Crock pot recipes anyone? (and cheap!)

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
One of the best things about a crock pot is that you can get these plastic type liners to go inside before you put your ingredients in so there is very little clean up. They are in the foil isle and I believe they are made by Reynolds.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
I'm a "cheap" cook, just don't have a crock pot. But I can adapt for stove or oven.
However... I can't believe the expensive ingredients being put into crock pots.

Chicken breasts? Biscuits from a can, or from a mix? Canned beans and bottled sauces?
That stuff is way too expensive for my family.

Surely there are cheaper versions of these recipes?
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
Janet, I think you are referring to "fingerlings". They are easy for sure but a little more pricey than standard potatoes.
My friend puts "a little" water in a covered pot (enough to just cover the bottom) drops fingerlings in, pours in a big can of green beans with juice and two skinny pieces of country ham. OILA! in 30 minutes + or - you have a one pot dinner that sticks to your ribs. I love the taste enen tho we don't eat salt too often. Yum. DDD
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Biscuits from a can are dirt cheap if you get the store brands. I use the Bisquick mix to make dumplings too. I just get one of the little envelopes of it, costs about $1, mix in a little onion powder, maybe some parsley, and drop it in to the liquid to make dumplings. They come out light and fluffy and really good.
 

pasajes4

Well-Known Member
Yep. I love my crockpot. I even bake bread and make cakes in mine. There are tons of online crockpot recipes and you can adjust them to fit your likes and budget. even the cheaper "tough cuts" come out tender and tasty.
 

1905

Well-Known Member
DDD- Do you just put that on a burner on the stove? Or do you use the crock pot for that easy thing? My husband would love that! That is my kind of recipe, easy and with "ingredients" that I heard of.
 

Californiablonde

Well-Known Member
I had no idea you could make bread and cakes in a crock pot too. That's something difficult child would love to learn how to make. She wants to be a pastry chef.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
One thing we do is to take some time on a weekend and put all the ingred for a more complex crockpot meal into a ziploc. Then we freeze it and when we want to cook it we just open the bag and dump in the contents.

A way to take advantage of sales on meat and to make life more convenient is to buy large amts of meat at once. I like to cook the meat up and then package it into 1 lb portions and freeze them. I have trouble standing for long, so I use the crockpot to deal with this. It works esp well with ground beef, pork and boneless chicken. I just pack the crockpot to the top wtih ground beef and turn it on, ditto with chicken and pork.

When the meat is done, pull or chop it into bite size pieces and then freeze in ziploc bags in 1 meal size portions. For us that is usually a pound. I do track how much meat went in so I know how many bags I will get. I use the weight of the raw meat to determine the number of pounds rather than the weight of the cooked meat. Most recipes use 1 pound meat, cooked, which means to cook one pound of raw meat. Of course you lose fat, etc.... during cooking, so I divide the cooked meat into however many packages as the pounds of raw meat that went into the crockpot. I didn't explain this to Jess at first (it didn't occur to me) and we had several fewer meals out of that batch of meat, but my guys were thrilled because they were 'soooooo meaty', lol. Of course it killed the budget though.

Be sure to NOT throw the liquid away after you portion out the meat. Chill the liquid in the fridge overnight, then take off the fat that hardens on top, and freeze in 1 or 2 cup portions. If you don't have containers, use muffin tins or small plastic cups and put the frozen stock into ziplocs the next night. That liquid is the same thing you buy as stock in cans at the store, but it is much healthier and cheaper as you already have it from the meat you cooked.

If you put frozen ingredients into your crockpot, you MUST use the high setting AND have at least 1 cup of water/liquid in the pot. Why? Otherwise the food will stay in the danger range (40-140 degrees Fahrenheit) for too long. That is the range where bacteria thrive and food should never be in this range for more than 4 hours. That is total 4 hours, not 4 hours raw, then more time during or after cooking. If you don't have the liquid and the crockpot on high, it won't heat the food fast enough to get out of this range.
 

recoveringenabler

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I made this today and it was really good.

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff Recipe

2 pounds cubed stew meat
2 cans Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup
1 largish onion diced
2-3-4 tabls of Worcestershire
1/2 cup water
8 oz of cream cheese
couple of dashes of Garlic Salt (1 tsp?)
couple dashes of Hot Paprika

In the slow cooker stir in all the ingredients together, (except the meat AND the Cream Cheese). Once combined add the meat and mix together.

Cook on Low for 8 hours.

Cut up the cream cheese into cubes just before serving and turn crockpot on high. Stir the cream cheese in until all combined. You might have to put the lid back on and leave for 10 minutes.
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Recipe

2 pounds cubed stew meat
2 cans Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup
1 largish onion diced
2-3-4 tabls of Worcestershire
1/2 cup water
8 oz of cream cheese
couple of dashes of Garlic Salt (1 tsp?)
couple dashes of Hot Paprika

In the slow cooker stir in all the ingredients together, (except the meat AND the Cream Cheese). Once combined add the meat and mix together.

Cook on Low for 8 hours.

Cut up the cream cheese into cubes just before serving and turn crockpot on high. Stir the cream cheese in until all combined. You might have to put the lid back on and leave for 10 minutes.
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GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
You can save considerable cost on this by cutting up your own stew meat from a rump or tip roast. Best is a chuck roast if you don't mind boning it and cutting away the fat.

Throw the bone(s) in with the meat for added flavour and fish it out when you are ready to put in the cream cheese.

You do NOT want "good" beef for this. You want lower grade than choice or prime as the lower grades with have more connective tissue which gives a richer flavour and texture.
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
Costco sells super cheap boneless pork roasts 4 to the pack for about $18. I coat one in about 1/4 cup good grainy mustard and season lightly with salt and pepper. Thin slice an onion (not dice) and break it up on top of the roast. Pour one cup of applesauce on top, then drizzle with 1/4 cup teriyaki marinade.

When the roast is done, scrape all the bits off and stir it together as a gravy. No thickening needed. Serve with mashed potatoes.
 

Californiablonde

Well-Known Member
Recovering, I printed out your recipe for the stroganoff and I am going to try it out over Christmas break. I will be making it with pasta. difficult child just told me the other night that as long as I cook in a crock pot, she loves my cooking. Otherwise anything made on the stove or in the oven sucks, lol. I am having fun trying out these new recipes and I'm glad that for once my kids aren't complaining.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
I am spoiled now. Most of the red meat I eat is deer meat and it is so good. I can tell easily if its cheap beef as opposed to our deer meat. I have to say that Tony is the best deer cleaner and prepares it so well. A few years ago I bought him a high power grinder so we can make sausage and "hamburger" meat. We have a local store here who will sell us beef fat for cheap. And let me tell you, there is nothing better than my deer stew!
 

recoveringenabler

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Witz, I'm going to make that Pork roast recipe you gave us tomorrow................yum, it sounds just delicious, thanks. How long do you cook it? Low?
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
DDD- Do you just put that on a burner on the stove? Or do you use the crock pot for that easy thing? My husband would love that! That is my kind of recipe, easy and with "ingredients" that I heard of.
On top of the stove UAN, using a lid on the pot. Cornbread on the side makes it perfect, lol. DDD
 
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