours on Low or 2 hours on High.
• Use whole leaf herbs and spices for best flavor. If ground herbs and spices are used, stir in during the last hour.
• Fill crock pot at least half full to conform to recommend cooking times. Small quantities may be prepared, but cooking time will be affected.
• Cook dried beans before adding to recipe.
• Dairy products tend to break down during extended cooking. When possible, add during the last hour of cooking.
  Condensed soups may be substituted for milk, etc., and can cook for extended times.
• When making soup, add only enough water to cover the other ingredients. If thinner soup is desired, add more liquid at serving time.
• Combine equal parts of water and corn starch and add to liquids in the pot the last 15·30 minutes of cooking time to make gravy.
• Experiment and keep notes on what you did.

There are good discussions on cooking with crock pots at:

http://busycooks.about.com/od/slowcookerrecipes/a/crockpotlO1.htm

Converting recipes to the slow cooker- http://busycooks.about.com/od/slowcookerrecipes/a/crockpot102.htm

Crock pots have gotten hotter- http://busycooks.about.com/od/crockpots/a/adjustcrockpotcooking.htm

RECIPES:

Crockpot Morning Casserole 

Beth Thomas's recipe with Kathy's notes

1 lb. bacon diced, cooked and drained or l lb. cooked ham, cubed (I used a lot less.)

1 medium diced onion

1 green bell pepper diced

1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

1 dozen eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pepper to taste

Layer first four ingredients in the cooker three to four times, ending with a layer of cheese. Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper together. Pour over the crockpot mixture and cover. Cook on low 10-12 hours. (1/2 recipe cooked in 5 hours.)

Spaghetti Sauce

1 6-oz can tomato paste

2 15-oz. cans tomato sauce

1 large carrot grated

1 onion chopped

l lb. ground beef, browned and drained

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Combine ingredients in Crock Pot. Simmer on high for 2-3 hours.

This sauce can also be used for lasagna and pizza.

Crock Pot Sweet Potatoes

4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled. Cut them into 3/4 inch slices and cut the slices in half (half moon shaped).

Dip the slices in about 1 cup of orange juice so that they are completely coated and put in crock pot. Pour the rest of the juice over the potatoes. Cook on High for 3 1/2 hours. Mash the potatoes when they are very soft. Add salt and a pinch of cinnamon if desired.

Slow cooker Fajitashttp://livermoretestkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/03/slow-cooker-fajitas.html

Magic Meat Loaf

2 Ibs. ground beef

2 eggs

2/3 cup quick cooking oats

1 pkg. dry onion soup mix

1/2 cup ketchup-divided

Reserve 2 tablespoons ketchup. Combine ground beef, eggs, oats, soup mix and remaining ketchup. Shape into a loaf. Put in Crock Pot. Top with remaining ketchup. Cover and cook on Low 6-8 hours or on High 3-4 hours.

Painless Italian Chicken

Painless Italian Chicken

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 dry packet Italian Seasons Dressing

8-oz. cream cheese

1 can Cream of Mushroom or Cream of Chicken soup

Combine in crock pot and cook on High 3-4 hours. Serve over rice or noodles

Texas Black Bean Soup

-Sandy Clark

20 oz. ground turkey

2 l5-oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained

2 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes

6 cups chicken broth

1 11 oz. can Mexicorn or regular corn drained

2 oz. cans chopped green chilies

4 green onions thinly sliced

2 Tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. dried minced garlic.

Cook the ground turkey in a skillet breaking up lumps as it cooks. Drain. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for four hours until heated through.

Pot Roast

2-3 pound beef roast

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

1 can condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

Place roast in slow cooker. Sprinkle with dry soup mix. Top with mushroom soup.

Cover. Cook on High 3 hours or Low 6 hours.

Variations:

Add chopped onions instead of soup mix.

Add 1/4 c. chopped green pepper.

Place the roast on top of cubed potatoes and sliced carrots. Proceed with above directions.

Stir 1/2 cup sour cream into the gravy before serving.

Hot Fudge Cake

Hot Fudge Cake

1 cup packed brown sugar, divided

1 cup flour

3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 cup milk

2 Tbsp. melted butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 3/4 cups boiling water

Spray sides of crock pot with Pam.

Mix first 5 ingredients together. Stir in milk, butter and vanilla. Spread over the bottom of slow cooker.

Mix together 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa. Sprinkle over mixture in slow cooker. Pour in boiling water. Do NOT stir. Cover and cook on High 2-3 hours. Or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (It was cooked in just over an hour in my crock pot.)

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Classic Goulash from Allrecipes.com

Classic Goulash

2 pounds ground beef or turkey browned and drained

2 large yellow onions chopped and cooked with the ground beef or turkey

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 cups water

2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce

2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons dried Italian herb seasoning

3 bay leaves

1 tablespoon seasoned salt, or to taste (This was TOO salty.)

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni.

Combine all ingredients except for macaroni in crock pot and cook on High for 1 hour or until the sauce is boiling. Stir in macaroni and continue to cook for about 45 more minutes.

Here is what everyone else brought to share:

Hawaiian Meatballs, Mary Beth Cheney

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/04/slow-cooker-hawaiian-meatballs-recipe.html

Brown Rice Pudding, Kara Blair

Rice Pudding

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/slow-cooker-caramel-rice-pudding/7dff925e-9ea1-495e-9417-1f3bcd1a18f8

Meatball Soup, Amy Rossi

Lentil Soup, Kaye Sivori

From the Green Smoothie Girl's cook book

Pulled Pork, Lezlie Zollinger

Pulled Pork

med. sized Pork Butt 
add about 4Tbl. of Liquid Smoke and about 3 Tbl. of coarse salt. 
Cook in Crock Pot for about 8-10 hours on high.
As it cooks if you don't smell the smoke add a bit more.  Can always add more of both the salt and smoke at the end.
You will have to drain some of the grease and pull the fat off and shred the meat!

Shred and enjoy.

Add BBQ sauce for yummy sandwiches or fill enchiladas or tacos.  Use in just about anything.

Artichoke Dip, Lezlie Zollinger

Artichoke Dip

8 oz. marinated artichoke hearts - drained

7 oz. chopped green chillies

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup mayo

Mix together and either bake in oven @ 350 for 30 min. or until bubbly or heat in croak pot on high until bubbly and then turn down to low.