If you're on the Corona sanitizing binge, then what better way to take care of dinner than to place all ingredients in a slow cooker and press "low". 

Once you've completed all those necessary duties by disinfecting, you can sit and enjoy a delicious meal with your family.  


2 c baby carrots
5 potatoes peeled,  halved
4 lb beef chuck roast
garlic salt and pepper to taste
2 c water
1 oz pkg onion soup mix


Spray your crock pot with cooking spray
Put your carrots and potatoes in the bottom of your crock pot 
Put your roast on top of your carrots and potatoes
Sprinkle your salt, pepper and garlic on top of your roast
Mix together your water and soup mix in a separate bowl and pour over your roast
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
See dumpling recipe for instructions
Serve dumplings with roast, potatoes and carrots

Dumplings2 c all-purpose flour
½ t salt
3 T baking powder
1 c light cream

InstructionsSift all of your dry ingredients. Add your cream and mix together swiftly making a medium-soft batter. Drain off most of your broth from your crock pot into a large pot. Bring your broth to a boil over medium-high heat. Take a teaspoon of dumpling batter and drop into your boiling broth, repeat with all dumpling batter

Cover and cook for 15 minutes

Walmart: Click on image: $14.96

This slow cooker meal is one of my favorites because it is one of those meals where you pretty much just pop all the ingredients in the crock pot, put the lid on, set it and go. It’s also one of those meals my whole family likes and it doesn’t take a lot of ingredients. This is definitely up there in our favorites!


3 carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
3 medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 medium onion, chopped
4 chicken breasts, halved
1 cup of water
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. seasoned salt
Pepper, to taste
2 pkg. chicken gravy mix
1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 cup sour cream

​Place carrots, potatoes, and onion in bottom of crock pot.

Arrange chicken breast pieces over vegetables and sprinkle with seasonings, and salt & pepper.

Combine water and gravy mix. Pour over mixture

Cover, cook on low for 4 to 5 hours, stirring once during cooking.
​
Stir in sour cream.

Serve over rice or pasta or egg noodles.

Who would have thought of placing a whole chuck roast into a crock pot and coming out with a delicious French dip recipe?  I was always in the know concerning a good quality roast beef with a packet of Au Jus sauce slapped in a pot and cooked quickly.

Well, let me bend your ear on this one!  This makes a high-quality roast that has the essence of bold Au Jus throughout the meat.  Let's not forget there are no nasty, extra, unpronounceable ingredients!


3 pound beef chuck roast
2 cups water
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 bay leaf
3 - 4 whole peppercorns
8 French rolls

Place all ingredients except rolls in slow cooker.  Cover and cook on high for 5-6 hours.  Remove roast.  Shred with forks and place meat make in slow cooker.  Discard bay leaf and server on rolls. 

Serve juice Au Jus on side for dipping

This recipe was a bit of a surprise and quite tasty.  I was astonished at the ingredient list and how it was easily put together.  This luscious, rich flavor will put this on your favorite list for years to come.

• 2 lb. chuck roast
• 2-3 tbsp. vegetable oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 4 cups water
• 4 beef bouillon cubes
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 16 oz. extra wide egg noodles, cooked
• mashed potatoes

Place roast in slow cooker.  Combine broth, onion, and seasonings; power over roast.  Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours.  Remove roast; slice and return to slow cooker.  Add noodles to slow cooker.  Heat through. Serve over mashed potatoes.  

Here's a great recipe to put in your crock pot after a great camping trip.  It will feed the masses for days, and they can dole out and reheat as needed.

• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 boneless pork shoulder butt roast (3 to 4 pounds)
• 8 kaiser rolls, split

In a large skillet, saute onions in oil until tender. Add the garlic, pepper flakes and pepper; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the tomatoes, brown sugar, vinegar, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire and cumin. Cook over medium heat until heated through and sugar is dissolved.

Cut roast in half. Place in a 5-qt. slow cooker; pour sauce over the top. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours or until meat is tender. Remove roast; cool slightly. Skim fat from cooking juices. Shred meat with 2 forks and return to the slow cooker. Heat through. With a slotted spoon, place 3/4 cup meat mixture on each roll.

I have been on high search for a crock pot recipe that would make a thirty apple crisp.  When apple season is at its peak, there is nothing better than the smell of slow cooked apples whisking throughout your house.  

Unfortunately, most recipes I've tried produce soupy, saturated-crisp toppings that never made the grade.  This one is scrumptious and provides that crispy topping everyone is vying for. 

