Stuffed Shells

I have had a lot of positive feedback about the recipes I have posted. I have decide I will occasionally throw in a few non-crockpot meals. This recipe isn't really fast but it is very easy. I sometimes make the filling grate the cheese on one day, then the next day make the shells and assemble it.

The recipe below makes enough stuffing for two batches. I make a large batch and them freeze the left over stuffing so it is faster and easier the next time I make it.


This is one of my favorite recipes. I had never had stuffed shells until Sadie was born and a wonderful neighbor brought us dinner. From the first bit I was sold! Here is the recipe Gary and I came up.

My Stuffed Shells
1 jar spaghetti sauce
8 oz mushrooms, washed and diced
1 egg
1 large container ricotta cheese
16 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
Jumbo shells
1 pk frozen chopped spinach (opt.)
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
2 lbs lean ground beef
3/4-1 lb. ground sausage

Thaw and drain spinach. Brown sausage and ground beef and drain. Cook shells according to directions on box. Mix ricotta and egg well. Add diced mushrooms, spinach, ground beef and sausage to ricotta mix.

Set up shells in a 9x13 pan. stuff with meat mixture. Top with spaghetti sauce and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes at 350*. Remove cover and add mozzarella and bake for 10 minutes until cheese is melted.

This recipe freezes well. However, when freezing don't top with cheese until after you have cooked it.

RATING: 5 stars. This is one of my favorite dishes to make. The kids love it too. I prefer it without spinach but my husband likes it better with spinach. It is all about personal preference weather you include the spinach or not. :-)

Spanish rolls

I got this recipe from a college roommate (thanks Beth). This is one we ate a lot in college because it was a fast, easy, cheap and make great left overs. This isn't a crockpot meal but it is very easy and can be prepared ahead of time, so I am going to post it anyway. I almost always prepare the filling the day before I want to eat it.


Spanish Rolls
8 green onions, cut finely
1/8 C. Olive Oil
1 lb. grated cheese (I like mix like, colby jack or 1/2 sharp and 1/2 mild)
1 can tomato sauce
4 boiled eggs, diced0
1 can (4oz) green chilies
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
12 HARD french rolls


Mix everything together. Cut off the ends of the rolls and hallow out. Place mixture into rolls. Replace the ends and wrap in plastic wrap and microwave to heat. You can also wrap in tin foil and heat in oven at 350* for 20 minutes.

I usually prefer a smaller roll but this is all Walmart had when I went. When hallowing out the roll leave enough so that the outside won't become soggy and leak. This made 9 LARGE rolls.

Dinner Time Savers

One of my favorite time saving tricks is making freezer meals. I typically know ahead of time when we are going to have a busy month so I plan ahead by making a few. One of my favorite things to make and freeze is meatballs. There are so many things you can do with meatballs. When you make them yourself they taste better and are better for you. At our house we eat a lot of high fiber-low fat meals. The big bags of meatballs you buy in the store are very high in fat...so I WON'T buy them. I make my own. I make a double batch and it makes enough for three meals for my family.

I freeze mine if quart size freezer bags.

Marvelous Meatballs
*Everything is approximate because we doesn't always measure when we cook.

2 lbs low fat ground beef
1 lb ground sausage
bread crumbs, Italian flavored
1 egg
1-2 TBSP parsley
Garlic powder to taste
Italian seasoning to taste

Saute over medium heat, adding a few TBSP of water occasionally to prevent scorching.

meatball dinner ideas:
beef stroganoff
spaghetti and meatballs
crumble and put in Ziti
crumble and mix with ricotta cheese for stuffed shells
Sweet and sour meatballs
Brown gravy and noodles

Many of these meals can be made in the crockpot once the meatballs are made.

Chicken Parmesan Perfected

Remember this post? I have since perfected this recipe. The changes I made are in bold italics.

Crockpot Chicken Parmesan

2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, (sliced, chicken tender size.
1/2 c. seasoned bread crumbs (I like a high bread crumb to chicken ratio)
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil
1 beaten egg
16 oz mozzarella cheese (sliced)
1 jar spaghetti sauce

The Directions:

1. Spread 1 TBSP of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpot.
2. Whip the egg with a fork in a separate bowl.
3. Mix bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in another separate dish.
4. Dip chicken into the egg, then into the bread crumb mixture, coating both sides w/crumbs.
5. Place the chicken breast slices in the bottom of the crockpot.
6. about 2 hours before serving add mozzarella cheese on top on top of chicken.
7. about 1-1/2 hour before serving add spaghetti sauce. Once sauce is hot turn down to warm until you are ready to serve.
8. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4.
Can be served over rice or noodles. It is also great alone!

