Yesterday was my daughter’s 14th birthday.  For birthdays, I always allow the birthday child to choose what they would like for dinner.  With rare exceptions, my children usually choose a family favorite we call “Poppy Seed Chicken.”  So, Nina chose this family favorite as well.  I still wanted to make something in the crock pot, of course, so I made broccoli cornbread (recipe from day 7), and a new recipe–Bread pudding.  This stuff was so good, and it was a nice alternative to cake for the adults present  at the birthday dinner.  I doubled this recipe, and it turned out beautifully in my 7-quart crock pot.

Bread Pudding

Ingredients: 
8 slices bread (raisin bread is especially good), cubed
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar1/4 cup melted butter, or margarine
1/2 cup raisins (use only 1/4 cup if using raisin bread)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

For Sauce:
2 Tbsp. butter, or margarine
2 Tbsp. flour
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions: 
1. Place bread cubes in greased slow cooker.  I recommend using a crock pot liner for this recipe.
2. Beat together eggs and milk.  Stir in  butter, sugar, raisins, and cinnamon.  Pour over bread and stir.
3. Cover and cook on High for 1 hour.  Reduce heat to Low and cook for 3-4 hours, or until thermometer reaches 160 degrees.
4.  Make sauce just before pudding is done baking.  Begin by melting butter in saucepan.  Stir in flour until smooth.  Gradually add water, sugar, and vanilla.  Bring to a boil.  Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes or until thickened.
5. Serve warm sauce over pudding.

Variations:

1.  Use dried cherries instead of raisins.  Use cherry flavoring instead of vanilla.
2. Use 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg, instead of 1/2 tsp. ground in pudding.
3. Use 8 cups day-old unfrosted cinnamon rolls instead of the bread.
4. Use 1/4 tsp. vanilla and 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg instead of 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.

Wednesday, we had a meal the kids really like to eat.  I actually originally made this as a side dish for a potluck, but have since been making it as a main dish.  You can serve it with rice.  There are things you can do to make it healthier, too, which I will add below. I always double this one.

Day 9: Calico Beans

Ingredients:
1 lb. bacon, diced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3-1/2 brown sugar, according to taste
3 Tbsp. cider vinegar
28-oz. can pork and beans, drained
16-oz. can kidney beans, drained
16-oz. can butter beans, drained

Instructions:

1. Brown bacon in skillet.  Drain, reserving 2 Tbsp. drippings.  Saute onion in bacon drippings.
2. Mix together ketchup, sugar, and vinegar.
3. Combine al ingredients in cooker.
4. Cover.  Cook on Low 3-4 hours.

NOTES:  You can use turkey bacon or omit the bacon.  You can also cut down on the brown sugar.  1/4 cup would work fine, or you can substitute raw sugar or molasses mixed with xylitol crystals.  To cut down on sodium, use dry beans, soaking overnight beforehand.  If you use dry beans, you will need to double the cooking time or cook the beans before adding to slow cooker.  You can use dry pinto beans in place of the pork and beans, if desired.

Day 10: Overnight Pumpkin Oatmeal

I LOVE making breakfast in the crock pot!  It is awesome waking up and not having to worry about cooking something for breakfast.  My children wake up starving and ready to eat, so breakfast in the crock pot is fabulous!  This is a delicious, vegan oatmeal recipe and it is perfect for this time of year, but we enjoy it any time of year.  I have to make 5 times the recipe to feed my family.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup steel cut oats
2 cups unsweetened vanilla-flavored almond milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (store-bought or homemade), just plain pumpkin
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
Brown sugar, agave, or other sweetener, for serving, if desired
Chopped pecans, for serving, if desired

Instructions:
Night before: Oil the crock of your slow cooker.  Combine the oats, milk, pumpkin, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

In the morning:
Stir the oatmeal to get a consistent texture.  Serve in bowls topped with brown sugar and chopped pecans.

Oh, my goodness! I am so excited to share this recipe! This is one of those meals that I was making because I knew it was healthy, but I wasn’t expecting it to taste too great. I was fairly certain most of my children wouldn’t like it too well, either. I made it anyway, deciding that Todd and I would have healthy leftovers for lunches and the kids would have tried something new. I told everyone they had to at least try a few bites before deciding they didn’t want any. We are following our Advent wreath/Jesse Tree tradition every night, and we often enjoy hot chocolate while we are reading the evening’s installment, so I told the kids they had to eat at least one taco in order to be allowed to have some hot chocolate. So, bribe in place, we dug in. Most everyone was pleasantly surprised! This meal was so delicious! Something about the spices and texture was very pleasing, and we all really enjoyed it. I doubled this, and we had a little leftover for lunches.

