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Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork

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Making pulled pork is as simple as putting the pork roast in the slow cooker and letting it cook all day omitting wonderful fragrances into your home. With many options out there for flavouring your pork, it really comes down to preference, ingredients on hand and what flavours appeal to you. For example husband had some Village Brewery Blacksmith (beer) hanging around. I had a pork roast. We married the two with some spices and new a pulled pork recipe was born. I purposely kept the flavours simple as I wanted to have leftover pork for pork carnitas the next day. This is why the barbecue sauce in this recipe is served on the side.

Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork
Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork

Since I’m trying to be more organized with my meals, my motto for this year is cook once and stretch it into 2-3 meals. We typically make Braised Pork in the oven, however nothing beats getting your meat and/or ingredients ready, set into the slow cooker and the refrigerator the night before, to bring it out and on the next morning.

Beer Pulled Pork in the Slow Cooker

Looking forward to enjoying leftover pork tomorrow in these Pork Carnitas. We “pulled”, get it pulled?! a third meal out of this dish by making Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese. A little went a long way!

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken Wings

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If you are like me, chicken wings are one of those things you just can’t get enough of. Then there’s my husband who would eat them every night if he could. Even the kids enjoy the non spicy wings now so there’s rarely any left when we make them as it’s all in every time wing night happens.

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Wings
Slow Cooker Teriyaki Wings

When I fry the wings I tend to do it outside on the burner of our BBQ to avoid grease splatter. I do not have a deep fryer and really do not want one. When winter approaches here in Canada and temperatures drop to low to BBQ I have to find new ways to create recipes as the grease splatter drives me a little crazy. As a chicken wing lover I do prefer my wings to be crispy vs fatty and as such I’ve been challenged with baking them as they never crisp up the way I like them.

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken Wings
Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken Wings

We use chicken wings to help make our gravy when ever we roast a turkey and I always end up with a few leftover in the freezer allowing me the opportunity to play. These wings were tossed with some of my favourite ingredients and added to our slow cooker or they can be done in the Instant Pot.

In a little over two hours the wings were perfectly cooked with a little added time for a good broil in the oven.

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Wings
Slow Cooker Teriyaki Wings

These wings are so moist they practically fall off the bone but still have a nice crisp on the outside.

Here’s how we do it.

 

Baked Beans

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We grew up eating baked beans, the baked beans out of a can. They were pretty darn good back then. Little did I know baked beans could be even better.

I was dating a guy from another town before I moved to Vancouver. His parents had a cabin at a lake about halfway between our two little towns. Plus a boat, water skis and all the fun summer toys. We spent our summer at this cabin with his family and friends having a good old time – the summer of 1989! There was this one time his mom cooked up a big batch of home made beans for our farewell BBQ. I am pretty sure I still have that recipe since she wrote it out for me. This is how I learned beans could be more than just out of a can.

Baked Beans
Baked Beans

I became more adventurous with baked beans when I got married. Some of the recipes we enjoy are these Smoky White Beans and Salsa Baked Beans. Several years ago my father in laws girlfriend Paulette introduced us to her baked beans with all kinds of yummy extras. I’ve had them a few times and they are really good. She shared the recipe with me and I will share it with you soon. It was Paulette’s use of large canned ready to eat beans, with an added flavour boost, that inspired me to make these beans.

Baked beans are oh so popular here in Calgary around Stampede time. They are a delicious side to any BBQ fair and we love to serve them with our Beef on a Bun. We’ve made these beans for a camping potluck and in the slow cooker.

 

Camping Beans
Camping Beans

 

This recipe makes enough for a big potluck or crowd. You will want to cut the recipe in half for smaller groups.

 

Slow Cooker Carrot Bread

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It’s cookbook review day and I’m checking out 175 Essential Slow Cooker Classics by Judith Finlayson and her Slow Cooker Carrot Bread. The best smell ever is walking in the door to something cooking in your slow cooker or crockpot.

I’ve been using my slow cooker for over 20 years, and when one dies or burns out (because they all do eventually) it’s a mad dash to replace it with a new version. I’ve made a bread pudding in my slow cooker, but never bread, so when I saw how easy Judith made it sound, I couldn’t wait to try it out. Plus I had some summer garden carrots to use up. Missing pecans, I used toasted slivered almonds instead.

