Pork Roast

Let me just preface this post by saying that this roast was so good, I totally forgot to take a picture of it.

2-3 lb pork shoulder or butt roast
1 onion, coarsely chopped
Handful of baby carrots
3-4 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped (you could certainly use dried rosemary in a pinch)
1 clove minced garlic
1 C orange juice
1 Tbsp orange or apricot marmalade
Salt & pepper, to taste
Cooking spray

Wash and trim the roast before placing into a slow cooker that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Place the veggies around the roast before adding the rosemary, garlic, orange juice and marmalade. Season with salt & pepper. Cook on low 8 hours.

I can’t believe how amazing this turned out, for the five minutes it took me to prepare. The sweetness of the orange juice and marmalade complemented the pork perfectly and the rosemary added so much flavor to the dish.

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings

I found this recipe on Stephanie's A Year of Slow Cooking blog. Stephanie comes up with the most amazing recipes. Her creativity when using a slow cooker is definitely something to envy. Below is her recipe for Chicken and Dumplings in the Crockpot. Mine didn't turn out so "soupy" and was more like a casserole, but still equally delicious. My slight modifications appear below. Please visit A Year of Slow Cooking for the original Chicken and Dumplings Soup Recipe and lots of other fantastic finds.

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, defrosted

1 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
16 ounces frozen corn
2 cans cream-of-something soup (I used one can cream of mushroom and one can cream of chicken)
1 can refrigerated biscuits, or one batch drop biscuits (I used the drop biscuit recipe on the back of the Bisquik box)

Spray a large slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place the chicken and vegetables into the bottom of the crockpot. Add the cream-of soups. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5. An hour before serving, shred the chicken with two large forks, and drop in the biscuit dough.


Cover and cook on high for another hour. The biscuits are done when you can insert a knife and it comes out clean. They will be spongy and will brown a bit on the sides and top.

Serve in bowls, with a biscuit or two per person.

Crockpot Turkey Chili

1 lb. ground turkey

1 small onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 small can tomato paste
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin
1 can red kidney beans with liquid
1 28 oz. can peeled whole tomatoes with juice
1 C frozen corn

Start by browning the turkey with the onion in a large saucepan.

Meanwhile, dump the whole tomatoes with juice into a blender and blend until most of the chunks are removed.

Now, here’s the tough part… Dump everything into the Crock Pot. Be sure to incorporate the tomato paste into the rest of the ingredients.
Cook on low for 6 hours.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

I find that certain restaurants really nail spinach artichoke dip. Others fail miserably. And that's what I really hate. When you go to a restaurant, craving some of the cheesy, tangy, creamy goodness, and then you're seriously dissapointed when "said restaurant" totally misses the mark. That being said, one of my favorite places to get this amazing app is Claddagh's Irish Pub and one of my least favorite places has to be Applebees.

HOWEVER, I think that the recipe below is a serious contender for the top of my list! I'll deem this "Carla's Spinach Artichoke Dip," named after the coordinator at our wedding reception venue. I cannot remember how we got talking about food, but she told me I had to try this recipe. I have since made this for many social gatherings with friends and family. And every time I take my first bite, my eyes slightly roll back in my head, my knees get weak, I mumble some choice words and am taken to a very happy place. If you're looking for a winner, THIS IS IT.

Carla's Spinach Artichoke Dip
1/4 C butter
2 cloves garlic
1/3 C chopped onion - original recipe calls for 3 Tbsp
10 oz package of frozen spinach
1 can artichoke hearts
1/2 C half and half - I used 1 cup of fat free
8 oz cream cheese - I used the 1/3 less fat variety
1/2 C Parmesan cheese
1/2 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Thaw the spinach in the microwave and drain thoroughly.

Roughly chop the artichoke hearts on a cutting board.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan.

Crush the garlic cloves and add to the butter, along with the chopped onions. Sautee for 3 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Add the drained spinach and artichoke hearts and continue sauteeing. After 1-2 minutes, add the creamer.

