Recipes, Slow Cookin

Slow Cooker Sunday: Sausage & Peppers & Apple Crisp!

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Geeze.  Can’t believe it is Sunday.  Strike that.  I can’t believe Sunday is practically over.

Waaaaaaaa!!!!!

I feel like life is moving along at crazy fast speeds and I’m just flailing my arms about trying to stay afloat.  The good news is I’m taking over a week off of work for Turkey Day. So hopefully that helps to revive me!

This lovely Sunday I woke up and got straight to work destroying my kitchen.

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When will I learn to clean as I go?

Never.

This week I pulled BOTH of the slow cookers out of the pantry for some slow cooked sausage and peppers and slow cooked apple crisp deliciousness!

We make sausage and peppers pretty regularly and don’t really get crazy with them.  We simply throw some grilled sausages in the crockpot with a jar of tomato sauce, green peppers, onions, and some seasonings.  You know, garlic garlic garlic and maybe some oregano.

Then we just let everything simmer together until we’re ready to feast.  Soup was BOGO at Harris Teeter this week (HOLLA!), so I nabbed some Chipotle Chicken soup I’ve been wanting to try.

Altogether:

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Since I had to pop into work for a few hours today, Jarrod was in charge of throwing everything together.  Holy cow these sausage sandwiches were DELICIOUS.  Absolutely delicious.  I asked Jarrod what seasonings he used for the sauce… his response?  “Ummm… nothing?”

Men.

Thank you Ragu, thank you. Smile

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The soup was great as well—way to hook a sister up, Harris Teeter.

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The Slow Cooker Apple Crisp was a wee bit more involved, but totally worth it.  I used this Allrecipes.com recipe as my guide, with a few tweaks.  I used three granny smith apples and three red apples.. I always get confused on the red apples.  What are these?  Galas?

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First up, mix the following together in a large ziploc baggie or large bowl with lid:

  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 6 apples peeled and sliced (I used 3 granny smith, 3 gala)
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

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And give it all a good shimmy shake.

Spray the crock with cooking spray, then toss in the apple mixture.

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THEN, in a medium bowl, combine the following:

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp  salt
  • 1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces

Use a fork or your hands to combine everything until the butter is dispersed throughout.  I recommend using your hands, of course.  Then sprinkle over top of apples.

Ta-da!

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Cook on low for four hours, remove lid half way then cook 1 hour more.  And you’ll get….

A big fat gloppy mess. 

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This is NOT ok.

Luckily, my crockpot is oven safe (up to 400 degrees).  So, I popped the crock into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Hooray for crispy topping!

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The apples of the bottom of the crock disintegrated down into a delicious chunky applesauce.  A spoonful of the steaming sauce, some chunks of apple and crispy topping from the top of the crock, and a dollop of slow-churned vanilla ice cream….

O…. M…G….

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DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The swaps I made to the original recipe nearly cut the calories in half.  Next time I’m going to reduce the sugar more to further healthify the dessert. I’m willing to do several trial runs if necessary 😉

 

Slow Cooker Apple Crisp

  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 6 apples peeled and sliced (I used 3 granny smith, 3 gala)
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp  salt
  • 1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
  • Vanilla ice cream

Step one:  mix the first five ingredients (through lemon juice) together in a large ziploc baggie or large bowl with lid.  Shake the bag/bowl to coat the apples.  Spray the crock with cooking spray, then toss in the apple mixture.

Step two:  in a medium bowl, combine the next seven ingredients (flour through butter).  Use a fork or your hands to crumble the butter into the flour mixture.  Then sprinkle over top of apples.

Step three:  Cook on low for four hours, remove lid half way then cook 1 hour more. 

Step four:  Verify your crock is oven-safe, then place uncovered crock into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes to crisp the topping.  Serve with vanilla ice cream.

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Recipes, Slow Cookin

Slow Cooker Sundays: Cheesy Sausage & White Bean Chili

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Happy Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!  This football season, we have purposely and sincerely dedicated Sundays to slooooow cookin.  This week my crockpot was graced to the brim with Cheesy Sausage and White Bean Chili (adapted from Sandra Lee’s Cheesy Chorizo Chili Recipe).

Isn’t it pretty???

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Despite how beautiful the final product might appear, the process of slow cooking usually results in some sort of mess in the kitchen.  Well, actually it’s all cooking.  Me merely stepping a foot into the kitchen should serve as fair warning of impending disasters.  One dish usually results in a few sauce splatters on the wall, some chopped onions on the floor, no less than 7 dirtied utensils, a burner or two accidentally left on, and every inch of counter littered with various cooking debris.  So, I’m not exactly organized in the kitchen… What can I say?  I like to become one with my food Smile

The key to any successful slow cooked meal is a few glasses of wine to pass the time.  You might suggest that I use all that waiting time to clean the mess I’ve created in the kitchen.  To that I say, “I cook, you clean.  So quit your yapping and get to scrubbing.”

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To assemble this chili, you’ll first want to brown your sausage in a skillet.  Any turkey or chicken sausage will do—I prefer a spicy variety like Harris Teeter Hot Chicken Sausage or Jennie O’ Hot Turkey Sausage.

Next gather up your ingredients:

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Don’t mind the Limited bag in the background… I partook in a bit of retail therapy this weekend.  I scored a few sale items and am feeling MUCH better, thank you.

Toss all your canned goods, spices, and cooked sausage into the crockpot and mix to combine.  Then, let the chili cook for 6 hours on low.  When it’s time to chow, I like to top my chili with a dollop of Trader Joes fat free Greek yogurt, some sliced green onions, and a few corn tortilla chips:

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This chili is a beautiful rust orange color, pretty darn thick, and extremely tasty.  Even though this chili doesn’t have the standard tomato sauce chili base, it hit all the right notes on the seasoning scale.  Jarrod and I both gave this chili two thumbs up… We had some for lunch… and then some for dinner… and between the two of us devoured the entire batch in a period of six and half hours.  Don’t judge.

