Crock-Pot Pepper Steak

We were sitting in the living room, my madre and I, and she said, "you know, we really need to find a good pepper steak recipe."

"Done, and done," said I {mmk, I didn't *really* say that, but I did quickly locate a recipe on Pinterest}.

I was expecting a tangy, spicy recreation, similar to my stand-by order from my favorite college Chinese Takeout place. This wasn't it, despite what the reviews say.

However, it WAS delicious. Rave reviews from both parents {THAT, my friends, is rare}. And, it was SUPER easy. Yum.

{Dump and turn-on: how easy is that?}

 I copied this recipe from Food.com. I did not add the garlic {Couldn't find it. It was in the back of the fridge. Oops.} or the red pepper flakes {The madre does not do spicy}, and it was STILL. SO. GOOD.

You must try it.

Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless beef chuck steak {I used 2.5}
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1green bell pepper, julienned
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 yellow onion, sliced into half rings
1 tomato, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Slice the steak into strips.
Saute in olive oil until most pieces are brown.
Dump into crock-pot.
Add julienned/diced veggies into crock-pot.
Combine teriyaki sauce, Worcestireshire sauce, flour, brown sugar, and beef broth in bowl or large mixing cup.
Pour over meat and veggies.
Cook on low approximately 7 hours.
Thicken if desired {see the bottom of this post on thickening}
Serve over rice!

Enjoy!

Shredded Pork with Mushrooms and Peas

Things are getting a little hectic around here. we're hitting the final days of thesis writing until August, I'm moving in less than three weeks, and I'm getting ready for camp. So, I'm all about fast, comforting food to fill my tummy and keep me on budget. Cue: bowls of cereal, frozen muffins, and my slow-cooker {(have I mentioned that I also am packing up most of my kitchen?)}

I found this recipe last summer at camp. We were going through our craft supplies and in one of our crock-pot boxes {(crock-pots are great for melting candle wax, btw)} I found a recipe book. You know, those recipe books that come with every appliance that you look at and wonder, "um, are these recipes really any good?" Well, this one was. Easy, comforting, affordable. It freezes well, and for those of you who don't do pork, I think beef would work VERY well in this recipe. In fact, I plan to try it with beef when I start cooking again after camp.

Ingredients:
2.5 lbs pork shoulder, cubed
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 packet pork gravy mix
1/4 brown sugar
5-6 white mushrooms, sliced {(one of those packages of pre-sliced ones would work fine)}
1 cup frozen peas
1 can white beans, drained {(I used some leftovers from when I made a big batch in my slow-cooker earlier this month; this is optional, I just like the way they disintegrate and thicken the sauce)}

Directions:
Place pork, beans and mushrooms in the slow cooker
Combine tomatoes, paste, sugar, and gravy mix
Pour over contents of slow-cooker
Cook on low 8-10 hours or high 4-6 hours
About 15 minutes before serving, at frozen peas.
Serve over egg noodles or baked potatoes.

Enjoy!

Crock-pot beans and barley

Have I mentioned {(at least 1000 times)} how much I love my slow-cooker?  Because, I do. If I had to pick just one thing to take from my kitchen when I move, I would pick my crock-pot. In fact, I shipped it up to D.C. when I did my internship, took it to camp, and might even take it with me if I go abroad {(with a power converter, of course!)}

This recipe comes {(loosely)} from this book:

I highly recommend it this book, by the way. I got mine for about $6 at Half-Price books, and there are so many recipes in here that I want to try, its ridiculous. Can you say peach and blackberry cobbler, or potato and pea curry?  Yum!

Anyhoo, I finagled the recipe a smidge to fit my crock-pot size, and my mistakes {(like when I pre-cooked the beans I forgot to reserve the starchy cooking liquid; hello beer, nice to meet you!)}, so you should feel free to finagle however much you want. This can be made vegan, alcohol-free, whatever. It's so versatile and fairly inexpensive.

Ingredients:
1 bag dried white beans
1 package turkey bacon, roughly chopped
1 cup {or so} of barley {I used pearl barley sold in bulk}
1 yellow onion cut in half then sliced
1/2-3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup pure maple syrup {check the labels! don't buy fake syrup!}
1.5 tsp dried mustard
3/4 tsp ginger
1.5 tsp dried garlic
1 bottle of your favorite beer {I used Shiner Bock; I'd recommend a light ale or amber beer}
butter or oil to saute onions
water

Directions:
Rinse and pick over beans for stones, etc.
Combine beans and 6 cups of water in a bowl {I just tossed them in my slow cooker crock}
Let sit for 6 hours or so
Drain and rinse beans
Place in the crock and fill to the top with water
Cook on low for 10-12 hours or on high for 5-6 {(I cooked mine overnight on low)}
Remove beans from crock and reserve the liquid if you're not using beer.
In a skillet brown chopped bacon to render the fat and transfer bacon to a bowl.
Saute onions until they're soft and caramelized and add to bowl
Rinse barley and add to bowl
Add beans and remaining ingredients minus the beer
Mix all ingredients together and put back into crock
Add beer until the liquid comes just below the top of the crock
Cook on low for 4-6 hours.
Serve with corn muffins and enjoy!

