I think this might be a new favorite thread of mine. My former BO gave me a crockpot and a few recipes. I work all day, and have no time to cook…I think I’ll be trying a few of these! They all sound so good. 
Whenever a recipe calls for cream soups, I use the Campbells (hey, that’s keeping it horse related thanks to Mary Alice Malone!) 98% fat free soups.
I also substitute fat free sour cream for regular sour cream. I think if the recipe has a variety of ingredients, sometimes you can get away with lower fat versions and the dish will still be tasty.
This doesn’t hold true for cheese, though. Fat free cheeses are not good for cooking or eating! The reduced fat versions are ok but don’t melt as easily.
Thank you mods for keeping this thread open!
I made Hungarian goulash last night, husband loved it. Tomorrow a friend is coming over to enjoy some traditional pot roast (but I might switch it up and do Thai beef instead…). Later this week split pea soup with leftover ham is on the menu, as well as Vindaloo chicken.
Woo!
I need some help -
I’d like to get my father a crock pot cookbook for Christmas. He is single and more health conscious than the average guy, but he works long hours. He’s not a complete tool in the kitchen, but he’s not one to branch out and just create new and exciting dishes either (or else I’d not be asking this question!). He’s expressed an interested in my recent crock pot revival, and I think he’d do well with a straight forward book full of healthy (like, not focusing on cream of whatever in every recipe) and easy meals.
I checked out reviews of the 365 crock pot lady’s book Make it Fast, Cook it Slow on amazon… generally it scored well, but I’m concerned with a number of reviews that cited a good many recipes as being bland and unremarkable. Has anyone used this book and experienced the same thing?
Does anyone have a crock pot cookbook that they would recommend for a man in the kitchen? Thanks!
[QUOTE=Fractious Fox;5260964]
I checked out reviews of the 365 crock pot lady’s book Make it Fast, Cook it Slow on amazon… generally it scored well, but I’m concerned with a number of reviews that cited a good many recipes as being bland and unremarkable. Has anyone used this book and experienced the same thing?
Does anyone have a crock pot cookbook that they would recommend for a man in the kitchen? Thanks![/QUOTE]
As much as I like the CrockPot365 lady, I don’t know why on earth you’d buy her book when she’s got zillions of great recipes on her web site. For free.
For the man you’re describing, my vote goes to Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook. Lots of great recipes from fresh ingredients, but the recipes aren’t weird or “out there.”
FWIW, I made the chicken taco soup the other day. Cooking boneless chicken breasts for 7 hours seemed like overkill, but it worked okay since the meat was shredded into the soup.
We thought it was a bit bland and ended up adding a few dashes of hot sauce once served. When we had it the second night, we added sliced radishes and avocados after dishing it up. I stuck with the hot sauce, but hubby squeezed fresh lime juice on his and thought that helped (he skipped the sour cream and cheese, though).
I might try doubling the amount of taco seasoning if I make it again, or at least add extra chili powder and cumin.
I made the chicken taco soup too, and didn’t change too much - and the hubby (demander of spicy things) liked it a lot, as did I. I did add a few cloves of chopped garlic and a poblano pepper. Cooked it on low all day and the chicken was very tender.
It’s 8 degrees right now - I’m going to go back through the thread and find something else to cook for tonight - I’ll need it when I get back from the barn this evening!
Could someone post a receipe for split pea with ham soup please?
I just made this tonight on the stove, but I’m sure you could recreate it in a crock pot.
500g diced pork
2 celery stalks (I used 4)
3 peppers
2 onions
1 x400g can chopped tomatoes
500mL medium dry cider (I used Magners, not sure if you get that in the states).
1 tbs flour
Chop vegetables, add a few glugs olive oil, cook for 10 minutes. I rubbed s+p into the meat before adding it along with the liquid and flour. I had more vegetables than the recipe suggested so I also added some water. Cook for 2 1/2 - 3 hours on low. I added dumplings (made by grating 150g cold butter into 250g flour then rubbing together to get a “breadcrumb” look then adding some water to make the dough) 1/2 an hour before it was done. Yummy!!
It’s an adaption of a Jamie Oliver recipe - I used more veggies & swapped out the carrots because I don’t like them very much (hey I’m not a horse!) :-P. Mmmm yummy and it made the kitchen smell really good!
[QUOTE=jn4jenny;5261171]
As much as I like the CrockPot365 lady, I don’t know why on earth you’d buy her book when she’s got zillions of great recipes on her web site. For free.
For the man you’re describing, my vote goes to Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook. Lots of great recipes from fresh ingredients, but the recipes aren’t weird or “out there.”[/QUOTE]I have this and have made a number of good meals using it. They also have an intro section (crockpot 101?) that talks about things like adapting recipes, what you do if you want to prep stuff the night before, etc.
Roast chicken!
I made the roast chicken recipe from earlier on this thread. And by “made” I mean I slung a chicken into the pot and hit it with some thyme and seasoned salt and cooked it.
