Jelly Meatballs

This is one of those simple recipes that is great for parties...I've made this for Super Bowl Parties over the past and they have been a big hit...

Jelly Meatballs

1 box/bag of frozen meatballs
1 bottle regular BBQ sauce
1 small jar grape jelly

Put the meatballs in the crock pot. Mix the BBQ Sauce and Grape Jelly in a bowl and pour over the meatballs. Cook on LOW 4-6 hours. Stir occasionally.

Happy Slow Cooking...Enjoy and Hugs...

How do I use my crock pot the correct way?

The Q&A for today is:

How do I use my crockpot the correct way?

As easy as slow cookers are to use, they do come with a few rules...

1. Make sure you don't over fill your crock pot...You only want to fill the crockpot 1/2 to 3/4 full. If you overfill the slow cooker, your food might not cook the proper way. It may be undercooked and you might end up with spills. When you use a crock pot, it creates condensation and this will add liquid to your 'pot', so if you overfill it, you might end up with spillage.
2. The removable stoneware is oven safe up to 400', so you can put it in the oven. BUT do not use on gas or electric burners and do not use during broiling..
   
3. Do NOT ever use your crock pot to reheat the food that was cooked in it the day before. Because it takes so long for the crock pot to get hot enough to start cooking that your food might spoil. You can warm the crock in the microwave.

I do find it easier to put any leftovers into a different container and wash the crockpot the same night I use it. It just seems to clean up better.

Hope this helps give your crockpot a longer lifespan...

Happy Slow Cooking...Hugs..

Hazel's Hiccups

Today, I've decided that we are going to have a Hazel Hiccup day...this is a day where we discuss something besides crockpots...

Since the 4th of July is coming up, I thought I would share some websites that have crafts, recipes, etc. just for the 4th of July...

Crafts:

Ribbon Door Flags

Star Spangled Wavers

Uncle Sam's Hat Treat Holders

4th of July Salt Dough Pins

Fire Cracker Napkin and Utensil Holder

More Kaboose Fourth of July Crafts

Recipes:

AllRecipe's Summer Drink Recipes

July 4th Cookout Recipes

Patriotic Pops

Edible Eagle

Books:

Happy 4th of July, Jenny Sweeney

4th of July, Asbury Park: A History of the Promised Land

Perky Turkey's 4th Of July Adventure

A New Job for Dilly (okay this one isn't really about the fourth of July, but I wanted to remind everyone that Rena is in the middle of her blog tour and you should check it out...

Coloring Pages:

Happy Fourth of July

Fireworks

4th of July History:

Independence Day

History of 4th of July

Sweet Rolls

Sweet Rolls (this is sort of like Monkey Bread)

Ingredients:

2 packages of refrigerator biscuits (the pop biscuits in a tube)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup chopped nuts
Cinnamon and sugar

Directions:

In a mixing bowl you will want to mix the nuts with the brown sugar and set aside. After dipping the biscuits in the melted butter, you will want to drop each biscuit in the brown sugar/nut mix. Coating each side with the brown sugar and nuts. Place the biscuits in a bread pan that will fit inside your crock pot. Sprinkle with the cinnamon and a small amount of sugar between each layer of biscuits.

Before placing the bread pan in the crockpot, you will want to make a foil circle (take some aluminum foil and scrunch it up into a long crumpled piece, make a ring with the foil and put the foil in the bottom of the crock pot...then put the bread pan on top of the foil. Take 3 or 4 pieces of paper towel and place across the top of the crock pot and put lid on crockpot to hold the paper towel in place.

Cook on HIGH 3 - 4 hours...leave alone until the end of the cooking time.

The reason for the foil (and this was a new tip for me) is that it keeps the cake pan/bread pan, etc. from touching the bottom of the crockpot which helps everything cook more evenly...

The reason for the paper towels (another new tip) is that crock pot's have condensation when they cook...you don't want that condensation to get on the cake, etc. because it will get soggy (which has happened to me before)...so the paper towel soaks up the condensation, and keeps it from dripping down on your cake, etc.

