Posts Tagged ‘crockpot’

A while back when I posted some crockpot recipes one of my readers, Ann, sent me a broccoli casserole recipe for the crockpot. I tried it this past Sunday and served it with a turkey breast that I roasted in the regular oven. I had wanted to try a new turkey recipe that you bake in the crockpot, but my turkey breast was too big so I switched gears and did the turkey in the oven and the broccoli casserole in the crockpot.

I don't know what is happening in your neck of the woods, but here in the Greenville, SC area turkey breasts have been on sale for 99 cents a pound for the last five weeks. This week the sale is at Publix. Now might be a good time to buy ahead for Thanksgiving or just to stock your freezer if you have room.

Ann's recipe was very tasty, so I thought I'd share it here on the blog:

Broccoli Casserole

18-20 oz. frozen broccoli, thawed (if using spears, cut into bite-sized pieces)
1 can cream of celery soup
1 1/4 grated cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup crushed crackers (I used Ritz type)

In a large bowl combine the celery soup, 1 cup of cheese, crackers, and broccoli. Pour into a lightly greased crockpot. Cover and slip a toothpick between the lid and the cover to vent. Cook on low for about 4 hours or high for about 2 hours. Just before serving sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese on top.

Enjoy!

Becka

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We got married in the peak of crockpot popularity. In fact, we got two crockpots for wedding gifts. Neither of our mothers had one at the time so we gave one to each of them. I don't think my mom used hers much, but I do remember one time when we were visiting Rob's mom's house she cooked hot dogs in her crockpot and toward the end of the cooking time she put the buns in the pot to steam them.

Before we were married Rob got a crockpot and it was the mainstay of his bachelor cooking. He had an arsenal of recipes and he would throw something in the crockpot each morning before heading off to school and his dinner would be ready when he returned home in the late afternoon. That original red/orange crockpot made by Rival came with a small cookbook that contained a number of really good recipes. If you ever run across one at a yard sale or thrift store try to snatch it up.

During that same era I purchased the 1973 edition of Crockery Cookery by Mabel Hoffman. You can tell it is rather dated by the price on the cover--$1.95!

This book too has a number of good recipes. I looked on Amazon and she has published several later editions which I am not familiar with.

The recipe I made for lunch on Sunday was from Mabel's book. It is quite tasty and is one that works well even in a non-programmable slow cooker. My theory is that the older crockpots didn't cook as hot as the ones we can purchase today. This probably has to do with an increased emphasis on food safety. Many of the older slow cooker recipes that I made when we were first married become overcooked in my newer non-programmable crockpot. That's one reason I have been thrilled with the new programmable model that I can set to cook for X number of hours and then it will switch to warm. No more burnt offerings from the crockpot!

Anyway, after that diatribe here is a good recipe for in your crockpot:

Budget Beef Stroganoff

1 1/2 -2 lbs. round steak
dash pepper
1/2 onion, finely chopped
generous sprinkling of garlic powder
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp. beef soup base or granular beef bouillon powder
1 Tbsp. catsup
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained
1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup sour cream

Cut steak into 1/4 inch strips. Place in slow cooker. Sprinkle in pepper and garlic powder. Add Worcestershire sauce, catsup, water, and soup base. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours. If you have been cooking on low turn the control up to high and add the mushrooms. Dissolve the flour in a small amount of water and stir into the meat mixture. Cook on high for 15 mins. or until slightly thickened. Stir in sour cream and then turn off the heat. Serve over noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice.
Makes 5-6 servings.

Becka

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I wanted something different for dinner today and I remembered this recipe for Crockpot Lasagna:

Crockpot Lasagna from Taste of Home magazine

1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4-5 cups spaghetti sauce
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 cup water
7-8 no cook lasagna noodles (oven ready)
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Brown ground beef, onion, and garlic. Drain off any accumulated grease. Combine with spaghetti sauce, Italian seasoning, and water. In a greased crockpot (mine is 5 quart size) spoon 1/4 of sauce. Layer in 1/3 of the noodles, 1/3 of the cheeses. (I used two whole noodles and half a noodle for each layer. I broke the half noodle in half again and put a piece on each end.) Repeat the layers ending with sauce and cheeses. You can assemble this ahead and refrigerate overnight. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. My family really liked this.

Sorry there are no pictures, but you probably know what lasagna looks like. By the time I thought about taking a picture we had eaten about half of it and it didn't look very photogenic, as you can imagine. It does make a pretty good casserole and it's nice because you can assemble it ahead of time.

I bought this crockpot about a year ago and I really have enjoyed it.

You can program the time and after the cooking time it automatically switches to warm so your food does not get overdone. If you have an older crockpot without this feature I would highly recommend purchasing a new one. I still use my older one for soups, beans, etc., but this one works great on Sunday when I am often cooking meats or the occasional casserole.

I did try a new dessert from a recipe I found in the summer edition of Kraft Food and Family. It, too, was very tasty and is something that can be made ahead.
If you need a cool, refreshing dessert, keep this one in mind.

We have berries ripening in the backyard and we were discussing that this might be nice made with raspberry sherbet and fresh raspberries on top.

Becka

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