Honey Lemon Chicken

Honey Lemon Chicken in the Slow Cooker

6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or drumsticks 
1/2 cup chopping onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 lemons, sliced
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup chicken stock or water
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. rosemary
dash of pepper

In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive over over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and brown on both sides.

Lay the browned chicken on the bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle the chicken with rosemary, thyme and pepper.  Add the stock or water around chicken to the crock.  Scatter onion, garlic and lemon slice on top of chicken and then drizzle with honey.

NOTES:
* Sometimes I don't brown the chicken, such as in this photo of the honey lemon chicken - I did not brown it that day.  It was browning in the crock near the edges. I will sometimes rotate as it cooks to help overall browning, but if you want it completely brown then use the skillet to brown before adding to slow cooker.

* Sometimes instead of those seasonings I will just use whatever mixed spice I have on hand something from Penzeys or even a Grillmate. 

Slow Cooker Meatball Soup

I didn't add any extra seasonings to this soup and it had amazing flavor. The tomatoes with the basil, garlic and oregano plus my homemade meatballs have Italian seasonings - those were giving it all the seasoning it needed. This was easy and quick to put together and tasted really good.

1 bag (16 oz) frozen cooked Italian meatballs, thawed or cooked homemade meatballs
2 cups beef broth
1 3/4 cup water
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, undrained
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (19 oz) cannellini beans or great northern, drained
1 cup frozen carrots
1 cup frozen green beans
1 cup cooked pasta - made just before serving
Shredded Parmesan cheese - garnish

In 4 quart slow cooker, mix all ingredients except pasta and cheese. Cover and cook on low heat setting 6 to 7 hours. The carrots and green beans can become mushy in a slow cooker so add after 4 hours or 4 1/2 hours instead. Add pasta just before serving.

Garnish individual servings with Parmesan cheese.

My Sir's Favorite BBQ Sammiches

I saw this late 70's era ad and had to smile.  A working woman's dream and all for under $15!  And while not all of us work outside the home, we still work hard around the house!  This recipe is my Sir's favorite.  I've made it with beef, pork and chicken.

I serve this on potato rolls, and I always turn the slow-cooker on low while I am mixing the ingredients.

Barbecue Sammiches

1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup ketchup
1 cup barbecue sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's with Hickory and Brown Sugar)
1 cup water
2 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp chili powder (I use less, Sir likes sweet better than spicy)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Mix the above in your crock pot and let heat through to combine well.  When it is done, add 3-4 lbs sirloin roast, bottom round roast, pork shoulder roast or chicken breasts and/or thighs.  Let simmer on high for at least 7 hours.  Meat needs to be tender and cooked through, but you do not want to burn the sauce!

Using two forks, shred the meat, if your crock pot is deep enough, you can do this in the pot, but if not, you will need to remove it and put it back in.  To shred, gently pull the meat apart using the forks.  Return meat to the sauce and heat through.

I like to toast the buns first by putting them face up under the broiler for just a few seconds.  Helps keep the bread from getting overly soggy,

Wassail

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! We are enjoying some wassail while waiting for the turkey to get done.  Wassail is such a great hot drink to serve during the holidays. And really easy to make. There are lots of variations to this recipe out there, but I like to keep it simple so here is what I do....

Wassail
1 gallon apple cider
2 cups orange juice
1 or 2 oranges - sliced
1 tablespoon allspice
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Add ingredients to a 7 or 8 quart slow cooker.  Simmer for 2 to 4 hours. Turn to warm and serve in mugs.

NOTES:
* the orange I used today was fairly large so only used one
* if you don't have allspice use mixture of ginger and cloves they always taste good too

Great Goulash with Potato Dumplings

This recipe is from the book I reviewed yesterday - The 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes. I adapted it slightly, but don't think the outcome would be much different if doing the original   The potato dumplings are a really delicious choice for this goulash, but if you are pressed for time, serve goulash on top of wide noodles or mashed potatoes.

