Stuffed Pepper Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb Extra Lean Ground Beef
1 Cup Onion, diced
14 1/2 oz can Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chiles)
2 cups Green and/or Red Bell Peppers
15 oz can Tomato Sauce
3 cups Beef Broth
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup cooked rice

Directions:
Brown the beef with your onion in a skillet over medium heat.  Drain the beef and onions and place in your slow cooker.    Add the Rotel (juice and all) and the rest of the ingredients.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Balsamic Chicken

I found this recipe on Melissa's bargain blog. I love all things balsamic and I love food cooked in the slow cooker because it makes dinner time so much less stressful. Everyone in my family loved this chicken. This will definitely become a regular at our house.

Ingredients:
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Halves – approx. 1.5 to 2 lbs.
½ C. Olive Oil
½ – 1 C. Balsamic Vinegar – depending on how tangy you like the recipe
1 large can of diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
3-4 cloves of garlic minced or pressed
2 t. crushed dry oregano

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in Crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken with a fork and serve chicken and sauce over rice or angel hair pasta. The consistency and taste of the sauce is sweet and tangy like an Italian barbeque sauce.

Refried Beans

First I'll apologize for the picture. I don't know how to make refried beans look good? I'm sure there is someone out there that could do it, but I don't have that skill. This is a very healthy version of refried beans and so easy to make. I made them in a crockpot but I just bought a pressure cooker and my sister says they are very good made in the pressure cooker and a lot faster. I will be trying them out for sure! This recipe is courteous of allrecipes.

Ingredients:
1 onion, peeled and halved
3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and
chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic 5 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 teaspoons fresh ground black
pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin, optional
9 cups water

Directions:
1. Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water as needed. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.
2. Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.

slow cooker mashed potatoes

I'm not sure how these are so much a crockpot dish when it really just serves as a way to keep the potatoes warm but they are really ready to eat without going in the crockpot. But they are very good and it was nice to be able to make the mashed potatoes ahead of time and kept warm until the rest of the meal was ready.

Ingredients5 pounds red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon minced garlic, or to taste
3 cubes chicken bouillon
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
In a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, cook the potatoes, garlic, and bouillon until potatoes are tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving water. In a bowl, mash potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese, adding reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency. Transfer the potato mixture to a slow cooker, cover, and cook on Low for 2 to 3 hours. Just before serving, stir in butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Footnotes

Easy Taco Soup

Ingredients:
1lb hamburger (or shredded chicken)
1 small onion, chopped
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
4 cups water
4 cups spaghetti sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp salt
shredded cheese
sour cream
tortilla chips

Directions:
Brown the hamburger. Place hamburger in crock pot. Add onion, water, spaghetti sauce, taco seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir. Cook on ow 3-4 hours. Serve in individual bowls, top with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream. This could also easily just be made on the stovetop and let it simmer for a little while with all the ingredients.

Shredded Beef Tacos

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Ingredients:
1 beef roast
1 small onion, diced
1 cup salsa
1 pkg taco seasoning

Directions:
Place roast in crock pot. Top it with salsa and taco seasoning. Let cook on low for 6-8 hrs or until it shreds easily. Shred the meat and then serve with all the taco fixings.

Chicken Soft Tacos

This is so easy and so good I can't believe I didn't know about this recipe before. It's another great one from my niece, Lia. She posted it on her food blog, Lia's Cookbook

Ingredients:
1-11/2 lbs frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
14.5 oz can low sodium diced tomatoes with green chile's
1 envelope low sodium taco seasoning
tortillas
toppings of choice: guacomole, salsa, cheese, sour cream, lettuce etc.

Directions:
Place chicken breasts in slow cooker. Mix tomatoes and taco seasoning. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve in soft tortillas with toppings of choice.

Pot Roast

I love this pot roast. I love the flavors and it is so easy to make. I always cut up potatoes and carrots to put around the roast and cook them at the same time in the crock pot.

Ingredients:

1 beef roast, any kind

1 pkg dried brown gravy mix

1 pkg dried italian dressing mix

1 pkg dried ranch dressing mix

1/2 cup water

Directions:

Place beef roast in crock pot. Mix the dried mixes together in a bowl and sprinkle over the roast. Pour the water around the roast. Cook on low for 7-9 hours. To make gravy: take the juices from the crock pot and put them in a saucepan. Add Tbsp of cornstarch mixed with a Tbsp of water and add the the juices. Bring to a boil in the saucepan until it has thickened.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I got this recipe from my friend Suzanne Bleazard many years ago. It is so simple and easy (especially when you use prepared meatballs--which I usually do because I just really hate to touch raw meat). And my entire family (until Kayli became a vegetarian) will eat them.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 egg

1 cup dry bread crumbs

OR prepared meatballs

24 oz ketchup

3 Tbsp vinegar

3 Tbsp brown sugar, packed

1 clove garlic

1/2 cup onion, chopped

Directions:

Make meatballs by combining beef, egg, and bread crumbs. Roll into meatballs about 1-1 1/2 inch diameter and brown in a skillet. Or use pre-made meatballs. Place meatballs in a crock-pot. Mix together the ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, and onions. Pour it over the meatballs in the crock-pot. Cook on low for 6 hrs. Serve over rice.

