Italian Pot Roast

A lot of people think a slow cooker is only good for an easy last minute meal you throw in the pot before you go to work. Sometimes that can be true. There are many crock pot meals that are just that. Cut things up and throw them in and they are tasty. But your slow cooker can also work its magic on meals that take a bit more work. In fact, it's those meals that make my slower cooker one of my favorite appliances and one I just couldn't do without.

When I am in a "fancy" slow cooker mood I always turn to The Gourmet Slow Cooker by Lynn Alley. Every recipe I have made from this book is mouth-watering delicious. They also take a lot of work. Really a lot, but worth every minute of it.

This Italian Pot Roast is one of those recipes. I will say that the prep time was probably about 45 minutes to an hour. It was worth it. This is one of the most delicious meals I have made in my slow cooker. If you have time and want to make something really special, I totally recommend this. Since it was so time intensive I actually got it going the night before, cooked it overnight then turned it back on about two hours before dinner. With this dish, the longer it cooks the better it tastes.

Ingredients

• 1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
• 4 whole cloves
• 3 allspice berries
• 6 black peppercorns
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 1/2 pounds beef pot roast, trimmed of excess fat
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 celery stalks, slicked
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup hearty dry red wine
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• Salt
• Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Instructions

1. Combine the cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and peppercorns in a mortar or coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder.
2. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the meat and cook, turning, for 10 to 15 minutes, until browned on all sides. Using tongs, transfer to the slow cooker.
3. Add the onion to the saute pan and saute, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
   
4. Add the garlic, celery, and carrots and saute for 3 - 4 minutes, until lightly browned.
5. Add the spice mixture and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Add the red wine and cook for about 10 minutes, until reduced by about one-third.
7. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and salt to taste.
8. Pour sauce over the meat in the slow cooker.
9. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours, until the meat falls away from the bone.
10. Garnish with parsley.
    
11. Serve over polenta, potatoes or rice.

Notes

As I mentioned above I cooked this for 10 hours overnight, then two more hours before dinner to heat it up and thicken. It really did need thickening. I asked friends online how to thicken this and got different responses. My main question was whether to use corn starch or flour. Apparently, corn starch will thin out when reheating so I created a slurry with flour to thicken the pot roast. One thing you never do is just throw flour into the dish. You will get icky lumps. I took out some of the sauce (and fat) from the pot roast and heated it up in my saute pan. I then gradually whisked in about 2 tablespoons of flour. I let that heat up and added about another cup or two of the sauce from the pot roast and let that simmer and thicken. I then added it back to the pot roast and let it cook for about 30 minutes. It turned out perfectly.


P.S. On this post, special thanks to my good friend Brenda that caught all my silly mistakes!!!

Lentil-Veggie Soup

From Slow Cooker Favorites Made Healthy (Better Homes & Gardens Cooking).

This was a surprisingly delicious soup. It was actually much thinker that a soup, but thinner that a stew. As Rachel Ray would say, a "stoup." This soup has 0 grams of fat and 12 grams of fiber, so it's very healthy! It takes a long time to cook so you have to kind of plan when you are going to make it. I made it around 8 pm the previous night and we had it for lunch the next day. It reheats wonderfully.

I have a huge slow cooker, so I doubled the recipe. I makes A LOT so be prepared! Also, while it doesn't call for it, I added salt and pepper. It was just to bland without it.

Note: I planned on this being my first soup after my master cleanse. It may be a bit to hearty for most, but we had it with no troubles.

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown lentils, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup chopped carrots (2 medium)
• 1 cup celery (2 stalks)
• 1 cup chopped onion (1 large)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans vegetable broth or chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 (14 1/2 oz) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained
• 1/4 cup snipped fresh parsley

Instructions

1. In a 3 1/2 to 4-quart slow cooker place lentils, carrots, celery, onion, and bay leaf. Sprinkle with basil, oregano, thyme and garlic. Combine broth, water and undreained tomatoes. Pour over all.
2. Cover and cook on low-hear for 12 hours or on high-heat for 5 to 6 hours. Remove and discard bay leaf. Stir in parsley.

