Category: Crockpot

Lentil Stew

My neighbors came over on a rainy day to play board games.  I tossed this in the crockpot and served it over rice.  Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture…

 

Ingredients:

7 c. chicken broth (or vegetable broth if vegetarian)

1 bag of lentils (about 2.5 cups)

2 cans tomato sauce (8 oz each)

1/2 onion, chopped

1 c. carrots, chopped

4-6 garlic cloves

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp pepper

 

Directions:

Put all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

 

 

 

Adapted from the recipe on the back of the HEB bag of lentils.

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Refried Beans

The name isn’t actually true.  I didn’t actually recook these.  They really should be “mashed and seasoned beans,” but that just doesn’t have the same ring to it, and it is a highly unlikely google search.

 

Ingredients:

3-4 cups cooked and mashed pinto beans, or 2 cans of pinto beans, drained

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can of rotel with juice (10 oz can)

Juice of half a lime

 

Directions:

Soak beans overnight.  Drain and put in crockpot.  Cover with water with an additional inch of water on top of beans.  Cook on low all day (6-8 hours).

Drain water.  Mash beans (I used an immersion blender.)  Add in all ingredients and stir well.  May be served as a side dish or used as the bean portion of my enchiladas.

Pork Roast

I still get a little nervous when I am feeding more than 2-3 people.  I haven’t had much practice with it and I am always afraid there won’t be enough food.  One way to get over this is to practice having dinner guests.  The real reason we have dinner guests is that we want to get to know them, but the side benefit is I am starting to get a feel for how much food is needed.  This was an eight pound pork roast.  It turned out to be way too much food for us and our dinner guests, but fortunately we live in the modern era and have a freezer.  Some of it has come back out of the freezer already and has been used for carnitas.

This recipe was originally intended for a small pork loin.  I made it for a pot luck once and it was a hit!  This time I decided to try it with this humongous roast.  At $1 a pound, how could I refuse?  The large roast had a mild flavor because the spices had difficulty getting to the middle of the roast, but if you have a small roast or pork loin, it will permeate just fine.  You could probably stand to double the spices if you are using a large roast.  We ate the parts that had been sitting in the juice without adding any sauces or anything.  The middle parts we have been using for other things like BBQ pulled pork and carnitas.  The great thing about cooking is that it is extremely flexible, so you can use this recipe as you wish.

 

Ingredients:

2-3 pound pork loin or pork roast (can use up to an 8 pound roast)

3 T. lemon juice

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp crushed rosemary (didn’t use the time I took it to a potluck, but I did use it this time)

1 tsp parsley flakes

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp salt

 

Directions:

Put the loin/roast in a crock pot.  Spread all ingredients on top of the roast and turn to coat (this was impossible with an 8 lb roast, but was easy with a smaller porkloin.)

For a smaller piece of meat, cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 6-8 hours.  For a larger piece of meat, cook on high for 6-8 hours or low for 8-10 hours.  I cooked mine on high for 8 hours because it was so large.

img_6207

 

Original recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/simply-delicious-crock-pot-pork-loin-317045

 

Pulled Pork

2 medium onions, sliced

4 garlic cloves, sliced

1 cup chicken broth

1 T. brown sugar, packed

1 T. chili powder

1 T. salt or more

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

4-5 pound pork loin

 

Directions:

Strew the onions and garlic in the bottom of the crock pot.  Add chicken broth.  Stir together the sugar and spices and then rub on the entire pork loin.  Place pork loin in the crock pot and put on high for 6-8 hours or low for 8-10 hours.

 

We used the pork loin for a variety of dishes: carnitas, pulled pork sandwiches, etc.  It freezes and defrosts really well.  In order to freeze it, I shredded it ahead of time.

Here is a pulled pork sandwich I made using Hamburger Buns and by adding Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce.

 

IMG_4529
Pulled pork sandwiches

 

Original recipe: http://www.chow.com/recipes/30356-easy-slow-cooker-pulled-pork/

Mom’s Crockpot Chili

Sometimes people think eating gluten free is so complicated.  It doesn’t have to be.  You also don’t have to eat weird things.  This recipe of my mom’s is naturally gluten free.

 

Mom’s Crockpot Chili

 

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef or deer, browned

1 large onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1-2 tomatoes, chopped

4 carrots, chopped (optional)

3 cans tomato sauce (8 oz each)

3-4 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cayenne red pepper

1/8 tsp paprika

1 can of beans (I cooked pinto beans in another crockpot because that’s what I had on hand, but normally we use kidney beans.)

 

Directions:

If using dried beans, soak overnight and then cook in a crockpot all day.

Brown the ground beef.  Chop all the veggies (I usually dice them into about 1/2 inch squares).  Add all ingredients to the crockpot and set on low all day.  See?  Isn’t that easy?  And no special modifications had to be made.

I usually serve with my Golden Sweet Cornbread.

If you are cooking for someone who is gluten free, always make sure your ingredients are gluten free.  If you are unsure, please ask the person so you make sure they can eat it :-).

Here is the progression:

First the pepper and onions
Then I decided to toss in some carrots
Add the meat
Add the tomato sauce and spices and stir
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