Crock pot favorites

This post is for my friend Michelle. She said she was in need of some new ways to use her crock pot, so I decided I would help her out. I would love to know your favorite recipe.


Country Style Steak
This is our all time favorite crock pot recipe. There are 10 people in my family and EVERYONE likes this dish. Ten out of 10 positive votes is a rarity around here. My father-in-law also requests this recipe every time he comes to visit.

4-6 pieces of cube steak (I have to adjust up. :-) )
3 cups water
large onion, sliced
1 package each of mushroom, brown and onion gravy mix

Dredge steaks in flour. Season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a frying pan and brown steaks on each side. Place steaks in crock pot. Add 2 cups of the water and the sliced onion. Cook on low for 8 hours. One hour before serving mix the remaining cup of water with the 3 packages of gravy mix. The original recipe didn't change the temperature, but I switch mine to high to get a thicker gravy. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes.


Pepperoncini Roast

This is a very popular dish in our church family. To the best of my knowledge, it originated with our pastor's wife.

3lb chuck roast (or whatever size/cut you have)
envelope Good Seasons Italian dressing mix
1/2 jar sliced pepperoncinis with juice (located with the jalepenos, pickles, etc. in the grocery store)

Place all ingredients in your crock pot. Cook on low 8+ hours. I turn mine on around 10:00 Saturday night. When I get up on Sunday, I break it apart and let it continue cooking until we return home from church. Depending on the size of your roast, a whole package of the dressing mix may be too much.


Sunday Roast

We eat lunch at home every other Sunday. We rotate among the roast above, this one and one other dish.

3 lb chuck roast (my favorite cut)
1 pkg Lipton Onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
potatoes, carrots and onions, chunked.

Place roast and veggies in your crock pot. Cover with mushroom soup and sprinkle on soup mix. Depending on the size of your roast and number of veggies, you can use 2 cans. Do NOT add water. The soup and beef juices will make a nice gravy. Cook on low 8+ hours. I do the same thing with this roast I do with the one above.



Crock Pot Stroganoff
This is what we are having for dinner tomorrow night.

2lb round steak
1/4c flour
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1tsp garlic bits
3 Tbsp butter
1 small onion
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 beef bullion cubes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1c. water
8oz pkg cream cheese

Cut steak into 1 x 1/2 inch strips. Mix with flour, pepper, salt and garlic. Add to crock pot with rest of ingredients,except cream cheese. Cook on low for 5-7 hours. Stir occasionally. Last 1/2 hour add an 8oz package of cream cheese, cubed. Serve over cooked noodles. I like to serve this with a spinach salad and breadsticks.



Hot Pepper Casserole
This is a unique dish that is a signature item of a dear lady in my church. Her dish is empty after ever fellowship meal.

Combine until well blended:
4-5 eggs
1 large can evaporated fat-free milk
1 small can evaporated fat-free milk
2/3c. whole wheat flour

Drain:
24 oz (3 c.) jalapenos, hot banana peppers or chopped green chilies (depends on your heat tolerance)

Reserve 1/2 c. from:
32 oz bag shredded Mexican blend cheese

Layer cheese and jalapenos. Pour milk mixture over.

Top with:
8oz can tomato sauce

Cook on high for about 2 hours, until firm. Refrigerate overnight for church. Sprinkle with reserved cheese and heat on low during the service.

Or bake half a recipe in a 2 qt baking dish at 350 for 20 minutes. Add cheese and bake 25-30 minutes more.



Taco Soup
We have this soup a lot in the fall and winter. I even made it ahead, froze it and took it to the beach with us last year.

In a crock pot place the following:
pound of ground beef. browned and drained
1 medium onion, chopped (I use dried flakes)
15 1/4 oz can whole kernel corn, undrained
10 oz can Ro-tel, undrained
150z chili beans, undrained
10 3/4 oz tomato soup, undiluted
1 1/4 oz envelope taco seasoning
1c water

Heat in crock pot 4 hours on low. Serve with tortilla chips and Monterey Jack (or other favorite) cheese.



Chicken in a Pot
I haven't made this in a really long time. Actually I think I forgot about it until going through my recipe box. I'm moving it to the front. It will be on the table again soon.

chicken pieces (whatever you like) or cut up boneless breasts
2 carrots
2 onions
2 potatoes
2 celery stalks
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can water

Chunk all vegetables. Place all the ingredients in your crock pot. Cook on low 7-8 hours.

Tortilla Soup
I have 2 Fix-It and Forget-It cookbooks. When our stove was out for 3 weeks, I relied on them heavily. This is a recipe we first tried during that time and really enjoyed.

4 chicken breast halves
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbsp margarine
2 14 1/2 ox cans chicken broth
2 14 1/2 oz cans stewed tomatoes (I use home canned and run them through the blender.)
1 c salsa
1/2 c chopped cilantro ( I omit)
1 Tbsp or more cumin
8 oz Monterey Jack
sour cream
tortilla chips

1. Cook, debone and shred chicken
2. Add chicken and remaining ingredients to the crock pot, except cheese, sour cream and chips.
3. Cook on low 8-10 hours
Garnish as desired

This is the original recipe. I made a note that I thought it could use some kind of beans. I'll probably use black or pinto next time I make it.

You can find a couple of crock pot breakfast items here.