Enjoy and Happy Slow Cooking...Hugs...

R.I.P. Farrah Fawcett

Farrah Fawcett died this morning of anal cancer...I remember Farrah Fawcett from her days on Charlie's Angels and her powerful movies like the Burning Bed...

She will be missed by many...

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Stuffed Chicken Breast
Serves 6

Ingredients:

6 large skinless, boneless chicken breast
3 slices Swiss cheese (halved)
3 slices Canadian Bacon (halved)
3 large Portobella mushroom caps, remove the stem and slice thin
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 (10 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup
4 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

Flatten the chicken breast with a meat mallet's flat side. Once flattened, place a half slice of cheese, bacon, and a few slices of Portobello mushrooms on one end of the chicken breast. Take the other end of the chicken breast and fold it over the other ingredients. Use a toothpick to secure the chicken ends together. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Place chicken in skillet long enough to lightly brown all sides. Remove chicken from skillet and place in crock pot. Pour the rest of the ingredients over the chicken breasts. Cook on LOW for 4 - 5 hours.

Happy Slow Cooking! Enjoy and Hugs...

Here are more Crockpot Chicken Recipes from Hazel's Crock Pot Kitchen

Pork Oriental

Pork Oriental

Ingredients:

3 pounds of boneless pork loin, cut into strips and browned
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup dry sherry (you can use water if you wish)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup bbq sauce
8 ounces pinepple chunks (do not drain)
pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix all ingredients (except pork) in crock pot. Place pork strips into crock pot and mix well. Making sure you coat all of the pork with the mixture. Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours (HIGH for 4-5 hours) Serve over rice.

Enjoy and Happy Slow Cooking...Hugs...

Here are more Crockpot Pork Recipes from Hazel's Crock Pot Kitchen

Stuffed Peppers

I have to admit, I never thought I would try stuffed peppers. I'm not a big fan of peppers, but little-by-little, I have started trying them in other recipes and found I like them. But to have the main meal as peppers, I wasn't sure about that...then Hubs said he really likes stuffed peppers, so I got the recipe from my MIL and worked it for the crockpot...

Most of the recipes that I post are recipes that I have had in the past, so I've not had a picture, but for this I was able to take some pictures...As you can see with the ingredients, it was an afterthought to take pictures...grin...

Stuffed Peppers

6 large peppers
1 lb of beef
1 (15 oz) can of corn
1 (10 oz) bag of cooked rice*
1 cup bread crumbs **
2 Tablespoon chopped onion
1 can (26-28 oz) Tomato Soup ***

Cut the top off the peppers and clean out the insides. Mix all other ingredients together (using only about half the tomato soup at this time). Stuff the peppers with your mixture. Put the peppers in the crockpot. Pour the rest of the tomato soup over the peppers. Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.

*I like to use the Birdseye Steamfresh rice. You can stick in the microwave and cook it in like 4 minutes while you are getting everything else ready and then just add before mixing.
** you can also use crushed crackers and/or more than the 1 cup depending on how moist you want you want or don't want your stuffing to be.
***I use spaghetti sauce because of the different flavors you can get

You will notice that I am only making 3 stuffed peppers, so I cut the recipe in half since it is just Hubs and me...


Enjoy and Happy Slow Cooking! Hugs....













Here are more Crock Pot Beef Recipes from Hazel's Crock Pot Kitchen

Rival or Hamilton Beach?

Do you use only one brand of crockpot or do you have many different brands in your cabinets? I happen to have many different brands...Rivals and Hamilton Beach. So which do I like better?

Well...Hazel was a Rival Brand and she lasted a long, long, long time...so over the years, I have been very fond of Rival. I have always asked for Rival crock pots for gifts, and have always purchased that brand for myself.

But I started noticing that the Rivals were starting to break, even the newer ones. The glass lids would be cracked and sometimes they were even shattered. Which would ruin our dinner, etc.

I even had one Rival crock pot where the handles came off, and the temperature knob fell off within 2 months of getting the slow cooker.

So little-by-little, I started purchasing and asking for Hamilton Beach slow cookers and crock pots and have found that they are very well made.

