Slow Cooker Tavern Soup Revisited

Five years ago today, I blogged about this soup and I decided to do so again.  I love this soup.  My brother made this for us many years ago and I’ve made it since then.  It’s perfect for this time of year when it’s cold out.  It’s very easy to pour in a mug ~ no spoon needed!

Tavern Soup

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 cup green pepper, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 (14 1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 (12 ounce) can light beer, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Combine celery, carrot, green pepper and onion in a slow cooker. Add broth, beer, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours.

After 5 or 6 hours, remove vegetables with a slotted spoon and process in a blender or food processor in batches until pureed and return to cooker with broth (I just use a stick blender and blend in the crock and it works great). Turn control to HIGH. Dissolve cornstarch in water; stir into pureed mixture. Add cheese gradually, stirring until blended. Cover and cook on HIGH 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot.

Happy Coking!

Barbecue Baby Back Ribs in the Slow Cooker

Don’t forget to sign up for the Gooseberry Patch giveaway.  Comment HERE on this post to be entered.  Giveaway ends on Thursday!

I know ~ we have a great smoker so why did I put the ribs in my slow cooker?  It was cold and Mr. Meat Eater will only smoke ribs that have a rub on them that is too spicy for me.  And I like them saucey.  So I searched around for a recipe that would meet my criteria and found one on the Betty Crocker site with the one review I was looking for ~ the meat stays on the ribs.  I really don’t like it when the meat falls off the ribs.  Must be the cave woman in me.

Now, you can easily make your own barbecue sauce to use but in the spirit of laziness, I used Sweet Baby Rays which is my favorite.  I used the plain old barbecue sauce.  You will need about 2 or 2 1/2 cups of sauce.

Barbecue Baby Back Ribs in the Slow Cooker

Barbecue sauce ~ homemade or store bought
4 lb pork baby back ribs, cut into 3 rib sections
salt
pepper

Spray a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper and place in slow cooker. Pour about 1 1/2 to 2 cups sauce over the ribs.

Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or on HIGH for 3-3 1/2 hours or until tender. I cooked mine on LOW for about 3 hours and then upped it to HIGH for another 3-4 hours. My slow cooker does not get really hot so you will have to adjust for your particular slow cooker. Make sure the pork is completely cooked before removing from slow cooker.

Remove from slow cooker and serve with extra barbecue sauce.

Makes 6-8 servings or 3-4 if you are serving Mr. Meat Eater.

Happy Cooking!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

I love my crockpot!  In the summer, it gets so hot here that using the crockpot makes so much sense.  I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, which is affiliated with The Pioneer Woman.  There are loads of great recipe there.  I actually think this recipe was pinned on Pinterest and led me back to Tasty Kitchen but I couldn’t swear to it.

This recipe is super easy and it tastes great.  I would think you could use the chicken for enchiladas, nachos, etc. I did not add the cream cheese or the cheddar to the crockpot so mine were not creamy. I prefer to put my cheese on separately.

Tomorrow I’ll be posting a recipe for grilled chicken tacos!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz can enchilada sauce
4 tsps taco seasoning
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 ozs cream cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
8 soft taco size flour tortillas

Place chicken in slow cooker and add the enchilada sauce, taco seasoning, hot sauce, and black pepper.

Cook on LOW for 5-7 hours or until chicken is easily shredded with 2 forks. After shredding, add in the cream cheese and cheddar cheese if using and cook until melted.

Serve with all your favorite taco toppings.

Makes 4 servings

Happy Cooking!

Best-Ever Pot Roast from Simple Shortcut Recipes

Day 8 of 10 days of recipe from by Gooseberry Patch.  If you would like a chance to win a FREE copy of this cookbook, please comment on THIS POST!

Pot roast is one of our favorite meals so it was easy to choose this recipe.  I had never heard of cream of onion soup and could not find it anywhere around here so I changed the recipe up a bit.  I used a can of French onion soup and left out the cream of celery altogether.  It worked out great and tasted delicious.  Either way, it’s a great recipe.  Adding the extra salt may be something you want to leave out since canned soup is no salty to begin with.  I really don’t think you’ll need it.

I totally forgot to take pictures until dinner was half over so they aren’t the best.  Sorry about that!  THe recipe was submitted by a cook who lives in the city next to mine!

