Cincinnati Chili

Cincinnati Chili, submitted by Megcheer
2.5 lbs. ground beef or turkey, browned
29 oz. can tomato sauce
4 cups water
5 bay leaves
1.5 Tablespoons vinegar
1 heaping teaspoon garlic powder
1 heaping teaspoon salt
1 heaping teaspoon allspice
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
4 Tablespoons chili powder
1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Add all ingredients to browned meat and simmer 3-4 hours. Serve to taste: over vermicelli spaghetti, with kidney beans (recommended: 2 cans), with chopped onion (recommended: 1 onion), topped with cheddar cheese or oyster crackers.

Cuban Ropa Vieja

Cuban Ropa Vieja from Gracie2762

1 tbsp. Vegetable Oil
2 pounds Beef Flank Steak
1 Cup Beef Broth
1 8 oz. can Tomato Sauce
1 small Onion, sliced
1 Green Pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
1 6 oz. can Tomato Paste
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
1 tsp. Chopped Fresh Cilantro
1 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 tbsp. White Vinegar

Directions:

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the flank steak on each side, about 4 minutes per side.

2. Transfer beef to a slow cooker. Pour in the beef broth and tomato sauce, then add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato paste, cumin, cilantro, olive oil and vinegar. Stir until well blended. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for up to 10 hours.

The meat will shred itself in the crock pot and then you can serve with rice or tortillas. I like to serve it with fried plantains (peel and slice plantains lengthwise and saute in a pan with vegetable oil until golden brown).

Crockpot Chicken ‘n’ Dumplings

Crockpot Chicken ‘n’ Dumplings from FIA

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts, thawed (frozen will work, but you may need to compensate for the additional liquid in the final dish)
3 cups mixed frozen vegetables of you choice – I prefer corn and green beans
2 jars Heinz turkey or chicken gravy
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can Grands Original Biscuits
Seasonings

Directions:
Place chicken breasts in the bottom of the crockpot. Pour one jar of gravy and the can of soup over top, mixing to combine and flipping chicken to coat in the mixture. Season to taste (I used salt, pepper, Tastefully Simple’s Garlic Garlic seasoning and thyme). Add frozen veggies and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred cooked chicken, add second jar of gravy and stir.

Pop biscuit can and cut biscuits into 6 pieces per biscuit. Toss into crockpot and stir gently to coat dough in gravy mixture. Turn heat up to medium and cook an additional 60-90 minutes until biscuits are done.

We served this over homemade mashed potatoes, but it would be just as tasty on its own.

Note: Be careful with the amount of salt you add to the dish. Pre-made gravies and soups often have a great deal of salt in them (look for low sodium alternatives). Use less while cooking and add more when eating if necessary to avoid over-salting.

Hot Crab Dip

Hot Crab Dip from Lenebene
Makes 5 cups

1/2 cup skim milk
1/3 cup salsa
3 pkgs. (8 oz. each) light cream cheese, cubed
2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) crabmeat
I also used an additional 8oz but it was very crabby, you can get away with just 16oz.
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chilies
Several shakes of Old Bay

Combine milk and salsa. Transfer to a slowcooker/crockpot coated with nonstick cooking spray. Stir in cream cheese, crab, onions and chilies. Cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 hrs., stirring every 30 min.

Per (1/4 cup) serving: 80 cal, 385mg sod, 23mg chol, 5g carb, 7g prot, 3g fat Points: 2

Chili with Pumpkin

Submitted by LOJ

Delicious and nice and hearty! I found this on Things That Make You Go mmmm and definitely agree, you really can’t taste the pumpkin. I rarely use ground turkey since I like the flavor of beef, but with all of the seasonings, I can’t even tell it’s turkey and not beef. I followed the recipe to a tee and will do the same when I make it next year. Picky food guy Joe refused to try it, but I really think he’d like it. Maybe next year. I froze half of the batch, and based on the fact that it’s chili, I think it’ll taste just as yummy when I defrost it.

Turkey Pumpkin Chili
from Cara’s Carvings, serves 4-6

1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 medium sized bell peppers, diced (I used 1 red and 1 green)
1 lb ground turkey
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp Mexican oregano (I used regular oregano)
1 small can diced green chili peppers
15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
14 oz can diced tomatoes
15 oz can pumpkin puree, or 2 cups homemade

DIRECTIONS:

1. Spray a large pot with nonstick cooking spray and place over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes, until just softened. Add the garlic and bell peppers, and cook about 5 minutes more until tender. Add the ground turkey and cook until browned, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Season with salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, and oregano.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes to blend flavors.

