Slow Cooker Ranch Pork Chops

This is absolutely the easiest and best slow cooker recipe I have ever made.  I originally saw this on a slow cooker site, but I did change it just a little by adding a cup of sour cream to the sauce at the end. 

Here is what you will need:

2 cans cream of chicken soup, 1 pkg ranch dressing mix, 1 cup sour cream and 5 or 6 boneless pork loin chops about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick.  I usually just buy a whole pork loin and slice my own to save money and to be sure I get the thickness I want.   You can substitute boneless chicken breasts in this for the pork and it would be great also!

Spray your slow cooker liberally with cooking spray.  This really makes clean up so easy. Lay your pork chops in the bottom.  Sprinkle with pepper.  The soup and the ranch dressing mix have enough sodium in them that you won't need extra salt.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high 4-5 hours depending on your slow cooker.  At the end of the cooking time, add a cup of sour cream to the sauce.  You will need to temper your sour cream gradually with some of the hot sauce before adding it or it will curdle (not a good look).  If you are not serving immediately, turn the crock pot to warm to hold it. 

I usually serve this over hot buttered egg noodles, but it is also excellent over rice or mashed potatoes.  Add a salad and rolls and you have a great meal!

Recipe By Sweet Tea and Cornbread

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

4-6	chicken breasts, cooked & diced
1	large (28 oz) can of diced tomatoes
1	(14 ounce) can enchilada sauce
	(I use medium, but you can use mild or hot)
1	medium onion, chopped
	(Or, if you are a cheater like me, I buy the pre-diced onion. My eyes are SO sensitive to onion & my eyes water so badly. The pre-diced stuff is the best invention since sliced bread!)
1	can chopped green chilies
1	tablespoon of minced garlic
1	(32 ounce) container chicken broth
1	teaspoon cumin
1	teaspoon chili powder
	Salt & Pepper (to taste)
1	(10 ounce) package frozen corn
For the garnish:
	Corn Tortillas
	Avocado
	Shredded Cheese
	Sour Cream
	Green Onions Directions 1. Boil your chicken breasts until fully cooked. Then, dice them up! 2. Place diced chicken, diced tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chilies, mined garlic & corn into your crock pot. 3. Pour in chicken broth, add cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper. 4. Stir. 5. Cover and cook on Low for 5 to 6 hours or on High for 2 to 3 hours. About 30 miutes before you are going to serve the soup, you need to get the tortillas ready! Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with olive oil (or vegetable oil, whatever you have on hand!) Cut tortillas into strips (I use a pizza cutter) then spread on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, put tortilla strips over soup. Then, I garnish that with sour cream, shredded cheese & sliced up avocado (you can garnish with green onions also, I just didn’t have any) It looks this pretty for about 10 seconds & then I stir it all together and eat it!

Crock Pot Orange Chicken

Crock Pot Orange Chicken

First off, I apologize that I don't know where this recipe came from. If it's yours, please let me know and I'll give you credit.

Ingredients:
• 3-4 boneless chicken breasts, chopped into small chunks
• 1/3 cup flour
• olive oil
• 1/2 T salt
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 T ketchup
• 6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (thaw or throw it in the microwave for 45 seconds)
• 4 T brown sugar

In a bowl, mix the orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and ketchup.

Pour the flour in a small bowl.
Cover the chicken breast chunks in flour and shake off the excess.

Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and brown the flour-covered chicken.

The chicken doesn't need to be fully cooked since it's going in the crock pot.

After the chicken is done cooking, pour the pieces into the crock pot.
Then cover the chicken with your sauce mixture and give the pot a stir.

Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-3.

Serve over rice and even add veggies if you want a healthier meal.
Enjoy!

Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1 (4 pound) boneless beef roast
• 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 whole black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 (10 ounce) cans beef broth
• 8 french rolls or hoagies
• 16 slices Provolone cheese
• butter for rolls

Directions:

1. Remove and discard all visible fat from the roast. Place trimmed roast in a slow cooker.

2. In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, bay leaf, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, and garlic powder. Pour mixture over roast. Add the beef broth to the slow cooker. 