Crockpot Quinoa Lentil Tacos (serves 6)

Ingredients:
Filling:
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup dry lentils
1/2 cup dry quinoa
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. Bragg’s Amino Acids or Tamari
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. cumin

For tacos:
Tortillas
Avocado
Shredded Lettuce
Sour Cream and/or cheese
Salsa
Hot Sauce
Fresh Cilantro

Instructions:
Add all ingredients to crock pot and cook on low for 7-9 hours. Assemble tacos as desired and enjoy!

We had a lot of leftovers from the stew I made for the church dinner, so we planned to have that as our main dish yesterday.  I decided to make a side dish in the crock pot.  I chose a cornbread, because I particularly love how cornbread goes with stews and soups.  This bread is easy and simple, but very tasty.  It takes about 15 minutes to assemble, and then cooks on low for 6 hours.  This is another recipe that I don’t recommend trying to cook on high for a shorter time because I would be afraid that the outside would cook too quickly and burn.  My old faithful crock pot from over 20 years ago (wedding gift) may have been able to cook it on high for a couple of hours to perfection, but sadly that one was broken over Labor Day this year.  My new crock pot is large and wonderful, but they just don’t make them like they used to!

Everyone seemed to like this cornbread a lot.  I loved it, and Todd thought it was really good, too.  I think next time I could add some cooked bacon, cut into small pieces for a little added flavor.  But it was wonderful just like this!

Broccoli Corn Bread

Ingredients:
1 stick butter or margarine, melted
10-oz. package chopped broccoli, cooked and drained
1 onion, chopped
1 box cornbread mix
4 eggs, well-beaten
8-oz. cottage cheese (I used fat free, and it was fine)
1 1/4 tsp. salt

Instructions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Mix well.
2. Pour into greased crock pot.  Cook on Low for 6 hours, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
3. Serve like spoon bread, or invert the pot, remove the bread, and cut into wedges.

Tomorrow, Lentil and Quinoa Tacos!

This is a family favorite that I have been making for years in the crock pot.  It is truly the simplest, easiest meal to throw in the crock pot and then let cook all day.  It requires a good 10-12 hours, so it’s great for days when you need to leave the house early or have things going on all day and are too busy to worry about dinner.  My children all adore this meal.  It’s not Todd’s favorite meal, but he will eat it without complaining.  He likes it better if I substitute the red potatoes for sweet potatoes, but then the kids don’t like it as much.  I make it both ways every other week or at least once per month.  This is designed to fill a big crock pot, but you can adjust it to make less, if you wish.

Sausage, Potato and Green Bean Bake

Ingredients
3-4 packages Lil’ Smokies Sausages (I use the turkey sausages)
Red Potatoes (Cubed, not peeled)–enough for your family
2 large cans French Cut Green Beans, one drained, one undrained
1 stick butter

Instructions:
1. Cut potatoes and place in bottom of crock pot.
2. Pour green beans on top, and spread out to cover evenly.
3. Place Lil’ Smokies on top of the green beans.
4. Slice the stick of butter into squares, and place them on top of the Lil’ Smokies.
5. Cover with lid of crock pot.  Cook on low for 10-12 hours.

That’s it!  Simple and tasty!

Yesterday’s meal was one that everyone in the family enjoys.  For several years, I made a recipe for Red Beans and Rice in the crock pot that everyone liked, but it was kind of dry, without a sauce.  I was looking for a change, and I came across this recipe, which is still very simple, yet pleased everyone.  I double this one as well to feed my large family.  Personally, I always double and triple recipes so we will have leftovers for Todd to take to work and for us to eat for lunch.  I also will freeze leftovers to get another meal out of an evening’s offerings.  I love to stock up my freezer in order to have things I can easily take out and serve if I’m in a pinch.  These beans freeze very well, and it’s simple to take out, thaw, heat and serve over freshly steamed rice.

NOTE:  By the way, I like using dry beans for this, but you can actually use canned, if you prefer not having to soak the beans overnight.  If I ever forget to soak the beans overnight, however, I rinse the beans, and cover with about 2 inches of water in a saucepan.  Then I bring the beans to a boil for 1 minute, remove from heat, cover and allow the beans to soak for one hour.  After that, I rinse the beans and they are ready to go into the recipe, just as if I had soaked them overnight.  Overnight soaking is still preferable, though.

Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients:
1 pound dry red beans (or 4 cans of red/kidney beans–see note below)
water
salt pork, ham hocks, or sausage, cut into small chunks (I like using the salt pork–I just cut off most of the fat)
2 tsp salt (you can cut this out or reduce if you like)
1 tsp pepper
3-4 cups water
6-oz can tomato paste
8-oz. can tomato sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced

Instructions:
1. Soak beans for 8 hours (overnight) or use quick- soak method.  Drain, discard soaking water.
2.  Mix together all of the ingredients in slow cooker.
3. Cover.  Cook on low 10-12 hours, or until beans are soft.  Serve over rice.

Note:  If using canned beans, cook 1 hour on high, then reduce heat to low, and cook for 3 more hours.

Hope you enjoy!

Here is a fun thing I did a few years ago on my old blog. Last time, I challenged myself to cook at least one meal (or even side dish or drink) per day in my crock pot for 30 days. It could be anything, including breakfast. Sometimes I even made more than one meal a day in the crock pot, at times using multiple crock pots (I own more than one). This time around, I will be challenging myself to cook one or more recipe in the crock pot for the entire month of December. I will post daily updates with recipes, suggestions for modifying recipes, as well as my family’s (and my) reaction to each meal.

Before I begin by posting the recipes for Days 1 and 2, I must mention the fact that I just love my crock pot. I have thought about writing a little poem entitled “Ode to My Crock Pot,” but I haven’t come up with all the verses yet. My oldest daughter makes fun of my fondness for my crock pot, but the truth is, I truly love that thing! I use mine most days, even when I am not challenging myself to cook something in it for a month straight. As a busy mom, I just love putting something in the crock pot in the morning and just letting it simmer away all day while I teach school, run errands, or do whatever may be on my plate on any given day. So, join me on this crock pot adventure. Try the recipes and let me know what you think. Of course, always feel free to share my blog with anyone you think might be interested in it.

Day 1: Calico Beans
I have a large family and a somewhat tight budget, so lately I have been trying to stretch the old grocery budget as much as possible. Beans are a great way to do that! People talk about living on rice and beans when times are tough economically, and I’m here to tell you that eating beans can be delicious AND beans can be easily put in the crock pot in the morning and turned into a scrumptious meal while you get on with your busy day. My children love this meal, and it’s just so quick and easy to make! It’s a hit over here, so it often appears on our weekly menu! I double this to feed my family of 12.

Ingredients:
1 pound bacon, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3-1/2 cup brown sugar, according to taste
3 Tablespoons cider vinegar
28-oz. can pork and beans, drained
16 oz. can kidney beans
16 oz. can butter beans

Instructions:
1. Brown bacon in skillet. Drain, reserving 2 Tbsp. drippings. Saute onion in bacon dripping.
2. Mix together ketchup, sugar, and vinegar.
3. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker.
4. Cover and Cook on low 3-4 hours.

Day 2: Split Pea Soup
OK, I know some of you will not even want to try this one.  But trust me, it’s actually really good!  My husband loves split pea soup.  It is rich in vitamins and is listed as one of the helthiest legumes one can eat.  I love this recipe.  It is a huge hit with my husband, and more than half of the kids like it, too :).  You can vary this recipe by using turkey sausage for your meat or just taking the meat out and making it vegetarian.  It is a bit spicy with the sausage, so if you have kids, you may want to use a breakfast sausage or something a little milder, or just plain ground meat.  Admittedly, my kids don’t all like this.  In fact, I have a couple who act like they might just die if I make this dish again, but everyone eats it when I make it (at our house, that’s the only choice).  I’m hoping they will all grow to actually like it in time.  I’ve only made this recipe a handful of times.  Again, I double this recipe even though not everyone adores this one.  Todd and I eat the leftovers for lunch for a few days.

Ingredients:
1 pound bulk sausage (pork, turkey, or ground meat of your choice…or omit)
6 cups water
1 bag (2 1/4 cups) dry split peas
2 medium potatoes, diced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram, or thyme
1/2 tsp. pepper

Instructions:
1. Wash and sort dried peas, removing any stones.  Then combine all ingredients in slow cooker.
2. Cover.  Cook on Low 12 hours (or you can start it on high for a couple of hours and then cook on low for 5-6 hours more).

Today, I will be making a family favorite–Red Beans and Rice!  Stay tuned for the recipe!