slow cooker Archives - Spindles Designs by Mary and Mags

Honey Mustard Chicken

November 22, 2019 by Mary Catherine Scott Leave a Comment

My family has gotten into a rut. We have gotten very busy and have become a bit lazy when it comes to dinnertime. Cooking meals and preparing for them is difficult at the end of the day. I decided it was time to start looking ahead. I have been looking and finding things that my family will eat. My children are somewhat picky. I am likely the one to blame for this, but it is what it is and we have to work with it. Luckily for me, my children have decided that chicken is good. They have their usual ways that they like it the most, but are usually up to trying it in new ways. This started us on a path of new ways to cook chicken. This gives us a better chance at everyone liking it.

As a working mom, I love being able to come home and have dinner waiting for us to eat it. Really, even if just part of it is ready that’s a step up from our usual routine of come home and cook all of dinner. This is where the slow cooker comes in. It is by far one of the most under used tools in my kitchen, but one of the best for our busy lifestyle. Hopefully, we will start using it more again as we find new things to cook in it that everyone will eat.

This honey mustard chicken is probably one of the simplest and easiest recipes I have posted, but it was also a big hit at our house. As it is the base protein for the meal it pairs well with many things. So, we chose to pair it with Oven Fried Potatoes – a favorite at our house – and some steamed fresh vegetables.

Honey Mustard Chicken

2lbs raw chicken breasts
1 bottle favorite honey mustard dressing

Directions

Place raw chicken in the bottom of your slow cooker.
Pour dressing all over chicken.
Cook on low for 6 – 8 hours.

Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches

July 3, 2015 by Margaret 3 Comments

I’ve had French Dip Sandwiches quite a few times in my life and they were all pretty good. But the best French Dip Sandwich I ever had was in the hospital after my son was born. I know – hospital food? Most people lump hospital food in the same awful category as school lunch. Hospital food is bland for a reason – its made for sick and weak people. Well after a long labor and very little sleep and food my hospital French Dip Sandwich was heaven – I had 2. [Read more…]

Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork

July 23, 2014 by Margaret 8 Comments

I have not enjoyed cooking this summer. I’ve lost all motivation to be in my kitchen. I’m blaming the heat. I’m hoping, and I’m sure my husband is hoping too, that my desire to cook returns. In the mean time we’re eating a lot of sandwiches. BBQ Pulled Pork is a family favorite. Good thing you just toss everything in the crock pot.

Isn’t the crock pot great. I really don’t use my enough. If I was like my sister and had a stash of Crock Pot Freezer meals ready to go, my summer meals would be better. Maybe I just need more recipes. Hmmm, Okay! Now I’m thinking cooking could start to get fun again. Lets change things up a bit. So for your change up. Try our Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork, you’ll love it.

Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork

1 – 3 pound boneless pork roast

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup chicken broth or water

2 cups bottled or homemade barbeque sauce

2 tablespoons dry mustard

2 tablespoons honney

1 tablespoon soy sauce

salt and pepper

Sprinkle onion on the bottom of crock pot. Place pork on top. Add broth, cover, and cook on low for about 8 hours. Remove pork roast and let cool enough to handle.

Pull pork roast into thin shreds. You’ll want to remove any fat and gristle. Skim fat from broth. Return pulled pork to crock pot.

Stir in barbecue sauce, dry mustard, honey, and soy sauce.

Cook for 1 hour on low.

Serve on toasted rolls or hamburger buns.

I hope you enjoy. We sure did!

Stay tuned I’m thinking of returning to the kitchen soon.

Do any of you loose you desire to cook in the summer?

What do you do about it?

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Slow Cooker Freezer Meals

June 18, 2013 by Margaret 9 Comments

As a working mom it can be really hard to come home at night and get dinner on the table. Luckily as a teacher, I get to practice good habits during the summer including learning some new habits to help with the “end of the school year” dinner blues.

I have thought of this a number of times, but had never tried it, slow cooker freezer meals. Take them out of the freezer, into the fridge, into the crock-pot and dinner will be ready that evening when I get home. I decided to put this to the test to see if it really is something my family could handle and enjoy. After one successful week of having dinner already prepped and ready to eat, we have moved onto a second week. We are so enjoying the planning and preparations for a weeks worth of dinners. It has been so nice to put it in the crock-pot and not have to think about dinner at 4, because it’s usually finished by then. We have used several recipes, some are family favorites switched to slow-cooker style and others I have found on the internet.

This week’s recipes include: For all of these I let them sit in the fridge to defrost for about 24 hours.

Beef and Mushrooms:

3 lbs stew meat, cubed

2 c sliced mushrooms

1 can (10.75 oz) cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup beef broth

1 packet dry onion soup mix

Put ingredients into resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. When ready to eat, thaw for about 24 hours in fridge. Cook on low for 8 – 10 hours. Serve over rice.

Black bean and Corn Salsa Chicken:

2 cans (15 oz) black beans

2 cans (15 oz) corn, drained

1 pound chicken breast cut in chunks
1 package taco seasoning

1 c salsa

3/4 c water

Put ingredients into resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. When ready to eat, thaw for about 24 hours in fridge. Cook on low for 7 – 8 hours. Serve over rice, with tortilla chips or tortillas, cheese, sour cream, etc.

Taco Soup:

1 can (15 oz) kidney beans

1 lb ground turkey browned, drained, and slightly cooled

1 can (15 oz) corn, drained

2 cans (15 oz) diced tomatoes (I used one with diced chiles and one regular)

1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

1 onion, chopped
1 package taco seasoningPut ingredients into resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. When ready to eat, thaw for about 24 hours in fridge. Cook on low for 2 – 3 1/2 hours. Serve with tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese, etc.

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo:

1 1/2 pounds chicken (mine was frozen so I did not cut into chunks, it was leftover from the week before)

2 jars (16 oz) Alfredo sauce (I used light)

1 package (16 oz) frozen broccoli

1 green pepper, chopped

1 c (ish) mushrooms

Place ingredients in resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Mix together. When ready to eat, thaw in fridge for about 24 hours, cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve over pasta.

The originals for these recipes are from here and here.

BBQ Pulled Pork:

2 pound pork roast

1 med onion sliced

1/2 c chicken broth

Stuff for Sauce:

2 c BBQ sauce

2 tbls dry mustard

2 tbls honey

1 tbls soy sauce

Place pork, onion, and chicken broth in resealable gallon sized freezer bag. When ready to eat, thaw in fridge for about 24 hours, cook on low for 8 hours then shred the roast then add stuff for sauce and cook one more hour. Serve with rolls or hamburger buns.

This recipe I got from Margaret, not sure where it originated or if it is original.

These recipes are new to our family, but have been tried by others. We are looking forward to tasting them and adding them to our dinner repertoire. I am going through some of our family favorites and trying to find ways to put them in the freezer and in the slow cooker. As I come up with new recipes or changes to others I will keep posting and letting you know how it goes.Mary Catherine