Crockpot Chickpea, Lentil & Butternut Stew

Okay, folks. It's time to take another extended break from the blog. Thank goodness I don't do this blogging thing for a living. I'd be fired by now! But at least I am giving notice for once, as opposed to just falling off the face of the earth. Because I am without the capacity to cook (or bake without restraint, said the blogger as she stuffed yet another giant peanut butter chocolate chip cookie, fresh from the oven, into her mouth. Note to self: blog these babies!!) at the moment. And because I can't seem to discuss anything but the bar exam and laws that could potentially be tested, I'm signing off for a few weeks. But I must say that I'm looking forward to my return. When I come back, I'll be post-bar exam Ashley, one year older, and with a super exciting announcement!! Oh the suspense, I know.... :)

For now, here is a wonderful stew that I made in the crockpot last week while Ron was in Minnesota. It's not the most glamorous meal to leave you with but it was really quite good. It lasted me the entire week Ron was gone. It was filling and I felt satisfied while eating it because it is packed with veggies and chickpeas and lentils and good stuff like that. As per usual, I added raisins and nuts because I just feel it's necessary to have the sweetness and crunch to combat the textures of the stew. It was delicious. I even substituted some diced sweet potato for the butternut squash. I highly recommend checking it out because it's so simple and lasts for days. Enjoy! And see you soon!
Crockpot Chickpea, Lentil and Butternut Stew
from Eat, Live, Run
Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients

• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp olive or canola oil
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 2-3 tsp garam masala
• 1 butternut squash (about 3 lbs - average sized, peeled and chopped)
• 1 x 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in tomato juice
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• 1 cup red lentils
• 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1-2 tsp sea salt (to taste)
• fresh minced cilantro, optional, for serving

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot and jalapeno and saute for about six minutes. Add the minced garlic and saute for 30 more seconds, and then add the garam masala, stirring well to coat. Remove from heat.
2. Place the chickpeas, butternut squash, canned diced tomatoes, red lentils, vegetable broth and onion mixture in crockpot. Turn the heat on LOW and cook for 8-10 hours.
3. Season with sea salt to taste and serve with minced cilantro on top, if desired. And mix in raisins and chopped almonds if you are like me. :) 

Pot Roast

I know I've made pot roast before and blogged about it. But I tried a new recipe recently and fell in love with the dish. I'm a fan of all root vegetables but rarely eat them. This makes me sad. So, I saw some parsnips and leeks at the farmer's market recently, thought of this recipe, and snatched them up for a hearty dinner. We loved this recipe. It was hearty, tasty, and delicious.

You'll likely see a lot of comfort foods posting on here for the next few weeks or so. The change of seasons brought clouds and rain. With the clouds and rain brought sopping wet running clothes and muddy legs. With the wet running clothes and muddy legs came the desire to eat hearty meals that make the house smell wonderful. So here's the first of many comfort foods to come.

You can easily prepare this roast in a stockpot if you don't have a crockpot or don't want to spend all day waiting for dinner! Steps 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8 are the same. But instead of using a crockpot, place your beef in a large stockpot. Bring the beef broth to a boil. Reduce the heat and cover the stockpot tightly. Simmer for 2 hours. After 2 hours of simmering, add the vegetables and continue to cook, covered, for 30-45 minutes or until the pot roast and veggies are fork tender. Then remove your pot roast and veggies from the stockpot and proceed with the next steps to make the gravy.
Hearty Pot Roast Dinner
from Washington Ranchers, Rathbun Angus Ranch
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients

• 2 tsp seasoned pepper blend or garlic-pepper seasoning
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 boneless beef chuck shoulder pot roast (2 - 2 1/2 pounds)
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil (optional if doing step #2)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 pound small red-skinned potatoes, cut in half, or into quarters if large
• 4 medium carrots, cut into 2-1/2 x 1/2- inch pieces
• 2 medium parsnips, cut into 2-1/2 x 1/2- inch pieces
• 1 small leek (white and pale green parts only), cut in half lengthwise then crosswise into 1-1/2 inch pieces
• 1 cup beef broth
• 4 Tbsp water
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch

