Easy Chicken and Biscuits

Keep your slow cooker on the counter and in plain view.  Soon, you will be using it for nearly every meal.  The convenience of letting dinner cook all day while you do other things is a wonderful habit!  Enjoy the Slow Cooker!

Use refrigerator biscuits, or let your homemade ones sit in the refrigerator until they are sticky/doughy like store-bought.  Otherwise, they will fall apart in cooking.  Leftover chicken makes this dish so economical!

This dish is NOT chicken and dumplings; this gravy is richer and there are fewer ingredients, concentrating on the flavor of mushrooms and chicken.

Ingredients:

• 1 can refrigerated buttermilk biscuits – 8 count
• 1/2 tsp pepper, coarse ground
• 2 tsp chicken boullion granules
• 2 soup cans water
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 2 c diced cooked, chicken (leftover is perfect)

Procedure:

1. Combine cooked chicken, canned soups, water, boullion, and pepper in slow cooker that has been treated lightly with a oil spray.
2. Cut biscuits into quarters and stir into mixture.
3. Cover, and cook on low 4 – 6 hours, sirring occasionally or until biscuits are cooked.  Do not overcook.

Variations:  Cook 1/2 c chopped onion, and 1/2 c chopped celery, fine, in a skillet until transparent and add to mixture in slow cooker.  This is excellent served in a bowl, or over rice or noodles.

Salad and a light dessert will fill you up!

Mexican Stew and Toppers

Talk About Tequila Sundown!!  Add chopped avocado, grated cheeses, sour cream, sliced olives, chopped fresh cilantro, and various types of peppers and onions for more zip and pizzaz!

This stew is hearty, and the chili powder and taco seasoning give it the South-of-the-Border flavor!  Hot corn and flour tortillas are perfect!

Ingredients:

• 1 can whole-kernel corn, with red and green peppers, drained
• 1 can black geans, rinsed and drained (can use pinto, or kidney)
• 1 envelope your favorite taco seasoning
• 1 tsp chili powder
• dash cayenne for heat; optional
• 1 c frozen whole onions, or 1 cup chopped fresh
• 1 can whole tomatoes (28 oz)
• 2 lb beef stew meat, or your favorite chunked sirloin/or beef cut

Procedure:

1.  In hot skillet, dip chunked meat in flour, and salt and pepper seasoning, and brown meat on all sides. 
2. Prepare the slow cooker with olive oil spray, and heat.  Add the pre-browned meat, tomatoes, onions, and chili powder. 
3. Cover and cook on low 9 – 11 hours until meat is very tender. 
4. Stir in taco seasoning mix, using a wire whisk.  Stir in beans and corn.  One small splash of Tequila for adults only!  Cover and cook on high 15 – 30 minutes or until thickened.

Warm tortillas and your favorite toppings make this Mexican Stew unforgettable.  Can you say Tequila?

Saucy Vegetable Stew

This Mediterranean version slowly cooked vegetable stew will be so tasty you won’t even miss the meat.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• Salt and coarsely ground pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste, no substitute for best flavor
• 1/4 c red wine and a dash more
• 1 lb plum tomatoes, sliced – use plum tomatoes for best result
• 8 oz favorite mushrooms, halved
• 3 zucchini, sliced
• 2 yellow bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 red onions, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Procedure:

1. Preheat slow cooker on hit while preparing all the other ingredients. 
2. Heat oil in skillet; add onions, garlic, bell peppers and saute for 5 minutes.  Add zucchini, mushrooms, toimatoes, wine, tomato paste and salt and pepper, then bring to boil, sirring constantly.
3. Transfer mixture to hot slow cooker, cover and turn the temperature down to low, cooking for 6 to 8 hours.  Stir in chopped fresh herbs at the end and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan shavings.

Salad and crusty bread completes the meal!

Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

A light, but still hearty chicken stew competes with beef stew for its intense flavor and popularity! 

