BBQ Pork and Beans – A Delicious Game Day Entree!

Tags

barbecue, BBQ Pork and Beans, slow cooker, Super Bowl

Since Super Bowl is next Sunday, I thought I would make something that others might enjoy as a game day dish. I had purchased some pork stew meat on sale and I had a bag of pinto beans, so pork and beans it is! Of course, I couldn’t resist the lure of BBQ flavor, so I included some BBQ sauce in the beans and boy that combined with a dash of liquid smoke, gave these beans a wonderful flavor! Not to mention, my house smelled wonderful all day while they were cooking! This is something a little different from the game day chili that is so popular, but it was just as delicious!

We enjoyed these beans as a main dish with a slice of bread. I happened to have some spicy chow chow in the fridge, so that is the relish you see in the photo. It added a nice, tart zip to the beans.

BBQ Pork and Beans

1 pound of dried pinto beans

8 cups water

1 cup chicken broth

1 medium red onion, chopped

1 pound cubed pork stew meat

1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1-2 tsp hot sauce

Dash of liquid smoke

Salt and pepper

I didn’t soak my beans overnight, so I did the quick soak method. I put the dried beans in a large pot with 8 cups of water. I brought the pot to a boil and let it boil for 3-4 minutes. Then I turned off the heat and let them sit for about 20 minutes to cool down just a bit. I then transferred the beans with about 3 cups of the water they cooked in, into my slow cooker. I added all the other ingredients, gave it a good stir and cooked it on high for about 8 hours. The beans really need that high setting to cook through.

Enjoy! Go Eagles!!!

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Barbecue Ribs & Cabbage in the Slow Cooker – An Easy Dinner That Satisfies!

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barbecue, crockpot, pork, recipe, red cabbage, ribs, sauce, slow cooker

It has been way too long since I’ve posted anything and I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but after posting something on Facebook I had a request to post this recipe. Pork ribs were on sale at my local grocery store, so I picked up a rack. With the cold weather, we haven’t been in barbecue mode, but I have been in slow cooker mode! So slow cooker ribs it is! 

I was looking through one of my cook books and saw a few recipes for ribs with saurkraut. Now that sounds interesting! I didn’t have much saurkraut on hand, but I did have a jar of red cabbage. This sounded even better to me! I must say, it did not disappoint! The ribs were tender and delicious and the cabbage was incredibly tasty!

This meal was super easy to make and was incredibly satisfying! My family loved it! I served it with a side of corn and some fresh baked sourdough bread. I made my own sourdough starter for the first time, but that is another post!

Barbecue Ribs & Cabbage in the Slow Cooker

1 rack of pork ribs (I used loin back ribs), cut to fit in slow cooker, I cut mine in half

1 – 12 oz jar of German red cabbage

2 cups of barbecue sauce (I used 1 cup of Kinder’s Sweet Sriracha BBQ sauce and 1 cup Kinder’s California Gold BBQ sauce) 

2 tsp liquid smoke

Season ribs with salt and pepper and place in slow cooker. Cover ribs with red cabbage,then pour over BBQ sauce and finally, sprinkle on the liquid smoke. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Cook shorter time for on the bone ribs. Cook longer for fall off the bone meat. Mine was somewhere in between and was very nice to eat.

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash and Zucchini Soup – Another Low Sodium Choice

Tags

Butternut Squash, crockpot, low sodium, slow cooker, soup, vegan, vegetarian, zucchini

I’m still on my quest to make tasty, low sodium meals for my inlaws. In cooking for others, in addition to my own brood at home, I’ve found the slow cooker to be an immense help! I load it up in the morning and let it cook all day and by dinner time, I’m still up for cooking dinner for our household. Today’s meal was a delicious, hearty squash soup that would be a great autumn meal! I love the warm, fresh flavor of butternut squash and that beautiful orange color makes for stunning soups! This recipe is very low sodium. You can add some, if that’s not an issue for you, but this was pretty tasty as is. As I always like to say, play with your food! This soup is a perfect opportunity to play with your herbs and spices.

I didn’t happen to have any carrots on hand, but those would have been a great add to this soup! This recipe coud easily be adapted to be vegan friendly.

Butternut Squash and Zucchini Soup

2 zucchini, thickly sliced

1 medium butternut squash, cubed

2 potatoes, peeled and cubed

1/2 large white onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, mince or pressed

2 tsp garlic and herb Mrs. Dash

1 tsp Table Blend Mrs. Dash

2 tsp fresh thyme, removed from stems and chopped

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp cardamom 

1/4 tsp Chinese five spice

5 cups chicken or vegetable broth (I used some of my homemade chicken broth, so I know there was no salt)

1/2 cup fat free half and half

Add all ingredients except the half and half to your slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until all veggies are tender. Add half and half for the last 15 minutes of cooking time. I have an immersion blender, so I used this right in my slow cooker pot to blend this up and make it a smooth texture. You can also transfer to a blender or food processor in small batches and blend until smoot. As always, be extremely careful when transferring and blending hot liquids. Hold that lid in place, so hot liquid doesn’t explode into your face!!!