Instructions

1. Combine pepper blend and minced garlic to season the beef. Press evenly onto all surfaces of beef pot roast. 
2. If desired, heat oil in stockpot over medium heat until hot. Brown pot roast on all sides. Pour off drippings and season beef with salt.
3. Place potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and leeks in bottom of 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 quart slow cooker; top with seasoned pot roast.
4. Pour beef broth around pot roast. Cover and cook on HIGH for 5-6 hours or LOW for 8-1/2 to 9-1/2 hours, or until pot roast is fork tender.
5. Remove pot roast from crockpot. 
6. Skim fat from cooking liquid and measure 2 cups into medium saucepan (add beef broth or water to cooking liquid to yield 2 cups, if necessary).
7. Combine water and cornstarch; stir into cooking liquid. Bring cooking liquid and cornstarch to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until mixture has thickened.
8. Carve pot roast into thin slices. Season with salt, as desired. Serve with vegetables and gravy.

Pork and Sauerkraut

Happy New Year!  The year has already started off beautifully.  My sister got engaged earlier this afternoon to her boyfriend of a few years.  They are a wonderfully amazing couple and I am so excited to see her so happy and to gain such a great brother.  Congratulations guys!!

I hope everyone else's new year is starting off well.  Ours is going quite well so far, with the exception of our failed attempt to see Harry Potter again.  Who knew it would be sold out nearly one month and a half after opening day!  For as long as I could remember, I have eaten pork and sauerkraut on New Years Day.  Once I met Ron, I introduced him to this tradition too.  He doesn't eat the sauerkraut, but as this is the only pork that I will eat throughout the year, he's happy to eat it when it's made.  If you are curious, a pig is a good animal for the New Year because it brings an important trait to the future.  A pig cannot look backwards without turning around, so it is considered to always be looking positively to the future.  Also, german tradition believes that the pork keeps evil away.  The sauerkraut is technically cabbage, which is also considered to be lucky, hence the positive-good luck meal.  The meal positively represents the future as the pig resembles progress!  Good vibes, good vibes.

We ate this for our New Years Day meal and I was quite pleased with the turn-out.  I also mixed up a quick spinach salad to serve with a homemade dijon vinaigrette. (Greens are symbolic of economic fortune.  Because that makes sense in my life... as a law student who is thousands of dollars in debt with no job.  But whatever, the more greens one eats, the larger one's fortunes for next year!).  I opted to use the crockpot for this recipe because it's simple and I didn't want to be cooking while the Winter Classic was on!  I also threw in some diced yukon gold potatoes in the bottom to cook with the meal but it would pair nicely with a garlic mashed potato.  Alternatively, you could pair it with a Yuengling and that would be just fine too.

Pork and Sauerkraut
Yield:  6 servings
Ingredients

• 1 (4-5 pound) pork loin roast
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups sauerkraut with liquid (preferably with caraway seeds, but if you cannot find, use 1 tsp caraway seeds or omit altogether)
• 12-ounce beer

Instructions

1. Cut pork loin, if necessary, to fit in the crockpot.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Pour sauerkraut over the roast.  Pour beer into crockpot.
2. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.  Internal temperature of the roast should be at least 160 degrees F.

Crockpot Chicken BBQ

I've been making this recipe for a while now, but I don't remember where I got it.  What I do know is that this recipe is amazing.  We eat this meal at least once a month.  I know I found the recipe online somewhere and used a bunch of reader comments to make, what I thought to be, the best sounding.  It just so happened to turn out to be the best tasting!

It's soooo good and so easy.  Just throw it in the crockpot!  You can use any bbq sauce you like (I like Famous Dave's Sweet and Tangy) but we have used it w/ various other kinds.  This recent meal was made with Byerly's original.  It was also very, very good.  I normally make a small thing of cole slaw to eat with it, but I decided against it this time for some reason.  This would be SO good with corn on the cob or other traditional bbq fare.  I've made it two ways:  1) with partially defrosted chicken breasts and 2) with frozen chicken breasts.  Either way works.  You can also do all of the prep at one time (and omit the chicken broth steps) instead of in 2 separate sections.  (I just find that I prefer the flavors that come from the chicken broth and the 1-2 hours to soak up the BBQ.)