Great Goulash with Potato Dumplings
adapted from the recipe in The 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes.  
serves 6

For the goulash:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 1/2 pounds stew meat, cut in large chunks
2 cups onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon  dried marjoram
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 small can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups beef stock
1/2 cup sour cream

For the potato dumplings:
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubes
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh parsley, chopped for garnish

In a large saute pan over medium high heat add the olive oil and brown the stew meat in batches. Transfer to slow cooker.

In the same pan, reduce the heat to medium and add onions and garlic and saute for 3 - 4 minutes. Add paprika, marjoram  pepper, and flour and cook for an additional minute. Add tomato paste and stir well. The mixture will be thick. Add beef broth and cook, stirring, for a minute or two.

Transfer mixture to slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 - 5 hours. The beef will be very tender and shred easily.

About an hour before dinner time, make the potato dumplings. Cook potato chunks in a large pot of water until tender. Drain and mash until smooth. Add bread crumbs, egg, and salt and mix well. Form into 2 inch balls. Set aside.

Stir sour cream into goulash. Top with potato dumplings, spooning some of the sauce over them. Cover and cook on HIGH for about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve. 

Rheya's Slow Cooker Post

Hi y'all.  I apologize for not posting recently, life has a way of... getting busy!  Which is why when I was asked to contribute to the Slow Cooker month posts I said "YES!!!"  I love my slow cooker, I could not LIVE without it.  I use it at least once a week and I have posted some of my favorite recipes here already, which is to your advantage but my disadvantage because I had to come up with some others for this posts.  

But first, a book review.

Fix-It and Forget-It 5-Ingredient Favorites by Phyllis Pellman Good

I really hate to say it, but this book is not worth it.  Yes, it is JAM PACKED with recipes.  But there are several on the same page that are the same recipe with just an added ingredient.   Couldn't they have made ONE recipe and said "try these variations?"  This disappointed me so much because I have come to realize , that there really isn't that much NEW material out there.

Recipes and ideas

When I worked at the 911 Center, we frequently did things like "Nacho Wednesday" and other potluck types of things where we all brought in food to share.  I  generally brought the ground meat for the nachos and having the crock pot to warm it up and serve it in was very handy.  

Pizza Dip:

2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, cubed

1 14 oz. can of Pizza Sauce (I prefer plain, but feel free to experiment, in a pinch, tomato sauce will do)

1 8 oz package of sliced pepperoni

2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella

optional:

1 3.8 oz can of chopped olives

8 oz of bulk sausage, browned

1 cup finely chopped green pepper

1 cup finely chopped onion

Place cream cheese in the bottom of the slow cooker.  Mix together pizza sauce and other toppings.  Pour over cream cheese  Top with mozzarella.  Cook on low 1 1/2-2 hours.  Serve on pita chips or bagel chips, or something else crispy and reminiscent of toast (garlic and sea salt are my favorite flavors to use!)

Another work favorite was cobbler.  You can make it with your favorite fruit pie filling.  

Cherry Cobbler

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 box yellow cake mix

1 21 oz can of pie filling ( I generally use 2 instead of 1)

1/3 cup of chopped walnuts (or pecans!)

In a large mixing bowl, mix cake mix and butter until crumbley and set aside.

Put pie filling in the bottom of crock pot, top with filling and nuts.  Cook on high 2 hours and low 1 hour.  Can easily be doubled, tripled.... 

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

I will have another post, Sir has suggested I post his favorite BBQ Sammich recipe.

Baked Beans

Baked Beans
2 cups of dried great northern or navy beans or a combination of them
2 1/2 cups water or chicken stock
1/2  yellow onion - finely chopped
6 strips of thick hickory-smoked bacon - chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup favorite bbq sauce
1/4 cup dark molasses, also known as robust (not blackstrap)
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

INSTRUCTIONS
Place the beans in a large bowl and pick through them, discarding any broken beans or stones. Cover the beans with at least 3 inches of cold water. Allow to soak for at least 8 hours or overnight. Drain in a colander.