George has been a very nice replacement for Hazel (of course there will never be another Hazel, but...)

So I guess, my final answer would be that I prefer Hamilton Beach crock pots over Rival crockpots..

What about you? What is your favorite brand of crockpot?

Happy Slow Cooking! Hugs...

Hazel would be so proud...

Shannon over at The Peer Review has given me the Kreativ Blogger Award...Thank you Shannon...

You guys should hop on over to Shannon's blog and look around...she has some wonderful regular posts, such as: Things I love Thursdays, Loving My Husband Fridays and Building Our Marriage Challenge...plus she has so many other great posts on so many other topics...


As with everything there are some rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs, letting them know they have been nominated

Now I have to list 7 things about me that people might find interesting...This could be hard for me, because I'm pretty boring...but here goes:

1. I love fixing things around the house...I've learned a lot about plumbing, electrical, etc being an apartment manager and that has come in handy with my own home..
   
2. I love doing crafts and I am working on giving all homemade gifts for Christmas this year...and if that works out, then I am hoping to start doing all homemade gifts for birthdays, etc starting next year...
3. I hate talking on the phone...I would rather be blogging...grin...
4. I am working with the Mayor in my town to create the first annual "New Market Goes Green" fair...we are going to be handing out info and getting people to talk about simple ways to go green...
5. I have been skinny dipping several times
   
6. When I color a picture with crayons...I color in tiny little circles...always have...and I was coloring a picture for the bulletin board at work and find that I still do color in circles...
7. I have a cookbook for just about any kind of food you can name, but I hate to cook...

Now I need to nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers and link to them...this is the hard part because I enjoy so many of your blogs that it is hard to pick just 7...

1. Wandering Thoughts - Icy BC always has some beautiful pictures posted...
2. Delicious Dishings - Megan has some wonderful recipes and if they taste as good as her pictures look...yummmy...
3. Random Thoughts - Bish always has such wonderful stories and pictures of her childhood.
   
4. Rena Jones - Rena has a wonderful book called "A New Job for Dilly" that has just come out and I can't wait to read it..She also has a neat Blogging Tour scheduled and a contest...check her and Dilly out...
5. Kelly Polark - Kelly is one hip mom who loves music and shares that with us on Tune for Tuesday...
6. The Story Board - Adrienne's blog is full of humor and she is quite the illustrator...
7. Kim Kasch Blogsite - She has Thought for Thursday, Earth-Friendly Fridays, and so much more...

There you have it...my 7 semi-interesting things and my 7 wonderful blog nominations...Shannon I want to thank you again for the nomination...Hazel would be so proud...grin...

Enjoy and Hugs...

Creamy Vegetables?

Today, I'm posting two recipes and both are creamy. The reason for the ? in the title, is that I'm not sure if a potato is considered a vegetable...It is almost like the tomato...no one seems to know where it goes...

Wikipedia describes it as: The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family.

Dictionary.com:

pl. po·ta·toes

1. A South American plant (Solanum tuberosum) widely cultivated for its starchy edible tubers.
2. A tuber of this plant.
3. A sweet potato. See Regional Note at possum.

Huh? So is it a vegetable or not? For the purpose of this blog post, we are going to consider it a vegetable...

Creamy Corn

1 package frozen corn (20 oz)
1/2 cup butter
6 Tablespoon water
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 package cream cheese, softened (8 oz)

Mix first 4 ingredients in crock and cook on Low 2 hours. During the last half hour of cooking add the cream cheese.

Creamy Red Potatoes

2 pounds small red potatoes, quartered
1 can cream of potato soup, undiluted
1 envelope Ranch Salad Dressing mix
1 Tablespoon milk
1 (8 0z) package cream cheese, softened

Place potatoes in crock. In mixing bowl beat next 3 ingredients. Pour over potatoes and stir. Make sure all potatoes are covered. Cover and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours. During the last half hour of cooking, add the cream cheese and stir.


Now for a little something extra...

