The last recipe of season 4! Crock Pot Caramel Apple Crisp

This recipe was submitted by WGLR listener, Kris! Her recipe was the winner in the "Julie's Crock of the Week" giveaway for season 4. Enjoy! It's delicious!

Slow Cooker Caramel Apple Crisp

6 golden delicious apples
2 boxes yellow cake mix
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons cinnamon
1 stick butter (melted)
1/4 cup caramel sauce
Ice Cream {optional}
Caramel sauce for the finale {optional}

What to do ...
1. Slice and peel apples
2. In a large bowl, combine the yellow cake mixes, sugar, and cinnamon
3. Add in the melted butter and stir to combine and crumbly
4. Put apples into slow cooker.
5. Set slow cooker on high.
6. Pour the caramel sauce over the apples.
7. Pour dry ingredients over the apples and caramel. Spread it out with a spoon so that the entire surface is covered.
8. Cover with a lid and cook on high for 2 hours. Set the slow cooker to low and remove the lid. Let sit for 30 minutes without the lid so the top of the crisp can harden.
9. Serve with Ice Cream and additional caramel drizzle.

Crock Pot Hamburger Soup

**originally posted on www.WGLR.com on 3-16-15**

Hard to believe this is almost the last "Julie's Crock of the Week" for season 4! You will get one more next week, but that will be from the winner of the Julie's Crock of the Week Giveaway (MAKE SURE TO ENTER TO WIN! Click on the link above to enter your recipe in the contest!). This recipe reminds my of my grandma, who passed away about 10 years ago. She was a fantastic cook. I wish she would have lived a few more years to see my family and help me out with recipes and tips now that I am cooking for a family instead of just myself! While I retained some tips from her over the years, there is so much more I could have learned from her. This soup is one she made. This one and her bean & ham soup were ones I remember most. My grandpa had polio, so his mobility was limited, and since he couldn't do manual labor, the two of them invested in a lot of businesses, and worked hard! They ran and owned a few restaurants and taverns, and my grandma handled the cooking. After my grandpa passed in the 70's, she went on to be the head cook for a hospital, so let me tell you, she knew her stuff. My dad is an excellent cook, too. He helped as a kid with working in the tavern and restaurants with them. I like to think I'm carrying on her passion and traditions with my family, and with sharing my love of cooking with you all through WGLR over the years. Thanks for making this so fun for me. So, make this soup and whip up a loaf of beer bread like my Grandma Bernice did whenever she made soup, and enjoy it with your family! It's an easy and relatively inexpensive recipe, too! It's Crock Pot Hamburger Soup.

 

 

CROCK POT HAMBURGER SOUP

• 2lbs lean ground beef
• 1 white onion, peeled and diced
• ¹⁄₄teaspoon ground black pepper, more to taste
• ¹⁄₂teaspoon dry oregano, more to taste
• ¹⁄₂teaspoon dry basil, more to taste
• ¹⁄₄teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1 (1 1/2 ounce) envelope onion soup mix
• 6 cups water, more to desired consistency
• 1(8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1(15 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1(15 ounce) can corn, drained
• 1 cup celery, sliced
• ¹⁄₄ cup celery leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup fresh carrot, sliced
• 1 cup white potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
• garlic salt, to taste (after cooking)

Brown ground beef with the onion in a pan. Drain. Transfer to slow cooker and add all remaining ingredients, and stir it up. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Sprinkle on garlic salt to taste when done. Serve with shredded cheese or sour cream on top, if desired!

Crock Pot Corned Beef & Cabbage Stew

**originally posted on WGLR.com on 3-9-15**

Oh my, with temps in the 50’s coming this week, and St.Patrick’s Day next week, spring is in the air! Yay! This week’s recipe is perfect for your St.Patrick’s Day celebrations this weekend and next week. It’s Crock Pot Corned Beef & Cabbage Stew! This is a great way to prepare the traditional St.Patty’s Day tradition, or it’s a great way to use up the leftovers from a meal of corned beef & cabbage! We really liked it, and the leftovers were even better. My only suggestion is to chop the cabbage up well and get the corned beef in a bite size way, because my pieces were a bit to large and made quite a mess when we tried to eat it, but the mess was worth it! Bake some crusty soda bread to go with it, and you have a perfect Irish meal to celebrate this fun holiday with. I got this from the awesome Skinnytaste blog. a serving of 1 3/4 cups is only about 280 calories. And if your corned beef brisket doesn’t come with a seasoning packet, you will have to season this up yourself.