Place the beans, stock, bacon, and onion in a slow cooker.

Whisk the remaining measured ingredients. Pour into the slow cooker and stir until thoroughly combined. Cover and cook on either high or low heat until the beans are tender and the liquid thickens slightly (it will thicken more as it cools), about 6 to 8 hours on low. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

Beef Stroganoff

1 1/2 pound beef stew meat or steak cubed and trimmed
1 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 (8-ounce) package sliced mushrooms (about 2 cups)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup beef broth - low sodium
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup half -n- half
1/2 cup sour cream 
salt and pepper to taste
Serve over cooked egg noodles


1. Place steak, onion, dijon, Worcestershire sauce, mushrooms, garlic and beef broth in slow cooker; stir well. Cook on low for 8 hours or until steak is tender.  

2. Place cornstarch in a small bowl; gradually add half-n-half, stirring with a whisk until blended. Add mixture to slow cooker; stir well. Cook on high-heat setting 30 mins until sauce starts to thicken.  Turn off slow cooker and stir in sour cream. Serve stroganoff over noodles.


Notes:
Sometimes I will cut into strips like I did in photo - other times I will do cubes. London Broil is my favorite to use in beef stroganoff.  If sauce isn't saucy enough or too thick, just add more beef broth or some water. 

Cream of Potato Soup

6 large potatoes - chopped or sliced
1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 - 32 ounce carton of stock or 4 cups homemade stock
8 slices bacon - cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup cornstarch or flour
2 cups half and half or milk
optional: 1 cup cheese - your choice -  I have used cheddar, colbyjack, gouda
salt and pepper to taste

optional toppings: paprika, green onions, chives, sour cream, cheese, potato chips, crumbled bacon


Place potatoes, carrots, onion and bacon in the crock-pot and pour the stock over it.

Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.  Or high for 2 to 3.

Scoop out  1/2 cup to 1 cup of your potatoes (if you get bacon or carrots in there, don't worry about it - it is okay) and mash slightly. Pour the mashed potatoes back into crock-pot.

Mix cornstarch and 1/4 of cup of water or some of the half and half in a small bowl. Stir that into your potato soup.  Add the rest of the half and half and cheese and stir.

Do a taste test and add salt if needed or pepper.  Cook for another 30 to 40 mins on low and then serve in bowls with toppings if wanted.


NOTES:
* I like how the veggies cook when completely covered with stock/liquid. So if when I add the stock it isn't completely covered with the stock, I will add some water or more stock to it cover
* Sometimes I skip the cheese and it slightly alters the taste, but still creamy and good.
* I  never have added salt because often stock has salt (even the low sodium ones still have salt) and the bacon adds salt to it too. But I do add pepper probably about 1 to 2 teaspoons.
* As I said in the directions above - do not worry if when mashing the potatoes there is carrots or bacon in there. It is okay. You are just slightly mashing them and mixing them back on so everything ends back up in the pot so it fine.
* If it is too thick and creamy, add more liquid - water or stock.

Refried Beans

I am sorry I don't have a photo of these....because honestly I just can't seem to get a good photo of them. I mean it is refried beans...not always the most nice looking dish. But these taste really good. So much better than from a can.

Refried Beans
adapted from The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the World - review on yesterday's post

1 white onion - quarterd
6 cloves of garlic
4 Serrano chilies - seeded and halved
1 tablespoon cumin (can use cumin seed and ground in coffee grinder)
2 cups dried pinto or black beans
4 cups water
2 cups beer
3 to 4 table spoons vegetable oil
salt to taste

Pre-heat the broiler.  Place the onion, garlic, and chilies on a baking sheet and broil, turning, for  5 to 7 minutes, until blackened and blistered. Remove from broiler and transfer to a cutting board, chop coarsely.