I ate it when I got home last night after a very cold ride. And by “ate” I mean I feasted like a starving wolverine, armed with fork and tongs and fingers. It was supremely tender, moist and falling-apart done. Just the thing I needed.
Hey – I made the roast chicken recipe last night, too. So easy and really really good. I would have never thought of cooking a chicken that way.
Just popping in to say I made the roast chicken for thanksgiving. It came out better than the turkey at any rate.
For Jaeger on the split pea soup. One of the best winter time warm belly fill-ups!
It helps to rinse, then soak the peas (overnight). I’m not specific on the using a crock pot b/c when I make split pea soup - when the peas first start to cook they froth up and that needs to be spooned off of the soup to settle it down. Then it can coast.
Basic ingredients: the peas, water to add as needed, chopped onion, white pepper seasoning, a bit of salt, some bay leaves, diced ham, carrot &/or potato chunks. The soup will self thicken as the peas get soft, add a bit of milk or cream and reduce. I like it with a little bit of chunk to it. My daughter who won’t eat regular peas loves this soup. So good with a chunk of good bread or esp an onion dill bread made into a grilled cheese.
This thread is so great! It’s pretty cold down here these days and I’m in full crockpot mode. I went and bought one of the cookbooks (because I’m too lazy and easily distracted to surf through all those recipes on the 'net) and DH spent some time flipping through it before I had a chance to. He’s already marked some that he wants to try. I’m making Brunswick stew tomorrow, but will take a shot at the roast chicken next, I think.
I swear, it’s the best to come in from doing chores at the farm and have dinner ready!! 
another votes for the taco soup…
Had it Sunday night…and again for lunch on Monday – it was delicious – I put a little cheese and avocado in the bottom of the bowl, dumped the soup in, and then topped with sour cream. It was yummy! I will definitely make it again :yes:
[QUOTE=jn4jenny;5261171]
As much as I like the CrockPot365 lady, I don’t know why on earth you’d buy her book when she’s got zillions of great recipes on her web site. For free.
For the man you’re describing, my vote goes to Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook. Lots of great recipes from fresh ingredients, but the recipes aren’t weird or “out there.”[/QUOTE]
Thanks!
Yeah, I know the recipes on the website are free, but my dad isn’t likely to EVER visit that website, even if it makes sense to do so.
Not Your Mother’s Crock Pot was one of the books I liked. Thanks!
I made the best vegetable soup this weekend! I put everything in the crock, went to the barn for the afternoon, and when I came home I had yummy warm soup! Healthy too!
Here is roughly what I put in:
1 can tomato soup
beef and chicken broth (low sodium)
Carrots
Potatoes
Celery
Onions
Green Beans
Red beans (pinto?)
white beans
barley
4 cloves of garlic
With the Barley and the bean its more filling I’ll be eating it all week!
not really crock pot but cooked long and slow.
One day once or twice a month I go bonkers and spend the day cleaning house and cooking. The regulars are:
mexican ground beef with diced peppers and onion.
2lbs 94% lean ground beef
1 large green bell pepper, finely diced
2 medium yellow onions, finely diced
1 packet of burrito seasoning
caramelize the onion, add green pepper til wilty, then add ground beef and stir/chop with spatula til it gets that mexi ground beef consistency.
I freeze 1/5lbs and the other 1/2lb lives in the fridge to be added to nachos, tortillas, salads, you name it. Nuked for 2 mins you have FOOD
Beef Stew
4lbs chuck roast cubed to 1x1"
3 large onions cut large
2lbs russet potatoes cut large
1/2 head cabbage cut large
3lbs carrots (or get baby carrots)
1T salt
4T fresh ground black pepper
1c instant mashed potatoes or flour (for thickening)
1qt water
brown roast
add onions after a few moments of caramelizing in the stew fat add a touch of water
add potatoes, cabbage and carrots
season
add enough water to where you can see it, maybe 2/3 of the way up.
cook til meat falls apart.
when it does, if the broth is loose, add mashed potatoes or flour, stirring a small amount at a time until the desired thickness.
World’s Easiest Brunswick Stew
1 12.5oz can of:
corn
peas
kidney beans
carrots
diced potatoes
collard greens
1 22oz can of:
diced tomatoes
green beans
2 tubs loyd’s bbq (or you can do 1 tub and 1lbs chicken boiled and shredded)
1C favorite bbq sauce
black pepper
crushed red pepper
can’t get easier than drain all 12.5oz cans and green beans, dump them in a pot with the tomatoes, loyds and bbq sauce. add a little water and walk the eff away.
This is not a runny soup. This eats like a meal and this recipe makes enough for 2 people to eat off of for at least 5 days.
FWIW Low fat mozarella melts well, especially the fresh type, the stuff that comes in balls rather than sliced or shredded.
Since I mostly just cook for me I don’t do crock pots and have been in search of a good canned soup. I found a winner last night, Progresso’s Caldo de Pollo. The can says it serves 2 but certainly not for a meal for a cold and hungry barn worker. I poured half the broth into the dog food and enjoyed the solids.