On families.com they had an unique tip that I thought I would share with you:

After traveling and lodging, food is the biggest expense while traveling. But you can get in some great meals for $10, $5 or less when you cook them yourself. How can you cook while traveling? There are a few fun and inventive ways to be frugal here.

Bring the slow cooker

While many hotels don't allow cooking in the room unless you have a suite that includes a kitchen, you can still use your crockpot in your car! If you have a long trip, at least four hours, then you are all set for a great meal. Add a liner to your crockpot, fill it up with ingredients and plug it into your car using an inverter. You can help secure it in the car with a cake pan. When you get to your destination, a hot meal will be waiting. Remove the liner for a fast cleanup.

Enjoy and Happy Slow Cooking...Hugs...

Santa Fe Chicken

This is recipe that I've had many times, but not from the crock pot, so when I came across the recipe for the crockpot, I was thrilled...

Santa Fe Chicken

1 (15 oz) can black beans - rinsed & drained
2 (15 oz) cans corn, drained
1 cup thick & chunky salsa
5-6 skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into chunks *
1 (8 oz) brick cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheese (your choice of flavor...I like to use Mexican blend)

Mix beans, corn and 1/2 cup salsa together and pour into crock pot that has been sprayed with a cooking spray. Put chicken over mixture. Pour remaining salsa over chicken. Cover & cook on HIGH for 2 1/2 - 3 hours or til chicken is done. Cube the cream cheese and add it to the crock pot. Heat until cream cheese it melted and blends into sauce.

You can serve this over rice. Top with Shredded cheese...

* You can use frozen chicken if you want. I usually get the chicken strips and cube them before freezing to make it easier when making this and other recipes.

Enjoy and Happy Slow Cooking! Hugs...

Here are other Crock Pot Chicken Recipes from Hazel's Crock Pot Kitchen

Southwestern Strata

This is a recipe that I didn't really want to try and I kept putting it off until a friend made it and WOW...I was hooked. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do....

Southwestern Strata

1 pound bulk sausage
1 loaf (16 oz) French or Italian Bread
2 cups chunky salsa
3 cups (12 oz) mozzarella cheese, shredded
6 large eggs
2 cups milk

Brown sausage in skillet; drain. Cut bread into cubes. Arrange half the bread cubes in sprayed crockpot. Spoon 1/2 salsa over the bread. Top with 1/2 sausage & then 1/2 the cheese. Repeat. Combine eggs & milk and beat until thoroughly mixed. Pour over the cheese layer. Put the lid on the crock pot and cook on LOW 4-5 hours or until heated through. Makes about 12 servings...

Enjoy and Happy Slow Cooking! Hugs...

Here are more Crock Pot Pork Recipes from Hazel's Crook Pot Kitchen

Easy Ravioli Lasagna

This is a recipe that I enjoy when I don't feel like going to trouble of dirtying up all those pots, pans and bowls to mix up the real thing. It is quick and easy and you can't beat that.

Easy Ravioli Lasagna

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onions, optional
1 Tablespoon packed light brown sugar
1 jar/can (28 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 pkg (25 oz) frozen cheese filled ravioli
1 pkg (20 oz) Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Brown ground beef & onion together. Drain. Add brown sugar & spaghetti sauce, stir. Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Spoon thin layer of sauce over bottom of crockpot. Add a single layer of frozen ravioli. Cover with half remaining sauce, then half the cheese. Repeat layers. Cover crock pot and cook on HIGH 3 to 4 hours (LOW 1 1/2 - 2 hours) or until very hot and cheese has melted.

Makes 8 to 10 servings...

Serve with garlic bread or bread sticks...

Enjoy and Happy Slow Cooking! Hugs...

Here are more Crock Pot Beef Recipes from Hazel's Crock Pot Kitchen...

Cooked or Dry Pasta?

The Q&A for today is a question I get a lot. Can you use dry pasta in the crock pot? And really the only answer is: It depends on you...

But...I have not had recipes turn out with using dry pasta and letting it cook in the crockpot. If you have, please share with me how you did it...

When I have a recipe that calls for pasta (and many recipes do call for cooking the pasta in the slow cooker) I just omit that step when putting the ingredients into the crockpot.