Rinse and sort through the beans.  Place in the slow cooker and add water and beer. Add the onion mixture and the cumin. Stir well. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until beans are very tender.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the oil.  Spoon the beans into the pan, a bit at a time, and smash them with a potato masher.  Gradually add all the beans, then any remaining liquid. Cook until some of the liquid evaporates and the beans thicken.  The finished beans should have some texture to them.  IF you want a smoother texture, puree them in a food processor before adding to saute pan.  Stir in salt to taste and serve warm.

NOTES:
Dried Beans - I have to be honest I am hit and miss on dried beans not just for this, but for soups, baked beans or whatever recipe calls for dried beans. Sometimes they work and get to the soft buttery texture, but at times they don't.  I just read Lynne Alley's book 50 Simple Soups for the Slow Cooker and she explained in it that dried beans can become old. They can have trouble hydrating if they are too old.  I have had many batches of beans never hydrate and that is even with soaking them over night. I always felt I was doing something wrong. But now I do think it was they were older beans.  So make sure if you are going to make these, don't just use the beans that have been sitting on your shelf for so long you can't remember when you got them - buy some new beans and you will have better luck - I am positive.   Also this recipe says you don't need to soak the beans over night, but because I have always been hit and miss on beans - I have always soaked them.  But next time I will try to buy fresh beans and not soak them - to see how they turn out.

Serrano Chilies - please google how to handle peppers if you haven't ever done so before - before you cut into them.

 

White Chicken Chili

White Chicken Chili

1 - 32 ounce carton chicken stock or 4 cups homemade stocks
3 - 15 ounce cans of white beans
1 lb boneless chicken breast - chopped (no need to cook ahead of time)
1 - 7 ounce can of green chili
3 teaspoon chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
topping:  shredded cheese, tortilla chips or strips, sour cream, sliced jalapeno, green onion, chopped tomatoes

Place chicken in the bottom of the crock-pot and then add other ingredients on top.  Cook on high for 1 hour, then stir and turn down to low. Cook on low for 5 to 6 hours.  Serve with your favorite toppings.


NOTES:
Really only one note...I put the chicken in the bottom and place everything on top without stirring it for that hour on high so that the crock starts heating that chicken right away. It is just a little food safety tip with slow cookers.  Anytime putting raw meat in the crock - try to always put it towards the bottom 1/2 of the crock and then heat on high so that it brings it to a hot temperature instead of letting it get to room temp before the crock is fully hot.  If your meat is already browned or cooked, then heating putting on the bottom isn't always necessary.

Crock-pot Meat Sauce

1 pound ground Italian sausage or ground beef/turkey
2  -  14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes with juice
1  - 8 ounce can tomato sauce
1  -  6 ounce can tomato paste
1 cup chopped onion
1 green bell pepper chopped (approximately 1 cup - it is fine if you go over that)
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
dash ground red pepper or red pepper flakes (optional)

Preparation:

In a large skillet, cook meat over medium heat until no longer pink.

Add meat crockpot, along with all remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on LOW setting for 8 to 10 hours or HIGH for 4 to 5 hours.

Serves 8 to 10. Sauce can be frozen.

6 Reasons to Use a Crock-pot or Slowcooker

Ham and Bean Soup made in the Crock-pot

As I said in yesterday's post, I use the crock-pot all year around, but traditionally this is the time of the year that people seem to use it more. The days are shorter and it is dark by the time you get home from work so making dinner usually is the last thing we might want to do.  A crock-pot can give you inexpensive, healthy, hot meals.  I can tell you that it is the one appliance in my kitchen I know I can't live without and use it at least once a week.

If you haven't used one, please take a look at all these great reasons you should start.....

1. Saves Time - Place food in the crock and then walk away.  You don't have to watch the pot - monitoring or stirring.

2. Easy to use - You just layer the foods in the crock, turn it on and walk away until dinner.  Using a crock-pot doesn't require culinary skills.

