Snap Crackle & Pop . . . in the Crockpot!

Can we say easy peezy lemon squeezy?

Because that's my new motto.  My new crockpot is amazing.  It can do everything!  Bread, chili (in theory), chicken, pancakes and now rice krispies treats!  Unbelievable.  I'm starting to think it has a mind of its own that helps it accomplish everything and more.  I mean, it definitely has will power and a positive "can do" attitude.  Come to think of it, this crockpot is an inspiration.  It could be an international figurehead of success.  The epitome of The American Dream.  A "nation builder"!  Something that all of man- and woman-kind could look up to!

Okay, well, maybe not, I mean, maybe I'm getting a little carried away.  But my point remains the same: my crockpot is a freaking miracle worker and I can't get enough of it.  Which brings us to my next point -- I made rice krispies treats in my crockpot!  And they were good!  And because I hope you can enjoy them too, here's the recipe!


Rice Krispies Treats in the Crockpot (courtesy of crockpot365.blogspot.com)

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons of butter (do not use the fake stuff, it will affect the taste of your treats)
6 cups of Rice Krispies (the cereal)
1 bag of fresh marshmallows (about 40 big ones)

1.  Put butter in a pre-heated (on HIGH) crockpot.  I melted the butter in the microwave first and then put it in the pot.

2.  Put the entire bag of marshmallows on top of the melted butter in the pot.

3.  Put the Rice Krispies cereal on top of the marshmallows.


 4.  Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour.  Give it an extra 20-30 minutes if you need it.  Mine cooked for about 1 hour and 15 minutes and it was perfect.

5.  By this point, the marshmallows will have melted.  You will be able to tell this by lifting the lid off of the pot.  Take the pot off the heat and, using a big spoon, mix everything in the pot together.

6.  Transfer the mixed-together marshmallow-cereal mix to a prepared 9"x11" pan or pyrex.  I think "prepared" means lightly greased, so that's what I did.  You can use Reynolds Wrap or wax paper to press the mixture down into the pan.  I used a wooden spoon and it worked just fine.  (I also used a 9"x9" pan because I made slightly less than a full batch.)  I noticed that my marshmallow mixture was a light brown/tan color and not white.  I think that's from the cooking of the marshmallows with the butter.  Although I can't be sure (I'm not really a scientist or much of a cook/baker).  But the color of the treats did not affect their taste, which is the important thing in my mind, so bon appetit!

7.  Let it cool completely before cutting it into squares.

Ta-da!  That's it.  Super easy, right?  And sans mess!  I mean, usually you have to cook the marshmallows on the stove in a pot, and there's sticky gooeyness as it's cooking, and it's a mess, and with the crockpot, you literally drop everything in the pot and wait till it's done.  The only part that sucked was cleaning the crockpot afterwards.  I had to use a metal spoon to get the overcooked marshmallow pieces unstuck from the bottom of the pot . . . yuck.  But I'll admit that it was worth the hassle.  Simply simple and simply tasty.  Mmmm . . . enjoy!

BTW - Duke lost today.  Big time.  Not that that means anything for my rice krispies treats recipe, but still . . . it's great news worth sharing! :)

Crockpot Pancakes FTW

Picture a pancake.  I'm talking about the perfect kind that diners get right every time and that are so freaking hard to replicate at home.  You know -- light golden brown on both sides, about a quarter of an inch to a half an inch thick, about 5 to 6 inches in diameter.  Soft.  Fluffy.  Perfectly stackable.  Mmm.  Now tweak that picture in your mind a little bit.  Instead of a half an inch thick, think about 2 inches.  Instead of 6 inches across, make it about 8.  Kind of like a pancake-cake.  Still fluffy but a little more dense and a lot more substance to it.  A little lighter in color but still a nice, light brown.


Enter, crockpot pancake!  I made it this morning for a brunch I hosted and it came out perfectly -- so much better than I expected!  Although to be honest, I didn't really know what to expect.  All the recipes I found were very loose and really left a lot of room for creativity (i.e., a lot of room to screw up).  So although my fingers were crossed that something good would emerge from my crockpot, I really had no idea what was going to happen.  Lucky for me, crockpot pancakes are super easy and uber delicious!!  I really should call it a "crockpot pancake" instead of "crockpot pancakes" because it comes out like a pancake-cake, in the singular.  After it's done, you slice it into pieces (kind of like a pound cake) and serve it just like you would regular pancakes -- with butter, a fruit garnish and/or maple syrup.  SO YUMMY!  Here's the recipe:


Crockpot Pancake Recipe

Ingredients:
Pancake ingredients (I used Reduced Fat Bisquick, skim milk and eggs.)

1.  Make pancake batter like you would for stove-top pancakes.  (In other words, follow the recipe on the Bisquick box or be like Alton Brown and make them from scratch.)

2.  Grease inside of crockpot with nonstick cooking spray.  As usual, I used EVOO cooking spray.

3.  Pour all of the batter into the greased crockpot.  Cook on HIGH for 2 hours.  When toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, it's done.  The edges will be browned by then (it's totally normal for them to be a much darker brown than the rest of the pancake) and the batter will have fully solidified.