I choose to cook my pasta (per box directions) in a pot and then add it to the crock pot just before serving (pasta such as: spaghetti, macaroni, etc.)...If it is a recipe where the meat is larger (chicken breast, etc) then I will cook the pasta, put it on a platter and then spoon the slow cooker mixture over the pasta and then serve.

So for me, then answer to Cooked or Dry Pasta would be cooked and added just before eating.

Hope that helps! If you have a question you would like answered about slow cooking, please let me know and I will do my best to find the answer...

Happy Slow Cooking and Hugs...

HIGH or LOW

Every 2nd Saturday of the month, I will be posting a HIGH or LOW review of cookbooks, crock pots, accessories, etc.

A HIGH rating means I liked it...
A LOW rating means I don't...
And I'm throwing in a WARM rating for those items that I just can't make up my mind on...

So my first HIGH or LOW is a cookbook:

Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook: Feasting with Your Slow Cooker





Pros: The recipes are simple to follow and are very easy to make. No real 'strange' ingredients

Cons: It has a lot of the same recipes throughout the book. Example: In the Beef section it might have a recipe for chili and then in the Soup section it will have the exact same recipe listed.

I don't know why that bugged me...other than I felt like I was getting less for my money...

It does use a lot of creamed soups and cheese, so this is definitely not the cookbook for anyone trying to diet or become healthier...

Final Thoughts: Someone new to slow cooking would probably find this cookbook useful because the recipes are quite easy. A college student could make these recipes even on a budget.

There are other Fix-it and Forget-it cookbooks, but I probably would not buy another one.

Rating: LOW

I guess I should have started on a HIGH note, but I had this cookbook and I know a lot of people buy it because it is inexpensive, so I wanted to share my thoughts...

So do you have this cookbook? What do you think? Do you find it useful?

Happy Slow Cooking and Hugs...

A Cobbler for Your Crockpot

This recipe is a wonderful brunch recipe...I've made it many, many, many times and it has always been a hit.

A Cobbler for Your Crock Pot

Serves 8 - 10 people

• 2 Cans of Pop Biscuits (these are the biscuits you buy in a tube and you 'pop' the tube open to get your biscuits...the store brand does best in this recipe)
• 2 Cans Pie Filling (apple or peach work best)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (more if you like)
• 1 cup butter

Bake the biscuits per the tube instructions. The best part is you can cook the biscuits the night before and keep in a Ziploc bag until morning. Once the biscuits have cooled, you will want to tear them into chunks. This can also be done the night before.

When you are ready to make your Cobbler:

• Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon and butter together. I like to use to knives and cut the butter into the cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.
  
• Next, you will want to put half of the biscuits in the crock pot. Making sure to cover the entire bottom of the crock pot, if using an oblong. I like to use a 5 quart upright crockpot for this recipe.
  
• Sprinkle half of the brown sugar mix over the biscuits.
• Spread /Pour one can of pie filling over the biscuits and brown sugar mix.
• Repeat the layers (I like cinnamon, so I do sprinkle a little extra cinnamon on top of everything).
• Put lid on slow cooker and cook on LOW for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
• Serve warm.

*When served for brunch, you can put cobbler in a bowl and pour a little milk over
**If served as a dessert you can put cobbler in a bowl with a couple scoops of ice cream

Enjoy and Happy Slow Cooking! Hugs...

Cheesy Crockpot Chicken

This is another one of those "I forgot to put something out for dinner" recipes.

Cheesy Crockpot Chicken

1 - 2 lbs of chicken strips (boneless, skinless)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of cheddar cheese soup

Place chicken strips in crockpot. Mix the two soups together and pour over chicken. Cook on LOW 3 to 4 hours. Stir 1 1/2 to 2 hours into cooking, just to mix up and break up any chicken that was frozen together. Put lid back on and let finish cooking.

Serve over rice or egg noodles.

*I like my chicken cheesy, so I do tend to add at least another half can (or more depending on my mood) of cheddar cheese soup, but this is personal taste...You might want to taste the sauce when you are stirring the chicken...you might prefer more chicken soup instead of cheddar soup...