This book is a reissue with a new cover and all new trade paper binding. It’s one of several slow cooker cookbooks from Judith Finlayson, and this book includes 60 new recipes, plus many of her favourites from three of her previous slow cooker cookbooks with both vegetarian and vegan recipes. There are recipes for everyday to elegant entertaining, and so many to choose from including recipes such as Kids’ Favourite Fondue, Leek Risotto, Country Stew with Fennel, and Sumptuous Spinach and Artichoke Dip.

Judith offers up this advice to Maximize Slow Cooker Convenience:

  • Use Make ahead instructions to partially prepare a dish up to 2 days prior to cooking.
  • Do any additional chopping and slicing the night before you intend to cook to keep work to a minimum when it is less convenient.
  • Cook a recipe overnight and refrigerate until ready to serve.

With so many great recipes to try in this book, you could be busy all winter long. We are admittedly on our third recipe from the book with more to go.

175 Essential Slow Cooker Classics
175 Essential Slow Cooker Classics

 

Carrot Bread
Carrot Bread

 

Courtesy of 175 Essential Slow Cooker Classics by Judith Finlayson, 2015 © www.robertrose.ca Reprinted with publisher permission.

Asian Pulled Chicken

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Asian Puled Chicken
Asian Puled Chicken

Summer is coming, grilling has ramped up, camping is around the corner and I’m all about the grill this year. And pulled meat. With Canadian Beef prices here in Canada skyrocketing, there won’t be much beef in our house this year. It’s a sad state of affairs when you can actually buy lobster cheaper than Alberta beef. Here’s hoping things change and we get back to some better prices.

In light of watching our beef intake, we came up with this Asian Pulled Chicken recipe cooked in our slow cooker. I’ve played with these flavours many times before and decided with a broken stove I needed to get creative with dinners. So I pulled out the slow cooker, added all my favourite ingredients and success! Asian Pulled Chicken was born.

Since my chicken breasts were boneless it’s important to note they will cook quickly. I gave them 1.5 – 2 hours tops in the slow cooker before I pulled them out avoiding dry chicken. Wrapped them in foil and set them aside until ready. Boneless chicken breasts will take a little longer and hold the moisture. I pulled the chicken apart with my fingers and put the leftover liquid into a saucepan to reduce and intensify flavours.

I topped this chicken with some sliced green onions and served with buns. Feel free to add a slaw or dressed green salad as a topper.

 

Dulce de Leche Bread Pudding

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This Dulce de Leche Bread Pudding, made in the slow cooker, was part of The Great Cream Challenge 2014. In this challenge I went against two other food bloggers from across Canada, and their recipes. The one with the most votes won the challenge.

While I didn’t win the challenge, I am sure grateful for all the votes and support I received for this recipe. It was a fun challenge to compete in!

This recipe has an Eggnog Sauce that is more seasonal. You could do a vanilla sauce or spiced rum sauce if you want to make this dish any time Eggnog is not available. Or, as my mom used to do, you could make your own Eggnog! Before making this recipe test your casserole/baking dish to ensure it fits inside your slow cooker. I have an oval slow cooker so the baking dish I chose worked well.

My husband devoured this pudding and hopefully you will to. Here’s how we did it.

 

Slow Cooker Five Spice Chicken

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So many recipes, so little time. There are many ways to make chicken in a crockpot, the options are virtually endless. I want to get back to experimenting again with my crockpot now that Fall, and soon to be Winter, are upon us. Not to mention all the evening activities that have us rushing out the door and shoving a sammy down our throats, once work is done for the day. Slowcooker meals are perfect for busy nights. Hearty and healthy they can even become 2 meals in one. This dish is currently smelling up my house with flavours of comfort food, driving both me and the cats nutty. I can’t wait to dish this up this evening with a side of rice and a robust glass of wine.

I always brown my chicken before I put it into the slowcooker. I recommend you do the same. Browning imparts bits of goodness and flavour into the chicken that you won’t get if you just drop it raw into the crockpot dish.

If there are leftovers (and I say if because it’s so yummy you may have to fight for the last bits), remove the chicken meat from the bones and use the next day to make soup, quesadillas, chicken salad or a sandwich. This is your two meals (or more) in one.