3.  Inexpensive - It is an inexpensive kitchen appliance that gives you so much. You can use less expensive cuts of meat because the process of slow cooking makes them tender. It also uses less power than the oven.  So you save money using it several ways.

4. Healthy - Many recipes or foods you cook in the crock-pot don't need butter, oil or fat added.  You can make so many wonderfully healthy dishes full of flavor.

5.  Easy Clean-up with Removable Crocks - After the meal, just take that crock out and soak it in the sink and wash clean.  Some removable crocks are dishwasher safe so cuts your cleaning down even more. It ends up being the dish you use to prepare, cook and serve so less dishes to clean.

6. Good Meals - It creates good meals that taste good and usually gives you extra meals. You can cook a piece of meat that can serve not only dinner for tonight, but freeze left overs and reheat later for a quick meal, or use extra meal to create a totally different meal later. Such as making a pot roast and then using left over roast into beef stroganoff or stew.


Recipe for Ham & Bean Soup in the Crock-pot

Slow Cooking November

I love to use my crock-pot all year round. I like that in the summer it doesn't  heat up the kitchen like the oven does and that  in the cooler seasons of fall and winter the wonderful smells coming from it just makes the house seem warmer. I have 4 crock-pots in the house - 2 aren't even used for food, but wax. (Yes one of the crock-pots is used for kinky use of wax, but the other is for art.)

For the rest of the month here at Domestic Servitude we will having all sorts of helpful posts on crock-pots from what kind to buy, tips and tricks, book reviews and LOTS of recipes. We hope you will come by and read the posts and pass them on to your friends.

So starting this month of slow cooking with a recipe...

Pork and Black Beans for Tacos

2 cans of black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 pound boneless pork loin roast
1 can Rotel (with liquid - 10 ounce can of diced tomatoes with green chiles)
1 can diced tomatoes (with liquid - 14.5 ounce can)
1 can green chiles (4 ounce can)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2  teaspoon ground cumin

Trim all the fat off the pork roast, cut in half. Season with the chili powder, oregano and ground cumin. Place in the pork in the bottom of the crock-pot and then pour the other ingredients in over it.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Shred pork and stir in with other ingredients. Eat immediately or continue to cook on low adding water if liquids begin to evaporate. If there is too much liquid, cook without lid for a bit.

Serve on top of tortillas with your favorite toppings.

Crockpot Honey Chicken

I love using the crockpot in the summer because it doesn't heat up the kitchen as much as using the oven.  I also can put stuff in and let it cook all day and not have so much of a rush around dinner time.   

I found this recipe via Pinterest but I am not linking to the recipe as there were SO MANY blogs that posted this recipe and all of them were just a little bit different.  So I just kind of  pulled things from several of the recipes to get this version.  I have to say when I first started seeing this on Pinterest, I was thinking it looks so good that I was ready to make in the moment but when I looked at the ingredients I was stopped up short because one of the ingredients is ketchup.  I just couldn't imagine the combination of ingredients would work well.  But it worked. It doesn't taste like ketchup and honey in the end. It just has a slight sweet flavor but it is hard to tell where that flavor comes from exactly. Master loved this - he was saying  "more" - instantly after eating a serving of it. He said he wants me to make it again soon.  We did also notice that the flavors got even better the next night.  It was really good the first night, but it was even better with the second night. 

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (or thighs work too - it ended up being 2 LARGE chicken breast to make a pound and it made several meals for the 2 of us)

3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon olive oil (could also use vegetable oil or canola oil)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce or red pepper flakes (doesn't really add heat, just adds more flavor)

Directions:
Put chicken into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and hot sauce/pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high 3 – 2 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through. Shred chicken. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened. Serve over rice or noodles.

NOTES:
I served with rice that I tossed with some steamed peas.  This doesn't make much sauce so if you are wanting more - I would I think add some chicken broth towards the end with some cornstarch to thicken it and mix with the other sauce already in there to get flavor.

