Left Coast Mama » Cook Books

Why I Love My Slow-Cooker:Food Revolution Fridays

Gwen — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:23:54 +0000

I love my slow-cooker. I don’t use it as often as I should, but when I do I love that I can go about my day and forget about supper. I don’t have the panicky feeling around 5 o’clock saying “What should I make for supper? Can I get away with bbq hamburgers again?” Especially now that our bbq is on its last leg and I can’t count on it, the slow-cooker can be my lifesaver.

There are any number of websites out there that have good slow-cooker recipes and most of them are easy and with few ingredients. I haven’t been brave enough to try any that use a can of pop, and really the thought of adding carbonated water and syrup to my food doesn’t appeal. There are quite a few really healthy and easy recipes as well. I thought I would share 2 of my favourites.

Chili:

This can be vegetarian very easily, just take out the meat and there you have it. It tastes as good without the meat, but I prefer to have some in there.

Ingredients:

1 can diced tomatoes and juice. (The big can, I have no idea how many oz. You can also get the lowest sodium ones as you are adding spices and the salt is unnecessary.)

1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas) drained and rinsed.

1 can red kidney beans drained and rinsed.

1 can black beans drained and rinsed.

1-2 cans navy beans drained and rinsed.

1-2 cans baked beans with molasses. (Optional but it gives a lot of flavour.)

1 lb lean ground meat browned and drained.

Spices: I usually add Club House Slow Cooker Chili seasoning, but you can use your own mix of spices like garlic, onion, chili, red pepper etc.

I don’t usually, but you can also add diced veggies like peppers, mushrooms, onions etc.

It turns out a little differently every time because I sometimes add different beans or veggies.

Put all the ingredients into the slow cooker and put on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours. It freezes really well and is a very healthy source of protein.

Amazing Meatloaf: (Adapted from Fix-it and Forget-it 5-Ingredient Favorites)

Ingredients:

1/2 C Ketchup divided

2lbs ground beef (I use extra lean, and sometimes I mix ground pork in.)

2 eggs

2/3 C dry quick oats

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

Optional: finely diced mushrooms, onions, grated carrot, some dijon mustard.

Reserve about 2 tbsp of the ketchup. Mix the rest of the ingredients together. Shape into a loaf and put in the slow-cooker. Top with remaining ketchup or use some bbq sauce. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 2-4 hours.

Tip: About halfway through the cooking you can use a turkey baster to suck up the fat that will pool around the meat loaf. This helps to make the outside a little crisper and gets rid of more of the fat.

With that I guess I know what I should make for dinner, meatloaf. I would make the chili but my boys are not so fond of beans yet. Sigh. If you want to get some other great recipes check out some more Food Revolution Fridays posts at Notes From the Cookie Jar.

Picky Eater? Aidan? . . . Well Maybe

Gwen — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 22:07:28 +0000

I have heard a whole lot from the blogashpere about Jessica Seinfeld’s new cookbook Deceptively Delicious. It seems that she routinely purees vegetable matter and stuffs it into just about everything she can think of. I think that if Aidan were only really picky about eating vegetables I would get th book and try it out. But the problem is that the thing Aidan hates more than anything is meat. I can only get him to eat pepperoni and Salami, and that only sometimes. He has always eaten vegetables like cucumber, and baby corn, but balks at trying new meat or even new textures of other foods.

It is funny to think about how easy it was to feed Aidan in the beginning, he would try anything and even if it came back out he was willing to try again. There were a few exceptions that he still hates and they include any of the meat family and especially potatoes. Aidan hates, hates, hates potatoes. (Though the first time Aidan tried green beans and first made the “blah, blah” gagging sounds is legendary.) So the thought of trying to hide cauliflower in his mashed potatoes doesn’t make any sense at all. As for the chick peas in the chocolate chip cookies doesn’t really work either, for as much as he likes the idea of cookies, the actual cookies not so much.

I have found the real way to hide almost any kind of food including meat is with pasta. If you have pasta and sauce Aidan will scarf it down like there is no tomorrow. Maybe I need to get a pasta machine and try to make some more exotic sauces. Wish me luck.

*****

This post is part of the Parent Bloggers Network blog blast “Just Eat It” and I have a chance to win a 250 dollar gift card to Williams Sonoma. Wohoo! Can anyone say new blender or maybe a pasta maker or a bread maker? The possibilities are endless.

© 2007 Left Coast Mama | Permalink | One comment
Related: Blog Blast, Cook Books, Cooking with toddlers, Healthy Eating, Parent Bloggers Network, children.

Menu Plan Monday

Gwen — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:46:20 +0000

I am late posting this because POKER NIGHT was more important to me yesterday. Oh and I had a bunch of stuff to do like cleaning the house so people could come over. I am glad that we didn’t lose too much last night. We had a good time and we are going to make sure that our monthly poker games are reinstated.

Last week we moved the menu around a bit, but managed to stick to it pretty well. The best thing this week was the bread I made. (Of course Aidan doesn’t like it, but I am sure it will grow on him.) The porridge Bread is from the Purity Cookbook. If you like to bake bread the old fashioned way it is the book to get. My mom had a copy that got so ratty that I jumped on the chance to get one for her, my sister, and myself. It had been out of print for a long time, but the recipes always remind me of my childhood. I am going to try to make the Raisin Bread this week.

Guides also starts up this week so Tuesdays are going to be leftovers and salad days as we will not be eating together and I need a quick meal early.

Monday: Sweet and Sour Meat balls (from last week.), Rice, Salad

Tuesday: Garden Salad and leftovers.

Wednesday: Sausages and Mashed Potatoes, Corn.

Thursday: Pizza Night.

Friday: Spiced Hamburger Kabobs, Tabbouleh, Rice

Saturday: Chicken Divan (Page 51 Fix-it and Forget-it 5-Ingredient Favourites)

Have a great week and check out more great menus at Organizing Junkie.