Crock Pot Italian Chicken

Tags

cheese, chicken, Italian, slow cooker, tomato

Looking for a super easy and super tasty chicken recipe? Then look no further! This recipe consists of dumping everything in your slow cooker, then walking away for 8 hours. Come back, and dinner is ready!! It’s flavorful, easy, and leaves you with lots of leftovers for lunches at work or dinners. I’ve only tried it over pasta, but this past time I made it, I was thinking that it might even work as a sandwich. Throw some chicken on a french roll, melt some mozzarella on top and you have a delicious Italian chicken sandwich. Definitely going to have to try that next time I make this, which I’m sure will be fairly soon!Crock Pot Italian Chicken

4 chicken breasts
½ cup light Italian salad dressing
1 (24-ounce) jar tomato sauce
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried basil
½ tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried parsley
Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese for topping

Place all ingredients in crock pot except cheeses and cook on low for 8 hours. Shred chicken with fork. Serve over pasta of your choice; top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Source: Adapted from Ryan Bakes

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Guinness Beef Stew

Tags

beef, carrot, mushroom, potato, slow cooker, stew

This winter has had some very weird weather… it’s been getting up to 70 degrees during the day. That’s just wrong! A few weeks ago, the mornings were consistently in the low 20’s, but it would still warm up a bit during the day. At least then it still felt like winter. Now it just feels like spring, but it’s January! It’s definitely making it tough to make the soups and stews I want. They sound so good, and there are all these different recipes I want to try, but I don’t want to eat hot soup when it’s hot out! Guess I just need to suck it up, like I did when I made this stew, and pretend it feels like winter.

As soon as I saw the recipe on Blissfully Delicious, I knew I had to try it. And I even had some Guinness sitting in my frig, waiting to be used in a recipe. Personally, it’s too heavy of a beer to just drink so I only use it in baking or cooking. It’s perfect in this stew, though! I’ve only used wine in stew before, so beer was a nice change. It made a delicious broth, full of flavor. As with any stew, you can add vegetables of your choice, so I changed up the vegetables in the recipe to add my personal touch. 🙂 And of course, slow cooker recipes are always awesome and great to have in your repertoire!Guinness Beef Stew

4 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1½-inch chunks
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups onion, chopped (about 2 small onions)
4 cups beef or chicken broth
1 (11.2-ounce) bottle Guinness Draught (1½ cups)
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 pound mushrooms, quartered
2 pounds gold or red potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook half of the beef until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker and repeat with an additional 2 teaspoons oil and the remaining half of beef, adding to the slow cooker once browned.

Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in the skillet. Add the onions and ¼ teaspoon salt to the skillet and cook until the onions are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, beer, sugar, thyme, chocolate, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, using a spoon to scrape up any browned bits; make sure chocolate is fully melted. Transfer to the slow cooker.

Add the carrots, mushrooms, and potatoes to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours, or cook on high for 6 to 7 hours, or until meat is tender. Remove and discard the bay leaves, stir in the parsley, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve while still hot.

Source: Adapted from Blissfully Delicious

Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Homemade Barbecue Sauce

Tags

pork, sandwiches, sauce, slow cooker

Happy Labor Day (a little bit early)!  I know a lot of people tend to do barbecues or picnics during their three day weekend for Labor Day. I’m jealous of these people… I haven’t gotten a 3 day weekend for a holiday in over 4 years! But for those of you who are off, enjoy yourselves and celebrate the end of summer! These pulled pork sandwiches would be a great way to send off summer. They aren’t officially barbecued, since the meat is done in the slow cooker, but they have barbecue sauce and could work well as picnic food.

Before this, I had never thought myself to be a fan of pulled pork. I had tried some pulled pork sandwiches that other people had ordered, and they just never seemed that great. But this stuff is awesome! The pork is moist and tender, and deliciously spiced before any barbecue sauce is even added, which means the addition of barbecue sauce makes it that much greater! Especially when you use a sauce you love.Now you can of course use your own favorite barbecue sauce, whether it be store bought or your own favorite recipe. But if you have never before made your own barbecue sauce, I strongly urge you to try it. It is so amazingly good, you’ll never be able to go back to the bottled stuff! The barbecue sauce I have listed is more of a vinegary one, so it’s on the thinner side and has a bit of tang to it, with a little bit of a bite from the cayenne pepper. But oh man, is this stuff good! I was so happy when my friend gave me her recipe and I made it myself. It was love at first taste! 🙂

As a reference for how much this makes, I could only find a 5½ pound pork shoulder, and I still got about 10 sandwiches. We were having them for lunches on our weekend and as quick dinners. They went pretty fast… this stuff is that good.Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Homemade Barbecue Sauce
Note: Feel free to use your favorite bottled barbecue sauce, or your own homemade sauce.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches:
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon dried oregano
4 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons table salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 (6-8 pound) bone-in pork shoulder
½ teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)
2½ cups barbecue sauce, divided, see below
Rolls for serving, such as Kaiser

Barbecue Sauce:
⅓ cup brown sugar
1 cup ketchup
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground yellow mustard
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon salt

To make the pulled pork: To make the spice rub, combine black pepper through sugar in a small bowl. Massage spice rub into meat. Wrap tightly in double layer of plastic wrap; refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 3 days.

Unwrap roast and place it in slow cooker. Add liquid smoke, if using, and ½ cup water. Turn slow cooker to low and cook for 8-10 hours, until meat is fork-tender.

Transfer roast to cutting board; discard liquid in liner. Pull meat by tearing it into thin shreds with two forks or your fingers; discard fat.

Place shredded meat back in slow cooker; toss with 1 cup barbecue sauce, and heat on low for 30-60 minutes, or until hot. Serve on rolls, pouring additional barbecue sauce on top of the meat as desired.

To make the barbecue sauce: In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine all ingredients and heat through.

Source: Pulled pork slightly adapted from The Way the Cookie Crumbles; Barbecue sauce adapted from Renae