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You turkey!

Okay guys. Hold on to your panties because I'm about to blow your minds with the most delicious turkey boob recipe EVAR. Moist, flavorful, tender, moist, flav-... nevermind. You get me.

It's hella difficult but don't give up! I know you can do this. 10 steps. If you've mastered the kitchen like I have, you'll have no trouble.

First: Go buy you a turkey breast.

Second: Open it and rinse it and take out the little bag of wtf-is-that? and throw it away. Or do whatever it is one is supposed to do with it. I don't care. ~flaps hand~

Third: Take out your slow cooker and either toss a couple of pats of butter in the bottom or spray it with some cooking spray.

Fourth: Put your turkey boob in. I do mine breast side down, but I don't know if that's a law necessarily.

Fifth: Open an envelope of dry onion soup mix (or make your own spice concoction) and sprinkle it over your boob.

The turkey boob. Not yours, pervert. Gawd... can't take you people anywhere...

Sixth: Put the lid on the crock pot, turn it on low and let that baby cook all day long. Go spend your time lounging on the couch, reading Fetlife and Facebook and snarking on blogs doing Very Important and Meaningful slave's work.

Seventh: Serve. Nuke up a sweet potato and have a mini-Thanksgiving celebration. Or make a turkey sandwich. Or have a turkey-salad-on-lettuce roll up. Or just have a plate of turkey. I've done all of them. No shame.

Eighth: Just try and stop eating it. I dare ya.

Ninth: Do not care if the rest of the household has declared turkey to be "gross" and serve it for dinner every night for a week. What? I'm not running Cafe Mom here! Hmmph. Ungrateful spawn.

Tenth: Come back and lavish me with praise. No, no, don't hurry. I'll wait. I'll just be over here doing my Very Important and Meaningful slave's work.

Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Soup

I know Jen just posted a soup recipe with ham but this one was too good, and too easy, not to post as well.

Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Soup

A meaty ham bone or ham hock or about 2 cups diced ham (the ham bone really adds flavor though!)
16oz northern beans
½ large onion diced
2 to 3 stalks celery, sliced
8 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Bay leaves
½ tsp thyme

Soak the beans overnight in cold water. In the morning, rinse and place in the bottom of a crock pot. Place the ham bone on top of beans. Dump in the rest of ingredients and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours (depending on your cooker's cooking time. It could take up to 8 to 10, but mine was done in 6) until the beans are tender. Can be thickened with a little cornstarch and water, if you like a more stew-like consistency.

Plugging this into Calorie Counter's recipe analysis, and roughly calculating that my slow cooker made about 12 cups and a serving size was about 2 cups of soup (as the main course of a meal, 2 cups sounded about right?), it gave me these nutrition facts:


Calories: 130
Total Fat: 3.7g
Saturated Fat: 1.1g
Trans Fat: 0.0g
Cholesterol:20mg
Sodium: 621mg
Total Carbohydrates: 15.4g
Dietary Fiber: 2.9g
Protein: 9.4g

The BEST BBQ Ribs

When I need to throw together a quick meal, one of the easiest and tastiest for me are these BBQ Baby Back Ribs.

Note: They are quick to put together, but they do require 6-7 hours to cook in the crock pot before broiling.

2-4 lbs Baby Back Ribs

Pre-cut rib slabs to fit in the crock pot.

2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
4 Tsp Salt (I usually only use half or I find them too salty)
4 Tsp Chili Powder (I usually use 1 because Sir does not like too much)
2 Tsp Paprika
2 Tsp Black Pepper
2 Tsp Garlic

Mix together and rub over the ribs. Place in crock pot. Cover with 1/2 cup of cola (I use Pepsi and I usually use 1 - 1/2 cups) Cook on low for 6-7 hours.

Preheat broiler. When ready, put the ribs on a foil lined baking sheet and bast with

1 cup your favorite barbecue sauce

Broil for 5 minutes, frequently basting withe sauce.