Be careful and enjoy!

15 Bean Soup – Keeping it Lean and Low Sodium

Tags

15 Bean Soup, heart healthy, low sodium, low-fat, pork, slow cooker, Slow Cooking

Lately I have taken up the challenge of cooking low sodium meals. My mother-in-law, who has congestive heart failure, just had open heart surgery. She’s not yet well enough to cook for herself, so I’ve been trying to help out. She is supposed to eat less that 2000mg of sodium a day; that’s one teaspoon!!! Eating out or even pre-made food from the store is basically out of the question if you’re going to meet this goal. Making meals that help her meet this goal has definitely been a learning experience! This 15 bean soup has been one of my favorite meals thus far. While keeping the salt level low, it still had lots of flavor, was packed with fiber, was lowfat and was also easy to make. Of course, you can always add more salt, if that is not an issue for you, but in case you are also looking for low sodium, great tasting foods I’ll give the recipe as I made it.

I wanted to add some meat to add to the heartiness of the soup. I looked to see if I could find a low sodium sausage. I was not successful! Even the sausages that said they contained “30% Less Salt”, less than what??? A salt lick??? So I kept scouring the meat section. Ham hocks? Nope! And then I found some unseasoned pork tenderloin that was cut into small pieces, like stew meat. This did the trick! If you can’t find this in your store, you could always buy a tenderloin and cut it up into bite size pieces yourself.

15 Bean Soup

1 pound unseasoned pork tenderloin, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 large onion, diced

1 20 oz bag 15 bean soup mix, found in bean section of grocery store

1/2 of seasoning packet included in bean soup mix (Even with the whole packet the sodium level in the whole recipe was only 70 mg, but I decided to only use half and add some other seasonings)

8 cups water

1 – 14.5 oz can of reduced salt diced tomatoes (luckily most tomato products come in reduced salt versions)

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic and herb Mrs. Dash

Juice of 1 lemon or 3 tbsp of bottled juice

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

Pepper to taste

Spray a frying pan with non-stick spray and brown pork over medium high heat. When almost browned add the onions and saute until tender and meat is browned. Add meat, onions and all other ingredients to a slow cooker, give a stir and cover. Cook over low heat for 8 hours.

As mentioned above, if you’re not watching your sodium some added salt would be a good add.

Enjoy!

Mushroom Ranch Potatoes – Slow Cooked Potatoes Exploding With Flavor!!!

Tags

Cheese, cream of mushroom, crockpot, onion, potatoes, ranch dressing, slow cooker, southern hasbrowns

Life has been a little crazy lately, so I was looking to make a fairly easy dinner for the family last night. These Mushroom Ranch Potatoes filled the bill! It was as simple as chopping a little onion and dumping my ingredients in the slow cooker! The pay out was great tasting potatoes though! The cream of mushroom soup and cheese gave it creamyness and the ranch dressing mix and onion gave it wonderful savory flavor. This was good enough to serve as a holiday side dish and would be easy to increase for a crowd. It would also be good topped with some panko or bread crumbs!

I served these with a Beer Butt Chicken (Yes, you read this right!) and some local, organic corn on the cob. Mmmm! It was a delicious dinner!

Mushroom Ranch Potatoes

1 – 32 oz bag of frozen southern hash brown potatoes

1 – 14 oz can low-fat cream of mushroom soup

1/2 white onion, chopped

1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix

1/2 cup shredded low-fat cheddar cheese

1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Before opening the bag, break up the potatoes by throwing down bag or using a meat tenderizer to pound the bag. You want to be able to stir the potatoes with all the other ingredients. Spray a slow cooker pot with non-stick spray. Add all ingredients and stir until mixed. Cook for 5-6 hours on low.

Enjoy!

Crockpot Chicken with Thai Peanut Sauce

Tags

Chicken, crockpot, Dinner, peanut, Rice, sauce, slow cooker, Thai

 
This was originally posted by another blogger, but it sounded so good!!! Now that my peanut hating daughter no longer lives at home, I’m going to have to try making this!!!

(This recipe is dairy free.) Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 7 hours on low (or 3 to 4 hours on high) Ingredients: 2 chicken breasts 1 cup coconut milk 3/4 c chunky PB 3 tbsp honey 3 tbsp soy sauce Juice from 1 lime 2 tbsp rice vinegar 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes […]

https://combschristensonfoodandstuff.wordpress.com/2016/03/16/crockpot-chicken-with-thai-peanut-sauce/

Eat More Eggs! Easy, Delicious Crockpot Quiche Recipe

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Cooking, crock pot, eggs, Food, Quiche, recipe, slow cooker

  
Wait! What??? I can make quiche in my slow cooker?!?! Hold the phone! I gotta try this one! Those geniuses over at Taste of Home have done it again!!! Can’t wait to try this!
I love eggs–they’re a cheep (misspelling intended) protein source and so quick to prepare. I found this recipe a few years ago in Taste of Home Magazine. I’ve made several changes that make it more healthful and better tasting. (The original used packaged biscuit mix–gack)  I’m giving you the basic recipe and a few suggestions that you […]

https://ilovemymuscles.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/eat-more-eggs-easy-delicious-crockpot-quiche-recipe/

Gumbo for Beginners

Tags

Cooking, Food, gumbo, New Orleans, recipe, slow cooker, Super Bowl

  
This was shared by another author, but I was thinking about making gumbo for Super Bowl, so thought I would share. Enjoy!

