Black Bean and Chicken Soup(or Why Cumin Is So Important)

So, I made this a week or so ago, and it was bland, tasteless, yuck, just plain not good. I made it again tonight and it was awesome! I can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow. :)

Why was last week's batch so bad? I followed another person's recipe exactly, and didn't realize that this person was into bland tasting food. =P (After trying a few of her recipes, I found them to be lacking any real flavor, so when I see one I would like to try, I add things!)

So here's my version of a black bean and chicken soup recipe for the crockpot. The original recipe has mushrooms and sour cream, and much less cumin and salsa.

16oz dry black beans
1 large frozen chicken breast(or a couple small ones)
1cup frozen corn
16oz jarred salsa(I used pace)
2tsp cumin
4cups chicken broth

The night before making this, put the beans in a bowl, cover with water plus two inches, and let soak. In the morning, drain the beans and throw them in a large crockpot(4-6quarts).

Lay your frozen chicken breast on top of the beans, add the corn, salsa, and cumin. Pour the chicken broth over the whole thing, and let cook on high for 6-8 hours.

SOOOOOOOOOO good! Enjoy!

Bacon and Onion Smothered Pot Roast

From Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Slow Cooker Recipes. This will take a 6quart slow cooker, and feeds about 4 adults, or our family for two nights. :)

1 lb baby red skin potatoes, rinsed
3lb beef chuck roast, rinsed and patted dry
2tbsp Montreal seasoning
1box(1.9oz) pre-cooked bacon
1can cream of mushroom soup
1(1.5oz) packet meatloaf seasoning
1(8oz) pkg sliced, fresh, mushrooms
1 onion, peeled and sliced

1) Place potatoes in bottom of crock-pot

2)season both sides of chuck roast with steak seasoning. Place on top of potatoes. Lay bacon slices on top of the roast.

3)In medium bowl, stir together soup and meatloaf seasoning. Pour over roast and bacon. Top with sliced onions and mushrooms.

4) Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

Again, another recipe from allrecipes.com:

INGREDIENTS

* 2 pounds beef sirloin, cut into 2 inch strips
* garlic powder to taste
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 cube beef bouillon
* 1/4 cup hot water
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch
* 1/2 cup chopped onion
* 2 large green bell peppers, roughly chopped
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
* 3 tablespoons soy sauce
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt (I'll omit this next time because it was a little salty for me)

1. Sprinkle strips of sirloin with garlic powder to taste. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil and brown the seasoned beef strips. Transfer to a slow cooker.
2. Mix bouillon cube with hot water until dissolved, then mix in cornstarch until dissolved. Pour into the slow cooker with meat. Stir in onion, green peppers, stewed tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and salt.
3. Cover, and cook on High for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

Slow Cooker Texas Pulled Pork

I copied this recipe from www.allrecipes.com If you click on the title you can go directly to their site with the recipe. Here it is:

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

* 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
* 1 (4 pound) pork shoulder roast (or smaller pork loin works well too)
* 1 cup barbeque sauce
* 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
* 1/2 cup chicken broth
* 1/4 cup light brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1 extra large onion, chopped
* 2 large cloves garlic, crushed
* 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
* 8 hamburger buns, split
* 2 tablespoons butter, or as needed


DIRECTIONS

1. Pour the vegetable oil into the bottom of a slow cooker. Place the pork roast into the slow cooker; pour in the barbecue sauce, apple cider vinegar, and chicken broth. Stir in the brown sugar, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, onion, garlic, and thyme. Cover and cook on High until the roast shreds easily with a fork, 5 to 6 hours. You can also cook it on low 10-12 hours.
2. Remove the roast from the slow cooker, and shred the meat using two forks. Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker, and stir the meat into the juices.
3. Spread the inside of both halves of hamburger buns with butter. Toast the buns, butter side down, in a skillet over medium heat until golden brown. Spoon pork into the toasted buns.


Kim's notes: I actually used a large pork loin for this instead of the pork roast. I can't remember how many pounds it was, but maybe closer to 2 than 4 and it still made a ton! We have leftovers for the week plus I froze some for a meal later on when I'm feeling lazy. This was a little bit of work on the front end but it really turned out very moist and yummy. Definitely a budget friendly meal for feeding a crowd or for great leftovers!