Crockpot Chicken BBQ

adapted from ??

Ingredients

• About 1 lb half-defrosted skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• You can use also use frozen.
• Seasoning: garlic powder, salt & pepper
• 1 can of chicken broth
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle of BBQ sauce
• 1/2 c italian salad dressing
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• Provolone cheese slices
• Hamburger buns
• Cole slaw and toppings, if desired

Instructions

1. Place chicken in crockpot.
2. Rub seasoning on chicken and coat both sides.
3. Pour chicken broth in crockpot (it's fine if some seasoning comes off).
4. Cover and cook:
1. If using partially defrosted, cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.
2. If using frozen, cook on high for 4.5 hours or low for 6.5 hours.
5. Once chicken is almost cooked, mix together the BBQ sauce, dressing, brown sugar and Worcestershire.  Set aside.
6. Once cooked, shred chicken with 2 forks.  
7. Pour BBQ mixture over chicken and let chicken cook on low for another 1-2 hours.
8. Serve on buns with cheese and desired toppings.

**You can easily omit steps 2 & 3.  If you are pressed for time, simply put the chicken in the crockpot and pour the BBQ mixture over the chicken to coat.  Cover, and cook 3-4 hours on High or 6-8 hours on Low.

Red Thai Curry with Cauliflower on Shrimp

This recipe intrigued me.  It has a lot of vegetables that I like and accompanies flavors that I like.  Ron's out of town so I decided it would be a quick and easy recipe to try out for myself.  The original called for tofu, however, I substituted that ingredient for shrimp.  Shrimp sounded much more appealing.

I actually liked this a lot.  It was very quick and easy to prepare.  It only takes about 2.5 hours in the crockpot and the flavors were subtle, but good.  I doubt I'd make this again for dinner, but this is only because Ron wouldn't eat it.  He'd end up picking out all of the shrimp or saying "why don't you add some meat into this?"  It would turn into a fight that I'm just not interested in having.

However, I will remember this one for the next time he goes out of town.

Red Thai Curry with Cauliflower
adapted from askGeorgie.com
Yield:  4 servings
Nutrition:  Per serving (with shrimp): 263 calories, 8 g total fat, 6 g saturated fat, 218 mg cholesterol, 20 g total carbohydrate, 6 g dietary fiber, 29 g protein, 884 mg sodium.
 
Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower (6” diameter)
• 1 cup frozen cut green beans
• 1 cup frozen peas
• ½ cup chopped yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons red Thai curry paste
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• ½ cup regular coconut milk
• If using FF coconut milk, increase to 1 cup.
• ¼ cup fresh basil, shredded
• Salt to taste (or 1 Tablespoon fish sauce)
• 1 pound cooked shrimp

Instructions 

1. Chop cauliflower into large florets and place in slow cooker. Add green beans, peas, onion, and ginger.
2. In a bowl, combine vegetable broth and curry paste, and stir until smooth. Pour over vegetables in slow cooker.
3. Cover and cook on high for 2 1/2 hours.
4. Stir in the coconut milk and shredded basil, and season to taste with salt or fish sauce.
5. Place shrimp into serving bowls.  
6. Ladle hot curry over shrimp to serve.

Crockpot Thai Chicken

I often forget about my crockpot, but I've designated Thursdays as the official crockpot night.   Hopefully this thing gets used more often!

Unfortunately, there is no picture of the finished product.  This is because we ate it all and I was so hungry that I forgot to spare 2 seconds to take a picture!

I found a simple crockpot recipe for Thai inspired pork and decided to sub in chicken for the pork.  The recipe said that you could serve this over rice.  However, I decided to use the rice to make up a wrap sandwich and came up with a delicious wrap for dinner!

