What's For Dinner, Mommy?

Diamonds may be a girl's best friend. But a mom's best friend is her crock pot. Oh, yeah, my sweet and darling crock pots have saved my bacon more than once. And yes, I have more than one. How could I not! Each has her own personality and speciality in cooking. One day I will describe the fate of my first crock pot, but we will save it for later. It was a bit dramatic. Anyway, here are some recipes for you moms to use soon. They may be useful as the holidays swing into gear. They are definitely wondeful when it is summer and too hot to have that monstrous oven and stove on for more than 5 minutes. Find something you like and give it a try. If you don't have a crock pot yet or only have one, well, now you know what to tell the in-laws to get you for Christmas, a new best friend in the kitchen.


BBQ Pork

3 pound boneless pork loin roast
garlic salt
1 1/2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
2 cups hot water
sauce:
3/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
12 to 16 hamburger buns, split and toasted

Cooking Directions
Sprinkle pork roast generously with garlic salt. Place roast in slow cooker. Dissolve bouillon granules in hot water, pour over roast. Cook on low 8-10 hrs. or until you can break the roast apart with a fork. Carefully remove most of the juices from the crock pot, pour through a strainer into a measuring cup to get 1 cup of juice.

For Sauce, combine the reserved 1 cup pan juices, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, honey, dried minced onion and Worcestershire sauce in small saucepan. Heat and stir until bubbly. Use 2 forks to shred pork. Return to crock and pour sauce over pork, stir to coat. Heat in crock until warm again. Serve on hamburger buns or rolls.

Chili


1 pound lean ground meat (I used ground chicken)
5-6 medium tomatoes, chopped, (include seeds and all)
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 rein bell pepper, chopped
1 (15ounce) can kidney beans (and goop)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1-2 tsp. chili powder (starts with 1, add more to taste before serving)
1 tsp. kosher salt
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Directions: Use a 6 qt. slow cooker. I used ground chicken and opted not brown the meat. If you use a fattier type of meat, or enjoy browning meat, go ahead and do so. Otherwise, crumble the meat directly into your stoneware, add the tomatoes, garlic, onion, and bell pepper, and add the beans. Stir in all of the herbs and spices, the salt, and the red wine vinegar. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hrs, Or on high for 4-5 hrs. Season to taste with a bit more salt and chili powder, if desired.

Crock Pot Ravioli


Ingredients
1 (25 ounce) bag cheese ravioli
3-4 cups pasta sauce
1 cup water
1-2 handfuls of shredded mozzarella cheese

Pour about half of the pasta sauce in the bottom of slow cooker. Add frozen ravioli. Pour additional pasta sauce, and water over ravioli. Sprinkle cheese on top. Turn slow cooker on low and cook for four to five hours.

I like to serve this with either Texas Toast of garlic bread sticks.

ABC ROAST

Make dinner an educational experience for kids. With alphabet soup in this crock pot pot roast recipe, children can practice spelling while enjoying a tasty meal. Learn how to cook beef in crock pot with this easy meal idea.

Ingredients
•4 pound beef pot roast
•Salt and pepper to taste
•2 cans condensed alphabet vegetable soup , undiluted
•1/2 cup water, beef broth, or dry red wine
•1/4 teaspoon dried basil

Instructions
1.Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Place in crock pot.
2.In small mixing bowl , combine 2 cans soup with liquid and basil. Pour over meat.
3.Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours.

Crockpot Snack Mix

This classic combination of cereals, nuts, butter, and seasonings cooks in your slow cooker so you don't have to watch it or stir while it's baking.

Ingredients:
•3 cups thin pretzel sticks
•4 cups wheat chex cereal
•4 cups cheerios cereal
•12 oz. jar salted peanuts
•1/2 tsp. garlic salt
•1/2 tsp. celery salt
•1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
•1/4 cup butter, melted
•1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in 4 to 5 quart crockpot and stir gently until well mixed and cereal, pretzels, and peanuts are coated with the butter, cheese, and spices. Cover crockpot and cook on low 3-4 hours, stirring twice during cooking. Remove lid during last half hour of cooking to let the mix dry.


Egg Casserole

Use your imagination when making this recipe. Try Canadian bacon instead of ham. Use Havarti or Swiss cheese instead of Cheddar. Add some minced jalapeno peppers if you like hot foods. Then enjoy!

Ingredients:
•32 oz. bag frozen hash brown potatoes
•1 lb. cooked ham, cubed
•1 onion, chopped
•1 green bell pepper, chopped
•1 Tbsp. olive oil
•1-1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
•12 eggs
•1 cup whole milk
•1/2 tsp. salt
•1/2 tsp. pepper

Preparation:
Spray inside of slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. In small skillet, cook onion and green pepper in olive oil until crisp tender. Let cool about 10 minutes. Place one third of the frozen hash brown potatoes in the slow cooker. Add one third of the ham, onion, green pepper and cheese. Repeat layers, ending with the cheese.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk and seasonings until well mixed. Pour over the ingredients in the slow cooker, cover and turn on low. Cook for 8-10 hours, until casserole is set and eggs are thoroughly cooked. Serves 12

Caramel Apple Spiced Cider

2 qts. Apple Cider
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. pure vanilla
1 orange sliced

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and simmer on low until hot.
Top with caramel ice cream sauce and whipped cream to your heart’s content!