That's it!  It's super easy and super delicious.  Wait about 10 minutes for it to cool, then remove it from the crockpot and place it on a plate.  Serve while warm.  It's perfect for brunch parties or your everyday breakfast.  Enjoy!

Crockpot chili : epic failure :: Clemson men's basketball : losing at the Dean Dome.

Thought I'd start tonight's post with a bit of sentential calculus and Carolina basketball trivia.  All in anticipation of tonight's game at Miami.  This is kind of a must-win for us . . . GO HEELS!

Okay, back to the actual point of this blog: my crockpot adventures!  And boy do I have a doozy of a story.  Monday night I was filled with excitement and inspiration and decided to make my very first batch of crockpot chili.  A seemingly excellent idea, no?  Ha.  Man, was I wrong.  Very very wrong.

But I digress.

The Plan: (1) Brown the ground beef, chop all the vegetables & add all of the canned goods to the ceramic pot Monday night; (2) Place pot in the fridge overnight; (3) Remove pot from fridge and set on counter before leaving for the gym before work Tuesday morning (don't want to "shock the pot" temperature-wise); and (4) Put in crockpot heating basin before leaving for work and cook on LOW for 10 hours.  The End Goal: a beautifully slow cooked and delicious meal of beef chili ready for my eager consumption by the time I got home from work Tuesday night.

Unfortunately, not all went as planned.  I mean, I have to admit that I'm still a bit perplexed.  When I came home at lunch to let the dogs out, the house smelled awesome.  In anticipation of a delicious meal, I pulled the top off and tasted a tiny bit of the chili.  (I know that goes against the cardinal "open the oven door/crockpot lid before you're done cooking and you'll ruin the food" rule, but I couldn't help myself!  It smelled so good!)  The chili looked good but was a little bland.  So I added a little more chili powder and some salt, and went back to work.  When I got home around 6 pm, I was psyched -- it was like I walked in the door and the amazing aroma wafting from my crockpot was calling to me -- "Dinner's ready, dear!  Come and get it!"

Well, come and get it I did.  And come and get it I now wish I didn't.  YUCK.  The chili was a little bitter, a little bland, and - well - tasted nothing like it smelled.  I'm starting to think the smell was a figment of my imagination, planted in my mind to torture me for something.  I really don't understand it.  It looked fabulous!  It smelled fabulous!  It was warm and bubbly, the perfect consistency and temperature, perfectly cooked . . .  or so I thought.  Ugh.  Such a disaster!

To my credit, I followed The Plan to a T.  To the recipe's credit, I did not follow the recipe to a T.  I didn't stray much, though, and -- call it stubborn pride (no idea where I get that from, DAD) -- I find it hard to believe that what I did change could have ruined the recipe.  Regardless, I wanted to post the recipe so that anyone reading this who so wished would know what recipe NEVER TO FOLLOW, EVER IN THE WHOLE WORLD, NO MATTER WHAT.  Consider yourself warned!

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef
2 16-oz cans of kidney beans, rinsed & drained
2 14.5-oz cans of diced tomatoes, undrained
1 8-oz can of tomato sauce
2 medium onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of chili powder
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
Shredded cheddar cheese & sour cream (as a garnish)

In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.  Transfer to the crockpot.  Add the next 9 ingredients.  Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours.  Garnish individual servings with cheese and sour cream if desired.

I repeat -- DO NOT USE THIS RECIPE.  Here's what I changed.  Some of the reviews said to add celery.  I did not do so.  (This is chili, not a soup.  Why would I need 2/3 of the ingredients in a mirepoix?  Riddle me this.)  I also added half of a beer -- some of the best lager in the world: Yuengling.  I let the pot -- with all of the ingredients inside -- sit overnight before cooking it the next day (in accordance with The Plan).  That's it; that is the extent of my changes.  And it was GROSS.

For what it's worth, if I were to improve upon this recipe, I would add less beef, a jalapeno pepper, a little more salt, a full beer, and less (if any) tomato sauce.  I would also maybe add a little hot sauce and/or a pinch of red pepper flakes.  But I won't be using this recipe again, so we probably don't have to worry about that.

So, the lesson learned is . . . sometimes crockpot chili recipes suck.  When I get back on the crockpot chili horse, I will be sure to ask around for good recipes first.  Till then . . . no chili for me!

Next up: crockpot pancakes and crockpot rice krispie treats.  YUM!

**Got a request for a crockpot creation?  Post a comment or e-mail me and I'll do my best to try it out and get some results up ASAP!

Cheap & Easy! (Chicken Thighs with Carrots & Potatoes, that is!)