3. Cover, and cook on Low heat for 6-8 hours, or until meat is very tender. Mine was done after 5 hours so it depends on your slow cooker; it could take more or less time.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for toasting the rolls. Remove meat from broth, reserving broth. Slice or shred meat depending on your preference. I prefer it sliced really thin.

5. Slice rolls in half and place on a cooking sheet. Spread with butter and bake in the oven for 2-3 minutes or until barely toasted.

6. Pile meat on rolls and top each roll with 2 slices of Provolone cheese. 

7. Place rolls back in the oven for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted.

8. Skim any fat off the surface of the reserved broth in the slow cooker. Serve with reserved broth   

-You may need to add water to adjust the strength of the au jus. Sometimes it is stronger than others and you can adjust it easily by adding water to your preference. Serve in ramekins so everyone can dip their own sandwiches.-

Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese

You don't have to be a country music fan to LOVE this (Trisha Yearwood's recipe) I made this and it blew me away.

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
8 ounces cooked elbow macaroni
One 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick ) of butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
2 large eggs, beaten
Two 10-ounce bricks sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (about 5 cups)
Dash of paprika

Directions:
1. In a large 4-quart slow cooker sprayed with cooking spray, mix the macaroni, evaporated milk, milk, butter, salt, pepper, eggs and all but 1/2 cup of the grated cheese.

2.  Sprinkle the reserved cheese over the top of the mixture and then sprinkle with paprika.

3.  Cover and cook on low heat for 3 hours and 15 minutes. 

4.Turn off the slow cooker, stir the mixture and serve hot.

-Cook's Note: If you don't have a slow cooker, grease a 9-by-13-by-2-inch pan with butter, add the mixture and bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes.-

Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs!

Ingredients:
full racks baby back ribs, cut in thirds
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp. smoky paprika
1 Tbs. liquid smoke (optional)
1 cup  Coca Cola (you can also use Dr. Pepper or even apple juice)
2-3 cups barbecue sauce of your choice 

Directions:
1. Cut the ribs in thirds or fourths if you want to serve smaller pieces.

2. Sprinkle both sides with the Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce.   

3. Mix together the brown sugar and the other seasonings. 

4. Rub this mixture on both sides of the ribs liberally.  

5. Spray a large slow cooker, like a 6-7 quart one,  with nonstick spray.   

6. Lay the ribs on top of each other in the slow cooker.  

7. Pour the Coke around the edges. 

8. If you are using the liquid smoke, put it in now also. 

9. It's best to cook on low for 8 hours...low and slow is best.  

10. If you got a late start, you can cook on high for 4-5 hours 

11. Carefully, remove the riblets from the slow cooker and place on a large baking sheet or baking pan cover with foil  (makes cleanup so much easier).   

12. Now slather them, front and back, with the barbecue sauce of your choice.

13. Place in the oven at 425 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes or just until the sauce has sort of caramelized and browned a bit.  Don't let them burn.

Recipe from Sweet Tea and Cornbread.

Pulled Pork (Crock Pot)

Ingredients:

4 lbs pork roast (shoulder or butt)

2 large onions

1 cup ginger ale

1 (18 ounce) bottle favorite barbecue sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's)

barbecue sauce, for serving (optional)

Directions:
1. Slice one onion and place in crock pot.

2. Cut in the roast and cover with the other onion, sliced. Pour over the ginger ale. Cover and cook on LOW for about 12 hours.

3. Remove the meat, strain and save the onions, discard all liquid. With two forks, shred the meat, discarding any remaining fat, bones or skin. Most of the fat will have melted away.

4. Return the shredded meat and the onions to the crock pot, stir in the barbecue sauce. Continue to cook for another 4 to 6 hours on LOW.

5. Serve with hamburger buns or rolls and additional barbecue sauce. Any leftovers freeze very well.

TIP: when making pulled pork in a crock pot, cook it in root beer all day instead of water it wont be as healthy but it will make it more flavorful.