Pot Roast

1 Pot Roast
2 T. vegetable oil
garlic powder
onion poder
paprika
salt
pepper
any other spice you like
vegetables (potatoes and carrots for sure, but any others you like)

Put large stock pot over high heat with vegetable oil. Rub seasonings into roast. Put roast into pot, sear all 3 main sides of the roast. Add water until it just covers roast. Add a little more salt than normal to the water. Reduce heat to medium low. Water should gently roll throughout cooking. Cover. Cook for 3 to 4 hours. Add vegetables in for the last 30 minutes. "Baby" carrots and small red potatoes work well. If you are using large potatoes, cut them to about 1 inch slices to decrease cooking time. Remember that potatoes soak up a lot of salt, so expect to add more salt when you have it on your plate.

Can be adapted to the crock pot, but I am not sure what setting to put the pot on.

This recipe works well to put on in the morning before church, come home and add veggies or open a can of green beans.

The meat is usually cooked by about 2.5 hours, but cooking it longer makes it very tender!

Southwestern White Chicken Chili

I lost the recipe about 5 or 6 times back, so I have been making it by memory lately. :) Here is the way I made it tonite:

1.5 lbs boneless/skinless chicken breast
4c chicken broth
1 medium onion, diced
8oz chilis, diced
3(15oz) cans of white northern beans(yes, I see the irony too)
1tbsp oregano, crushed(between your palms, and you smell good all day!)
1tbsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
2c monterrey jack cheese, shredded

*brown chicken in a little evoo, then using two forks, shred it. I have tried dicing it, and it's just the wrong texture for this dish.

*drain and rinse the beans, you don't have to rinse, but I have found that it's a little heavy on the salt if you don't.

*combine all ingredients except cheese in Crockpot and cook on low for 7-8 hours. I have found that this is one CP recipe that does not taste as good when shortened in time and cooked on high, so I wouldn't suggest it.

*The original recipe called for you to stir the cheese in at the last minute and serve that way, but I have found most people like to regulate the amount of cheese that's in it, so I serve it on the side. If you want it "mixed in" just put it in the bottom of the bowl before ladling in the chili.

*Enjoy with tortilla chips, sour cream, or even some more chilis to garnish.

*Either everyone loves this stuff, or I have a lot of friends with some sins to confess!

Cranberry Pork Roast

I made this last week and it was really good even though it sounds kinda weird.

1 to 1 1/2 lb pork roast (you can also do a pork loin but you'll have a lot of sauce left)
1 can Cranberry sauce (whole or jellied - I used whole)
Catalina Dressing
1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Place meat in Crock Pot. Cover with Catalina Dressing (use enough to cover the meat), Cranberry Sauce and Onion Soup Mix. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Creamy Chicken (Crockpot Recipe)

6 chicken thighs, skin and bone still in
1/2 pkg. of Hidden Valley Dressing Mix
4 oz. sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 tsp. basil
2 tsp. marjoram
4 tblsp. white cooking wine
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the chicken thighs in the crockpot. Mix the rest of the ingredients together and pour on top of chicken. Turn crockpot on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Voila.

* Since there is so much sauce, we ate this recipe with potatoes, but Wilson thinks that rice might even be better.

Mexican Steak & Beans (Crockpot Recipe)

1 1/2 lbs. beef flank steak
2 tbs. worcestershire sauce
1 10 oz. can chopped tomatoes with green chilie peppers (Rotel)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs. snipped fresh oregano or 1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 small green, red, and/or yellow sweet peppers, cut into strips
1 15 oz. can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups hot cooked rice
crumbled queso fresco (optional)

Trim fat from meat. Place meat in a slow cooker. Condition meat with salt and pepper (Not
recipe measurements) and worcestershire sauce. In a bowl, stir together undrained tomatoes, onion, garlic, dried oregano (if using), chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper (recipe measurements). Pour over meat.
Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6-8 hours or on high-heat setting for 2-4 hours.
If using low-heat setting, turn to high-heat setting. Add sweet pepper strips and pinto beans. Cover and cook for 30 minutes more. Remove meat; cool slightly. Shred or thinly slice meat across the grain. If using, stir in fresh oregano into bean mixture.
To serve, spoon rice into soup bowls or into flour tortillas for soft tacos. Arrange meat on rice. Spoon bean mixture over meat. Sprinkle with cheese and additional snipped oregano, if desired.
Additional condiments include, but are not limited to sour cream, guacamole, cilantro, salsa, etc.

Sara's Crock Pot Chicken and Rice

2 large chicken breasts, thawed and cubed
1 cup chopped mushrooms (opt)
1 1/2 cups of white or brown slow-cooking rice
1 can cream of chicken soup (or, cream of mushroom will work too, if you don't have fresh mushrooms to add)
3 cans of water (from the cream of chicken can)
1 pkg Lipton onion soup mix
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Combine all ingredients together in the crock pot and stir. Heat on low for about 6 hours. Great for the on-the-go types, or Sunday dinner. Tasty too!