So, I’ll be adding Sweet Chili and BBQ Chicken to my list 
I love the Senate Navy Bean Soup that JSwan posted - it doesn’t sound like much from the recipe but the sum of all the parts is really good! I didn’t know if I could make it in my crockpot though - thanks JS for experimenting!
[QUOTE=BeastieSlave;5229711]
Bean soups are my favorite! JSwan, I’ll have to give yours a try.
For one of our favorites I like to cheat and use a bag of dried 16 bean soup.
Soak beans overnight.
Saute some celery, onion, and garlic in oil, then put it in crock pot and follow the soup directions (basically, that’s add water, seasoning packet, and beans). I don’t normally add any meat since DD #1 is a vegetarian.
Instead of cooking stove top (directions), I crank the crock pot up at lunch and plan to eat when I finish up at the farm. I’ve found that if I cook on ‘high’ I’ll probably have mushy beans…[/QUOTE]
Love. love, love this soup. We have it every time I bake a ham. Which, actually is tonight! So soup for tomorrow.
I like to add a cup of maple syrup, a tablespoon of liquid smoke and have been known to throw in some diced potatoes and carrots.
I put about 2/3rds of the beans in the pot then add the remaining beans about an hour and half later for texture.
I’ve been compiling recipes off this thread since it started - THANKS to all!! Now I’m going to add one that I made yesterday for the first time - all I can say is WOW - my picky husband even loved it and he is extremely picky.
Apple Cider Beef Stew
-1.5 - 2# lean beef stew meat
-6 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
-2 sweet variety apples, chopped
-2 tsp. salt
-1/2 tsp. Thyme
-1/2 cup chopped onions
-2 cups apple cider or juice (cider is better)
Place potatoes and apples in crockpot. Add meat & sprinkle with salt, Thyme & chopped onion. Pour cider mix over meat. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Thicken juices with 1.5 to 2 tbsp. flour and 2 tbsp. water, cooking on high until thickened. Makes 5 to 6 svgs.
I came in from the barn last night, hands cold, feet cold - this recipe just hit the spot.
This is a great thread. Can anyone recommend a good crock pot for those of us who are uninitiated?
[QUOTE=Flying Hill;5231480]
This is a great thread. Can anyone recommend a good crock pot for those of us who are uninitiated?[/QUOTE]
I just got a new one yesterday from Kohls! It’s a Rival, either 5 or 5.5 quarts, black, has 2 time settings for high and 2 time settings for low and automatically switches to warm once the time is up.
I have a KitchenAid that I love.
I just wnat to thank who ever menthioned the Fasta Pasta Tried it to day and it worked great.
To whomever posted the BBQ Chicken and Sweet Potato dish - we had it tonight and it was a HIT!!! I loved that it didn’t involve a condensed soup, and it was so colorful as well with the red onions and potato. We only had chicken tenderloins which we used, but I think breasts would be better as they’d stay juicy for the duration of time it takes to soften the sweet potatoes. I also added a splash or two of chicken stock, and I used Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Chipotle BBQ sauce. YUMMY!
[QUOTE=ginger708;5231577]
I just wnat to thank who ever menthioned the Fasta Pasta Tried it to day and it worked great. :D[/QUOTE]
That was me. 
Glad you like it! I love mine!
Regarding which slow cooker to buy, I like to buy the cheap ones. My crock pot gets used at least 2-3x weekly, and I would rather have simple $15-$20 workhorses that I can afford to destroy than $100+ masterpieces that will make me weep if I break the stoneware.
If money were no object, I’d get one that had a locking lid and a stovetop-safe pot so that I could brown meat on the stove without dirtying two pots. But that costs some serious coin.
Looking forward to White Chili II from my crock pot tonight:
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/white-chili-ii-2/Detail.aspx
My favorite is this multi-bean soup:
It’s best with the ten-bean soup mix from Sprouts rather than the bagged bean mixes at the grocery store. The Sprouts mix has smaller (younger?) beans and more lentils and barley, I think. It comes out thicker.
Adjust the salt/pepper after you make it the first time, I think it needs lots more pepper.
This freezes really well, too. I freeze 12 oz ‘bricks’ of it to reheat later.
I often add diced grilled chicken to it when reheating, or some leftover steak/roast works well too.
[QUOTE=Flying Hill;5231480]
This is a great thread. Can anyone recommend a good crock pot for those of us who are uninitiated?[/QUOTE]
The old Kenmore crock pot that DH & I got when we married 22 years ago died last year when the dog pushed (pulled?) it off the counter. I went to Target and got a “Crock Pot” brand c.p. It’s the medium sized one and it wasn’t very expensive. It has a pretty stainless exterior and a glass top. Lots of those out there these days. I like it a lot, but I think it runs a bit hotter than the old one…
[QUOTE=BeastieSlave;5232033]
I like it a lot, but I think it runs a bit hotter than the old one…[/QUOTE]
I’ve noticed that my newer crock pots run hotter than the ones I remember from childhood, and I hypothesize that it’s because food safety regulations have changed over the years. If the food doesn’t reach a temp of 160 degrees in 3 hours on the low setting, you could have bacterial problems. Nobody cared about that 20 years ago.
