Crock Pot Mexican Quinoa

2016.

A new year.

So far this year, I have said goodbye to my husband yet again as he starts his last semester of Grad School in DC, broke another laptop, and am trying to get through a week without snacking on all the free unhealthy food at the office.

My “resolution” this year was to make more time to post. I miss my frequent ramblings and sharing my kitchen disasters/successes. I had it all planned when my laptop suddenly went kaput. It’s currently with Geek Squad. I look forward to the prognosis. Fingers crossed it’s a cheap fix.

So, what’s new with me? Hmm.

Well, my crock pot has become my best friend. I work in a very busy firm and now that B is away in school, coming home to cook after 7pm is as desirable as getting a root canal. I’m tired. I’m hungry and I just want dinner… or take out. My wallet doesn’t really approve on all the take out and the quality of food in my neighborhood has plummeted. The only good thing (and I say good very loosely) is sushi.

I have drawn much inspiration and saved a TON of money with the helpful listicles featured on BuzzFeed Food. On grocery days, I prepare several meals, place them in freezer bags with a note on whats inside and plop it in the crock pot when I’m ready to cook it.

Recently, I pulled a Mexican quinoa dish out of my stash. I was super skeptical but I didn’t really feel I had anything to lose.

It wasn’t the prettiest thing but it certainly was a nice change of pace from chilis and stews. The quinoa fluffed up so nicely. The spices gave it a nice kick. And all the beans, corn, and veg kept this dish satisfying!

I had leftovers for days!

And even better, got to heat them up in my brand new Lunch Crock. Probably the most overlooked item in the gadget aisle. This baby stays at work. I put my food in there in the morning and by lunch time my food is piping hot. There’s no wait for the microwave and the vessel locks in food smells until you open it! I feel like I’m winning all day! Great gift from Santa!

Slow Cooker Korean Beef Stew

Tags

beef, crock pot, kimchi, korean, slow cooker, spicy

My absolute weakness is korean food. Something about the sweet spicy combo, and red pepper paste, and kimchi that make my heart flutter. There is even a Korean take out place near my apartment that makes kalbi burritos that weaken me. I know the addiction is serious when i log on to seamless and even after 2 months of low carb eating, they still recommend my old favorite.

I came across this recipe while catching up on my blog reader. The day I saw it, i bookmarked it and then, because i couldnt contain the craving any longer, placed an order for that lovely spicy kalbi burrito.

LK, from Healthy-Delicious is not only a good friend of mine, but is a boss in the kitchen. From her unique creations and trusted palate to her knack for taking the most photogenic pics of her food, this lady knows food. So, when i saw her recipe for spicy korean tacos, i had to add the recipe to my rotation for that week. With some helpful tips from her I was able to recreate this dish at home, in the slow cooker. 

Her original recipe would not have made nearly enough sauce for a slow cooker dish so I quadrupled the sauce and had amazing results. Cuz LK is a boss!

Her original recipe can be found here.

The slow cooker method yielded amazing results. Using Chuck beef is not only affordable but probably the best bet as its high fat content makes the beef practically melt in your mouth after a long and slow cook. My only regret is not making more.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chili-garlic sauce

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 lb chuck steak, cut into cubes

Prepare the slow cooker by combine all the ingredients in the vessel and making sure to stir it so that everything is mixed together. Set the cooker on low for 8 hrs.

I was so looking forward to coming home to this dish. When i came home, the air was saturated with the inviting aroma of the spicy korean beef. I prepared some white rice in my rice cooker and waited 30 agonizing minutes before digging in. 

The sauce is KILLER. The perfect amount of spicy, sweet, and salty- and the beef was cooked to perfection. It literally melted in my mouth. For good measure, I served this alongside some store-bought kimchi. While the photo doesn’t depict the proper way to eat this, i prefer to mix everything up and eat it with lettuce cups. The only thing missing was the red pepper paste that I get by the bucket when I dine at Korean restaurants.

LK, this recipe is a real winner! I cannot wait to revisit, but with even more of that delicious sauce! And while this recipe fed BR and I with a little leftovers, there were not nearly enough leftovers to make substantial lunches… but there is always  next time!

Crock Pot Turkey Picadillo

Tags

crock pot, recipes, slow cooker, stew

I feel like the weather is making a permanent shift towards fall. With more and more “summer” days feeling like the beginning of fall, dusting off the crock pot felt like the thing to do. I cannot stress enough how much I love coming home to dinner that is already cooked.