As mentioned above, there is no picture of the finished product.  I am unable to eat on Thursdays due to school so I come home ravenous.  I didn't even take my jacket off before I started fixing up my food.  In my defense, crockpots make the entire apartment smell good (including the hallway) so I was pretty dang hungry by the time I got inside.

This wrap was incredible!  I mixed up the chicken, heated up one of the 60 second rice bowls, pulled out a wrap, sprinkled some chow mein noodles/peanuts on top and had a meal.  My side was a buttload of carrots.  Seriously, this is incredible.  Try it!

Crockpot Thai Chicken
chicken adapted from Savour Fare 
Yield:  4 servings
Ingredients

•  For Main Course: 
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 2 pork tenderloins (about 1 lb. each, each cut in thirds) (or 1 lb. chicken breasts)
  
• 2 large red bell peppers, cored, seeded, cut into strips
• 1/3 cup prepared teriyaki sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon prepared Thai red curry paste (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
  

Instructions

1. Cook on low for 8 hours.
2. Remove pork (or chicken) from the crockpot and shred. 
3. Add peanut butter to liquid in cooker, stir to combine, then return meat to the cooker and toss so the sauce coats the meat.
4. Prepare wrap
1. Place as much cooked rice in wrap as you want.  (or Serve on a roll w/ some type of thai flavored slaw)
2. Add chicken/pork.
3. Add additional items:  Sprinkle some chow mein noodles, peanuts, cashews, green onion, chopped yellow onion, etc.  Whatever flavor you want.  Ron added some hot sauce, but said the peanuts made it the best.
4. Roll up and enjoy!!
   

Slow Cooker Jambalaya

Back from a WONDERFUL trip to Disney World w/ Ron, Mom and Dad.  I was very content and only had a few minor food mishaps :)

In Orlando, Ron and I ate at a Blues restaurant.  We shared some gumbo and he requested it for when we got home.  However, I was too tired to deal with a roux the day we got back home so I opted for a slow-cooker jambalaya recipe.  This is a great go-to recipe that takes minimal time to prepare and is delicious.  I served with some slices from a hearty seed and grain boule and a mixture of some ready rice (Cajun style and brown) that took about 90 seconds to make.  I followed the recipe to a T, but I think I added 12 oz of sausage to make up for all of the veggies I added.

Slow Cooker Jambalaya
adapted from Food Network.com
Yield:  4 servings
Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 pound andouille sausage, diced
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons Cajun or Creole seasoning
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 pound frozen peeled and cooked shrimp, thawed
• 2 cups cooked rice

Directions

1. In a slow cooker, combine chicken, sausage, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, celery, and chicken broth. Stir in oregano, Cajun seasoning, hot sauce, bay leaves, and thyme.
2. Cover, and cook on LOW for 7 hours or on HIGH for 3 hours. 
3. Stir in the thawed shrimp, cover and cook until the shrimp is heated through, about 5 minutes. 
4. Discard bay leaves and spoon mixture over cooked rice.

Crockpot Chicken and Spicy Roasted Potatoes

This is such an easy meal.  I am a huge fan because it takes very little prep time and basically prepares itself.  Serve with some vegetables to get your greens!!

Crockpot Chicken
adapted from various recipes & common sense

Ingredients

• 16-20 ounces of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Enough chicken broth to cover chicken
• Spices or some type of chicken rub 
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place thawed chicken breasts in crockpot.
2. Rub spice on both sides of chicken.
3. Pour chicken broth in crockpot to cover chicken.
4. Set crockpot on high, 3.5-4 hours or low, 7.5-8 hours.
5. Drain crockpot and serve!

This is my go-to recipe for shredding chicken for soups, chicken bbq sandwiches, and dips.  You can also mix it up by using different spices or flavorings (such as orange juice, etc).

Spicy Roasted Potatoes
adapted from Simply Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 bag of Simply Potatoes Red Potato Wedges  
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425°F. 
2. Toss Simply Potatoes with oil in bowl. 
3. Mix remaining ingredients in small bowl; toss with Simply Potatoes until evenly coated.
4. Place Simply Potatoes on a baking sheet in a single layer. 
5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.