Enjoy and Happy Slow Cooking! Hugs...

Root Beer Ham

Pork is not my favorite type of meat, but I have found a few recipes that I enjoy and it nice to switch things around a little bit. If it were left up to Hubs, we would only eat beef...

Root Beer Ham

2 - 3 pounds pre-cooked ham (sliced)
4 - 6 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of root beer
1/2 cup of brown sugar

This recipe works best in an oval crockpot. Mix butter, root beer and brown sugar together in a sauce pan. Bring your glaze to a boil and then remove from heat. Place a layer of ham slices in crock pot. Pour about 1/4 cup of glaze over ham. Place another layer of ham in slow cooker and pour another 1/4 cup glaze over ham. Repeat until you are out of Ham and glaze (make sure the glaze is the last thing in the crockpot. Cook on LOW 3 to 4 hours...long enough to warm the ham slices.

Place ham slices on a serving plate and drizzle any remaining glaze over the ham.

Enjoy and Happy Slow Cooking! Hugs...

Barbecue Beef Sandwiches

One thing that I love most about slow cookers is that you can use frozen meats...mainly, because I am HORRIBLE at remembering to put something out for dinner the night before. So most of the time, I'm walking out my door to go to work when I remember I need to feed my family tonight...so to the freezer I go...I find something frozen, grab the other ingredients, dump everything into my crock pot and out the door I go...

This is one of the easiest recipes...

Barbecue Beef Sandwiches

2 1/2 - 3 pound beef chuck roast (I also like to use a Pork Butt Roast)

1 small bottle (2 cups) barbecue sauce (of your choice)

1 cup chopped onion (*)

• Place roast in crockpot
• Pour barbecue sauce over roast
• Sprinkle chopped onion over sauce
• Cover and cook on LOW all day
  
• Using 2 forks, just before serving, shred meat
• Serve shredded beef on hamburger buns
• Spoon additional sauce over sandwiches

If you are like me, you hate to cut up onions, so my wonderful MIL told me about this neat trick...use dried chopped onions...I only use about a 1/4 cup of dried onions. They will 'plump' up as they cook and no body needs to know you didn't chop them yourself.

Enjoy and Happy Slow Cooking! Hugs...

Crock Pot or Slow Cooker?

After talking to a few people, I decided that it might be good to have a Q & A Day to answer some of questions that you might have...

If you have a question, please email me and I will add it to my Q & A Day and if I can't find or don't know the answer, then maybe a reader will...

One question I get all the time is:

What's the difference between a crock pot and a slow cooker?

The simple answer:

Basically, they are the same difference...in other words, the are a lot alike, but have aren't the same...

Crock pots..

• have a lid (usually glass), a 'crock' insert that is made of either ceramic or porcelain, and a heating container that the crock fits into
• the heating container heats your food from all sides continuously
  
• usually have the temperature settings of LOW (200' F), HIGH (300' F) and sometimes WARM.
• are usually the better choice if you aren't going to be home during the cooking

Slow Cookers...

• also have a lid, but their 'crock' is usually called a 'cooking pot' and instead of fitting inside a heating container, it sits on a heating base
• the heating base can usually be used as a small griddle
• the cooking pot is heated only from the bottom, but it does not continuously heat, instead it turns itself on and off. It gets to the temperature setting you have it set on and then it cuts off, it gets below that temperature it cuts itself back on
  
• temperature settings are numbered from 1-5

Now a crock pot can be a slow cooker, but a slow cooker can never be a crock pot...so if you have a recipe that says "put ingredients in your crockpot" then you need to use a crock pot...but if your recipe says "put ingredients in your slow cooker" then you can use either one.

Hope that helps...

So do you have a crock pot or a slow cooker or both? Which do you like better and why?

Hugs and Happy Slow Cooking...

Chocolate Delight

I could not own a crock pot if I could not make desserts in them...and anything with chocolate can't be bad...