I had bookmarked this spanish comfort dish a while ago and was craving something comforting. Gina’s crockpot picadillo fit the bill perfectly.

Gina’s recipe called for lean ground beef but I subbed it for turkey because its what I had on hand. For the full recipe, please see her recipe here.

But I made a few tweaks:

• 2 1/2 lbs 93% lean ground beef ground turkey
• 1 cup minced onion
• 1 cup diced red bell peppers
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup minced cilantro
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup alcaparrado (manzanilla olives, pimientos, capers) or green olives (and some of the olive brine)
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder (I increased it to 1 tsp)
• 2 bay leaves
• kosher salt and fresh pepper, to taste

Browning the meat on the stovetop and then adding all the ingredients to the slow cooker to simmer on low for 8 hours resulted in a unique stew.

My apartment was filled with the spicy turkey chili (of sorts) and just needed the addition of a little fluffy white rice. It so reminded me of a dish my mother used to make when I was little. I like this recipe because its easy to assemble and the slow cooker does all the work. This recipe also made plenty to share/freeze. My mom was extremely grateful for the easy dinner.

Hoping the summer comes back at least once before labor day! Mama needs a pool day!

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Tags

beef, crock pot, dinner, healthy, mushrooms, slow cooker

This one is a real winner. Its from cooking light. It’s a slow cooker recipe. And it screams comfort. Beef Stroganoff. Creamy mushroom sauce with beef over egg noodles. I mean, creamy anything is comfort but after being congested for days on end and worrying about your waste-line, cream is the last thing you want.

Cooking light does a great job creating a delightfully creamy recipe that is not chock full of cream. I made some last minute adjustments to this recipe based on what was available and it did not disappoint. Fair warning, I should have had leftovers of this dish but after two nights in a row of “meh” slow cooker recipes (not yet posted), we dove into this HARD. Only one of us got to take leftovers to work. (sad face).

Ingredients

1 (1-pound) top round steak (1 inch thick), trimmed
1 Medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (Or, 1 Tablespoon dried parsley)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (8-ounce) package sliced mushrooms (about 2 cups)(I doubled the amount of mushrooms)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/3 cup)
1 cup fat-free, lower-sodium beef broth
1 (8-ounce) container low-fat sour cream non fat, plain greek yogurt
2 cups hot cooked medium egg noodles (about 4 ounces uncooked) (we ate an entire package of egg noodles)

Method:

1. Cut steak diagonally across grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place steak and next 8 ingredients (though garlic) in a 3-quart electric slow cooker; stir well.
2. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a small bowl; gradually add broth, stirring with a whisk until blended. Add broth mixture to slow cooker; stir well. Cover with lid; cook on high-heat setting 1 hour. Reduce to low-heat setting, and cook 7 to 8 hours or until steak is tender. Turn slow cooker off; remove lid. Let stroganoff stand 10 minutes. Stir in sour cream. Serve stroganoff over noodles.

Creamy.

Hearty.

Delicious.

EASY!

HEALTHY!

We sat on the couch with bowls of this stuff and ate. Heads down. No talking. Just enchanted with how good this was. And we didn’t think twice before going back for seconds. We deserved it. We earned it.

This is definitely a winner and I would definitely make it again. I have already been asked to double this recipe to share with mom. Mom used to make beef stroganoff for me as a child, and not the healthy way.

Go make this. And wear stretchy pants!

Crock Pot Jambalaya

Tags

crock pot, dinner, healthy, jambalaya, sausage, slow cooker

Well, hello there.

We survived the Apocalypse! To be honest, I was everything I expected. But I was thoroughly entertained on Twitter and Facebook feeds.

With Christmas, literally, days away, I have had my hands full. Between buying last minute gifts (thought I was done!), putting together a Christmas dinner menu (Ham! We are doing HAM!), and getting sick (AGAIN) there has been much on my to do list that I just look at a say “NOT NOW!”.

My saving Grace was my slow cooker this week. I chose a few recipes to make that were slow cooker only. When I went grocery shopping, I bought everything I needed, came home and prepped for each recipe. Then I put everything for each recipe into a freezer bag, labeled it and froze it. When it was time to throw it in the slow cooker, everything was where it needed to be. I dumped the contents of the bag, set it to low, went to work and came home to dinner.

