Crock Pot Beef Brisket

I have a delicious recipe for Crock Pot Beef Brisket for you today.  I love anything in the Crock Pot.  It just makes my life easier.  Cooking beef brisket has always been a fear of mine.  It is one of those meats you don't want to mess up.  Thankfully, this is an easy recipe that makes the brisket moist and delicious.  I first had this over at our church secretary's home.  I was raving about it and I begged for the recipe.  She obliged and now I want to share it with you.

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Crock Pot Pear Butter

Recently, my house has smelled wonderfully of Fall, twice!  I had Pear Butter (much like Apple Butter) cooking away in the crock pot.

Shannon and I are members of a produce co-op.  Lately we've had an abundance, wait over abundance of pears.  Our family couldn't possibly eat all the pears that we've gotten!  That made me start thinking of what I could do with all these pears.  I perused some apple butter recipes and came up with my own version.  I hope you enjoy this recipe!

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Spicy Mustard Pork

My Mom passed on this dish idea to me a few years back.  It is super simple and delicious.  To make it even easier, you can bake it, if you don't have much time or put it in the Crock Pot for an effortless type of meal.

Now for all you who refuse to cook unless you have exact measurements, this won't be your favorite recipe from me.  I promise you though it is full proof.  You just can't mess it up!

Here is what you need:

Pork Chops, cut up Pork Loin or Pork Roast (bone in or boneless, doesn't matter)
Spicy Mustard (generic brands work great, save yourself some money)
Brown Sugar

Generously rub spicy mustard on all sides of your Pork (no matter which type).  Place in casserole dish. Sprinkle brown sugar over all the meat.  I probably used a bit more than half a cup for my pictured pork chops.  Bake at 350 until pork is fully cooked (approximately 30 minutes).

If you choose to put it in the crock pot follow the same instructions above, but add extra mustard and brown sugar to give a sauce and added moisture.  Cook on low for 8 hours or high for about 4 hours.  The pork will shred easily apart.

Both cooking preparations create a great sauce for the pork.  You can serve this over rice, noodles, mashed potatoes, whatever you prefer.

My kids love this meal.  Ryan who loves to say how much he doesn't like food prior to eating it lately, gobbled this up and asked for it the next night too.

I hope you'll give it a try!  Happy Cooking!

Crock Pot Beef & Mushrooms

After I had Anna, my friend Henri brought us a meal of Beef & Mushrooms.  It was delicious!  Evan can eat his weight in mushrooms so he was ecstatic!  I asked Henri for the recipe and also for permission to share it with you!  This is a very easy  and yummy recipe.  Henri suggested serving it over rice or mashed potatoes.  The last time I made this, I served it over egg noodles, which was another good option.  The boys of my house love anything served over noodles!

Henri’s Beef & Mushrooms

1.5 lbs of cubed beef stew meat
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can sliced mushrooms (it says undrained but I drain mine because I do not like the flavor of the mush. juice)
1 (1 ounce) pkg dry onion soup mix
dash garlic powder, onion powder and pepper


Combine all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on low for 8-10 hrs or high for 4-6 hours.


Serve over rice, mashed potatoes or egg noodles!

Enjoy!

Crockpot Pork BBQ & Shannon's Potato Salad

I want to share with you two delicious recipes.  These are our family favorites.  Whenever I need to take a meal to someone in need, this is my go to meal.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

 

Jill’s Barbeque Pork

Pork Loin size of your choice

Large crock-pot

Water

Barbeque sauce (I use Sonny’s BBQ from Sam’s)

Pork Loin:  I buy a long length (log) of pork loin from Sam’s.  It can be from $15-20 depending on the size.  I cut it down to smaller portions for our family (some as pork roasts and others as chops).  If you have a big crowd you could make half of the log or even a full portion and get a ton of food.  Don’t confuse the pork loin for pork tenderloin.  Tenderloin is much more expensive and not needed with how tender the crock-pot gets this meat.

Place the portion of pork loin in the crock-pot the night before or early in the morning for that evening’s dinner.  Cover with a ½ cup of BBQ sauce.  Then add water to cover about half of the pork loin.  This will give it added moisture for the cooking process.  If you don’t add water it will require more work to pull apart the pork. 

Set the crock-pot to low for 8-10 hours.  Once the pork has cooked, move pork to a large cutting board.  Empty the crock-pot. You can either chop the pork with a knife or shred with a couple of forks.  It should be very tender and moist.  Place pork back in crock-pot while you finish shredding.  Pour a generous amount of BBQ sauce over all shredded pork.  I would use a whole container of Sonny’s for a full pork loin or half for half a log.  Allow BBQ sauce and pork to warm back up and serve as you like on buns or by itself.  This freezes well in an airtight container.

You will find that fresh tenderloin will be easier to shred than one that has been in the freezer, but either way it is still delicious.  Make sure to thaw your  pork loin before putting it in the crock-pot.