Best-Ever Pot Roast
Submitted by Emily Runyon, Suffolk, VA

VIEW PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE!

3 lbs redskin potatoes, quartered
16 oz pkg baby carrots
2 onions, sliced
1 to 2 tbsps oil
1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of onion soup
1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of celery soup
1/2 cup water ~ half a soup can water is about 1/2 cup
sea salt to taste

Place potatoes, carrots and onions in a large slow cooker and set aside.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown the roast on all sides. After browning, place in the slow cooker on top of the veggies.

Pour soups and water over the top of the roast in the slow cooker and sprinkle with salt.

Cover and cook on LOW for 10 hours.

Makes 6 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Really Good, Really Easy Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

Thank you all for the nice comments and messages regarding Mr. Meat Eater.   The biopsy itself went fine and we didn’t hear anything bad at the 48 hour reading so I’ll take that as good news.  We will hear for sure what the problem is on the 22nd.  I will drive myself nuts until then of course.

In the meantime, I will get back to blogging.

I really, really love this sauce.  It’s easy, makes a ton so I can put some in the freezer for the next time I need sauce, and I can make it spicy or not.  If I use all the red pepper flakes it calls for, I find it too spicy for me so I just put a tiny bit in or leave it out altogether.

It is great just served with pasta and would be equally good used for lasagna or ziti or whatever.   You can use Italian sausage instead of the ground beef if you prefer.  The recipe calls for 2 pounds of meat but I use about 1 1/4 pounds since I don’t like loads of meat in my sauce.

I found the recipe on the Betty Crocker website originally.

Really Good, Really Easy Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

2 lb bulk Italian pork sausage or ground beef (I use about 1 1/4 lbs)
2 large onions, chopped
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cans (15 oz each) tomato sauce
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (use less or leave out altogether if you don’t like it spicy)

Spray 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray.

In a skillet, cook sausage or beef, onions, mushrooms and garlic over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sausage or beef is no longer pink; drain.

Spoon sausage or beef mixture into slow cooker.

Stir in all remaining ingredients.

Cook on LOW for 8-9 hours.

Serve over your favorite pasta.

Makes 24 servings.

VIEW PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE!

Happy Cooking!

Chicken Cacciatore

Gooseberry Patch has a contest running on their blog and I decided to give it a whirl ~ especially since I was going to make this recipe for dinner tonight.

Here are the contest rules:

Step 1: Make something yummy from one of our cookbooks.

Step 2: Before you & your family enjoys the dish, ask a helper to snap
a picture of you, the food and our book. Then…

Step 3: Post the photo on YOUR blog.

Step 4: Come back here before tonight at midnight, EST and tell us
where to find your photo.

I just noticed that I’m supposed to be in the picture, too.  Oh well.

I made a recipe from 101 Slow Cooker Recipes .   The recipe is super easy which as you all know, is my favorite thing.  Just toss in the ingredients and go.  It was submitted to Gooseberry Patch by Mary Whitacre or Mount Vernon, Ohio.

I did make a couple of small changes.  I used half the amount of vegetables called for in the recipe ~ just personal preference. There really is enough sauce to use four boneless chicken breast halves.

Chicken Cacciatore
Submitted to Gooseberry Patch by Mary Whitacre

1 lb. boneless chicken breast halves
26 ounce jar chunky garden vegetable spaghetti sauce (I used Prego brand)
1 zucchini, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped (I used half)
1 onion, chopped (I used half)
Cooked pasta, such as rotini or penne
Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Place chicken in slow cooker. Pour the spaghetti sauce over the top. Add the vegetables. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.

Serve over pasta, garnishing with Parmesan if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Nancy
(I’m on my laptop and don’t have my siggy on this computer)

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches for the Crockpot

Now, before you run away from this recipe, it really is not hot.  I was able to eat one with no problems and I can’t handle hot and spicy anymore.  They are really flavorful and DH yummed his way through 2 or 3 of them.

These are great for super bowl parties, tailgating, or a quick meal any night of the week.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches for the Crockpot

4 skinless and boneless chicken breasts (mine were pterodactyl size and so made alot)
1 (17.5 oz) bottle buffalo wing sauce (I used Frank’s)
1/2 of a 1 ounce pkg of dry ranch salad dressing mix
6 sandwich or hoagie rolls

Put the chicken in the crockpo and pour 3/4 of the bottle of the hot sauce over and then sprinkle the salad dressing mix over that.