I wont lie, there were some serious hits and some very serious misses with this slow cooker experiment. While I love coming home to dinner being already made, there is something really comforting about dinner that was just cooked. And not to mention the disappointment that comes when you cook something all day and it tastes like shit.

This is not one of those shitty ones. In fact, this was quite good. I haven’t had Jambalaya in forever and looking at this package of andouille sausage was all I needed to make this happen.

The recipe needs some tweaking but not much. It was very easy to prepare and tasty.

Serves: 1 cup of jamabalaya per person (feeds 8)

1 medium onion, chopped
1 ribs celery, chopped
1/2  cup water
1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes
8 ounces cooked andouille sausage, sliced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained
1 Tablespoon Tomato paste
4 cups hot cooked rice
Chopped green onions (optional)

Directions:

Place onion, celery, water, cajun seasoning, thyme, sausage, chicken, tomatoes, and tomato paste in a 5qt slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high or 4-5 hours. (this recipe called for shrimp as well, but I didn’t have any on hand- feel free to add shrimp).

To serve, place 1 cup of jambalaya on top of 1/2 cup of fluffy white rice and garnish with sliced green onions.

I left out the tomato paste in this recipe an the sauce was very thin. The addition of tomato paste and less water (already decreased in the recipe) should yield a more substantial sauce.

This recipe was not very spicy. Even my mother, who does not like spicy foods, enjoyed this recipe. It was enough to feed mom, dad, BR, and I plus leftovers for lunch. This is a great recipe for snowy nights in and good sit-com reruns.

Ooooh. And a glass of wine.

And a snuggie.

and fuzzy slippers.

and boyfriends who do dishes.

Crock Pot Pernil

Tags

crock pot, pernil, recipes

Help! I am drowning in boxes!

Well, I am still packing and still burning through my supply of food. Dude, my freezer seems like its never ending despite all the food I have been cooking. Some of it has been really mundane. Chicken. Vegetables. Lean Cuisines (shhh. don’t tell anyone). And most recently, a Pernil!

That got me excited!

For me, there is no greater comfort than some home cooked spanish food. Especially when it is nearly effortless.

Traditionally, pernil is cooked low and slow in the oven. But ever since I read a blog post on slow cooking a pernil, I have never even attempted to cook it in the oven. At first, if you remember, I was like “Whoa! You can’t put a pernil in the slow cooker!!” but I assure you- you can. And now I will never cook it any other way.

The pernil I got was only 3 lbs which was perfect for me the boyf, plus leftovers for lunch.

Ingredients

1 pernil (3-4 lbs)

1 packet sazon con achiote

1 Tsp salt

Directions:

Trim the pernil of all visible fat (you can roast the skin as a treat for yourself  your dog). Season the pernil liberally with sazon and salt. Let sit overnight in the fridge.

Place the pernil in a 4 qt slow cooker the following day and cook on low for 8 hrs or on high for 4.

The result? Meat that fell off the bone! I placed a fork in it and  it literally fell apart.

Success.

The spices I used are more traditional, but some people get very serious about their seasoning. I am not trying to go grocery shopping so I used what I had. It came out very tasty. Also, if you really wanted to kick the flavor up a notch, stabbing the pernil and shoving raw garlic cloves into the stab wounds works well.

The best way to carve the pernil is to use two forks to shred the meat like pulled pork. Reserve some of the drippings to pour onto the meat for flavor and texture.

I served mine with a side of yellow rice.

Off to pack some more while Mickey takes a nap (lucky!).

Slow cooker black bean soup

Now that its officially Fall, I think the weather has made up its mind and brought the chill for good. Wish I would have gotten that memo when I decided to wear a dress today with sandals sans tights. Brr! Hopefully it will warm up a teensy bit by lunch time. But now that the weather is finally requiring those fashionable neck scarves and sexy blazers, I thought I would dust off the old crock pot for some good, hearty, and steaming hot soup. Without much time to shop, I pretty much just decided to clear out the pantry and make a soup of whatever I had on hand.

Those are my favorite!

I decided to make a black bean soup with rustic chunks of carrots and turkey bacon for some smoky flavors.

Ingredients:

1 lb turkey bacon (cut into bite size pieces)

1 medium red onion (chopped)

2 carrots (peeled and rough chopped)

1lb dry black beans (rinsed)

5 cups of water

1 T salt (more or less according to your preference)

I started by cooking up the turkey bacon to get it crisp. ( I would later learn this was a dumb move on my part. Next time I will be mincing the bacon and then cooking it before adding it to the soup, or just adding it after- but it adds such a delightful smokiness to the soup that I dont want to omit it.)