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Total cheesy comfort in a bowl.

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Cheesy Sausage & White Bean Chili Ingredients List (serves 5)

  • 5 links hot chicken or turkey sausage (such as Harris Teeter brand)
  • 3 15 ounce cans white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 10.75 ounce can condensed cheddar cheese soup
  • 1 can mild Rotel Tomatoes
  • 1 can diced green chilis
  • 1 tbsp + 1 tsp burrito seasoning (McCormicks)
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • Chopped green onions

Stats on one serving:   366 calories, 49g carbs, 7g fat, 35g protein, 14g fiber

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Recipes, Slow Cookin

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

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We’ve started a new (to us) tradition:  Slow Cooker Sundays!  Every Sunday this football season we’re going to bust out the Crockpot (or two) and cook up some comforting treats!  This past Sunday our slow cooked supper was courtesy of Skinny Taste’s Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili recipe!

As you would expect with any slow cooker recipe, this was quite easy to throw together.  I made a few minor tweaks to the original recipe… When do I not?!

All you do is toss the following into the crock:

  • 1 chopped white onion
  • 2 16-oz cans beans of your choice, drained and rinsed (I used blacks beans)
  • 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
  • 1.5 cups frozen corn kernels
  • 3 10-oz cans Rotel Tomatoes
  • 1 packet taco seasoning
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tbsp chili powder

Give everything a stir to combine:

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Then plop about 30 ounces of raw chicken breasts on top and push them down slightly into the liquid.

We cooked our chili on high for 5.5 hours then pulled out the chicken breasts and gave them a quick shred with two forks.  The chicken literally fell apart as I grabbed it!

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Toss the chicken back in and 30 minutes later it is time to feast!  We served our chili with a 1/2 serving of brown rice, dollop of Fat Free Trader Joe’s Plain Greek Yogurt, and a big ole handful of chopped raw onions.

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There may have also been some Fritos added last minute Smile

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This makes six hearty servings.

Stats on 1 hearty serving (no fixin’s):  347 calories, 44g carbs, 4g fat, 39g protein, 10g fiber

Ingredients List for Crock Pot Chicken Chili (serves 6):

  • 1 chopped white onion
  • 2 16-oz cans beans of your choice, drained and rinsed (I used blacks beans)
  • 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
  • 1.5 cups frozen corn kernels
  • 3 10oz cans Rotel Tomatoes
  • 1 packet taco seasoning
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 30 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast
  • Chopped raw onion (optional… really though, raw onions MAKE the chili don’t they?)
  • Greek yogurt or sour cream (optional)
  • Brown rice (optional)
  • Fritos (strongly encouraged)

What is your favorite slow cooker recipe?  I’m on the lookout for something tasty to make this Sunday, so links would be super!

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Recipes, Slow Cookin

Game day chili

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Hope you guys got some quality football viewing in this Sunday!  The Browns were VICTORIOUS as was my first ever attempt at making chili!

Any time I’m trying out a new dish, I like to find a fairly basic recipe to help guide me through the process.  After some googling, I decided to go with this recipe for “easy chili” because it had a high rating and because any recipe that has “easy” in the title gets extra brownie points in my book.  And I think we all know how I feel about brownies by now.

Even with this “easy” recipe in hand, there were a couple of obstacles I needed to overcome:  I happen to LOATHE kidney beans and the BF happens to LOATHE red meat.  Yet, we both claim to LOVE chili.  ???  I’m not sure how that works exactly, but it reminds me of being a picky eater as a kid and refusing to try guacamole just because it was green.  Kermit said it best.  It ain’t easy being green.

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Ramblings, Recipes, Slow Cookin

Some like it hot

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There is a small portion of the population out there that crave heat in their food.  These are the people who actually enjoy the runny nose you inevitably get when eating something hot.  The people who know when others say something is “hot” it won’t even phase them because of their extreme tolerance for heat.  The people who’ve contemplated carrying around a bottle of hot sauce in their purse/bookbag/car.  The people who have found a way to incorporate buffalo sauce in to breakfast, lunch, AND dinner.  The people who constantly get asked “you put hot sauce on that?!”

You know who you are.

This recipe is for you.

I bring you slow-cooked buffalo chicken sandwiches:

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When I first stumbled upon this recipe, I KNEW it was destiny.  Buffalo chicken dip is a staple in my circle of friends and family, so how could a buffalo chicken sandwich NOT be amazing?

Simple answer.  If you like hot food, you will love this sandwich.

The recipe was very easy to throw together. 

Throw the following into a plastic baggie to marinate overnight:

  • 4 raw skinless boneless chicken breasts
  • 3/4 of a Quart (24 ounces) buffalo wing sauce (use your favorite brand–we used Gionino’s, of course)
  • 1 package dry ranch salad dressing mix

The next morning toss the marinated chicken into a crockpot, and cook on low for 6 hours.  Once the chicken is cooked, pull the breasts out of the crockpot and shred them up with two forks.  Toss the meat back in and then add:

  •  2 tablespoons butter
  • 8 ounces of buffalo wing sauce (which is the remainder of the quart)

Cook for one hour more, and then serve on top of a toasted kaiser roll. 

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To make the sandwich even more amazing, add some pepper jack cheese. 

Awwwwww yeeahhhhhhh.

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WARNING:  Things may get a little sloppy.  But true hot sauce lovers like to become one with their food, am I right? 😀

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