My mom first introduced me to a bok choy salad in the 90’s. I loved it back in my single Vancouver days and so this became a one dish meal for me on many occasions. Happy to share the wealth, I also introduced it to my husband. As it turns out, he loves it as much as I do…in fact scrapping for the last bowl full of this salad when it comes to the table, is common.

I keep the salad for this meal simple. Bok Choy, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. The flavours combine so nicely with the chicken, broth and rice. It’s definitely a keeper. Slice or rip up some crusty bread to dip in the broth. And you to will be hooked.

 

Slow Cooker Beef & Barley Stew

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One thing we love to do as a family is fondue. Husband used to fondue as a kid, I was introduced to fondue in the 90’s, and currently own at least 4 or 5 fondue pots. A fondue variety is so much fun, especially when it includes broth, cheese and chocolate all in one night. When we beef broth fondue we add flavour enhancers like ginger and garlic to the broth plus we’ve usually marinated the beef and add those marinating juices as well. As the broth cooks down it intensifies the flavour.

Beef Stew is a comfort food we can’t get enough of. If you do not have leftover fondue broth, beef broth is just as delicious, and you can easily toss some additional garlic, and ginger into the pot as it cooks away.

 

Slow Cooker Beef Chili

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I make a couple different versions of chili. When I was single my favourites were Veggie Chili, and a Four Bean Chili. Enter the meat eater I married, and this is now one of our family favourites since it is slow cooked all day in the crockpot allowing the flavours to marry creating the most delicious tasting beef chili. We also make a mean chicken chili.

In this recipe I only add 2 tbsp of chili powder..any more makes it quite spicy, and I want the kids to eat it! Hubs likes to add more chili powder to his bowl after the fact to give it more heat. While I don’t quite understand this method since the spice would be a little raw for my liking, I don’t question bizarre behavior ha ha!

There are many ways we like to enjoy eating our chili keeping it fun for the kids: in a bread bowl, on nachos with melted cheese, in scoops (taco chips), chili dogs, chili on mac & cheese, chili on a pizza (yes it’s good), chili fries, like a sloppy joe on a bun, with corn muffins or better yet Chili Cheese Corn Muffins, in lasagna, and even on perogies. Don’t be afraid to experiment since a little chili goes a long way!

 

Beef Carbonnade, Crockpot

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Spring has definitely sprung and today would have been a great night to BBQ. However I had some stew meat to use up so I decided to pull out the good old reliable slow cooker perhaps one last time until the Fall and make a nice hearty beer infused Beef Carbonnade, Crockpot.  It’s a Belgian dish and I choose this time to use a dark beer or more specifically Rickards Dark (an English style porter) because I had it on hand.

I initially found the flavour quite strong so I added in some beef broth to help mellow it a bit.  And take the edge off it did….however the flavour of the dark ale was still present (and yummy by all accounts).  We served it with a cheesy mashed potato.

Slow Cooker Chicken with Dumplings

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When you need some comfort food, or having a busy evening planned and need a quick meal, you don’t like to cook, or want a special meal for the family, this Slow Cooker Chicken with Dumplings is it. You will be amazed how easy it is to pull together this meal. The dumplings go in and cook for the last 30 minutes.

When you are ready to eat, bring entire slowcooker to the table and serve. Rice, mashed potatoes, even egg noodles pair nicely with this comfort dish.

 

Slow Cooker Beef Minestrone Soup

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Delicious beef soup on a cold, fall/winter day comes in the form of our Beef Minestrone Soup in the Crockpot.  Many variations of Minestrone soup are available, this is one version we enjoy.  We prefer to cook our pasta and add it separately since when  it sits in the soup over night (leftovers) it tends to soak up all the soup broth.

In the photo I did not have cabbage for this some so I shredded extra zucchini and added in some chopped carrots & celery.  Really anything goes.

Our preferred noodles for this soup are Ditali noodles but you could use macaroni or any smaller type noodle.

Cabbage Rolls, Crockpot

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This Cabbage Rolls, Crockpot recipe stems from my ethnic background/heritage (a blend of Ukrainian, German and Romanian). There are a few recipes my mom really excelled at when I was a wee thing and they included anything surrounding our heritage (Holubtsi-cabbage rolls), Borscht, Sauerkraut-fermenting somewhere in the house and Pierogi’s). There were all kinds of German baking and pastries that came our way regularly as well.

