Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Convert Me

Many of you out there are very passionate about your slow cookers.  Some of you even run entire blogs dedicate to rocking the crock-pot.     I am clearly missing something.  

I am of the opinion that they are perfectly useful to keep stuff warm and super handy for holding nacho cheese at parties, but not as a great culinary cooking device.  My experience w/ crock pot food is that it has been somewhere between truly awful to merely edible, but never have I eaten anything made from a crock pot that I would rave about.

However, I struggle with finding the time to make dinner when the kids are home after school.  Especially since many days, I am driving them around and miles from my kitchen. In desperation,  I have given in and finally bought a slow cooker.  

For my first attempt I made 6 Sisters Cashew Chicken.  The chicken had a great texture, but it was way to salty (my husband wouldn't eat it).

 Do you have any amazing slow cooker recipes? Then please share by either linking them up or leaving them in the comments. Pretty please.



17 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. My first comment turned out all weird, so here it is again:

    My favorite blog for crockpot dishes is found at crockpot365.blogspot.com This woman used her crockpot everyday for a year! Plus, she rates them and tells you how they went over for her family. Some of her recipes have been ho-hum for me, but most are pretty tasty. I've found the best recipes are usually comfort foods, like soups, chilis, and roasts. Here are links to some of my faves:

    Chicken and Dumplings (add salt & pepper to taste): http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/12/crockpot-chicken-and-dumplings-soup.html

    Taco Soup (with or without meat):
    http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/02/original-taco-soup-crockpot-recipe.html

    Black Bean Soup (I like to sub a can of rotel for the stewed tomatoes):
    http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/02/crockpot-black-bean-soup-recipe.html

    21- Ingredient Chili (worth all the ingredients!):
    http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2011/12/21-ingredient-chili-slow-cooker-recipe.html

    I think its really all about using what you have on hand (and actually like).

    Sorry for the extra long comment! :)

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    1. Bless you for the long comment:) I will all of those to my list.

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  3. Here is a good recipe for steak soup from The Gaines Gang...
    http://thegainesgang4.blogspot.com/2011/01/corck-pot-steak-soup.html#

    Enjoy!

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    1. Steak soup sounds yummy and I'm adding it to my list. Thanks for helping me out:)

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  4. I made this baked potato soup for the first time tonight. It was very easy and good. http://laurabrowe.blogspot.com/2010/12/potato-goodness.html

    Spicy African Peanut Stew
    http://peasandthankyou.com/recipage/?recipe_id=6000512

    I've also put carrots, celery, potatoes and water in the crockpot and topped it with a whole raw chicken.

    I think the key to crock potting is to make things that you would enjoy cooked on the stove, but that will stand up to cooking a long time.

    Good Luck!

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    1. Easy and good-what's not to like about that. Spicy African Peanut Stew sounds downright gourmet so I'm trying that one too. Thanks for sharing your favorite recipes:)

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  5. One of my favorite things to do in the crockpot is to cook chicken breasts for taco meat. You can take a package of chicken breasts, add a cup of water and a packet of taco seasoning. Set it on low all day and it will shred with a fork easily with a nice taco sauce! We use it in tacos, burritos, nachos and taco salads.

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  6. I love my crockpot! A great cookbook to use is the Fix It and Forget It cookbook. All crockpot recipes and all easy and don't require lots of prep. I've got several really good recipes out of it. If you like Mexican Food, the Pork Chalupa recipe that I linked up is amazing and super easy!

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  7. It has been my experience that when cooking in a crock pot it is best to decrease the amount of seasoning that you use because the pot seems to enhance the flavoring of spices. Hope that helps!

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  8. I am very fortunate to live not too far from a guy who raises critters for beef, pork, lamb and chicken. It's quality stuff. His pork is amazing. So I use my slow cooker for slow roasting the tougher cuts. His pork tastes so good that I do nothing other than slow roast the shoulder or butt for about 7 hours. Cool a bit, pull it apart and enjoy. No additional seasonings are necessary (it's that good!).

    I agree with lilmar42 about limiting the seasonings. And buy the very best quality meat you can afford.

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  9. I love http://crockpotladies.com/blog/crockpot-funeral-potatoes/
    I call them "Cheesy Potato"

    When I take them to pot lucks in in the crock pot like the one you have above, it comes back basically licked clean. So yummy.

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  10. i too
    struggle with finding
    good crock pot recipes
    that my family likes

    so i started a group pinboard
    just for crockpot cooking

    if you're interested
    http://pinterest.com/nancherrow/creative-crock-pot-cooking/

    alison

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  11. My kids don't like recipes with ingredients all mixed together so we use it rarely. I like it for roasts or pulled pork recipes or chili...I think that's about it.

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    1. My kids have met my quest for deliciousness in the crock-pot with so much enthusiasm my oldest has nick-named it the "Crock-Potty".

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