My Rating: 4.5 Stars (out of 5). Smelled great all day! Tasted great and was very easy.
Modifications: NONE, it's perfect! By using seasoned bread crumbs I didn't need to add any other seasonings to the bread crumbs and it saved me a few moments in the kitchen. Waiting to add the sauce until later made a HUGE difference in taste and texture.

Herbed Chicken and Tomatoes

Herb Chicken and Tomatoes

1 lb chicken, cut into bit size pieces
2 cans Italian diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)
1 envelope McCormick Italian Herb Chicken seasoning
1 Package Bow tie noodles
1 Package mushrooms, thickly sliced
Shredded parmesan cheese

Put chicken in crockpot and cook on low for about 2 hours. Take out and cut into bit size pieces. Combine chicken, tomatoes and soup mix and sliced mushroom in crockpot. Cook on low for another 3-4 hours. Serve over pasta and sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese.

This is the seasoning packet I used.

*Too save time you can cut the chicken before putting it in the crockpot. I personally hate cutting raw chicken so I wait until it is mostly cooked before I cut it.

**I sometimes use stewed tomatoes instead of diced because that is what I have on hand. When using stewed tomatoes pulse in blend a few times to break up the chunks.

Rating: 3.5 stars. It is very easy and fast to throw together. It tasted good and is healthy. Everybody loved it! I will definitely make this again.
Modifications: none that I can think of.

After looking at the picture I realize it is time to get new dishes. These white dishes are boring! Dinner would be tons for fun if the plates had a little character. They have served us well for 11 years I think it is time for them to get replaced, (hint hint Gary).

Crockpot Tuesday returns again!

Once again we enter the fall season, which brings with it the ciaos of football, soccer, piano, scouts, and many more activities that clutter our schedules. By the time the first soccer game begins we are already looking forward to end of another sports season. For six long weeks we are an on-the- go family.

Each boy has either practice or games three times a week and never at fields close to each other. With Gary being Jack's soccer coach he is in charge of all things soccer and I am in charge of all things football. This means me missing several of Jack's.

Due to the craziness of our lives during this time of year we must have fast and easy meals. I hate the idea of clogging our arteries and wasting money on fast food because we mismanaged our time. So to prevent this I rely heavily on my crock pot (and left overs). On slow nights before the fall gets into full swing I make double recipes and freeze half, making for a quick and healthy dinner later on. Tuesdays are still by far our busiest days. All four kids have piano/music class and we have scouts to boot. Once sports are all over it will really be nice to have only one week day consumed by extra curricular activities.
Here is a new recipe I made yesterday. It turned out great and was very easy!

Lime Chicken Tacos (crock pot)

1-1/2 lbs boneless chicken breasts
3 TBSP lime juice
1 TBSP chili powder
1 C. frozen corn
1 C. chunky salsa
flour tortillas or taco shells

Mix lime juice and chili power and pour over chicken in crock pot. Cook in low for 5-6 hours or until chicken is tender.

Remove chicken and shred. Place chicken back in crock pot and add corn and salsa. Cook on low for 30 minutes.

Serve in tortillas with black beans, pico de gallo, cheese, rice, sour cream etc.

Serve in taco shells with olives, cheese, refried beans, tomatoes, sour cream etc.

Rating: 4 stars
Modifications: None. Everyone liked it even the boys which says a lot.

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork and more

It has been awhile since I posted a crockpot recipe. Life has been crazy. This recipe is a culmination of several that I found online. I have made this twice now and Gary said it was the best meal I have cooked in a long time. While you might think that means I don't cook often, that is not the case. This meal is just that fabulous!!!

Sweet Pork
4-5 lbs pork roast
1-1/2 jars salsa (16 oz)
1-1/2 c. brown sugar

Place roast in crockpot, dump salsa and brown sugar on top. Stir occasionally. Cook for 5-6 hours. I like to chop my roast after a bit so that more surface area is covered by the mixture. It would probably be really good to add partially cooked onions (not quite carmalized) to the crockpot. You can also use chopped pork chops.

Shred/chop roast and add to salad, burittos etc.