Some of these recipes continue to be favourites. Cabbage rolls are one of them. Simple to prepare and delicious to eat it’s comfort food when it’s a good childhood food memory. Even easier is when they are done in your crockpot. My mother would make them with tomato juice and bake them in an oven. I prefer tomato sauce and allowing them to simmer all day in my slow cooker.

The seasonings are fairly simple.  So if you’ve never rolled a cabbage roll before – give it a try….you will find it easier than you think.

Cheesy Hamburger Casserole

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Crockpot or Slowcooker?  I can not decide which word to use in this Cheesy Hamburger Casserole recipe. Crockpot is the trade name and slow cooker is another way of saying crockpot?

Slow Cooker recipes are all the rage again. Everywhere you look there are slow cooker recipes showing up left, right and centre. Even Rachael Ray, a confessed non crockpot fan has been presenting crockpot recipes on her show the past 2 years (perhaps ratings were low?).

In August 2011 many people became aware of the Crockin Girls, (formally Crockpot Girls) a couple of Southern ladies who decided to team up, create a page on Facebook and share some of their crockpot recipes. What they didn’t plan on was getting over 1 million followers in a matter of weeks! Who knew there was such a void for crockpot recipes.

As for me – I am happy to see the explosion of slow cooker recipes since I’ve been using mine since the late 80s and love the variety of recipes to try, not to mention love having dinner ready at the end of a long day.

Here is one that 3/4 in our family enjoy. Think of this as a healthy (no additives) slow cooker hamburger helper. You can use any ground meat you want…I’ve tried both ground beef and chicken….it tastes equally delicious. If you find the dish getting a little dry (because your slow cooker gets to hot like mine) pour a little beef broth in.

Beef Roast with Shiitake Mushroom Gravy

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I grew up eating roasts that had been over cooked and had absolutely no flavour. I remember covering it with HP Sauce and trying to choke it down since I was “forced” to eat it. Two things came from this; A) I am not a huge Roast Beef fan, and B) I will never force my children to eat something they do not like.

I am however someone who loves to cook and is married to a Carnivore of English decent (think beef & potatoes). Plus I want my kids to grow up enjoying a wide range of foods. And so we/I cook Roasts several different ways (indirect grilling, rotisserie, slow cooker, dutch oven) and it always has to have a ton of flavour for me to eat it.

I came across this recipe awhile ago and have adapted it for our family making with vodka, red wine and more recently Cointreau. If you can not find shiitake mushrooms use white or cremini mushrooms, they work just as well and may be preferable for those not used to the texture of a shiitake mushroom.

Tip: You can make this recipe and/or any crockpot recipe the night before. Assemble all your ingredients in the stoneware the evening before and place covered stoneware in fridge. The next morning pull it out, plop it into it’s home, plug it in and get on with your day knowing supper will be ready when you get home. I did this a lot when I worked outside of the house and my first born was in a dayhome.

 

 

 

 

Chicken Cassoulet – Crockpot

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I haven’t experimented too much with cassoulet’s, but it’s good comfort Fall & Winter food and I’m all about getting more of that into us. A cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked casserole originating in the south of France, containing any kind of meat and layering it with beans.

This simplified version is made in the slowcooker and is delicious apres ski, fireside, after a building snowmen, snowshoeing, an afternoon skate or a walk in the crisp Fall leaves. This dish warms your soul.

Orange Barley Casserole, Crockpot

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I love my crockpot.  Nothing better then smelling the aroma of supper cooking on a cold day…or a day where there are evening activities and not much time to cook.  Hmmm come to think of it any day I smell supper simmering away is a good day!

This casserole is surprisingly delightful.  We love barley and this dish a perfect accompaniment to pork or ham….although husband indicated it would be great with ice cream!

As this is a kid friendly recipe consider getting the kids involved with helping…they can dice, slice and toss into the slow cooker!

Cumin Steak with Black Beans, Crockpot

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The nights seem crazy busy these days with two events/activities happening on some evenings. And these are the nights I need to have supper ready and on the table early.

I’ve made this dish quite a few times and I love the smokiness the cumin provides and hint of heat from the jalapeno peppers. Like any meat in the slowcooker, if you cook this too long it will lose it’s tenderness, so I’ve learned to keep it at 4-5 hours max. Also add your bacon at the end so it doesn’t get soft.