CROCK POT CORNED BEEF & CABBAGE STEW

Ingredients:

• 2 leeks, chopped (whites and light green only)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 medium carrots, chopped (I just used matchstick carrots to save some prep time)
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped
• 1 lb lean corned beef brisket (yields 9 oz cooked)
• 6 cups of water
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
• 1 small head cabbage, cored and chopped
• 1 large potato, peeled and cubed

Place the corned beef brisket in your crock pot. Add leeks, garlic, carrots, yellow pepper, water, bay leaves, and parsley. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until the brisket shreds easily. Remove the brisket from the crock pot onto a plate, and shred it up. Return meat to the crock pot, and then add the chopped cabbage and potato. Cook on low for another hour, and serve!

Crock Pot Crab Rangoon Dip

**originally posted on WGLR.com on 3-2-15**

One of my favorite things to get when we go out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant is Crab Rangoon. Oh, how I love them, dipped in sweet & sour sauce especially! So, when I came across this recipe online, I knew I had to try it! It isn’t bad, although I prefer it surrounded in a deep fried wonton wrapper! But this was quite tasty on a cracker, and easy to throw together. You could even use it as filling to make your own rangoon at home if you are feeling adventurous! For this recipe, use a small crock pot like the little dipper, or a 2.5 quart one (which is what I did).

Crock Pot Crab Rangoon Dip

2 8oz bricks of Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 Cup Sour Cream

4 Green Onions, chopped

1 1/2 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

2 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar

1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 12oz Package Imitation Crab Meat, pulverized

Add all ingredients to the crock pot and mix together as well as you can (it helps to cube up the cream cheese). Cook on low for about 2 hours, stirring at least once. Serve on crackers or any dipper of your choice!

Crock Pot "No Fail" Macaroni and Cheese

*originally posted on www.WGLR.com on 2-24-15*

With another super duper cold snap upon us, I was craving some comfort food! One recipe in the crock pot that has not been a success for me in the past is mac n cheese. I made a recipe back in season 2 of The Crock of the Week, and it was good, but it wasn’t quite the creamy consistency I was looking for. I tried again last fall and failed miserably. It always curdled on me! I came across the recipe below online a few weeks ago, and the author of the blog had the exact same problems and frustration as me, and THIS is the recipe that worked for her. So I decided to try one more time, but if it didn’t work, I was never going to make mac n cheese in the crock pot ever again! Haha! Well, since I am sharing it with you this week, you can probably guess the outcome. It was AWESOME! The key is NO EGGS! Don’t use a crock pot recipe that calls for eggs in the ingredient list! This recipe uses a can of condensed cheddar soup in the mix, and I think that is what made it work so wonderfully. YUM YUM YUM!!!

Crock Pot “No Fail” Macaroni & Cheese

3 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

5 tablespoons butter

18 oz grated medium cheddar cheese (about 2.5-3 cups)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cheddar cheese soup

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole milk

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Boil elbow macaroni in a saucepan for about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Then, melt butter in a saucepan, and slowly stir in the grated cheddar cheese over low-med heat until it is completely melted. It should only take a few minutes, and stir almost constantly to avoid burning.

Transfer melted cheddar to the crock pot, and add in sour cream, milk, soup, dry mustard, and salt & pepper. Stir in partially cooked elbow macaroni. Cook on low for about 2 hours, stirring a few times. Keep an eye on it, as all crock pots cook differently. It was done in about an hour and 45 minutes for me.

Slow Cooker Cheesy Grits with Garlic Butter Shrimp

Ingredients

Grits:

• 2 cups uncooked stone-ground grits
• 6 cups water
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup Parmesan, grated
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoons freshly ground pepper

Shrimp:

• 24 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 1/4 sticks butter, sliced into pats
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Combine grits and water in slow cooker and let grits settle to the bottom. Skim any solids off the top of the water. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or overnight.
2. Stir and add in cream, cheeses, salt, pepper and butter.
3. Preheat oven to 350º F.
4. Toss shrimp in olive oil and minced garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Spread out on a baking tray.
5. Place in oven and cook for 6-8 minutes, or until shrimp is pink, opaque and cooked through.
6. Add butter directly to baking tray and toss shrimp in it.
7. Spoon grits into bowls and add shrimp and butter on top.
8. Serve warm.

