One Week of All Crock Pot Dinner Challenge!

I am armed with a large crock-pot, a small crock-pot, a meal plan, a grocery list, and a stash of crock-pot liners! I’m ready to go!

Seven Meals. Day of the week to be decided as I go. Chicken recipe every OTHER day. I am a shame-filled user of the cheap, chipper, chicken. Actualy, I am NOT a fan of cheap chicken, but we splurge on the all natural pasture-raised stuff we can get from my parents for beef, pork (mostly), and yep we even eat some venison too! The chicken I WANT to buy is just too darn expensive still…one day. One day.

Meal#1- Slow Cooker Rotissorie-Style whole Chicken, Slow-cooker Maple-dijon glazed brussel sprouts, homemade rice-a-roni

Recipes: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/05/rotisserie-chicken/, http://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/2012/02/slow-cooker-maple-dijon-glazed-brussels.html & http://stolenmomentscooking.com/homemade-chicken-rice-a-roni/

Meal#2 5-Minute Prep Slow-Cooker Asian Chicken (garnished with chopped cilantro and green onions, lo mein noodles), tossed with cooked noodles, garden salad pre-meal

Recipe: http://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/2012/03/5-minute-prep-slow-cooker-asian-chicken.html

Meal#3 Slow-Cooker Beef Gyros, pitas/fajita-style flour tortillas, cucumber salad

Recipe: http://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/2011/05/slow-cooker-beef-gyros-by-aimee.html

Meal#4 Slow-Cooker Chicken Pot Pie over Homemade Biscuits

Recipe: here is the best recipe I could find for what I am making, but I am making a from-scratch version that I don’t have a link to. Obviously, this will be healthier if you make your own biscuits and your own gravy.  http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/slow-cooker-biscuit-chicken-pot-pie-cooking-for-two/0d82daae-d135-4cf6-b290-d6ad10a84758/?WT.dcsvid#

Meal#5 Slow-Cooker Italian Tortellini Soup, bread/rolls

Recipes: I am going to make the italian sausage from scratch using ground pork http://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/2011/11/slow-cooker-italian-tortellini-soup.html

Meal#6 Slow-Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches, Cole Slaw, Baked beans

Recipes: Nothing Fancy Just slow cooking 5-6 frozen (BBQ-style seasoned) chicken thighs over 2-3 large onions (sliced) for 4-6 hours. Pulling it with forks then tossing it back in the slow cooker with our favorite BBQ sauce for about 30-minutes. Served on a roll topped with homemade cole-slaw (also nothing fancy…a bag of slaw mix, mayo to taste and generaous but modest black pepper) Baked Beans from a can heated in the microwave!

Meal# 7 Slow Cooker Savory Pot Roast w/ bread/rolls (one could NOT do a week of crock-pot meals without this classic! It just wouldn’t be right.

Recipe:http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/savory-pot-roast/1a01535d-e046-439c-ba12-f32f1f75d49a

I will (hopefully) post my reviews on these recipes since I have never actually USED any of them before. I would LOVE to hear what you think of them if you try any or all of them! Which you should…my grocery list for dinners looks SO inexpensive this week!

YAYA!!!

Peace, and good homemade SLOW COOKED meals to your home,

Leah

 

Meal Review Edit#1 9/4/12

I decided to kick off the Crock-Pot Challenge with the Classic Savory Pot Roast meal!

I have to say, I am VERY pleased with how simple yet special this new recipe was/is. Nothing “dumpy into the crock-pot” about it, yet it literally took me 10 minutes or less to pull together. LOTS of leftovers for Hubby’s lunches too! The meat was DELICIOUS (however the recipe does not call for it, but before searing the church roast, I sprinkled generous amounts of salt, pepper, season salt and garlic powder on all sides. I see no need to worry about the broth or veggies getting too salty or overseasoned), the potatoes and carrots cooked well, but needed a little help in the seasoning department after they were on our plates. The horseradish gave the whole thing a neat non-spicy flavor! A few cups of broth in the crock so I am thinking of freezing it for a quick lunch soup, or some gravy later. Don’t waste a single drop of the goodness! Lots of leftovers form last week we need to use up so they don’t go to waste, so we are actually going to skip one of the meals today and bump the challenge a day longer!

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