Serve it with mashed potatoes or buttered egg noodles and a variety of toppings. The toppings (listed in the recipe) pair so nicely with the flavours of the meat. My kids love it all except the beans lol.

Black Bean Soup with Bacon, Crockpot

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I’m all about my crockpot and really into soups these days (I try to do one a week). I guess I want our kids to be exposed to more than I was as a child (no offense campbell’s) and learn difference flavours and textures (even if they are fussy right now I’m not giving up).   That’s where our latest soup recipe Black Bean Soup with Bacon, Crockpot comes in.  I love having a big pot of soup for supper in the colder months and some yummy crusty bread/rolls to accompany it.

This month so far we’ve had success with our Pizza Soup, Hamburger Soup and a Minestrone Soup (with napa cabbage). It’s also nice the kids I look after are great eaters and so I can happily experiment more regardless of how our kids eat!

Slow Cooker Pork Ribs

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I try hard to get a new recipe posted every week, but all excuses aside, it’s been a busy summer! Cold weather started upon us the end of August and with it came the desire for warm, hearty dishes. This past week we’ve done two crockpot meals with more on the menu. On colder days comfort food is the food of choice in our house. This Slow Cooker Pork Ribs dish is a fall off the bone, melt in your mouth, kind of comfort food that hugs you.

Try this recipe and you will discover a new way to love ribs, even in the middle of a cold winter! Happy to report my little Aiden loved these ribs and as such they are a keeper.

 

Mulled Cider, Crockpot

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As the weather gets colder it’s time to make those warm & yummy drinks that keep you all toasty inside like this Mulled Cider, Crockpot.  It reminds me of skiing or skating on a cold winters day!

Every Fall/Winter I try to make this when company comes over. The aroma of the cider simmering away fills the house and makes it smell lovely all day long.  Another reason I love my crockpot(s)!  Add some spiced Rum and you have an Adult only beverage.

Slow Cooker Stuffing

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This is a recipe we tried and loved so we took it with us to Manitoba one year when we spent Christmas with my husbands family. Our first born was still in my tummy so this recipe has some longevity to it. We explained how delicious it was to my brother in law and since he was making the turkey that year, he decided he would do his stuffing the same way. Only somehow too much salt fell into the slow cooker and so we had a salt enhanced Slow Cooker Stuffing that year.

You can make this vegetarian by removing the sausage, butter, and using vegetarian stock. Making the stuffing in your slow cooker saves room on in your oven and gets the job done for you.

Important to note this dish feeds an army so we tend to half the recipe.

 

Meatballs

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This recipe comes from an old family friend of my moms and makes many, many meatballs. You can cut the recipe in half if you prefer but these meatballs are so delicious and freeze so well, you’ll be surprised how quickly you go through them.

We buy the warehouse pack size of ground beef when it comes on sale and use it to make the meatballs adjusting ingredients appropriately to the amount of beef used. These meatballs can be used in a variety of dishes. Find one that you like and supper is done in no time.

Makes four dozen golf ball sized meat balls. More if you make them smaller.

 

Here are just a couple ideas we use for Meatballs:

Spaghetti & Meatballs.
Buy a bottle of your favourite sweet & sour sauce (or teriyaki), cut up a pepper, open a can of pineapple tidbits, throw all of it plus your meatballs into a crockpot for 4 hours and supper is ready.
Jelly Balls from the Best of Bridge (you can google this recipe), it has chili sauce & grape jelly – is quick, easy and so tasty.
Meatball Sub!
Cook up some pasta, warm up some pasta sauce…mix together with some meatballs…throw it into a casserole dish…top with all kinds of gooey cheese and bake for approx. 30 minutes (350F) for a delish baked meatballs and pasta.

Slow Cooker Hamburger Soup

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Here’s another delicious soup for a cold day. Slow Cooker Hamburger Soup has been done many times before so this is a slight variation of an original recipe using onion soup mix. Cooked in the Slow Cooker it makes for a lovely smelling meal to come home to.

We enjoy this soup and admittedly have it a couple of times a month during the colder Fall and Winter months. Top it with a good helping of freshly grated  Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano (a more salty cheese) & some crouton crumbles.