After reading all the threads on diet, nutrition, health and exercise, I thought I'd throw out my own topic request.

I'd like to have some good slow-cooker recipes. As a newly-single (sort of) guy, I bought a small (3 to 3-1/2 quart) Crock-Pot. The book that came with it had some recipes, but most of them are bland and tasteless beyond belief.

Putting a bunch of stuff into a cooker and letting it go all day appeals to my sense of cooking for myself, making healthy meals and yet keeps the cleanup to a minimum.

Any takers? I'll share a couple I've already made that I would consider making again. There aren't many of those, though...

I've got a bunch. What do you like to eat? I'll see if I can dig some up.

Some things I make in the crock pot on a regular basis:

Tortilla soup
BBQ Beef strips
Italian pot roast
Homemade applesauce

Anything and everything!

Well, except Osso buco. My father used to make that and it stunk up the whole house!

I'm really looking for "one dish dinners."

I can pass on the applesauce, but the rest sound pretty yummy.

One thing I've had difficulty finding is smaller recipes for my size Crock-Pot. I'm not sure how to scale and adjust cooking times for the Six-quart recipes.

The applesauce is for the baby. I mix it into her oatmeal. I freeze it in ice cube trays. It helps cool the oatmeal down and adds a little healthy fruit to her breakfast as well. I never liked applesauce until I started making my own. It is so much better than the store bought stuff.

I think my crock pot recipe book gives different amounts for different sized crock pots, but I'll have to check. I don't really use recipes much. I sort of just throw things in and see how it comes out.

The beef strips are easy. I just use a package of boneless beef strips (or boneless ribs), lay them in the bottom of the crock pot, cover them with BBQ sauce, and cook them on low for 8 hours. It's not a one-pot dish, since I still make side dishes. I usually serve them with steamed broccoli or sweet potato casserole.

The Italian pot roast might be difficult in a smaller crock pot, since it uses a beef roast, but it would work if you could find a smaller piece of meat:

Ingredients:

1 pot roast
2-3 carrots
1 onion
1 can Italian-style tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce (you can use crushed tomatoes too)
1 Tblsp. brown sugar
2 cloves of garlic
salt (I use very little, or none)
pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
1 package of egg noodles.

Directions:

In a skillet with oil, brown the roast on all sides. Peel and slice carrots and onion. Place in bottom of crockpot. Place roast on top of veggies. Combine remaining ingredients except for egg noodles to make sauce. Pour the sauce over the meat. Cook on low 10 - 12 hours (maybe less if the roast is small). Boil egg noodles. Discard bay leaf. Serve shredded meat and veggies over noodles.

The tortilla soup recipe I made up after falling in love with El Torito's tortilla soup. I add potatoes to make it a real meal.

1 1/2 lbs. cooked, shredded chicken
2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
2-3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 onion, diced
1 can corn, drained
1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (10 oz.) can enchilada sauce
1 (4 oz.) can green chiles
1 clove garlic
2 cups water
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
Tortilla chips

Directions:

This is so easy. Just place everything in the crock pot except for the tortilla chips and cook it on low for 8 hours, or until the vegetables are soft. If you're using a smaller crock pot, simply halve all of the ingredients. Serve the soup with a garnish of tortilla chips (I also like to shred in a little mozzarella cheese - it makes a yummy, gooey mess!)

My wife likes to collect recipes. It seems like it was about a month ago she came across a blog where someone had done a "365 day crock pot challenge" or something like. A whole year of crock pot recipes (some good, some not so good). Put "365 day crock pot" or something into your favorite search engine and see if you can find it.

And I was going to suggest osso bucco Fred! My favourite slow cooker dish and I think it smells great whilst cooking. Oh well...

Only on Marriage Builders, pp. Wouldn't you know it...

Last fall I picked up a recipe booklet at the grocery check-out line from Prevention Magazine titled something like Favorite Crock-Pot Recipes. It set me back about 5$. There were several recipes that my boys (FXH, DS21 and DS18) have raved over.

You might look for it. If not, I'd be happy to post the recipes for beef stroganoff, chicken jambalaya, Mexican pork and beans, and "not your mom's" pot roast.

Johnstwin, I would love you to post your recipes.. just when and if you have time. I'm looking for some new recipes for this winter. I've just purchased a crock-pot and it was so nice to come home from work to a nearly completed meal.

I would also love the Osso Bucco one too. It's one of my favorite meals. (Sorry Fred)

Hope it's okay that I jumped on here with my requests!

Absolutely! It's simply a topic I put out there. I don't want this to be just a "recipes for Fred" thread.

ooooo I love my crock-pot. I've got several tasty recipes. One tortilla soup recipe is my particular favorite. I'll have to come back here and share.

Great idea for a thread ....Fred...

hehehe

Thanks Fred! Hope they return and post them.

Here's the Osso Bucco recipe I use and I love it. I must admit I haven't tried it with just throwing everything into the slow cooker, I think a bit of browning as per below gives it more flavour and it's worth the extra bit of effort, but I guess you could try it.

I also think osso bucco isn't osso bucco unless you make the gremolata.



SLOW COOKER OSSO BUCCO

Ingredients (serves 4)
60g butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 carrots, cut into small cubes
3 sticks of celery, cut into small cubes
2 onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 cup plain flour, seasoned
8 veal shanks (about 1.5kg)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
800g diced Italian tomatoes in juice
1 cup beef stock
1 cup red wine
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 bay leaves

Gremolata
finely grated rind of 2 large lemons
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

Method
Heat 20g butter and 2 tablespoons oil in a frying pan. Add carrots, celery, onions and garlic. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove to slow cooker. Place seasoned flour into a plastic bag. Toss, two shanks at a time, in flour. Shake off excess and place on a plate.
Melt remaining butter and oil in a frying pan over high heat. Brown both sides of veal in 2 to 3 batches. Place on top of vegetables.

Add tomato paste, tomatoes, beef stock, wine, thyme and bay leaves to frypan. Bring to the boil, stirring. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour over vegetables and veal. Cook on low for 6 hours.

To make gremolata: Mix ingredients together. Sprinkle over veal and serve.

This is one of the recipes from the Prevention Magazine "Slow cooker Comfort Food" booklet I bought last winter.


Chicken Jambalaya

1 pkg (16 oz) frozen loose-pack pepper stir-fry vegetables (red, green and yellow bell peppers and onions)

8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" strips

8 oz. spicy sausage cut into 1/2" slices

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with jalapeno chili peppers-undrained

1 pkg (8 oz) Jambalaya rice mix

1. Place veggies in a 4 qt or larger crock pot. Top with chicken and sausage. Stir in tomatoes, seasoning packet from rice (if included separately) and 2 cups of water.

(I usually add some of my own cayenne pepper and paprika because the only jambalaya rice I can get has the spices included. Plus, we like it spicy ).

2. Cover. Cook on low 5-6 hours.

3. Stir in rice mix and cover. Cook on high 45 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.