Crockpot Philly Cheesesteak Soup

I am not a big fan of Philly cheese steak sandwiches, but I had the ingredients for this soup and hand and thought it sounded pretty good. It was fantastic! Easy to put together and then you just let it cook a few hours until its hot and the beef just falls apart. Very yummy!

Crock pot Philly Cheese steak Soup From a Year of Crock potting
1 pound beef strips
4 cups beef broth
2 cups milk
1 T butter
1 yellow onion, cut in chunks
2 bell peppers
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
8 oz Provolone or mozzarella cheese to add at the end

Add butter to crock pot and turn on high to melt. Cut up the meat and add to crock pot, mix to coat in butter. Add chopped peppers, onion and garlic. Add Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Stir in beef broth and milk. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours or high for 5-6 hours. Stir in cheese before serving until melted. Add some flour mixed with milk (about a 1/4 cup of flour in 1/2 cup of milk) toward the end if you want a thicker soup.

BBQ Ribs

I made these tasty ribs Sunday night for dinner. They were so simple to just throw in the over, mix up the sauce and pour it over. I just let them cook away for almost 4 hours and when they were done, the meat just fell off the bones. This is a great, lazy meal you could make in the oven or the crockpot.

BBQ Ribs
3 1/2 to 4 lbs country style pork or beef ribs
1 10 oz can tomato soup
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 T soy sauce
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp chile powder

Trim off excess fat from ribs. In bowl, combine soup, soy sauce, celery seed and chili powder. Pour over ribs in slow cooker or cake pan. Cook in slow cooker 5-6 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low or in the oven at 350 degrees for 3 hours.

Italian Beef or Venison

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful time in WI at my parents house. We had a great time with family and puppy dogs (since we had to bring our 3 with us last minute-thanks mom and dad for not kicking us all to the curb:)! Back to cooking and baking as soon as we got home. My husband is a big deer hunter and he worked on filling the freezer this fall with venison. I pulled out one of the roasts the other night and made this recipe with it. It was frozen solid when I put it in, but after about 2 1/2 hours it was tender and delicious. The gravy was awesome over some mashed potatoes.

Italian Beef (or Venison) Modified from Cooking for a Cure
3 to 5 pound boneless rump roast or venison roast
1 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp fennel
1 1/8 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp anise seed
1 1/2 tsp sweet basil
1 1/2 tsp accent
1 1/8 tsp paprika
2 1/2 tsp salt
1-2 pkg brown gravy mix (I used 1 pkg and that was enough gravy with a smaller roast)

Sprinkle spices over roast and roast meat for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Add gravy mix with water and continue to cook for another 2-3 hours until tender. You can combine everything in a slow cooker and cook 6 to 8 hours. Slice and serve on buns or over mashed potatoes.

Shredded Pork Sandwiches

Here is a tasty and simple recipe for dinner when you don't want to put a lot of effort into making dinner, but you want something that tastes awesome. I made this last friday for dinner and it was so good. It is a crockpot recipe so I put it together in the morning before I left for work and when I got home, the house smelled really good. It made a lot so we've been eating it up all weekend, but it still tastes great.

Shredded Pork Sandwiches From Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

3 pound boneless pork shoulder blade meat (I used a boneless pork loin we had in the freezer)
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup beef broth
12 hamburger buns, split and toasted

Trim fat from meat. In a small bowl combine garlic, coriander, cumin, oregano, onion powder, black and cayenne peppers, and 1/2 tsp salt; rub into meat. Place meat in a 3-5 quart slow cooker; add beef broth. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8-10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4-5 hours. Shred meat when done and serve on buns.

BBQ Country Style Ribs

I like to make something a little more putzy for Sunday since I have a little more time to prepare it. This actually wasn't too putzy, but it was really yummy. It was a nice dish to make in the crockpot and not have to have the oven on warming up the house.

BBQ Country Style Ribs

5 tsp chili powder
2 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
5 tsp vinegar
2 1/2 tsp garlic salt
2 1/2 c. water
3 pounds beef country style ribs (I used boneless pork ribs)
1 c BBQ sauce

Mix liquid smoke, chili powder, vinegar, garlic salt and water in a roaster pan or electric skillet. Add ribs. Cover, place in over at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove and drain liquid. Pour BBQ sauce over ribs and place in oven 1/2 hour to 1 hour-remove and enjoy. Can use crockpot. (I put everything the ribs in the crockpot on high for 2 hours, drained and poured the BBQ sauce over and cooked another 1-2 on low).

Slow Cooker Tuscan Pasta

I made this for dinner last night and it was delicious. I love using my slow cooker-the food always seems to turn out great and it is so easy to put together. This woman http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ is actually using her crockpot everyday for the entire year and she has a lot of different crockpot recipes.