Posole

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 small pork roast
1 large can of hominy
1 large can of enchilada sauce
1 pkg of taco seasoning
1 head of iceberg lettuce
a bunch of radishes
green onions, sliced
a bunch of cilantro, chopped
several small limes

Directions:
In a crock pot put the chicken and pork, hominy (with it's juices), enchilada sauce, and taco seasoning. (Note: if the meat is not covered then add another can of enchilada sauce).
Cook on low until the meat can be easily shredded. Skim all liquid fat off the top of soup. Remove meat and shred. Put shredded meat back into the soup. Chop all the vegetables and serve as soup toppings.

California Steak

This was my favorite meal that my mom made when I was growing up. One major difference is that my mom made hers in a pressure cooker. Hers always turns out better---even when she makes it in a crock pot which she did once for me.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 lb round steak, cut into 6 serving pieces
1 medium onion, sliced
1 can condensed beef broth
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:
Combine 1/4 cup flour, salt, and pepper. Dredge meat in flour mixture, brown it on a skillet. Place in a crock pot and add onion, broth, and water. Cook on low for 6-7 hours. Remove steak and onion. Put juices into a saucepan. Blend sour cream and 2 Tbsp flour into broth stirring constantly, until gravy thickens.

Crock Pot Chops and Gravy

Ingredients:
4 lean pork chops
4 T soy sauce
1/2 c sliced mushrooms
1/2 tsp pepper
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 can cream of mushroom soup
1 medium onion, sliced or diced
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp parsley


Directions:
Place pork chops crock pot. Lay onion slices over pork chops. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and pour over pork chops. Cook on low in crock pot for 5-6 hours (or in oven for 1 hour).

Beef Stew

Served with rolls.

Ingredients:

1 lb stew meat

2 cups diced potatoes

1 cup diced carrots

1 pkg Lipton onion soup mix

water to cover

optional: celery, mushrooms, onions, tony chacheres

Directions:

Put all ingredients in the crock pot. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Sirloin Tips

Ingredients:
1 lb sirloin tips, cubed (could also use stew meat)
2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 package liption onion soup mix
4 oz sliced mushrooms (could use canned)
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 small onion sliced
1 package egg noodles

Directions:
Place all ingedients except for the egg noodles in the crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. When it is almost time to serve cook the noodles until al dente and then place them in the crockpot and mix together. Instead of the noodles you could also serve over rice.

Creamy Italian Chicken

This is another case where I'm sorry I don't have better photography skills. This is so yummy! One of my favorite dishes by far and it is so easy to make! I will say this cooked a little longer than it needed to, so that may be part of the problem. But it was still delicious, I don't think you can mess this up. I found this recipe on Marci Freeman's blog. She has one of my favorite food blogs and so I've adopted a lot of recipes from her.

Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless/skinless chicken breasts cut in strips
1/4 cup butter (melted)
8 oz container of cream cheese with chives (can substitute plain cream cheese)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 (.7oz) pkg. Italian dressing (dry mix)
1/2 cup water
rice
Add ins: onions, mushrooms, carrots

Directions:
Place chicken breasts in crock pot. Combine butter, cream cheese, mushroom soup, italian dressing mix, and water. Stir in any add-ins you want into the sause. Mix and pour over chicken. Cook in crock pot for 6-8 hours. Serve with rice.

Vegetarian Chili

My 15 yr old daughter is a vegetarian. I'm pretty sure she does this to spite her parents but occasionally I'll cater to her diet. Vegetarian chili would not be my first choice but this was pretty good and it was super easy to make. I really like crock pot meals because dinner time is so busy around our house either driving kids to and from places or doing homework etc. So I know I'll go back to this recipe. Plus this is just the type of thing I like to eat on a cold winter day. I found this on my favorite website for recipes allrecipes.com According to that each serving only has 218 calories, 1.6 grams of fat, 10.7g protein, and 11.7 g of fiber--so it's healthy too, can't beat that!

Ingredients:
1 15 oz can black beans
1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can refried beans
1 16 oz can chili beans
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can whole kernal corn, drained
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 4 oz can chilies, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 c water
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 pkg hidden valley ranch dry mix
opt. 1 lb lean ground beef

Directions:
In a slow cooker, combine black bean soup, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, baked beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, bell pepper and celery. Season with garlic, chili powder, parsley, oregano and basil. Cook for at least two hours on high.