To Crock or not To Crock?

Throw a few ingredients into the slow cooker before work, and when we arrive home after our busy days there is a yummy meal to quickly put on the table. This is the promise of the slow cooker and my hope each time I use my slow cooker. My results are usually mediocre with dry meat, a mix of ingredients that over eight or more hours of simmering together are mushy, or food has a certain "slow cooker taste" that I just don't like. But, I want to love my slow cooker, as a busy mom this appliance can be a life saver! Doug and I both work at very busy jobs, then rush around in the evenings and weekends going to karate, basketball, dance, gymnastics, hockey and a million miscellaneous things that take up our time. So, for my January challenge I am going to attempt to cook one thing every day in my slow cooker to see if I can find some good recipes I can use to make meal planning easier for me. I was inspired by this blog that tracks a yearlong challenge to use the slow cooker http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ My rules for a good slow cooker meal is that it is simple, if I had a lot of time to chop veggies and brown meat I wouldn't need a slow cooker. It has to be good tasting after 8 hours on low and then a couple more hours on warm since we are gone for 10+ hours most days (the exception is chicken breasts which I will only cook on my work at home days. It has to be healthy, slow cook recipes always seem to rely too much on cream of something soup. I will be sharing my meal plans and my results each week. Meal Plan Jan 1st to Jan 7th Sunday - Vegetable Soup I will be taking this for lunch all week, so I make a big batch, but I don't really have a recipe, I just dump in V-8 and a bunch of veggies. Monday - Mediterranean Chicken 3-4 frozen chicken breast halves bag of frozen artichoke hearts half jar of green olives (no juice) large can of tomatoes (and juice) Put everything in your crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours, high for 4-6. (My crockpot cooks chicken breasts in about 4 hours on low, so I will only cook it for 4 hours on low.) Tuesday - Jambalaya/Creole I have all the ingredients; I am just not sure what recipe to use yet. Wednesday - Thai Beef 2 pounds beef chuck roast 1 (8-ounce) bottle peanut satay sauce (Thai Kitchen is gluten free, or you can make your own with this recipe ---and if you're gluten free, you will of course use a GF soy sauce...) 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk (full fat is best) 1 (16-ounce) package baby carrots (no chopping, Dana!) cooked basmati rice for serving 1/4 cup chopped peanuts for garnish (optional) Put the beef into the bottom of your cooker, and add the peanut sauce and the whole can of coconut milk. Flip the meat over a few times to get it good and saucy. Add baby carrots (my dad says you have to rinse them off first). Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or until meat is fork-tender and pretty much falls apart. Stir well to distribute sauce, and serve over hot rice. Garnish with a sprinkle of peanuts, if you'd like. Thursday - Pasta Fagioli 1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained 1/2 large red onion, chopped 1 cup carrots, chopped 2 celery stalks, sliced 2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (and juice) 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed 4 cups beef broth 1 jar (26-ounce) pasta sauce 2 tsp oregano 1 T Tabasco sauce 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 1/2 cup dry pasta, to add at end of cooking time (I used TJ's brown rice fusilli) Use a 6 quart or larger crockpot, or cut the recipe in half. This makes a lot. Brown the meat on the stovetop, and drain well. Let it cool a bit. Chop up the carrots, onion, and celery. Add it to the empty crockpot. Drain and rinse the beans, and add them. Add the whole cans of tomatoes, and the pasta sauce. Add the beef broth. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, and Tobasco sauce. Stir in your meat. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. When the vegetables are tender, stir in the 1/2 cup of dry pasta. Cover and cook for another hour on low, or until the pasta is tender. It will swell quite a bit. Serve with a bit of parmesan cheese if you have it Friday - Tacos Saturday - Breakfast I will put this in when I go to bed. 30 oz package of plain frozen hash brown (shredded) potatoes 4 already-been cooked sausage, or leftover diced ham (I used chicken and apple sausage) 1/2 onion, diced 1 green bell pepper, diced 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese 12 eggs 1 cup skim or fat free milk 1 tsp kosher salt 1 tsp black pepper Spray the inside of your crockpot with cooking spray. Dump in the whole package of hash browns. Spread them out with your fingers, and break up any clumps. In a mixing bowl, mix the dozen eggs with the milk, salt and pepper, cheese, cut up sausage, and diced vegetables. Pour everything on top of the hash browns. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4. This is done when the eggs are fully cooked and the edges start to brown a bit. If you want the cheese to brown and get a bit crispy on the sides, cook it longer.