Slow Cooker Tuscan Pasta from momadvice.com

1# boneless skinless chicken breasts, but into 1" pieces
15 ounces red kidney beans, canned-rinsed and drained
15 ounces tomato sauce
29 ounces Italian-style stewed tomatoes (or diced tomatoes)
4 1/2 ounces canned mushrooms (I used fresh)
1 medium green pepper, chopped (omitted since I didn't have on hand)
1/2 c onion, chopped
1/2 c celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 c water
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
6 ounces spaghetti, thin, uncooked an broken into halves

Place all ingredients except spaghetti n crockpot. Cover and cook on low 4 hours or until vegetables are tender. Turn to high. Stir in spaghetti; cover. Stir again after 10 minutes. Cover and cook 45 minutes, or until pasta is tender. Serve with crusty bread and you'll think you're at the Olive Garden.

Paris Chicken

I made this for dinner last night and it was so tasty. It smelled wonderful as it cooked all day and the chicken was so tender it fell apart.



Paris Chicken from momadvice.com

3 lb whole chicken cut up or 3 whole chicken breasts, halved

1/4 c white wine or chicken broth

1 can cream of mushroom soup

4 ounces sliced mushrooms

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup flour

Place chicken in slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper. Mix wine and soup and pour over chicken. Add mushrooms. Cover and cook on low 7-9 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Remove chicken pieces and keep warm. Stir together sour cream and flour and stir into mushroom gravy in slow cooker. Heat for 30 minutes on low. Add chicken back to slow cooker. Yummy served over rice. Would also be good over pasta or mashed potatoes.

Party pleasing beef dish

I have to thank Ryan for making this Sunday. I had to work and he put this together and he did a great job.

Taste of Home

1 # ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
3/4 cup water
8 oz tomato sauce
8 oz tomato paste
2 tsp sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 cup cooked rice
Tortilla chips
Toppings: shredded cheese, chopped green onions, olives, sour cream, tomato, taco sauce

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a slow cooker. Add the next 8 ingredients; mix well. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until heated through. Add rice; cover and cook 10 minutes longer. Serve over tortilla chips with toppings of your choice.

I am definitely going to make this again when we have company sometime. It was really tasty and (I think) easy to put together.

Lemon Pork Chops

I guess I'm kind of on the lemon theme lately. I made this Saturday in the crock pot and it was really nice to have dinner ready at the end of the day. This smelled delicious all afternoon and it turned out pretty good. We had homemade macaroni and cheese with this and some peas. This was really a simple dish to prepare.

Taste of Home

4 bone-in pork loin chops (I used boneless and it worked out fine) 3/4" thick
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 medium onion, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 lemon, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup

Place pork chops in the slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with onion and lemon. Sprinkle with brown sugar; drizzle with ketchup. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or until meat juices run clear.

Soy ginger chicken

Another fabulous meal thanks to my Rachel Ray casserole dish! This was really yummy! There is a version for the crock pot and one for the oven. I made it in the oven yesterday after work and it turned out great. It is a recipe from Martha Stewart, Everyday Foods that I've been wanting to try for a while and I'm glad I finally did.



1/3 cup soy sauce

2 T dark brown sugar

5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped plus sprigs for garnish

1 piece fresh ginger (about 2 inches long), peeled and cut into thin strips (I didn't have the fresh ginger so I used 1 tsp of ginger powder)

5 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal (1 cup packed)

1 T balsamic vinegar

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground pepper

4 chicken drumsticks and 4 thighs, skin removed

2 medium carrots, thinly sliced crosswise

1 T cornstarch

cooked white rice, for serving



In the slow cooker:

1. In a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker, stir together soy sauce, sugar, garlic, cilantro, ginger, 1/2 cup scallions, vinegar, coriander and pepper. Add chicken and carrots; toss to coat. Cover and cook on low until chicken is tender, about 6 hours. Using a large spoon, skim off and discard any fat from surface of cooking liquid.

2. In a 2 cup glass measuring cup, whisk cornstarch with 1 T water. Ladle 1 cup cooking liquid into measuring cup; whisk to combine. Pour into a small saucepan, and bring to a boil; cook until thickened, about 1 minute. With slow cooker turned off, stir in cornstarch mixture. Serve chicken with white rice and garnish with cilantro sprigs and remaining 1/2 cup scallions.

In the oven:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Follow step 1, using a 5 quart Dutch oven or heavy pot with a tight fitting lid instead of the slow cooker. Add 1 cup of water, and cover. Transfer to oven; cook until chicken is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Proceed to step two.