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...