Crock Pot Meals using Rival Crock Pot

When I started this blog I wanted to be able to provide simple tips and recipes for people with a hectic life and not much time to cook let alone cook a healthy meal.

Over the next few weeks I intend to introduce some damn tasty and healthy meals that anyone can make in a short amount of time.

Obviously, by the title this post will introduce some of my most favorite crock pot meals that you can literally prepare in the morning before running off to work, turn it on and have a nice meal complete by the time you get home that night.

I personally would be lost without my crock pot, having made a ton of different meals with little to no time required. You don't have to be the Barefoot Contessa to be able to make mouth watering dishes with these slow cookers.

Rival Crock Pot is My Choice

To start off I want to provide a background on my culinary experience and the fun that I've had with crock pots, because the first couple that I tried just didn't seem to cook properly. There was always more burned food than edible. My personal favorite when it comes to slow cookers is by far the Rival Crock Pot. The inner bowl where the food is cooked is designed perfectly to minimize the burning that occurs as your food is simmering away in it.

As I stated before I'm pretty busy so when I am home, I just want to be about as lazy as I can and with the Rival crock pot it couldn't be easier. My meals typically consist of shopping for the ingredients, usually on the weekend; preparing the ingredients and then throwing them in the crock pot.

The Rival crockpot has digital controls so that I can indicate exactly how long I want the food to cook and even whether I want a high heat or a low heat for the food. The coolest thing is when your food is done cooking, the crock pot goes immediately to "warm mode" and it will keep the food warm without over cooking it until I am ready to sink my teeth into it.

Also, because I use a large crock pot I have enough food to last me nearly the entire week. **hint** Grab yourself some small plastic containers and you suddenly have your lunches at work!! Of course it is just my personal preference to use the Rival brand crock pot over others, as long as you get one you will never regret it!

On to the recipes now....

Crock Pot Meals - Chili

Now this is a basic chili crock pot meal. There is no meat in this one, but I'm sure you've realized you can get creative and add additional ingredients to really spice up the food.

Ingredients

1 lb dried pinto beans. Wash them thoroughly and soak in water overnight

1 medium size onion. Peel it and mince

1 fresh, hot chili pepper. Seed it and mince it. A dried pepper will work in a pinch

1 tsp of ground cumin

1 tsp minced fresh oregano leaves

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

Fresh cilantro, chopped

Combine all of your ingredients, except cilantro into the slow cooker. Cover all of the ingredients with water and put the lid on it. Set your crock pot on high and cook for 4 hours. Keep an eye on the mixture and if it appears to be getting too dry, add a little more water to the mix.

After cooking your ingredients for 4 hours on high, check to see if the pinto beans are tender. That’ll be your indication that the dish is done. Turn off the crock pot, garnish the meal with the chopped cilantro and you’re ready to eat.

You can always season the meal with more salt and/or pepper if you like. The recipe above was a vegetarian version of chili and you’re not required to stick to that. By all means brown some ground beef or chicken breast (chop up the chicken after cooked) in a pan and throw that into the crock pot with the beans after about 3 1/2 hours of cooking. You’re limited only by your imagination.

Cassoulet Crock Pot Meals

Ok now I'm throwing around big words now! What the heck is cassoulet? Cassoulet is a French word that basically means a slow cooked bean stew or casserole. Usually there is some kind of meat that is added to the stew and this is the reason I chose this recipe next; since its a step up on the first chili recipe I provided for you just above.

Ingredients

1/2 lb of navy beans. Wash them and lightly dry them off

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 cups of canned, chopped tomatoes. If you want fresh, by all means use fresh tomatoes

1/4 lb of salt pork or slab bacon. Cube it into small cubes

4 links of Italian sausage

1 lb of boneless pork shoulder

2 chicken legs. If you feel like it you can replace chicken legs with duck legs

1/2 tsp of dried thyme

2 bay leaves

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 Tbsp of minced garlic

Fresh parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper, to flavor

Chicken stock. If you prefer, you can use low sodium chicken stock or just water.

In your crock pot, add the beans, cubed bacon, bay leaves, crushed garlic, onion, carrots and tomatoes. Fill the crock with the chicken stock. Be sure to cover all of the ingredients by at least two inches. Turn your crock pot on high.

In another pan you will need to brown the other meats, the pork shoulder, chicken legs and sausage. As the items have been browned place them into the crock pot, which should be heating up and simmering along pretty well now.

Place the lid on the crock pot and cook the ingredients on high for about 4 hours. Just like the first chili recipe, the meal is done when the beans are tender. At this point, add the mince garlic and add the salt and pepper to flavor. Garnish with the parsley and Voila, you're finished!

That is all of the crock pot meals that I'm going to have for today. The next posts will focus on slow cooker recipes that have more of a barbeque theme to them. Until then... happy cooking