When it was browned and crisped to my liking, I added it to my 6 qt slow cooker- drippings and all. YUM! (you say FAT, i say FLAVOR)

To the crockpot, i added the carrots,

The very fragrant red onions,

the beans, and all the water. I covered it and let it cook on high for 4 hours (or on low for 8). I checked in on it every so often to make sure it was seasoned to my liking. Thats when i added the salt. Personally, i like salt so if you like a milder soup, you might not even need the salt at all!

My roommate and I could not wait to dig into this hearty and comforting soup! We noticed that the turkey bacon turned black cooking with the beans for so long- the flavor was great but black bacon is not that attractive. By itself, the soup is great but to really make it amazing add this garnish:

Garnish

1/2   small red onion (finely chopped)

1 bunch of fresh cilantro (cleaned and roughly chopped)

Non Fat Plain Greek Yogurt

We sprinkled the garnish liberally on the soup. The cold freshly chopped onions gave it a fresh burst of flavor and the addition of cilantro really tied this all together. Such an easy meal to put together on a lazy sunday!

Slow Cooker Chili

Holy Snow balls! have you looked outside east coast??? Kah-Raziness. Its Night time right now… and as the first few inches hit the ground, i can hear the scraping of the plow hitting the streets. Its too early to tell if whether or Not I am having a snow day… i know i complained last time…but I kinda hope and wish its an easy day. 🙂

Speaking of easy days, I decided to dust off the slow cooker that I swore i would never use again am loving again and make some chili. This is my first ever attempt at making slow cooker chili.

Isnt that crazy?

I make bread from scratch and adorn pearls on birthday cakes yet I have not done the simplest task of chili (which is easy peasy on the stove top) in a Slow Cooker! It totally helps that Fresh Direct had the goods on sale!

Slow Cooker Chili

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil

1 medium onion (chopped)

1 garlic clove (minced)

1 lb of lean ground beef

1 can of black beans (rinsed and drained)

1 (14 oz) can of diced fire roasted tomatoes

2 tbsp chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:

To Start, saute onion and garlic in 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat; until onions are transparent (about 6 minutes). Add ground beef and break up into crumbles as it cooks.

When ground beef is cooked, transfer ground beef to slow cooker and combine with canned tomatoes, beans, chili powder, salt and pepper.

Cover Slow Cooker and set on high for 4 hours or on Low for 8 hrs.

Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese.

The Chili was a little thicker than I would have liked so i tweaked it with a cup of water which made it much more enjoyable…

And I served it with some chipotle cornbread smothered with honey butter.

It was an awesome meal to kick start my menu planning. True Story.

Whats your favorite slow cooker recipe?

I’m Breaking Up with You…

…Crock Pot.
I’m sorry you got excited about that title and thought something else… but this is serious. I am breaking up with my Crock Pot.
I’m a busy lady.
I like to spend time in the kitchen but when I am really pressed for time, I like to call my Crock Pot, my live-in lover, My saviour, My knight in shining ceramic plates that cooks my dinner for me – to provide a no fuss dinner when i get home from a long day (of shopping).
And I have been really bad at replenishing my groceries (menu planning FAIL) i have made use of the things that are just sitting in my freezer and pantry.
Free Range Organic Chicken legs. On sale when i bought them… just cause they were on sale. I put them in the freezer to be forgotten. And when i dug them out of the freezer I thought slow cooking them in some bbq sauce would be tasty.
But then i was out of bbq sauce.
And thats when I recalled a recipe of yester year. Of my memories cooking for mom in her kitchen. When i lived with the parentals and ALWAYS came home to a cooked meal.
Diet Coke Chicken.
Are you gagging?
The last time i made this- i remembered it being good. Im not gonna say that its been about 7 years since i have made said chicken… im not gonna say it. So dont make me.
Once my chicken legs defrosted I lined up my live-in lover with some plastic (so i wont have to do dishes) and heavily sprinkled garlic salt onto the chicken… because i like my bbq sauce a little garlicky…

Then i added one cup of ketchup to the chicken. As this was happening, i had a feeling that this was going to fail as i have developed a serious issue with ketchup all together (ketchup is for fries and sometimes burgers… only- its my own issue and im acknowledging my crazy). then take one can of diet cola… i used coke zero, and pour it onto the chicken and ketchup. Its kind of done now, all it has to do now is cook.

