Crockpot Dinner Ideas

Blossom

Sat, Dec 01 2007, 8:32 pm

I'm looking for yummy crockpot dinner recipes where I can prepare it in the morning and have dinner all ready when I come home at the end of the day so I can enjoy the day without rushing or worrying about what's for supper tonight. Please share. Thanks.

chocolate moose

Sat, Dec 01 2007, 9:01 pm

Ah, I remember one time the crockpot didn't turn on, for whatever reason .............

MOM222

Sat, Dec 01 2007, 9:20 pm

This past week Binah had a few recipes for the crockpot.

RachelEve14

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 7:37 am

We like chicken & pineapples. I just put a cut up chicken in the crock pot and dump a can of pineapples (juice and all) over. YUMMY. I serve it with rice usually. Another one we do sometimes is chicken & roast veggies. Cut up root veggies and place on the bottom of the crockpot, place chicken on top. Add a small amount (1/2 cup or so) of water or of water mixed w/ chicken soup powder. Before putting the chicken in you can flavor it however you would normally do roast chicken (garlic powder, whatever).

anuta

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 10:37 am

Just this morning I scoured the internet and my cookbooks for a crockpot chicken and rice recipe... no luck, most of them require cans of cream-of-something soup etc... I don't like to use canned soup in my cooking, or powdered soup for that matter...

So I came up with my own recipe:

1 large onion
1 green pepper
1 med-small eggplant
4 garlic cloves
5 chicken thighs, skin removed
2/3 cup brown rice
1/3 cup wild rice
3.5 cups water
2 tb tomato paste
salt, pepper, paprika to taste

chop onion, pepper, eggplant and garlic. Put 1/2 of the vegetables mixture on the bottom of the crokpot. Mix tomato paste with 1 cup water, pour over the veggies. Put half the meat on top of the veggies. Season with salt and pepper.
Wash brown and white rice, mix with the rest of the veggies, put on top of the chicken, season with salt and pepper. Put the rest of the chicken thighs on top. Season with paprika and add the rest of the water (2.5 cups).
I put it on high for about 4 hrs; at lunchtime I will call my husband and ask how it turned out...

mummiedearest

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 11:27 am

my chicken and rice is simpler:

put equal amounts of rice and water in crockpot. add salt, stir well. place chicken on top, covering as much rice as possible (leave skins on). spice chicken, make sure to use some colorful spices otherwise the chicken will look pale and unappetizing. low 6-8 hours.

very easy and very yummy.

also, you can make meatloaf in a crockpot, just make sure to put some potatoes on the bottom to hold the loaf off the pot itself. any meatloaf recipe will do.

meatballs work well

I have a pepper steak recipe if you want it.

you can also put marinaded chicken over potatoes.

I have more ideas if you want them.

anuta

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 11:29 am

mummiedearest,

yes, please, I want all your crockpot recipes!

(for my rice dish, I wanted to use veggies... Its the first time I made it, so I cannot vouch for how it will turn out... )

mummiedearest

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 11:38 am

anuta--

I will give you an honest prediction about your recipe. the flavors will be absolutely yummy. I would advise that next time you either leave out the eggplant or put it in the pot towards the end (those things have a LOT of liquid). also, you'll probably want to cut down the rest of the liquid by some. don't worry, it will taste wonderful either way, I'm sure, but the rice may not be rice-like. it will probably mush somewhat. (of course, some people like it better that way.) it took me a while to realize with my recipe that I didn't need more water than rice. the chicken juices take care of the moisture somewhat. eggplant or zucchini both will add a lot more moisture than you expect. (speaking from zucchini experience here.) anyway, I'd like to try your recipe, it sounds delish.

oh, my predictions may not be that accurate, btw, I never use brown rice, which probably requires more liquid.

ok, I will try to copy some of my recipes on here, give me a little bit of time...

mummiedearest

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 11:44 am

I typed this up for a friend a while ago. I have more recipes, but here's a start:

Crock Pot Cooking

1) Anything you make in an oven can be made in a crockpot. Anything in a crockpot will not brown or crisp. If you want a nice brown color, brown the meat or chicken in a frying pan first.

2) Never open a crockpot while its meat/poultry contents are still raw. This diminishes the heat inside to a potentially unsafe temperature.

3) Meat- 8-10 hours low, 4 hours high

Chicken- 6-8 hours low, 3-4 hours high

--longer time if ingredients start out frozen

--time depends on size of individual pieces of meat or chicken, not necessarily overall weight

4) Always make sure there is 1/2 inch of liquid on the bottom of the pot to prevent burning. you may want to add some extra liquid if the meal will be cooking for longer (ex- cholent). If the meat or chicken starts out frozen, add some extra water. the boiling of the water will speed up the cooking.

5) Flavors do not circulate in a crockpot. If an even flavor is required, spread out the ingredients. Flavor travels straight down unless there is a lot of liquid, as in cholent or soup.