Tomatillo Ranch dressing
Yeilds 4 cups

1 can tomatillos (or 3 fresh chopped)
1-1/2 c ranch dressing ( I used BYU light)
1/2 bunch cilantro chopped
juice from 1/2 of a lime
1 clove garlic minced
3 green onions chopped
1/2-1 jalepeno, chopped with seeds removed

mix well in a blender and refrigerate.

**instead of ranch dressing you can add 1 cup mayo, 1 cup milk and 1 ranch packet.

This dressing tastes great and is similair to Bajios dressing that I just love. WARNING: this makes a lot of dressing, you may want to cut the portions if you can't use this quantity quickly.

Sweet Rice
5 c water
4 t chicken boullion
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 can green chilies (or 1/2-1 jalepeno seeded and chopped)
3/4 t salt (opt. you can let each person add salt as they please)
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cups rice

Blend cilantro, green chilies and onion together in blender. Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients. simmer coverd for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked.

We like to make this into something simliar to the Ensalada Bajio (from Bajio's) by adding tortillas, lettuce, cheese, black beans, pico de gallo, and of course sweet rice, pork and tomatillo dressing.

I would reccomend making the dressing the day before just becuase it makes a large mess when you make everything at once. If you are short on time make the rice the day before also.


RATING: 5 Starts
Modifications: None! Next time I might try it with chicken breast.

Gary's clam chowder

This is a recipe that Gary made up.
Clam Chowder:

3 c. milk
1 c. clam juice
4t. Starch
3 TBPS flour
3 cans clams
1 can crab
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
2c. Scallops
½ t. onion powder
3 short celery sticks (include leaves)
Fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste


Cook in crockpot 2 hours on high and additional 4-6 hours on LOW.

My rating: 5 stars. It tasted very much like a restaurant chowder.
Modifications: 1-2 more potatoes.
Left over Wednesday:
Just that...left overs with no modifications.

Ranch Chicken & Bacon

Ranch Chicken & Bacon

2 T olive oil
4-6 chicken breasts (only used 3--it's wasn't enough for left overs)
1 pkg cooked & crumbled bacon
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1/2 cup Ranch salad dressing (I used BYU light)
1- cup shredded cheddar cheese



Put the 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the bottom of crock pot & spread it around.
Place chicken on top of oil.

In a small bowl, combine the teriyaki sauce & ranch.

Pour sauce over the top of the chicken. Add the shredded cheese & crumbled bacon. For added flavor add a bit (1-2 TBSP) of the bacon grease to the crockpot.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4.

My Rating: 4 stars. The flavor was GREAT but the bacon was burned and couldn't really taste the cheese. :( Will be making it again with the following modifications.
Modifications: Wait to add the cheese until the last hour or so, use more chicken, I only did 3 breasts and I didn't have enough left overs to do anything with. I would also slightly under cook the bacon, it got really crispy in the crockpot and wasn't edible which is a huge bummer! If you actually use 4-6 breast make more ranch/teriyaki sauce maybe even double.

Left over Wednesday: consisted of pulling frozen casserole from the freezer due to not enough chicken left over.

Chicken Parmesan to Chicken Spaghetti

Chicken Parmesan Crockpot
2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, (I like it sliced, chicken tender sizes)
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 T olive oil
1 beaten egg
6-9 Slices mozzarella cheese (we like it cheesy!)
1 jar spaghetti sauce

The Directions:

1. Spread 1 TBSP of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpot.
2. Whip the egg with a fork in a separate bowl.
3. Mix bread crumbs with the seasonings and the Parmesan cheese in another separate dish.
4. Dip chicken into the egg, then into the bread crumb mixture, coating both sides w/crumbs.
5. Place the chicken breast slices in the bottom of the crockpot.
6. Layer 6-9 slices of mozzarella cheese on top on top of chicken.
7. Cover with entire jar of marinara sauce
8. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4.
9. Serve over favorite pasta noodles.

My Rating: 4 Stars (out of 5). Smelled great all day! Tasted great and was very easy. I will be making this again.
Modifications: Chicken tenders would have saved time slicing. Next time I would either add more sauce or have some warmed up to add at the end. Gary would have like more sauce.

Left over Wednesday:

Chicken Spaghetti
1. Remove chicken from sauce and cube chicken.
2. Add more noodles (if needed)
3. Add another bottle of spaghetti sauce.
4. Mix together and heat in oven at 350* until heated all the way through.
5. Add shredded Mozzarella cheese or grated Parmesan on top.