Slow-cooker Pineapple Porkchops

You know those recipes from your childhood? The ones that your mom, or aunt, or grandma made that just taste so good? This is one of those recipes. In my family we call them Polynesian Porkchops, and this is a recipe typical of what you'd find at any family gathering. A soup/stew with big pieces of meat, cooked with vegetables in a broth, served over rice or noodles.

These recipes are always super easy, but take some time. You have to simmer the meat in stock for awhile and then thicken. So, being the crock-pot lover that I am, I thought "what if I just used my slow-cooker?" Worked like. a. charm. There's a smidge of chopping, some optional sauteing, and some dumping, and viola! Delicious, summery dinner ready when you are.


Ingredients:
4 pork chops {(I found a pork loin on mega sale, so I just bought it and sliced it into "chops")}
1 8oz + 1 16oz can of pineapple chunks in juice
1/2 cup Heinz 57 sauce
1 bell pepper, sliced {(Nanny uses green, I used chopped red & yellow because I had some frozen; I'd personally use 2 peppers)}
salt & pepper to taste {(not too much! Heinz 57 has a lot of sodium)}
corn starch + water

Directions:
Brown pork chops {(this is that optional part I mentioned; I usually don't have time)}
Combine pineapples with juice and Heinz 57 sauce.
Place chops on bottom of slow-cooker, then bell peppers, then sauce mixture.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours
Right before you're ready to serve ({about 5 minutes}), turn to high
Combine corn starch with water so that you have a thick mixture*
Stirring quickly, add cornstarch to the slow-cooker until you reach desired consistency.
Serve over rice.

Enjoy!

*The way I usually do this part is I had a few heaping tablespoons of corn starch to a bowl and slowly ({VERY slowly)} add water. After each addition I stir. It'll squeak, be hard to stir, feel goopy, etc. You know you've got the right mixture when you just hit the point that the cornstarch doesn't drag or feel clumpy.

Crock-pot chicken and eggplant parmigiana and spaghetti squash noodles

Let me tell you about my grandmother. She's awesome. She makes spaghetti sauce from a recipe she got from an Italian neighbor when she lived up north. It is delicious, and it makes a TON. So, when we make spaghetti in my family, it lasts us forever. Everyone takes leftovers (which includes not only the sauce, but meatballs, sausage, chicken, and porkchops) and those leftovers also last forever.

Usually I use my sauce for Baked Macaroni (recipe later this semester), but I got a crock-pot recipe book for Christmas and had to try this recipe. It was good. Really good. And easy. Add in spaghetti squash noodles (another recipe I really wanted to try) and you just cannot beat this dinner.

Let me just emphasize how RIDICULOUSLY GOOD this was. I'm serious. I've made some things that are okay in the crock-pot, and some things that were pretty good in the crock-pot (like, my Shiner Cheer Stew). But this? Oh, man. This was just. that. good. Run to the store for the ingredients.

Ingredients for slow cooker chicken and eggplant parmigiana:
3 chicken breasts
1 small-to-medium eggplant
Approx. 2.5 cups of some sort of marinara sauce (I recommend a tomato-basil, or a mushroom marinara)
Italian breadcrumbs (I used regular mixed with Italian seasoning)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (the original recipe calls for more, but this is expensive cheese)
About 4oz shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
salt and pepper
canola oil

Directions:
Mix eggs, salt and pepper in a shallow dish (like a Pyrex).
Whip together.
Mix breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese in another shallow dish.
Preheat frying pan with some canola/vegetable oil.
While pan is heating with oil, coat chicken with egg, then dredge in breadcrumbs, making sure to coat entire breast.
Place chicken into hot oil and brown both sides (if you put the chicken into the pan and it doesn't sizzle, take it out. If the pan isn't hot enough, the bread crumbs will soak up all the oil without cooking...yuck).
While chicken is browning, slice eggplant (about 1/2 in.) and place in bottom of slow cooker.
Top with about half the sauce.
Place chicken in slow cooker, and top with remaining sauce.
Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.
Cook low for 4-6 hours.

Ingredients for spaghetti squash noodles:
Spaghetti squash, sliced in half length-wise
salt (I used garlic salt) and pepper.

Directions:
Slice spaghetti squash length-wise. It will look like this:

Scoop out the seeds (just like a pumpkin) with a spoon. Now it looks like this:

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake at 425 for about an hour.
Use a fork to make "noodles" that look like this:

Now, put noodles on a plate and top with chicken and eggplant parmigiana.  Try not to overeat.  Yum!