6) The "warm" setting is very useful if your crock pot has it. You can start a meal on friday morning for shabbos day and set it on warm right before shabbos. This will prevent overcooking and allows for a day meal other than cholent. Please note that if the warm setting is used for any form of chopped meat, the meat will have the consistency of cholent meat by the next day. Chicken and ground meat generally turn out better on warm overnight. Any marinade set on warm overnight will tend to have a slightly bitter flavor. BBQ or marinaded chicken is better if not left on warm for more than a few hours.

7) Everything gets soft in a crock pot. If a crunch is required, add some extra veggies 15-30 minutes before serving. Make sure they are not sliced thin. If you want to thicken the sauce in a recipe, add some flour a half hour before serving.

RECIPES

STUFFED PEPPERS

- 1 pepper per diner, medium sized

- ground meat to stuff (again, depending on number being served.)

-spices to taste - any combination of the following -black pepper, garlic, onion, oregano, basil

-1/2 cup uncooked rice

-1 lg can tomato juice

Cut tops off peppers and remove core.

Add spices and rice to meat. This can be done in a large ziploc bag- less mess and clean up, and any leftover meat can be stuffed into the freezer. Just seal the bag and knead the meat as you would dough.

stuff meat into peppers, leaving a little space on top of the peppers for tomato juice.

Position peppers in bottom of the pot, right side up.

Pour tomato juice over peppers. Make sure to get some juice into each pepper, and use the whole can.

low- 6-8 hours, high 3-4

variations-

For fluffier stuffing, add some eggs and matza meal/ bread crumbs. You can also mix in some tomato juice.

Add onions, fresh garlic and any desired veggies to the pot.

PEPPER STEAK

1-2 packages pepper steak strips

1 lg can whole tomatoes

2 peppers, any combination of colors

2 small onions

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup flour

pinch salt

pinch black pepper

2 tbsp soy sauce

Coat meat in flour, salt and pepper, place in bottom of pot.

Top with pepper strips, onion slices, and sliced garlic.

Pour can tomatoes and soy sauce on top, make sure the liquids run down to the bottom of the pot.

low 6-8 hours. serve over rice.

BBQ CHICKEN

1.5 cups ketchup

4 tbsps each: mustard, soy sauce, bbq sauce.

diced, sauteed onion- optional

sliced garlic-optional

1 quartered chicken

Mix all ingredients other than chicken. Spread chicken over bottom of pot. Pour mixture over chicken. If chicken is frozen, add a little bit of water.

6-8 hours low.

You can add some potatoes if you want. Slice them into chunks and put under the chicken.

This sauce is very good on baked chicken as well, but you'll only need half the sauce for 1 quartered chicken in the oven.

CHICKEN AND RICE

1 quartered chicken

2 cups uncooked rice

2 cups water

salt to taste --do not leave out the salt, the rice tastes very bland without it

spices (whatever you generally like on chicken)

Pour rice into pot, add water and salt. Stir. Place chicken over rice, making sure to cover as much of the rice as you can. DO NOT USE A WHOLE CHICKEN.

Top chicken with spices. Crock pot chicken looks very pale and unappetizing if cooked without something to add color. Herbs or paprika usually give it a nice color.

6-8 hours, low.

willow

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 12:21 pm

anuta thank you so much for posting this recipe. I also do not like using mix's and such so this will come in handy:)

mummiedearest

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 12:22 pm

oh, if anyone wants a simple meatsauce and pasta recipe...

willow

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 1:12 pm

mummiedearest looks YUMM

Mimisinger

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 1:20 pm

Mummie - I can't wait to try them - THANKS!

mummiedearest

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 3:15 pm

you're all very welcome.

Mimisinger

Sun, Jan 06 2008, 6:57 pm

Well, I'm going to try some crockpot ideas tomorrow - In the chicken and rice recipe, if I wanted to add zucchini, peppers, etc, where do I put them? In the rice? On top of the chicken?

Also, how does the skin do in a crockpot - doesn't it get all slimy? We don't eat the skin, should we still leave it on?

mummiedearest

Sun, Jan 06 2008, 7:23 pm

I don't recommend zucchini- I've tried it with this recipe, it adds too much water and doesn't taste great. others you can either mix into the rice or place on top. if you want them not to get soggy, put them in 15 min or so before serving. the skins will be fine, you can remove them on the plate. in fact, if you remove them before cooking, the rice may not get enough flavor.

mummiedearest

Sun, Jan 06 2008, 7:23 pm

anuta--

how'd your recipe turn out? I want to make it this week.

Mimisinger

Sun, Jan 06 2008, 8:52 pm

Thanks, what other veggies would you recommend?

mummiedearest

Sun, Jan 06 2008, 8:57 pm

carrots and onions should be good. honestly, I usually don't add any.

Mimisinger

Sun, Jan 06 2008, 9:04 pm

Thanks.