Ingredients:

• 1 jar of roasted chicken gravy
• 1/2 c dry white wine or chicken broth
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• dash garlic powder to 1/4 tsp
• 1 tsp instant chopped onion
• 1/2 tsp salt to taste
• 12 boneless chicken thighs, or 4 chicken breasts
• 8 oz fresh whole mushrooms, cut in half (cremini, shitake or brown mushrooms, or a mixture of all three
• 2 cups baby-cut carrots or whole carrots, sliced into small chunks
• 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
• Optional: 1 c frozen peas, stirred into the stew the last 5 minutes

Procedure:

1. Lightly oil slow cooker with olive oil.
2. Toss potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms into the larg slow cooker.
3. Arrange chicken on top, slicing chicken into bite sized chunks if prefer.
4. Add seasonings, onion, and garlic over chicken.  If using fresh sliced onions, my preference, thinly slice one whole onion and use in place of the dried onions.
5. Stir tomato paste into jar of gravy.  Pour gravy and wine over all.
6. Cover and cook on low 8 – 10 hours or until vegetables are tender. 

Variations:  Dip chicken pieces in flour and place in hot skillet, to lightly brown in olive oil before  placing in slow cooker.

Crocker Bread

This crocker bread is amazing and was given to me by a friend.  At first, it was a disaster because I didn’t butter it all over.  Be sure to put the frozen dough in a prepared buttered crock pot, and brush the dough with butter, coating thoroughly.

Every crockpot is different, so if your bread doesn’t brown, once it has cooked and sounds hollow, take it out and brown it in the oven.  I really liked the tenderness of the bread prepared this way, but it IS the long  road to fresh bread.  Plus, the smell will drive you nuts but do NOT lift the lid. The bread will fall.

2 Ingredients:

• 1 frozen bread loaf
• butter

Procedure: 

1. Grease frozen bread loaf generously with butter.
2. Place in a well-greased baking pan which will fit in slow cooker.  (This could take quite a search, if you can’t find it, use tin foil, greased. 
3. Place pan in slow cooker; cover and cook on LOW 2 to 3 hours, or until bread is thawed and beginning to rise.
4. Turn to HIGH and bake 2 to 3 hours, until browned.

Bread will sound hollow when tapped on bottom. If needed, brown a few minutes in a 400 degree oven.  Cool on a rack.

Flavored butters go great with this!

Wild Rice and Cherries

Have a potluck party coming up?  Church dinner?  Big family day or Sunday meal?  No matter the menu, this rice dish is a great side!  No Rice Cooker necessary for this recipe!  Turn on the slow cooker and enjoy this sweet wild rice dish.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 c green onions, chopped
• 2/3 c dried cherries
• 1 c shredded carrots
• 4.5 oz sliced mushrooms, drained
• 2 tsp dried marjoram, crushed
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 tbs butter, melted
• 2.5 c uncooked wild rice, rinsed and drained
• 3 14 oz cans chicken broth
• 1/2 c chopped pecans, toasted

Procedure:

• In the cooker, mix broth, rice, carrot, mushrooms, butter, marjoram and salt and pepper.
• With lid on, cook rice mixture for 5 hours.  Turn off the heat and add cherries and green onion.
• Replace lid, and let set for 10 minutes.

Before serving, sprinkle with pecans. 

Yield:  15 servings.  This is a great dish for  potluck, or at holiday time, or on Sunday dinner with the family.

Sweet Potatoes With Carrots and Sweet Sauce

Sweet Potatoes are good for us and this recipe will help your family eat them up!!

Gather these Ingredients:

• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbs butter, melted
• 1/4 c water
• 1/4 c frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
• 1/2 c pure maple syrup
• 1 c chopped dried apricots
• 2 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1.5 inch chunks
• 1 lb small carrots, baby carrots

Procedure:

• Spray cooker with non-stick spray
• Add carrots and then top with sweet potatoes and dried apricots
• Mix syrup, juice, water, butter, salt, white pepper, and cinnamon
• Add to potato mixture in cooker
• Cover and cook for 8 or 9 hours on low, or 4 1/2 hours 
• Remove potatoes and carrots and serve with a little of the sauce spooned on the top.

Slow Cooker Tips

Slow cookers come in a variety of sizes, colors, and shapes.  If you’re a single person, there is a slow cooker just for you!  Enjoy it!