After incorporated, cube the cream cheese and add it to the mixture. Lower the heat and stir until the cream cheese is completely melted and incorporated. Add the parmesan cheese and stir.

Transfer to a pie plate or shallow dish. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese. Melt in a 350 degree oven or microwave until warm and melted.

Note: I added extra creamer because I found that it tended to dry out when heated. Also, this last time, I served this out of my mini CrockPot, so I omitted the sharp cheddar cheese. The extra liquid really helped in this case, too.

Fiesta Chicken

This past week at Weight Watchers, they broke out the super easy crock pot recipes. Can of salsa + meat = dinner. So I figured I’d give it a try. Oh.my.gosh. This meal was sooooo good!! Mr. Tote took one bite and told me to add it to our repertoire of “go to” meals. Fine by me! This one was a cinch to make!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 jar (15 oz) mild, thick and chunky salsa
1 can frijoles negros (that’s black beans for all my gringo amigos), drained
1 C frozen corn

Layer the chicken breasts, then salsa, beans and corn. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or low 4-5 hours. Remove the chicken and shred. Then return it to the crock pot and cook on low for an additional half an hour. I served it with just a little bit of brown rice, a little bit of 2% Mexican cheese and a dollop of light sour cream.

The leftovers for lunch today were just as good as last night’s dinner. I’m looking forward to MORE leftovers tomorrow!

WW Points per Serving: 5 points (3/4 C of the chicken mixture and 1/4 C rice) The cheese and sour cream are extra, kiddies!

Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Oh yummy! This dish took 5 hours to make in a slow cooker and it was so delicious. All of the flavors melded together to create the perfect harmony. I found this recipe on The Crockpot Lady's A Year of Crockpotting blog, one of my absolute favorite blogs to peruse. *Sorry for the blurry picture above. We were up at Lake Charlevoix with some friends and I offered to make this for dinner. The blurry picture is no indication of the deliciousnes of this dish*

The Ingredients:
1 lb cooked, shredded chicken
28 oz can of enchilada sauce
1 colorful bell pepper, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (I didn't use these but I bet they would make a great addition!)
1 can sliced black olives
1/2 red onion, chopped
8 fat free flour tortillas
2 C 2% shredded cheddar cheese
Lite sour cream

Combine the shredded chicken with the enchilada sauce.

Starting with 2 tortillas, layer ingredients into crockpot insert. Here's the order I went with
tortillas
chicken mixed with sauce
chopped pepper
red onion
black beans
olives
1/3 C cheese

Repeat layers. Finish with a handful of cheese. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. This is a no-peeking recipe. A lot of times it's okay to peek and to stir, but for this one it's best left alone for the flavors to meld properly and for the edges to get that yummy crispy cheese texture.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Beef Stew with Root Vegetables

After Christmas dinner, my mom gave me the leftover prime rib, which I promptly threw in our freezer. I have been contemplating what kind of soup to make with it... beef with barley? Regular beef stew? I was perusing some blogs today and came across a few recipes from Simply Recipes that I modified a bit. I used the recipes Lamb Shank Stew with Root Vegetables and Irish Beef Stew as inspiration.

Ingredients:
4 cloves minced garlic
1 medium rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 medium turnip, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
2 parsnips, peeled and cut
2 carrots, peeled and cut
1/2 white onion, cut into large pieces
4 cups beef stock
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup Guiness beer
4 oz. tomato paste (2/3 of the small can)
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
2 tsp/ dried thyme
Apx. 2 lbs. cubed, cooked prime rib. You can also substitute any kind of stewing beef.

Combine all ingredients, except for the beef, in a slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours. After 4 hours, add in the prime rib. It has to be added towards the end because it is so tender and will fall apart if you add it at the beginning. Cook on low for an additional hour. If you are using stewing beef, you will need to brown the meat at the beginning and then add to the stew when you add all of the other ingredients to the slow cooker.

This turned out savory and slightly sweet. The root vegetables softened nicely, but maintained their shape and texture. I served it with an Asiago and Dill bread that I will blog about later.