I just put BBQ chicken in my crockpot for tonight! I love coming home to a house that smells yummy!
Has anyone tried this type of crock pot? http://www.shopping.com/Hamilton-Beach-Hamilton-Beach-33134-3-in-1-Slow-Cooker-with-2-4-and-6-Quart-Crocks/info
I have this one that I’m very satisfied with
http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-Forget-6-Quart-Programmable/dp/B001AO2PXK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290178282&sr=8-1
Love, love, love this thread! Great crockpot recipe ideas.
At my house, we call it “stone soup” - i.e. anything leftover in the frig is fair game to be added to the crockpot! lol My last stone soup was delish… it consisted of a can of chicken noodle soup, chicken broth, left-over meatloaf, celery, fresh sweet potato slices, & a couple diced red potatos. And Parsley & diced onions. It smelled so good when we come home, and this tasted heavenly!
J
[QUOTE=jn4jenny;5231610]
Regarding which slow cooker to buy, I like to buy the cheap ones. My crock pot gets used at least 2-3x weekly, and I would rather have simple $15-$20 workhorses that I can afford to destroy than $100+ masterpieces that will make me weep if I break the stoneware.
If money were no object, I’d get one that had a locking lid and a stovetop-safe pot so that I could brown meat on the stove without dirtying two pots. But that costs some serious coin. [/QUOTE]
Having cracked two pots, I agree. I have 3 different sized crock pots that I paid less than $20 for and my only criteria is the warm setting. They get used for different things and sometimes all at once so it’s better not to put all my eggs in one basket. :lol:
You can brown meat in a crockpot! Less than an hour on high for thawed and two for frozen. Just stir it every 20 minutes and it’s the same as using the stove but you have time to do other things in between. This revolutionized how we make tacos and spaghetti sauce.
BTW, a great compliment to a crock pot is a rice maker. You can saute onions, brown meat, cook potatoes wedges and even boil pasta while using the steamer for veggies. Heck, I make scrambled eggs in the rice maker when my husband’s large family is visiting. It runs on super hot and then shuts down to warm when the “moisture” is gone so food won’t burn if you get distracted. People usually laugh at my unconventional cooking methods but they always go back for seconds.
ADORE my crock-pots… yes plural. I have 3! REALLY adore the new Hamilton Beech ones that allows you lock down the lid for transport anywhere. They truly seal tight and DO NOT leak.
Here are my recipe offerings:
CROCK POT BBQ
1 5-7 pound Boston Butt Pork Roast
1 Large Bottle of Kraft Original BBQ Sauce (not the sweet version)
Trim as much excess fat off the roast as you can. Put it in the crock pot. Pour the whole bottle of sauce over top. Put the lid on and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours. When done, the blade bone should pull right out of the meat. Using tongs, take the meat out and set it aside, covered. Strain the sauce through a colander. Shred the meat and serve with the sauce!
Note: I love to serve this with fresh corn bread and Boston Baked Beans.
WORLD’S BEST CROCK-POT ROAST CHICKEN
5-7 pound Roaster Hen
4 Sprigs of Fresh Rosemary – leave whole
2 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme – leave whole
1 Large Yellow Onion – Cut into 1/8ths
1 Large Box of Chicken Broth or Stock
3 Carrots – peeled & cut into 3" lengths
3 Stalks Celery – cut into 3" lengths
Kosher Salt & Cracked Black Pepper
Clean the chicken well, inside and out (remove guts). Put 2 springs of Rosemary and 1 spring of Thyme inside the chest cavity, along with some salt and pepper, a bit of the onion, carrot and celery. Put the chicken in the crock pot. Salt and pepper the outside.
Arrange the rest of the veggies around the chicken, along with the rest of rosemary and thyme. Pour the chicken stock/broth over the veggies.
Put the lid on and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. When done, using tongs, take the meat out and set it aside, covered. Strain the broth through a fine sieve.
I’ll use the broth to cook rice in instead of water. While it cooks, make gravy out of the rest of the broth.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I have the stainless steel RIVAL crockpot. It was cheaper than the cuisinart.
Night before last, I made the crockpot version of smothered porkchops- Lipton Onion Soup Mix, Campbells Mushroom Soup and a little water (1-4 cup?) 4 large pork chops. Did them overnight and then refrigerated them before I went to work. Then right before I left for the barn that evening, I set up the rice cooker. Instant Comfort food when I got home!