Or, just brown the turkey with the seasonings and combine with remaining ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve with your favorite chili toppings.

Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes From Lauranne
Source: Allrecipes
Ingredients

* 5 pounds red potatoes, cut into chunks
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic, or to taste
* 3 cubes chicken bouillon
* 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1/2 cup butter
* salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, cook the potatoes, garlic, and bouillon until potatoes are tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving water. In a bowl, mash potatoes with sour cream and cream cheese, adding reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.

2. Transfer the potato mixture to a slow cooker, cover, and cook on Low for 2 to 3 hours. Just before serving, stir in butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.

*I usually don’t put in the stick of butter, and they taste just fine.

Santa Fe Soup

Santa Fe Soup from Snowhte21

Source: Adapted from the Fix it and Forget it recipe book

1 pound Velveeta Cheese cubed
1 pound browned and drained ground turkey
1 can (15 1/4 oz. size) undrained corn
1 can (15 oz. size) kidney beans, undrained
1 can (4 1/2 ounce size) diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 can (14 1/2 ounce size) stewed tomatoes
2 tablespoons dry Taco seasoning

Combine all ingredients in the Crockpot. Cook for 3 hours on high. Serve with sour cream and tortilla chips (we broke the chips into pieces and mixed them in). So easy to make and SO good and is more like a chili than a soup.

Vegetable Soup

Vegetable Soup

AKBrideinMD

(I have no idea where I got this recipe, I think from a co-worker, but it’s good!)

3 cups V-8 juice

1 6-oz can tomato paste

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 cup frozen chopped onions, thawed and drained

1 16-0z. pckg. frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained

1 140-oz can nonfat vegetable broth

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. Splenda or sugar

Spray inside of slow cooker with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and mix well. Cover and cook on low heat for 6 hours or high heat for 3 hours.

Shredded Pork BBQ

Shredded Pork BBQ from FIA
Adapted from Source: AllRecipes.com

Ingredients
3-4 pounds pork shoulder
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup ketchup
1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce (recommended: Sweet Baby Ray’s)
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Directions
1. Cut boneless pork shoulder crosswise into 1/4 inch slices. Partially freezing it will make slicing easier.
2. In the slow cooker, combine all of the ingredients except the pork, stirring to combine.
3. Add the pork and turn around/stir to coat the meat with the sauce.
4. Cook on Low for 8-9 hours, skim off fat, and then allow to cook another 30-60 minutes with the lid off if you feel like the sauce is too watery. Add more BBQ sauce to taste if you’d like.

Note: This makes a nice shredded BBQ with a thin sauce – not a thick, gloppy one. That’s what I prefer, so I loved it!

German Sour Beef and Dumplings

German Sour Beef and Dumplings from JennigoesUSA

Ingredients:
– white vinegar
– water
– small onion
– beef roast
– 5-6 juniper berries
– 5-6 bay leaves
– pepper, salt
– about 3 packs of brown gravy mix (have extra on hand just in case)
– One pack of of potatoe dumplings (prepare those according to package directions)

Preparation:
Season the beef with salt and pepper and put it into a large plastic container with lid. Add diced onions and fill the container with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water, just enough so the meat is covered in fluid. Throw in the juniper berries and bay leaves. Seal the container and let it sit in the fridge for about 3 days.

Fast Forward to Cooking Time:
– Sear the meat in a hot pan until the outside is nicely browned. Don’t get rid of the vinegar mix yet!

Set the meat into your crockpot. You now want to add enough fluid to make sauce with it. I use half of the vinegar mix and then the rest just water so it doesn’t get too sour.

Cook on High for 4 hours (I don’t use the low setting because I want the meat tender, but don’t want it to fall apart) Of course you could cook it on the stovetop like any other roast as well, but the crockpot gives amazing results.

After 4 hours carefully lift the meat out of the pot and stir in brown gravy mix (amount of packages depends on the amount of fluid you have, play it by ear). Set the meat back in while you cook the dumplings (and whatever veggie you may want to serve. Green beans are often served with this). Slice the meat, serve with gravy (you may or may not need to run the sauce through a strainer) and dumplings. Enjoy!!