Crock Pot Chicken, Gravy and Stuffing

Oh, comfort food. You've gotta love it! There are just times you want to put something yummy and familiar in your mouth. Yes, that sounds all sorts of naughty, but when you eat comfort food, don't you kind of feel that way? Naughty! You know this isn't the healthiest thing to do, but when you want it you want it.

I was looking for an easy crockpot recipe for Sunday. We are having brunch and I knew I wouldn't want to cook later in the day. I knew a crockpot meal was the key to us having dinner that night and having lunches for the week. Since we are going back on Weight Watchers I thought we could just splurge and have this meal one last time.

This is a super easy recipe. Honestly, just mix up the soups and the milk and throw it over the chicken and cheese. On top for that throw in the stuffin mix and chicken broth. Now, I pretended to make this more figure friendly by using low-fat soups and low-fat cheese. In my mind that worked and it tasted great, but it was kind of like ordering a burrito supreme with extra cheese and a diet coke.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• salt
• pepper
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 4-6 slices swiss cheese
• 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 cups Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing
• 1/2 cup butter, Melted

Instructions

1. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and place chicken breasts in crock pot. Pour Chicken broth over breasts.
2. Put one slice of Swiss cheese on each breast. Combine both cans of soup and milk.
3. Cover chicken breasts with soup mixture. Sprinkle stuffing mix over all.
4. Drizzle melted butter on top.
5. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3.

Crock Pot Pumpkin Pie Pudding

One of my main tasks this week was to clean out my pantry. (It's really just my big cupboard, but pantry sounds fancier.) My goal is to clean this out and use some of those canned goods that are just taking up space. I had all the fixins to make several pumpkin pies, but was just not motivated to make pie. Not that it's hard, but it's just messy and takes time. While I was cruising Recipzaar I came across this recipe for Pumpkin Pie Pudding and thought I would give it a go. This was one easy recipe and it turned out super yummy! It really is just pumpkin pie without the crust, but a bit creamier. It was so easy I will definitely make it again. To make it a bit more figure friendly I used non-fat evaporated milk. A lot of members on Recipezaar also made it with Spenda, but that's going too far for me. I made a double batch and cooked it for seven hours. YUMMO!

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
• 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Bisquick
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine (melted)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• whipped topping (optional)

Instructions

• In a large bowl mix together the first eight ingredients.
• Transfer to crock pot coated with Pam.
• Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours.
• Serve in bowls with whip cream, if desired.

Three Bean and Pork Slow Cooker Chili

I got a new crockpot!!!! I love it! Karolyn got it for me for my birthday. I will write a review on it next week. This is my first meal using it.

This Weight Watchers recipe is quick, easy and simply delicious. When you need a no-fuss, throw-it-in-the-pot meal, this is the one to go to. It makes a ton, by the way, but freezes well.

I make this just as directed, except I really have to thicken it before I serve it. My thickening agent of choice is cornstarch. I actually had to use a lot last time. About 4 Tablespoons mixed with about 1/2 cup of cold water. When using corn starch makes sure to always mix it with cold water before you add it. Make sure the chili (or whatever you are adding the cornstarch to) is bubbling to activate the corn starch.

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion(s), chopped
• 2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
• 1 cup carrot(s), chopped
• 1 Tbsp chili powder, medium-hot
• 1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
• 1 medium jalapeno pepper(s), seeded, chopped or 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo, chopped (do not touch seeds with bare hands)
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
• 2 pound lean pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 15 oz canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 15 oz canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 15 oz canned pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup canned tomato puree
• 29 oz canned diced tomatoes, with green pepper, celery and onion, undrained
• 6 oz canned tomato paste

Instructions

Combine onion, garlic, carrots, chili powder, oregano, chilies, salt and pepper in a 5-quart (or larger) slow cooker. Stir. Add remaining ingredients. Stir again.

Cover and cook on HIGH setting for 6 to 8 hours. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

Note: Start the chili at a HIGH setting so the ingredients quickly reach a safe temperature. You can reduce the heat to LOW after 3 to 4 hours, if you prefer.

Serves 10

Points Value: 5