Cooking with a slow cooker is a time saver for busy cooks.  I’ve been using a slow cooker for years, discovering  few tips along the way that actually save even more time.  Often, we buy the cooker and then hide it in the cabinet instead of using it because we don’t take the bit of time to prepare.  Developing a few habits will make using the slow cooker easy and frequent.

Leave the slow cooker out on the counter or nearby on a shelf.  If it’s in plain sight, it will remind you to gather your ingredients, chop them ahead of time, and your easy meals are set to cook on their own.

Here are a few tips to make your use of the slow cooker a pleasure:

1. Less tender and less costly meats are perfect for long, slow, and moist meats.
2. Browning your meat selection in olive oil and salt and pepper build the stage for extra flavor.  If you dust them with flour before browning, the sauce that forms during cooking time will thicken itself.  Drain any fat once the meat is browned or use a slotted spoon to cut back on the grease.
3. Chop your vegetables the day you buy them and seal them in see through containers or plastic bags.  Cube meat and poultry if possible.  Doing this will give you tender dishes, with little fuss.
4. Spray the inside of your cooker with cooking spray for easier removal of the food and simple clean up.

Ideas About Ingredients:

• Beans are more difficult to cook in the slow cooker than you might think.  It’s a good idea to boil them on the stove for about 10 – 20 minutes before adding them to the slow cooker.  Turn the cooker on low while the beans are cooking on the stove so they don’t lose heat.  Dip the hot beans carefully into the hot slow cooker so as not to burn yourself.  Note:  Soaking beans overnight does not guarantee they’ll be tender at the end of cooking time. 
• Meats become tender more quickly than thick, chunky vegetables in a slow cooker.  Vegetables should be cut in about 1 inch chunks and  placed at the bottom of the sprayed cooker so they will be close to the heat.  Make sure there is enough liquid in the cooker.
• Avoid long cooking of dairy products so they don’t break down and curdle.  Evaporated milk is a good substitute as it does not curdle.
• If you live in a high-altitude climate, add 30 minutes for each hour of cooking time in the recipe.
• Trim the meat to the size needed for your cooker, remember many meats cook down, so don’t over cut, or you’ll have a tiny portion to serve.
• To adapt a recipe’s liquid requirement to the slow cooker, reduce the liquids by about half, unless you’re recipe calls for long grain rice.
• Think bacteria!  Most slow cookers over the last few years cook at a hot enough temperature to prevent the bacteria danger zone of cooking at or below 140F.  To check your slow cooker’s cooking temperature, fill the cooker with water up to one-half or 2/3’s full.  Heat it on low for 8 hours with the lid on.  Check the water temperature with a good food thermometer.  The water temperature should be be about 185F.  Be sure and place the thermometer in the slow cooker as soon as you lift the lid.  Add 15 to 20 minutes cooking time every time you raise the lid.
• When cooking, lift the lid minimally as it reduces the temperature quickly, every time the lid is up.
• For best cooking results, don’t fill your cooker more than 2/3 full.
• The slow cooker should not be used to re-heat leftovers, nor to allow food to sit without the heat on for long periods of time.

This recipe using Asiago cheese is excellent and I think you will love it as a dip for toasted bread slices, such as baguette.

Gather these ingredients:

• 1.5 c shredded Asiago cheese
• 1 c green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 c sliced fresh mushrooms
• 4 oz cream cheese, cut into chunks
• 1.25 c mayo
• 4, 8 oz containers of sour cream
• 4 oz dried tomatoes, but not packed in oil
• 1 c chicken broth

For garnish:  chopped green onion, parsley, cilantro

Procedure:

• Bring chicken broth to boil.  Remove from heat and add the dried tomatoes.  Cover and let stand for 5 min.  Drain and discard the liquid, chop the tomatoes to about 1.25 cups yield.  Water can be substituted for the chicken broth, but will not add the extra flavor.
• Combine sour cream, mayo, cream cheese, mushrooms, green onion, and Asiago cheese in the slow cooker.  Stir in the chopped tomatoes.
• Cover and cook on low for 3 or 4 hours, or on high for 1/5 hours. 
• Stir before serving and sprinkle with additional chopped green onion.  Keep warm on low for about 2 hours while serving. 

Use thick toasted slices of your favorite chewy bread.