I've also grilled the ribs as well, on a charcoal grill. I prefer sweet barbecue sauces like Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory and Brown Sugar or if I can get it Montgomery Inn's Barbecue Sauce . Those of you from Cincinnati or who have purchased it in local stores (I know Kroger Grocery Stores carry it!) know what I mean, it is simply REALLY GOOD sauce! Of course, I'm from Cincinnati, so I'm kind of biased and could easily write a whole blog post about Cincinnati Culinary Delights!

Meatball Soup

"Beautiful soup, so rich and green.

Waiting in a hot tureen!

Who for such dainties would not stoop?

Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!"

~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

We had this soup a couple weeks ago. And from the first bite Master was raving how good it tasted. And I didn't add any extra seasonings. The tomatoes with the basil, garlic and oregano plus my homemade meatballs have Italian seasonings in it were the only seasoning for the soup. And they both created the most flavorful soup.


1 bag (16 oz) frozen cooked Italian meatballs, thawed or homemade meatballs
2 cups beef broth
1 3/4 cup water
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, undrained
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (19 oz) cannellini beans, drained
1 cup frozen carrots
1 cup frozen green beans
1 cup cooked pasta - before serving
Shredded Parmesan cheese - garnish

In 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix all ingredients except pasta and cheese. Cover and cook on low heat setting 6 to 7 hours. The carrots and green beans can become mushy in a slow cooker so add after 4 hours or 4 1/2 hours instead. Add pasta just before serving.

Garnish individual servings with Parmesan cheese.

Crock Pot Pasta Sauce

Some time ago I came across a recipe for making pasta sauce in the crock pot. I then promptly lost the link because I'm organized like that. With yesterday being such a cold, blustery day, and with a kitchen stocked with the ingredients that I could remember being in the dish, I decided to give it a go.



First, I sauteed some chopped onion, carrots and celery in a small amount of olive oil until soft. I seasoned it with salt and pepper, dumped in a can of tomato paste and let that all cook together for awhile.



I used about 6 oz. of red wine and deglazed the pan. Then I let that all simmer together until it was thick and bubbly and smelled amazing.



While that was simmering, I put 3 cans of diced tomatoes and 2 cans of stewed tomatoes (all normal sized cans) into the crock pot. I dumped in the wine-veggie mixture, added two bay leaves and a healthy sprinkle of italian seasoning.



I stirred it all up, set the crock on low and left it to cook, about 6 hours or so.

The house smelled divine. My tummy growled all day long.

Because the sauce was all chunky with big pieces of stewed tomato and carrots, and because none of us particularly like chunky sauce, I used my hand held blender, stuck it right in the crock and blended it all up, removing the bay leaves first, of course.



I'm sure that is an optional step if you like chunky sauce, but it sure seemed to open up and smooth out the flavors. I poured in a bag of frozen meatballs (which I would have preferred to make myself but didn't have the ingredients on hand) just because My Man is a caveman-esque meat-eater.

I served it over whole grain rotini pasta, with a side of veggies and a slice of buttered french bread.



Though it filled my 6 quart crock about 3/4 of the way, I had just enough left to make Master's lunch today and that was it. It was a hit with everybody.

The wine gave it a very distinctly sharp flavor. Though it was really good, next time, I think I might try deglazing with broth and see if the flavor is a little more subtle. I'm also going to leave out the meatballs, or have them on the side. I thought they added too much grease cooking them in the sauce.

I can't tell you exactly what it cost to make the sauce because I had most everything in the kitchen already. But I'm pretty sure that for 5 to 6 quarts of pasta sauce, this was much cheaper than buying that amount pre-made. Plus, it tasted so much better than anything I've ever gotten in a jar.

Someday I'll work up to using whole, fresh tomatoes plucked straight from my garden. But I'm still just a baby in the kitchen. ;)