I set the crock pot on low for 6 hrs (with my awesome timer) and went to work.

When i got home, my apartment smelled like bbq sauce… but also with that “only Monique can smell it” Crock Pot Smell.
What is the crock pot smell? I cant describe it. Its just weird. Its not natural…

I braved the crock pot smell and served myself with some salad… thank goodness for salad. The chicken was okay. There was definite crock pot smell and taste in addition to the bbq-y flavor.

I have attempted several times, several recipes in the crock pot but that certain smell and flavor exasperates me.

I will attempt no more. So Crock Pot, please consider this the end of our relationship…

My nose and palate are just sensitive i guess…

Cant win ’em all folks… can’t win ’em all.

In related news: who wants two barely used CrockPots? lol

Please dont forget to cast your votes for the next Food Blog Star! If you want me to make it to the next round, vote here!

You get 400 votes so if you want to spread the love, please vote for my friends too, to name a few:

My fellow diva Diva, Chez What?, Two Boos Who Eat, Joanne Eats Well with Others, One Healthy Apple, and more!

Clearly, God is trying to make me laugh

*ding- dong*
Who’s there?
Fed Ex.
MMM. Okay?
Sign here. Have a good day.
Dear Diva,
I know I have some explaining to do about creating such a stupid excuse for a man and putting him in your life, making you fall in love with him and then later having you realize he was a douche bag. Please accept this apology and gift and know there are plenty other fish in the sea. Good Luck!
Love Always,
The Big Man Upstairs.

In case you couldn’t tell…. this is a box of about 500 condoms. Apparently, someone thought I would make an excellent advocate for teens and young adults in preventing STDs and Pregnancy. Because I spend so much time watching Jersey Shore and am scared shitless of teenagers (somethings making them mean!) it makes me a great candidate to pass out condoms. nice. And then add insult to injury- i just dumped the dipshit. SMH. God really does have a sense of humor! I take it all in stride. I actually have lots of friends who will benefit from such loot! (psst, NY bloggers, If you arent embarrassed to meet me for some free rubbers, email me) And if any of you are stuck in this horrendous snow storm- you might need some love gloves to keep you warm… no?

Hope you are all well fed, warm, and cozy in this nasty weather!

On SuperBowl Sunday, my good friends opened up their home and ordered 100 wings. They asked me to join and I was more than happy to come. Not wanting to show up empty handed I asked them if i could bring anything. In a matter of minutes the requests for Mommy Crack were pouring in.

I made mommy crack a few times in the past and its easy and delicious. Just be warned- its not for the health conscious!

I was making a big batch for those hungry peeps. I started with two pounds of sausage. One spicy, one Sweet.

I removed the casings and diced them into itty bitty pieces and browned them. When they were cooked, I threw them into my 4 qt crock pot.

then two cans of spicy tomatoes or Rotel (can you beleive my supermarket didnt have ROTEL???) on top of the sausage crumbles.

Turn your crock pot on High.

Add two blocks of cream cheese. I used the low fat version… but i didnt tell the guests. I gave it a little stir and let it warm for 1 hr.

After one hour I set it on warm and let the party peeps dip and munch as they pleased. Its an easy crowd pleaser and its affordable! I got this recipe from a stay at home mom who upon tasting it the first time she made it dubbed this the MOMMMY CRACK. and it stuck!

We used the dip on chips, celery, shrimp, even wings!

And BOY where there lots and lots of wings!!! Honey Mustard (my fav), buffalo blue, Honey Terriyaki, and Garlic Parmesean. I will not lie. After the weekend i had i was looking for comfort and I found it in a plate of 6 wings, random handfuls of chips, spoonfuls of mommy crack….

And a big ass bottle of wine!

My beautiful Friend Arlenys, is modeling the damage made to the cheaply delicious JUG of Carlo Rossi Sangria that we polished off in about an hour.

When the Superbowl was over, I walked my tipsy ass home and had the nerve to want to eat some soft serve. And in light of a certain someone being a jackass I sought comfort in eating what I brought for him….

Yes, this feels right… but it should feel better than this.

There, thats better. Now i can enjoy his Soft Serve.

have a great snow day bunnies!!!!