I made a super easy and quite delicious chicken dinner in my crockpot tonight and absolutely could not refrain from sharing the recipe!  I got the recipe from an internet posting of a 2009 Southern Living magazine recipe.  And the ingredients all came from either my pantry or my freezer.  That's right - this meal didn't cost me a cent to make today!  If I were to buy the ingredients, they would've easily been less than $15 in total.  Fifteen dollars to feed a family of 4.  Crazy!!  And, to top it all off, it was SO EASY.  I "chopped and popped" my food in the crockpot in under 15 minutes today at lunch and proceeded to pass out on my couch with the shades drawn, suffering from a terrible migraine.  (Ugh.)  Fortunately, by the time my medication started to work and my migraine was gone, my dinner was ready.  And all I had to do was serve and eat!  Doesn't get simpler than that!

Recipe for Chicken Thighs with Carrots and Potatoes

Ingredients:
1 medium onion
4 medium-size new potatoes (about 1 lb.)
2 cups baby carrots
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided
1 teaspoon paprika
6 skinned, bone-in chicken thighs

**I used 4 frozen boneless, skinless chicken thighs and it's hard for me to believe that the taste was effected much because it was so good!  I also used chicken broth instead of white wine, I omitted the dried thyme (couldn't find any in the pantry) and I used only 3 medium-sized potatoes instead of 4.

1. Halve onion lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices.  Cut potatoes into 1/4-inch-thick slices.   Place onion in a lightly greased 6-quart slow cooker; top with potatoes and carrots.  I used EVOO cooking spray to grease the pot and I have a 5-quart slow cooker -- it was the perfect size.

2. Combine broth, next three ingredients, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Pour over vegetables. Make sure you mix the broth mixture thoroughly before pouring it over the vegetables.  I thought I had mixed it enough but the salt didn't dissolve entirely so I had some soft clumps of salt ... it didn't noticeably effect the taste, but next time I will make sure to mix it better!


3. Combine paprika and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; rub over chicken.  (I didn't mix them together but instead put them on the chicken separately for convenience sake; I don't see how mixing them together first would make much of a difference.)  Arrange chicken on top of vegetables.

4. Cover and cook on LOW 6 hours or until chicken is done and vegetables are tender.  I think 6 hours is for fresh chicken.  I cooked for just under 7 hours on LOW and the chicken was fall-apart tender.  Yum!

Bon appetit!

And so it begins.

Hello friends and family who have indulged me by visiting my new blog!  

It's hard for me to believe that I actually got around to creating this, but this week, for good reason, has found me particularly inspired.  Two of my dearest friends, R & E, gifted me one of the loveliest and most thoughtful of all lovely and thoughtful gifts: a brand new 5-qt crockpot!  In addition, knowing my affinity for step-by-step instructions (yes, I admit that's a little weird), they wisely accompanied their gift with a book of basic crockpot recipes.  I am a lucky girl to have such wonderful friends!

As a result of their wonderfulness, I have delved deeper into the world of crockpot cooking than I ever knew I could.  And what a world it is!  My inaugural crockpot creation was banana walnut bread.  I mean, who actually figured you could cook bread in a crockpot?!  Let's see -- spaghetti sauce?  Yes.  Soup?  Obviously.  Chili?  Um, duh.  But bread??  In a pot??  No way.  But alas -- yes way!  And man, is it outta-this-world delicious!

And so, my first blog post has inspired my first shared recipe.  All I can say is -- this one's a keeper!  Deeeeeelish!

Ingredients:

½ cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup butter or margarine

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs, well beaten

2 tablespoons dark corn syrup

3 ripe bananas, well mashed

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

 

1. Grease and flour inside of slow cooker.  The recipe calls for a 4.5-qt slow cooker but my 5-qt one worked perfectly.  For a 5-, 6- or 7-qt slow cooker, you can always double the recipe.  To grease my slow cooker, I used EVOO cooking spray.

2. Cream butter in large bowl with electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly add sugar, eggs, corn syrup and mashed bananas. Beat until smooth.

3. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a small bowl.  Slowly beat flour mixture into creamed mixture.  Add the walnuts and mix thoroughly.  Pour into slow cooker.  Cover; cook on HIGH 2 to 3 hours.

4. Let cool, then turn bread onto serving platter.

Banana Walnut Bread

I cooked mine on HIGH for about 2 hours and 10 minutes and it came out perfectly.  I used a toothpick to check if it was done.  I then removed the ceramic pot from my slow cooker and let it cool for almost 30 minutes.  Then I flipped it over and the bread transferred perfectly to a serving plate.  This recipe freezes well so you can always make extra loaves and freeze them for later, or you can cut your bread into individual pieces and wrap & freeze them individually in order to better control your portions!  Or, of course, you can always do what I did -- eat it fresh!  YUM!

A piece? For me? Yes, please.

My next entry will entail my first crockpot disappointment.  I'm calling it the "worst crockpot chili recipe in the world" disaster.  Oy.  But, on the bright side, I'm learning that crockpot cooking is a lot like dating -- the more recipes you try, the more you realize what you don't like in a crockpot recipe.  Here's hoping finding the perfect recipe is a little easier than finding the perfect man!  :)