• 8 medium apples, unpeeled and sliced
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1-1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 2-1/2 cups granola with fruit and nuts
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, toss the apples, lemon juice and peel. Transfer to a greased 3-qt. slow cooker. Combine the granola, sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over apples. Drizzle with butter.

Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until the apples are tender. Serve warm.

I brought this slow cooker recipe in a small compartment sized lunch container to work the other day.  I immediately zapped it for two minutes.  Within 30 seconds I had three comrades at my desk wondering what in the world smelled so divine.  

Once you make it, you're gonna love it.  There is nothing I've tasted that even comes close to a food truck in southern Mexico.

• 1 bone-in pork shoulder roast (4 to 5 pounds)
• 1 can (28 ounces) enchilada sauce
• 1 large green pepper, chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Cut roast in half; place in a 4- or 5-qt. slow cooker. Top with enchilada sauce, green pepper, onion and garlic. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until meat is tender.

Remove roast; cool slightly. Skim fat from cooking juices. Remove meat from bone; discard bone. Shred pork with two forks and return to slow cooker.

Stir in the cilantro, lime juice and lime peel; heat through. Serve with a slotted spoon on tortillas if desired. 

I don't know what gets into me this time of year.  But, I can tell you the last place I want to be is in the kitchen.  Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy cooking as much as I enjoy a good home cooked meal, but spring is in the air - and all I want to do is reorganize- throw something in the crock pot and get back to the task at hand.

The other day my son asked me, "Why aren't there any leftovers anymore?"  This is the kid that only enjoys the comfort foods of home.  Not a sandwich man at all.  Well, spring has sprung buddy, and I want to throw on those recipes that are 30-minute specials!

But while shopping at Winn-Dixie the other day I noticed lovely Boston Butts for only $1.49 a pound! Finally a recipe that will offer a stream of leftovers - at least for the following day.  

1 tab. smoked paprika
1 tab. Lowery's garlic salt
2 tab. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4-5 lb. Boston butt
BBQ sauce

In a small bowl, combine all seasonings and mix well.  Rub mixture onto meat.  Pot pork butt in crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours.  Then reduce to low setting for 4 more hours until meat begins to fall apart.  Serve with BBQ sauce.

My son loves a rich sauce.  Me, on the other hand, enjoy a lighter sauce with more cubed tomato chunks and veggies.  So, for years here I've been posting my favorite sauces on this blog thinking just about everyone out there must feel the same way I do.

The other night I tried this new version on an old dinner staple.  After the first bite, my son turns to me and says, "Keep this one.  This is really good.  Can you make it this way from now on?"  

"NO!" I'm thinking, and all of a sudden memories flood back to my childhood.  You see, my mother made this same type of sauce.  Mostly paste went into her cauldron along with lots of different types of meat.  It was never my favorite.  But, a few years back my mother made this long ago once-a-week-fare for a family dinner. My son took one bite and was in love.  "Why don't you make it Grandma's way?"  

So I humbly share with you the "richer" sauce recipe for those of you out there that like a sauce that sticks to your ribs.  

1 slice of American bread, torn
1/4 cup of milk
1 large egg, beaten
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup minced onion, divided
1 tsp. minced garlic, divided
1 1/2 tsp. oregano, divided
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 can tomato paste
2 cans (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water

In bowl place bread, milk, egg and mix until it forms a paste.  Add ground beef, 1/2 cup onion, 1 tsp. garlic, 3/4 tsp. oregano, salt, and pepper. Until just combined. Form into about 15 meatballs.  

In crock pot add, paste, tomato sauce, water, remaining onion, garlic, and oregano.  Add a bit more salt and pepper to taste.  

Drop meatballs directly into crock pot.  The flavor will be utterly amazing and will have little fat if your using the lean ground beef.

Here's a great mac and cheese recipe that you can place into the crock pot and set it and forget it.  It is more of a full-bodied recipe chock full of cheesy flavor.  Eggs added to this type of recipe give it more of a diner flare with that rich custard-type filling. 

Best of all, there is no need to precook noodles!

1 8 oz. package of shredded Italian three-cheese blend
1 8 oz package of shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 large eggs, beaten
1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. ground mustard
1/3 tsp. red pepper
1/2 tsp. black pepper
8 oz small shell pasta (about 2 1/4 cups)

Combine cheeses in one bowl.

Whisk eggs and next 6 ingredients in a larger bowl. Stir in pasta.  Add 3 cups of combined cheeses. Pour mixture in crock pot.

Top with remaining cheese.  Cook on LOW 4 hours.