Slow Cooker Beef - Easy Peasy

Slow Cooker Beef

Early in the morning:
Into the slow cooker place a hunk of beef, straight from the freezer.
Cut an onion and place on top around the beef.
Peel a whole bulb of garlic and place around the beef.
Put mushrooms over the top. Today I used a box of button mushrooms.
Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of dried thyme over the beef.
Pour a cup or two of water into the bottom of the slow cooker. If you have leftover red wine, use that.
Turn to Low and cook it all day.

For the record...

Tuesday is still my town day when I get my groceries.
I make a menu plan every week for lunches and dinners for the slow cooker.
I just don't seem to have the time to post them here and my daughter the photographer is too busy to take pictures to go with. We're busy with other things right now. And March will be busy also with goats kidding. We'll see about April.
Here's my list of recipes in no particular order. Maybe it will cause the reader to find similar recipes to make a menu.

Parmesan Chicken
Ham and Bean Soup
Noodle Soup
Sloppy Joe Casserole
Cuban Black Beans
Pork Roast Tacos
Corned Beef Dinner
Pumpkin Soup
Curried Chicken Roast with Cous cous
Meaty Spaghetti Sauce
Bean-Hole Beans

February-Second Week Menu and Grocery List

Salisbury Steak
Meatloaf
Mexican Casserole
Chicken Curry
Sausage and Corn  Bisque
Pork Loin with Berries

Here is a tentative grocery list for the above recipes. I say tentative because when I actually make the recipes I have chosen I know that I will make changes.

Grocery List
1 c dried bread crumbs (homemade recipe)
1/2 c flour
3/4 c honey
taco seasoning mix
3/4 c cornmeal
1/3 c quinoa
1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
 1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
1/2 c red wine
2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatioes with green chile peppers
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen corn
1 (10 ounce) package frozen blackberries
1 c ketchup
1/2 stick butter
3 eggs
6 c milk
1 bag shredded cheddar
2 pounds bulk sausage
3 pound ground beef
2 pounds pork tenderloin
6 skinless, boneless, chicken breast halves
1 Tablespoon dried rosemary
1 Tablespoon dried sage
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
fresh parsley
3 onions
2 stalks celery
2 apples
2 potatoes

salt
pepper

Quick and Easy Chicken Broth

A snowstorm is keeping me from my weekly shopping and now we have not one sick child but three and mama's going down too. A snow storm would so much more fun if everyone were healthy. Boo hoo.
Thank God there's chicken broth, the home made kind, in the frig.

How to make chicken broth the quick and easy way:
After a roast chicken with veggies dinner throw the bones back into the slow cooker. Throw in the leftover vegetables. Fill the pot 3/4 full of water. Turn to Low and let it go for 12 or more hours.

Experiments and my meal list

I think that it would be very handy to cook rice in the slow cooker. Just rice. I've thrown it in to soups and stews. Sometimes when I bring it to the table I then call it casserole.
But to have a slow cooker full of sweet and sour meatballs and a slow cooker of rice would be nice.

I've been sleuthing around and am getting the idea that the ratio of rice to water, how hot your cooker runs, and what kind of lid you have determines the success of your rice.

How hot your slow cooker runs depends on the cooker itself, how warm your room is, how humid your room is, the voltage that ebbs and flows through your outlet, and your altitude.

It seems that I don't even have rice to experiment with so I'll be picking some of that up at the store!

Today is my grocery run day, I have my list made and just need to print it off. It's for 12 recipes.

Here is my meal list. Hopefully next week I'll be organized enough to have the grocery list to go along with it. The thing is, I take the list and then mentally substitute all the bad junk out and the necessary replacements. So the list still has the bad junk listed. Clear as mud?

Here's my meal list, not in order:
White Chili
Beef Stew
Curried Beef
Barbecue Beef
Chicken with Apples and Curry
Enchiladas
Lemon Herb Chicken
Cabbage Hamburger Bake
Zuppa Toscana
Mexican Beef and Beans
Creole Corn Bisque with Sausage
Sweet and Sour Meatballs

For the recipes I use for lunch, I cut the ingredients to the bare minimum for and ease and it tames down the spices for the little kids. I figure that those kids who like things more spicey can add it at the table.

Still working things out in my meal plans.

Barbecue Sauce

Barbecue Sauce

This is a healthy alternative to the bottled versions at the grocery store. Nearly all of them contain corn syrup and preservatives. Read ketchup labels also to avoid corn syrup.

Ingredients:

·         2 cups ketchup or 2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce

·         ½ cup honey

·         2 tablespoon paprika

·         1 tablespoon mustard

·         2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

Directions:

1.       Stir all ingredients together.

2.       Put either directly into recipe or into a jar with a tight lid and store in the refrigerator.

Mexican Seasoning in bulk for your pantry

Mexican

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

·         4 tablespoons chili powder

·         2 tablespoons cilantro

·         2 teaspoons black pepper

·         2 teaspoons cumin

·         2 teaspoons oregano

·         2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

·         2 teaspoons garlic powder

Directions:

1.       Mix ingredients in a bowl.

2.       Store in a jar with a tight fitting lid.

To use for taco meat seasoning: Add 1 tablespoon of mix per pound of meat part way through browning on stove top. Add ¼ cup of water and finish browning.

To use for chili soup: Add 2 tablespoons per gallon of chili.

For chip dip: Mix 1 tablespoon with 8 ounces of cream cheese and 1 cup of sour cream.