Crock Pot Parmesan Pork Roast

No picture yet, Boo!

Ingredients:

4-pound boneless pork roast
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup honey
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 whole garlic clove, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Cut pork roast in half.  Put on the bottom of a crock pot.  In a bowl, combine the Parmesan cheese, honey, soy sauce, basil, garlic, olive oil and salt.  Pour over the pork.  Cover and cook on low for about 5-6 hours. 

You want to be careful not to overcook this one from all the comments I read.  This is not an all-day crock pot recipe.  I actually premade the sauce mixture (minus the Parmesan cheese) before I left for work and then Andy put the whole thing together during his lunch.  By 6:00 it was perfect. 

The meat does not stay in tact to "slice" it.  It almost ends up like a pulled-pork.  We served it overtop couscous and my mom had leftovers overtop noodles and then rice.  The juices soak into the starch and YUM.  Add a green veggie and the meal is complete.

Notes on the ingredients (the variations I made):

Thanks to It's a Keeper for this recipe that my BFF added to Pinterest.  You can find the original recipe here:

http://www.everydaytastes.com/2011/05/31/slow-cooker-parmesan-pork-roast/

A couple of things to note. Many people use a plain (not flavored) pork tenderloin for this recipe. I chose to use an actual pork loin roast because it looked better at the store that day. When I purchased it, it was held together with strings in a netting formation. I removed all of that and after cutting it in half, the pork fell into 4 main pieces. The original recipe calls for 2 Tbsp of basil which I cut back to one. It also called for 2 Tbsp of minced garlic and I used a fresh whole clove instead. The original recipe also calls for cornstarch to make a gravy, but I found the juices were just fine without it.

Crock Pot Shredded BBQ Chicken

2 Chicken Breasts
1 Bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Spray crock pot with oil to prevent sticking. Put enough BBQ sauce in to cover the bottom. Place 2 (mostly thawed, if frozen) chicken breasts on the sauce. Cover chicken with the rest of the sauce. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. About 4-5 hours in, remove the chicken breasts and shred with a fork and then return to the crock pot.

Serve with green beans, mashed potatoes and rolls or on a bun with some chips!

I'm not sure I'd leave this one on all day while I was at work. It was starting to get a bit crispy on the edges and I think 10-12 hours would be too long for it to cook. Plus you want it to cook 2-3 hours once shredded to really get it juicy and flavorful. So unless you could find a way to start it on your lunch hour, I'd stick with preparing this one when you are home.

Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff

6 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 can 98% fat free Cream of Mushroom or Chicken soup
16 ounces fat-free sour cream
1 envelope onion soup mix, Lipton - dry

Put frozen chicken breasts in the bottom of the crock pot. Combine soup, sour cream and onion soup mix in a bowl. Pour over the chicken. Cook on low all day (at least 7 hours).

Makes 6 servings at 4 WW points each.

I only used 2 chicken breasts and chose the Cream of Mushroom soup. I also served mine over whole wheat egg noodles and added peas to the side (I actually mixed them in on the plate for the kids so that the peas were not separate). You will need to calculate the extra points for the noodles and peas.

From http://www.dwlz.com/

Easy Potato Soup

Rinse 4 cans of diced potatoes and put on the stove in a pot. Cover with 1 1/2 cans of chicken broth and boil for at least 10 minutes.


Meanwhile, in a crock pot, heat the following ingredients until blended together:
1 can cheddar soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup

Add potatoes and chicken broth mixture to the soup mixture in the crock pot. Add 1 pint of half and half and stir together. Keep on low heat. Stir occasionally so that the soup does not stick.

Serve with bacon bits and cheddar cheese.

Crock Pot Ham

No real recipe for this one. This is NOT the good southern way. This is quick and easy. Cut up potatoes and put in bottom of crock pot. Place already cooked boneless ham on top. Pour 2 cans of green bean juice over top (save green beans until later). Heat until potatoes are soft and ham is hot. Time will vary depending on size of ham. If ham is pre-sliced, it will overcook and get crispy...beware!! Dump green beans from the can on top close to serving time (if you add them too early, they will turn to mush). Leave until warmed. YUMMY.

Crock Pot Chili

Andy's Recipe:

2 lbs. ground beef
2 16-oz cans chili beans – undrained
2 14.5-oz cans chili style diced tomatoes – undrained
2 jalapeno peppers
1 large white onion - diced
2 cloves of garlic (or more/less to taste)
Cayenne pepper to taste
Chili powder to taste
½ cup water, for thinner chili
Carroll Shelby’s Chili Mix (in chili aisle in a brown box)
You may not need the mix if you have the following ingredients it contains:
· Packet masa flour (add only to thicken if necessary)
· Packet salt
· Packet cayenne pepper (Andy uses entire packet plus some more!)
· Packet of spices (ground chili peppers, masa flour, cumin, oregano, garlic, onion, paprika, and salt)


Brown the ground beef with the diced onion, garlic, chili powder, and one diced jalapeno pepper. Put ½ beef mixture in the crock-pot. Pour in one can of the chili beans and one can of tomatoes on top of mixture in crock-pot. Stir. Add the packet of spices from the Chili Mix and stir. Add rest of the beef mixture and cans of beans and tomatoes. Add salt, other jalapeno (sliced), and cayenne pepper to taste and stir. Cook all day on low. Add masa flour at end of day to thicken the chili if necessary, or add water for thinner chili. Serve with crackers, cheese, and sour cream.


Optional - Add macaroni for last hour. For hotter chili, use habanero peppers or more cayenne.

Crock Pot Roast

1 fairly lean pot roast (I go to Kroger and buy whatever meat has the Crock-pot/Pot Roast sticker on it!)
1 pack Lipton’s onion soup mix (these come in a box near the canned soup)
1 onion, thinly sliced (Or I use 1/3 - 1/2 bag frozen pearl onions - yummy)
Carrots (I just buy a 1 lb. bag of the mini carrots at Kroger)
Potatoes (either 2-3 Idaho cut into 4 pieces or a bunch of red whole)

Place the carrots and potatoes and pearl onions in the bottom, so they will absorb the juices. If using a whole onion, place half the onion in the bottom of the crock pot. Rub the (raw) roast with the soup mix (I don't brown it on the stove). Place roast in crock pot, and top with remaining onion. Cover and cook on low heat for at least 8-10 hours. If it's going to cook for 10-12 hours...add a bit of water in the morning - 1/2 cup or so. Otherwise, it will make enough of its own juices.

Then I just follow the directions on the side of the Bisquick box (I buy the Heart Smart version) for the dumplings. They are not your typical "wet" dumplings...but I still love them.