Chocolate Delight

1 package (about 18 ounces) chocolate cake mix
1 cup (8 ounce) sour cream
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup water
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 package (4 serving size) instant chocolate pudding and pie filling mix

Spray a cooking spray inside of slow cooker. Mix all ingredients in crockpot...make sure they are mixed well. (I do tend to mix this in a separate bowl to make sure everything is mixed well). Cover and cook on LOW 6 to 8 hours (3 to 4 hours on HIGH) Serve hot or warm with ice cream.

**The recipe calls for these times, but I do find that the mix will burn if cooked too long. I like to cook this on LOW for about 3 hours, but you will have to try it to see how it will cook in your crock pot...some crock pots cook hotter than others...

Enjoy and Happy Slow Cooking!

Chicken and Stuffing

This recipe is like an old-fashioned comfort food. I don't usually like any recipe that requires me to cook the meat first, but this is well worth it...Enjoy!

Chicken and Stuffing

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 to 1 1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of mushroom soup (you can use 1 can cream of mushroom and 1 can cream of chicken, if you want)
1 package (12 ounces) seasoned stuffing mix (plus ingredients to prepare mix)

Put first 3 ingredients into a large plastic bag. (like a Ziploc gallon bag). Zip and mix up. Add chicken to bag, zip and shake to coat chicken.

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-low heat. Brown chicken on both sides. Place in crockpot and pour soup over chicken.

Prepare stuffing per package direction (decrease liquid by half). Sprinkle stuffing over chicken. Cover and cook on HIGH 3 to 4 hours.

*If you are cooking the chicken all day (6 to 8 hours on LOW), then I would not put the stuffing on the chicken until later. I would wait, mix up the stuffing per package directions (leaving the liquid as you would normally) and sprinkle over chicken for the last 30 minutes.

**I also have made the chicken per these directions and kept the stuffing out of the crock pot all together. I make the stuffing per package directions just before I am ready to serve dinner. When I serve this, I will put a piece of chicken on the plate, pour some gravy (sauce that is in the crockpot) over the chicken and then put a scoop of stuffing over that...

Enjoy and Happy Slow Cooking!

Honey Pork Ribs

I'm not a big Pork fan, but this recipe makes the pork melt in your mouth...

Honey Pork Ribs

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed beef consomme
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
2 pounds, pork baby back ribs, trimmed (if ribs are really fatty, you will want to broil them for 10 minutes before adding them to the crockpot)

Mix the first 7 ingredients together. Cut ribs into 3 to 4 rib portions and place in the crock pot. Pour mixture over ribs, making sure the mixture covers all the ribs.

Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours (4 to 6 hours on high). Serve and enjoy!

Hugs and Happy Slow Cooking

Coca-cola Roast

I thought it only fitting that the first recipe I post on Hazel's Crock Pot Kitchen is the first recipe that I ever made in the crockpot.

Coca-cola Roast

1 roast
1 can of coca-cola (not diet)
1 envelope of onion soup mix

Mix the soda and the soup mix together. Put roast in slow cooker and pour soda/soup mix over roast. Cook on low for 6-8 hours (all day). When you get home, enjoy!

I have also cut potatoes into large chunks and put them in the crock pot for the last 2 hours of cooking. The soda and the soup mix give the potatoes (and the roast) a wonderful flavor. A little sweet, but the onions keep it from being too sweet...

I would love to hear what you think about this roast!

Hugs and Happy Slow Cooking!

Hazel's 5 reasons for having a crockpot

I have been asked many times about why I use a crockpot so here are the top 5 reasons that I always give:

1. Simplicity - Toss a few ingredients into one pot, plug it up, turn it on, go to work and when you get home, you have dinner...
2. Economical - Using a slow cooker can save you money. It cost less to make your meal in one crockpot over cooking a meal in an oven and/or on the stove...
3. Versatile - You can make everything from meats, vegetables, casseroles, breads, desserts and so much more...
4. Time-saving - Dinner is ready when you get, so you have more time for family, friends and other activities that you wouldn't have if you had to make dinner the old-fashioned way...using a stove...
5. Popularity - The crockpot does all the work and you take all the credit...