POSTED: March 12, 2007 by Flambequeen
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So if someone were going to get one of these things to make big batches of things to freeze because they don't like cooking, what would they go buy? Is there a brand, type, size that would be a good to look for? How much would be a reasonable price?
Beef stroganoff is another staple - I can't be bothered to brown it as the meat will be so tender it will fall off. Beef stew, onions, canned mushrooms mostly drained, real mushrooms near the end, spices - improvise from any other recipe - sour cream at end. Cook up noodles and vegetables when you get home.
I too always do my chili in the crock pot. I precook the meat at night, add at the other ingredients and refridgerate. I start it in the a.m. and it is perfect for dinner. Because there is so much I portion it out in freezer bags for later in the month.
I made cabbage rolls the other night , mixed ground beef with rice, chopped onion egg salt/pepper wrapped in cabbaged leaf made wilty with boiling water. Use toothpick to keep closed. Put in slowcooker, top with tomato soup and can diced tomatoes.....voila 8 hours later.....family cannot believe their tastebuds!
I ususally look for the crockpot recipies that don't call for browning the meat first - I prefer to just throw everything in and let it do it's thing. I'm sure a proper chef would say that browning it first is better for the flavour, but I would give up a bit of flavour for time (and dishes) saving.
I don't brown anything now having said that they don't have the nice crispy outside like a roast would have if you did it in the oven more the look of a pot roast. I do cook the burger when making chili or meat sauces I mostly do that so I can drain off the fat. I saw a recipe this week at allrecipes.com for making cabbage rolls and they used raw burger in them.
Question: (keep in mind I have never used a crock pot and am not big on kitchen detail but the idea of throw in pot, walk away, meals for days appeals). Do you have to brown/sear any of your meats first? If you don't how do they look when all is done?
allrecipes.com is great. they also have tips to convert regular recipes to slowcooker recipes. I love to do all my sauce recipes.....ie chili, spaghetti, stew etc in the slow cooker....but you can also do wings, etc. another great site is recipelink.com they also have great copycat restaurant recipes. try both....
I have signed up for daily email from [url]www.allrecipes.com[/url] and they send out a new recipe each day and have sent out some that you can use for your crock pot. It is a great site for really good easy everyday recipes and you can read the reviews from others that have tried the recipes. I have tried several and had only one that I won't use again.
Hi, We love our crock pot, it's great for throwing things in it and magically a few hours later you have a great meal. Here is a chicken chili recipe that we love:
Throw all of this into your crock pot and leave on for 8 hours on low (or I put it on for about 4-6 hours on high) - add or omit things as you wish
1 lb boneless chicken breast (cut into large chunks)
1 cup water
2 cans chicken broth
1 can tomato sauce
1 onion, diced
1 can corn
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, drained
1 jalapeno, diced
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 clove garlic
salt, basil, oregano, cayenne (to taste)
Near the end, I usually just fish for the chunks of chicken and press them against the side of the cooker with the back of a spoon to shred them.
Yum!
I love mine have used one for years and it solved many a problem at dinner time. I have learned here that you can put a frozen roast in cover with water and onion soup mix set on high for the first hour turn down to low and leave for work 6-8 hours later beautiful roast dinner is cooked. I make chili in it all the time just use your regular chili recipe put everything in the pot put on low leave 6-8 hours and done. Beef stew same thing set it in the morning and leave it.