Cover and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours.

Once the chicken has cooked, shred it right in the crockpot and let it continue to cook for a few minutes to soak up the sauce.

Pile onto rolls and splash with some of the remaining hot sauce if desired. I buttered my rolls and toasted them a bit under the broiler, add the meat to the bun and covered with provolone cheese and stuck it back under the broiler so the cheese could melt. Delicious!

Makes at least 6 sandwiches if not more.

Happy Cooking!

Crockpot Barbecue Ribs

There really is something sacrilegious about making ribs in a crockpot but if you’re like me and can’t make good ribs on the grill, this works!  I’ve seen this recipe on the internet for a long, long time and finally decided to try it.  It was simple and so very good.  You’d swear they were made on the grill ~ well, except for the falling off the bone part.  Give them a try!

Crockpot Barbecue Ribs

3 1/2 pounds pork loin back ribs
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tbsps liquid smoke
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 cup cola (not diet)
1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce (I used a whole bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s ~ I like my ribs saucy!)

Remove inner skin from ribs.

Mix brown sugar, salt, pepper, liquid smoke and garlic;  rub mixture into ribs. Cut into 4-inch pieces. Layer ribs and onion in crockpot. Pour cola over ribs.

Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 9 hours. Remove ribs from crockpot. Discard liquid in crockpot.

Return ribs to crockpot and pour barbecue sauce over the ribs. Be sure that each rib is covered with sauce. Cook on LOW for 1 more hour.

Makes 4 servings.

Happy Cooking!

French Dip Sandwiches

I love French Dip sandwiches and I’m always looking for a recipe that I really love ~ this one comes closest yet.  I like the beef to be a little salty with loads of flavor.  I don’t like putting all kinds of stuff on the bun except the meat and and some provolone and contrary to the name, I don’t dip them since I top the meat with some of the juice when it’s already on the bun.  I toast hoagie rolls and usually use provolone but I used horseradish cheddar for the sandwich in the picture.

It’s important to trim all the fat off the roast so the juice will not be fatty. This is a very easy crockpot recipe that I think you’ll love!

French Dip Sandwiches

1 large onion, sliced
1 can beef broth
1 (4 lb) beef rump roast, trimmed of all fat
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 (1 oz) pkg of Good Seasons Italian dressing mix
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
Hoagie buns
Provolone slices

Place sliced onion in the bottom of the crockpot. Add the broth. Place beef on top of onions and pour the balsamic vinegar over the beef. Sprinkle the beef with the Italian dressing, salt and pepper.

Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours.

When finished cooking, place beef on a cutting board and slice. Place slices back in the juice in the crockpot and mix it well.

When ready to serve, spoon pieces of beef onto bottom of buns, add the cheese and serve with the juices from the crockpot.

***I toast up my buns under the broiler, add the meat and cheese and stick back under the broiler until the cheese melts. Then I add a little more juice to the sandwich.

Makes 4-6 hoagie-sized sandwiches or more if you use smaller buns.

Happy Cooking!

Easy “Almost” Jambalaya

Thank you all for the kind words.  Everything went as well as can be expected and we are glad to be home again!  Fourteen hours (one way) in a car with 4 adults and 2 dogs is not something I would recommend.

I made this last night and I KNOW it’s not a true jambalaya but it works and tastes delicious.  It’s easy to throw together and it cooks in about 4-5 hours in your crockpot.  Works for me!  It makes loads of jambalaya so I am going to freeze the leftovers for another day.

Easy Jambalaya ~ Crockpot

1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) beef or chicken broth
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
2 medium or 1 large green peppers, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
2 teaspoons dried basil
1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes (I used tenderloins and cut them in half)
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced into 1/4-inch slices
1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Hot cooked rice

In a 5-qt. slow cooker, combine the tomatoes, broth and tomato paste. Stir in the green peppers, onion, celery, garlic and seasonings. Stir in chicken and sausage.

Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken is tender. Stir in shrimp. Cover and cook 15-30 minutes longer or until shrimp turn pink. Serve with rice.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Happy Cooking!