TIP: freeze ready-made sandwiches - a scoop of meat on a bun, well-wrapped. These make a great quick meal or snack. To reheat, remove wrapping, wrap in a paper towel, and zap 1-2 minute in the microwave.

Note: Shoulder or butt are recommended because the meat shreds very well. Other cuts do not shred as readily. It is a fattier cut, but the fat melts away in the cooking and is poured away when you discard the liquid.

Note 2: I have an older, smaller crock pot. The above times work perfectly for me. But if you have a newer or bigger crock pot, you may need to revise times downward, esp. after the bbq sauce is added. I think you need at least a couple of hours for it all to meld, but that may be all you need. Update: I recently bought a bigger crockpot, I think 5 or 6 qts. I cooked a 6 lb pork shoulder in it for 8 hours and it was shreddable at that point. Shredded, added the sauce, and cooked for another hour or so to meld everything. So use your best judgment on timing!

Note 3: You might want to turn your roast over after it's cooked a while, to ensure more even cooking. I think this may depend on the size and shape of your roast and the size of your slow cooker. Remember that each time you remove the lid you lose heat and be careful, as turning a large piece of meat is awkward



Serving Size: 1 (292 g)
Servings Per Recipe: 10
Amount Per Serving
(% Daily Value)  Calories 335.1         
Calories from Fat 6218%     
Total Fat 6.9g 10%  
Saturated Fat 2.0g 10%         
Cholesterol 125.1mg 41%     
Sodium 584.5mg 24%
Total Carbohydrate 25.3g 8%     
Dietary Fiber 0.8g 3%     
Sugars 18.0g 72% 
Protein 40.2g 80%

Crock Pot Roast

                            

Ingredients:
1 roast (go with the cheap one it will cook long enough to become tender)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 package lipton onion soup mix
2 or 3 potatoes cut up
carrots
salt/pepper

Directions:
1. Put roast in crock pot, pour onion soup on top, then the mushroom soup on top of everything. 

2. Place potatoes and carrots around the roast (you can put roast on top of veggies too, but don't put veggies on top of the roast)

3. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours

Cream Cheese Chicken and Broccoli

 Hands-On Time: 15 minutes

 Ready In: 4 hours

    Yield: 10-12 servings

Ingredients:
4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 package (1 ounce) Italian salad dressing mix
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
1 can (10 3⁄4 ounces) condensed low-fat cream of chicken soup, undiluted 1 bag (10 ounces) frozen broccoli florets,
thawed
1 package (8 ounces) low-fat cream cheese, cubed
1⁄4 cup dry sherry
Hot cooked pasta

Directions:
1. Toss chicken with olive oil. 

2. Sprinkle with Italian salad dressing mix. 

3. Place in 5-quart Crock Pot. 

4. Cover; cook on LOW 3 hours.

5. Set aside to cool

6. place in refrigerator until sauce is done.

7. Coat large skillet with nonstick cooking spray. 

8. Add mushrooms and onion; cook 5 minutes over medium heat or until onions are tender, stirring occasionally.

9. Add soup, broccoli, cream cheese and sherry to skillet; cook and stir until hot. 

10. Transfer to 4 1⁄2-quart CROCK-POT or larger. 

11. Cover; cook on LOW 1 hour. 

12. Add chicken to crock pot with sauce and heat until warm

13. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta.

Autumn Chicken

Ingredients:
1 can (14 ounces) whole artichoke hearts, drained
1 can (14 ounces) whole mushrooms, divided
12 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 jar (61/2 ounces) marinated artichoke hearts, with liquid
3/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette
Hot cooked noodles
Paprika for garnish (optional)

Directions:
1. Spread whole artichokes over bottom of CROCK-POT. 

2. Top with half of mushrooms. Layer chicken over mushrooms. 

3. Add marinated artichoke hearts with liquid. 

4. Add remaining mushrooms. 

5. Pour in wine and vinaigrette.

6. Cover; cook on LOW 4 to 5 hours.

7. Serve over hot cooked noodles. Garnish with paprika, if desired.

*Makes 10 to 12 servings*