Rating: 4 stars Gary & I have different votes. He thought is was better than yesterday b/c it had more sauce. I say not almost as at good. Nice change, kids didn't realize they were having left overs. I will make this again too.

From Stew to Pot Pie

This weeks crockpot dish is Stew. I am not a big stew person but I just LOVE this recipe. I got it from an college roommate many years ago.

My Favorite Stew:
1 large can cream of chicken soup (low fat)
1 can tomato sauce
1 small can water (tomato sauce)
carrots
potatoes
Stew beef, cubed
1 pkg. onion soup mix

Dump into crockpot and cook on high 7-8 hours
My Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)
Modifications for next time: nothing! I love the color of the base. I love the creamy thickness. YUM!

On Wednesday I turned the stew into a pot pie. My family loves pot pie. I am the only one that can't stand it. :) I use my favorite pie crust recipe called "Never Fail Pie Crust". This is one of those recipes that most people have b/c it gets past around at every enrichment potluck. But just in case you missed it here it is.

Never Fail Pie Crust:
5 cups flour
1 TBS salt
2 cups shortening

Use pastry blender or 2 knives to cut shortening into flour until the size of a pea. The secret to a good pie crust (imo) is to NEVER use a mixer.

1 egg, beaten
2 TBSP vinegar
mix in measuring cup and add enough water to make 1 cup.

Add to dry ingredients and mix.

My secret for lifting the pie crust off the counter is to use a spatula to lift the edges away from the surface. Then place wax paper on top of crust and fold the crust onto itself in thirds. Make sure the crust only touches the wax paper and not itself. This make it easier to get the center off with out it falling apart.

I used a 9x11 pan. The pan size can vary depending on how much stew you have left.

Place bottom layer of crust in pan. Leave edges long enough so when it shrinks it will still seal to the top. Poke fork holes into bottom crust. Bake at 450* for 10 minutes.

Add stew. If needs to be thickened add a bit of corn starch. I prefer to heat my strew up for about 5 minutes in the microwave so it takes less time to cook. Place top crust and seal it to bottom crust. Be care as crust and pan are hot. Place on cookie sheet and cook for about 30 minutes (or longer if you didn't warm the stew first.)

My Rating: Gary rated this 6 stars out of 5.
Modifications for next time: Personally, I just would eat the left over stew and not make a pot pie. :) But everyone in the family LOVES it, so that is not an option.

My boys love this dish!!

With the left over pie crust I make cinnamon crisps. Roll out dough and cut into strips and dump Cinnamon & sugar on them and bake the for 5-10 minutes depending on how thick they are.
Enjoy!

Crockpot Tuesday

Tuesday (& Wednesdays) have become the crazy day(s) of week at our house. It looks like with the busyness of it will also come crockpot Tuesday and Left over Wednesday. I think I will start posting good recipes as I discover them. I won't waste my time with posting the yucky ones.


Crockpot Corn Chowder

2 cups diced ham (opt)
4 cups Chicken stock (or broth- if using broth eliminate or use less salt)
1 onion chopped
1 red pepper chopped
2 handfuls chopped baby carrots-chopped
1 cup frozen corn
3 med. potatoes, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown onion in oil in saucepan, cooked but not totally translucent. (it will cook more in crockpot).

Dump everything into crockpot. Cook on high 4-6 h hours or low for 8-9 hours.
Use a hand blender to "chowerfy" before serving. Be careful, it's hot!

My rating of this recipe: I wasn't blown away by it, but it was good. Gary really liked it. 3 stars (out of 5).
Modification for next time: add at least 3 more potatoes.


DAY 2 left overs:
On day two I modified the recipe to change it up a bit and improve the taste. Here is what I did.


Add 1 cup whole milk
1/4 c. potato pearls/flakes (wait to add until boiling so they dissolve well)
3 med. potatoes chopped.

Put in large pot on stove and bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cover until potatoes are cooked. I cooked mine for 1-1/2 hours. Keep stirring and make sure your temperature isn't to hot so you don't scorch the bottom.

My rating of this recipe: This was much better than day 1. The potato flakes were a great way to thicken it. We love a thick and cream soup at our house. The changes were really good. 4 stars me, 4-1/2 stars Gary.
Modification for next time: Make it this way from day one.


**Note this is last weeks recipe, I am just late posting it. This weeks will be up later in the week and it is a really good one.