For Diana Briggs, because she asked. Many people mistakenly believe that gumbo is a mysterious dish requiring a thick Louisiana accent, possibly the carcass of an alligator, and a large cauldron bubbling in the woods. Not so. Gumbo is a straightforward dish, but does require the cook to get up close and personal with his […]

https://houseblendfamily.wordpress.com/2016/02/03/gumbo-for-beginners/

Red Lentil Soup – An Awesome Lowfat, Yet Hearty Soup

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Cooking, cumin, Food, lentils, recipe, red lentil, slow cooker, soup, vegan, vegetarian

  
I don’t know why, but with all the soups I make I had not made lentil soup until just recently. I’ve used regular lentils and last night I made a red lentil soup that was just fantastic! I’m a convert! Lentil soup it is! This red lentil soup had a curry flair to it and was a little bit spicy, which I love!

Lentils are more than just a tasty soup ingredient. They are a very healthy addition to your meal. All types of lentils have similar nutritional values. They are virtually fat free and an excellent source of protein, iron, fiber and vitamin B.

This particular soup was very low in fat and calories. It could easily be made vegan by substituting vegetable broth for the chicken broth that I used.

I can’t take credit for creating this recipe. There was no author, but it came out of the Something Extra magazine that Raleys supermarket puts out.

Red Lentil Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves, diced or pressed

1 large onion, finely diced

3 carrots,  peeled and finely diced

1 – 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

Zest and juice from one lemon

2 tbsp toasted cumin seeds (I put mine in a dry frying pan and sautéed over medium high heat for a couple of minutes until fragrant)

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1 tbsp ground cumin

5 cups vegetable or chicken broth (I used my home made turkey broth)

2 cups red lentils (I found these in the bulk section of my grocery store)

2 tbsp tomato paste

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, cook for 5 minutes or until onions are translucent.
2. Add all ingredients, except salt and pepper, to slow cooker and stir. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste at the end of cooking time. 

As shown in the picture, I served mine with sliced avocado. The avocado cut the spice nicely. Cilantro would also be good.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooked Citrus Garlic Chicken – Let the Slow Cooker Work It’s Magic!

Tags

Chicken, citrus, Cooking, Food, garlic, healthy, lemon, low-fat, recipe, slow cooked, slow cooker

  
I had purchased a really large whole chicken on sale. I knew this monster was going to take a while to cook, so I decided to throw it in the slow cooker and let that wonderful appliance work its magic! I adore lemon with chicken and we usually stuff our barbecue chicken and turkeys with fruit, so I did sort of a hybrid thing. The chicken was stuffed with lemons, oranges and garlic, but I went crazy with the lemon! It was a great choice! The chicken was so moist and tangy and the garlic and shallots added that nice rustic, savory flavor to the dish.

This was really easy to make and took maybe 10 minutes to put together. You just let it cook all day and then when you’re ready to eat, pull that chicken out and carve off the meat. It practically falls apart! You do want to watch carefully for the bones and pull those out, but this step wasn’t difficult.

In the recipe, you’ll notice that I did not add any additional fat; no oil, no butter, no chicken broth. So the only fat you’re getting is from the chicken itself. I did try to discard the skin after cooking to cut back on the fat.

I served my chicken with a mix of roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots along with some sautéed greens. Look for a future blog post on the potatoes! I’ve done something similar before, but this version was even better! Let’s just say there was gourmet garlic olive oil and balsamic vinegar involved!

Slow Cooked Citrus Garlic Chicken

1 whole chicken, clean out the cavity and rinse

2 lemons

1 orange

1 shallot

6 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half or thirds

Salt and pepper

Season the outside and inside of the chicken with salt and pepper. Place your chicken in your slow cooker pot. Cut your orange into 4-6 pieces, small enough so they can fit in the cavity of the chicken, and stuff into chicken. You can also squeeze out some of the juice into the cavity. Zest both of your lemons onto a separate plate and set aside. Cut your lemons in half and squeeze the juice over your chicken, then cut the halves in half and place in and around your chicken. Sprinkle your garlic chunks in and around your chicken. Peel and rough cut your shallot and sprinkle this around your chicken. Sprinkle your lemon zest over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours.

Enjoy!