I make this often and typically have people ask me where I bought the BBQ.  I figure that is a good sign of a great recipe.  It is very easy too!

Shannon's Potato Salad

Shannon made this Potato Salad for me right after I had Evan.  It is my favorite potato salad and is the only kind I make anymore.  Everyone who eats it falls in love with its yummy taste and simplicity.  

For all of you who must have measurements, this isn't the recipe for you.  It is best made by taste.  All the measurements would change depending on how much potatoes you use as well.

Ingredients:

Chopped potatoes (Red, Idaho, any really) Skin on or off.
Celery
Bacon (fresh and crisp)
Mayonnaise (I use either Kraft or Hellmans)
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Salt to taste

Boil Potatoes in salted water.  Watch closely as they will get mushy fast.  Refrigerate potatoes until cool.  Add bacon, celery, fresh cracked black pepper and mayo.  Store in an airtight container when not being served.  Bacon will usually stay very crisp for 2 to 3 days.  It is still delicious beyond that!


This is the recipe that my friend Henri requests whenever we have a get together or when I make her a meal.  She likes it so much she eats it for dessert.

I hope you enjoy these recipes and that they become family favorites!

Chicken Tacos

What You'll Need:
Crockpot
Four frozen chicken breasts
Chicken Seasonings (I used McCormick Rotisserie Blend)
Soft Taco Shells
Taco Toppings of choice

Put chicken breasts in crockpot and season.  Cook at least four hours on low. When chicken is done, remove it from the crockpot. Shred chicken with a fork.

Top a soft taco shell with shredded cheese.

Put the warm chicken on top of the cheese.

Top chicken with lettuce.  Add any other toppings you'd like.  I added a little Frank's hot sauce.

This recipe is easy, healthy, and my kids will eat it! 

CrockPot Chicken Quesadillas Recipe/Tutorial

Here is a recipe for one of our family favorites.  You can personalize it with your favorite fillings and toppings!

Crockpot Chicken Quesadillas

2 Large Chicken breasts

1 ½ to 2 Tablespoons Fajita Seasoning

1 to 2 cups of water

1 package of Large tortillas

2-3 Tablespoons butter

Cheeses of your choice: Quesadilla (I’m cheap and just use regular cheese), Cheddar, Mozzerela, Mexican

Toppings of your choice:  mushrooms, green onions, tomatoes, peppers, etc.

Sides of your choosing:  sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, etc.

Tools Needed:

Crockpot

Griddle or large frying pan

Tiles, foil wrapped brick, or heavy frying pan

Place 1 cup of water and fajita seasoning in crockpot.  Stir.  Place Chicken in crockpot.  Add more water if chicken is not surrounded.  Cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 6-8 hours.  This will make your house smell wonderful!

Once chicken is fully cooked.  Take it out and place it on a cutting board.  Using two forks (one to hold chicken and one to shred) shred all the chicken.

Start heating griddle or frying pan.  Spread out 3 tortillas.  Put cheese, chicken and all fillings ending with cheese again on one side of tortilla.  Fold over.

Put a small amount of butter on each spot where a quesadilla will go on the griddle.  I used 2 tablespoons total for 9 quesadillas.  This gives it a nice browning and crispiness.   

Place 3 quesadillas on the griddle.  Use something heavy to push down on the quesadillas.  I used three tiles that I have as trivets (see above picture on griddle).  You could use a foil wrapped brick, a frying pan anything clean, heavy and safe for food preparation.  Let it cook for 2 minutes.  Put down another small amount of butter for the other side of each quesadilla.  Cook for 2 minutes.

While you wait, form an assembly line of another 3 tortillas and start again (see mine above). Cut into triangles for all to enjoy!

This is a delicious meal that is very easy to prepare.  This is also a nice appetizer or something to take to a friend!  Enjoy!

Crock Pot Pumpkin Recipes

For all my friends who love their crockpot, here are a couple of recipes to try!

Crock Pot Pumpkin Soup

2 cups fresh pumpkin (or 1 (15 oz) can)

4 cups vegetable broth

2 cups water

1 red onion. chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 yams, peeled and chopped

3 chopped garlic cloves

1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 T white sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

GARNISHES:

heavy whipping cream

chopped green onion

If you have fresh pumpkin, use it ... otherwise, open a can of pure

pumpkin and use that. Empty pumpkin into your crockpot, and add the chopped vegetables, spices and sugar. Stir in the vegetable broth and water.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Carefully use an immersible blender (or regular blender) to blend about 3/4 of the soup. Mix it back together.  Serve each bowl with a drizzle of cream and sprinkled with green onion.

Crock Pot Pumpkin Cake

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup oil

1 (16 oz) can solid pack pumpkin

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups sifted flour

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Combine the first 5 ingredients until well blended.  Add remaining ingredients and stir until just combined. Spoon mixture into well greased crock pot.  Cover and cook on high 3-3 1/2 hours.  Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

 



Enjoy!