Recipe found at 12tomatoes.com

Crock Pot Lemon Spoon Cake

**originally posted on www.WGLR.com on 2-9-15**

I was in Florida for a long weekend last week, and wow, did that make me desire spring and summer even more! I have had this recipe saved in my files to try for a long time, so I decided that I needed a taste of summer RIGHT NOW. Summer and fresh lemons go hand in hand, right? Plus, I LOVE lemon desserts. Lemon cake is a close second to chocolate, in my opinion. So, I tried this and wow! So delicious and moist and bursting with lemon flavor! It takes a bit of elbow grease to zest and juice the lemons (you’ll need about 4 for the whole recipe), but it was soooooooo worth it. It’s called a “spoon cake” because you spoon it out of the crock when it’s still warm and soft. Top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and you will have something to smile about. It is great when it’s warm right out of the crock pot, but I brought the leftovers to work the next morning and they were great, too. Making it in the crock pot, and the glaze over top makes the cake super moist, so you can enjoy it for a few days after you make it if you want. Good luck not eating it all in one sitting though if you love lemon cake like I do! That’s why I had to get the leftovers out of the house so I didn’t eat it all! 

**Disclaimer! The Husband thought it was “too lemony” (is that even possible??) so if you aren’t someone who adores lemon like me, you may want to cut back on the lemon juice a tad, and just add a bit more water to get the right amount of liquid needed. But I thought it was perfect!**

CROCK POT LEMON SPOON CAKE

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (plus 2 tablespoons for glaze below)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest (packed)

GLAZE:

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 cup powdered sugar

(You’ll use about 4 lemons total)

In a mixing bowl, combine dry cake mix, 1/2 cup lemon juice, water, melted butter, and lemon zest. Stir until well combined, but don’t over mix. Spray a 6 quart crock pot with non-stick cooking spray or baking spray (I use Wilton’s cake Bake Easy spray). Pour batter into the crock pot and smooth it down evenly.

Cook on high for 1-2 hours, covered. Cook time will depend on your crock pot. I have a metal one, and it was perfectly done in 1 hour 15 minutes. It was just starting to brown on the edges and pull away, and was firm in the center. Check after an hour to see how yours is looking.

Before serving, mix up the glaze ingredients and put over the cake in the crock pot. Spoon it out to serve warm. Top with vanilla ice cream if desired. Makes about 8 servings.

Once the cake cools down it will be more firm to get out of the crock with a spatula, if you want to pack up leftovers.

Crock Pot Kalua Pork

**Originally posted on www.WGLR.com on 2-2-15***

This week's recipe was probably the easiest thing I have ever made in my crock pot. But that's not all, it was also one of the most delicious! It also took my husband back to our honeymoon in Maui when we ate it. Just 3 ingredients, and you will have many delicious meals from this recipe. It's Crock Pot Kalua Pork! It slow cooks for a loooooooong time (that isn't a typo in the recipe!) and cooking it so long is what makes it so so so tender. We enjoyed it in a lettuce wrap with some rice and barbecue sauce (the Husband used hoison sauce). It seriously tastes like the pulled pork we had in Maui from the pig in the pit that we ate at a luau. And it is so versatile! I used leftovers for pulled pork tacos. You could use it in so many ways, like on a sandwich, nachos, in a casserole, you name it. I used a shoulder blade roast, because that tends to be more lean, but still has enough fat to keep the pork moist and flavorful. I'm sure a loin roast would work, but I would reduce the cooking time so it doesn't dry out too much. But I had plenty of flavorful juices in my roast after cooking for 12 hours (my roast was about 2.5lbs, the recipe calls for 3lbs). No issues with drying out at all! You may be tempted to eat it just when it's "done," but don't! Let it slow cook as long as possible!

CROCK POT KALUA PORK

• 3 lb pork shoulder blade roast, lean, remove any large chunks of fat
• coarse sea salt
• 1 tablespoon liquid mesquite smoke

Place pork in the crock pot and stab it all over with a knife. Rub sea salt all over the pork. Drizzle the liquid smoke all over the pork. Then, cook on low for 16 hours (yes, that is not a typo). Adjust cooking time if you have a different size roast, or if you know your crock pot cooks hot (some have their own personality!).

When done, remove from crock onto a platter. Remove any fat you may have missed before cooking, and then shred it all up with 2 forks. Remove any liquid from the crock pot (but don't toss it, I used some of it to put over leftovers in the fridge to help keep moist). Return the pork to the crock pot to keep warm for serving.

Crock Pot Bacon Cheeseburger Dip

**originally posted on www.WGLR.com on 1-26-15**

Super Sunday is this weekend! I wish my Packers were still playing, but oh well. Still had a great season! And it's still a good reason for a PARTY! If you are hosting a party for the big game, or need a dish to pass at somebody else's party, I'm helping you out this week. I made this around Christmas and it is really yummy! Lo-cal? No. BUT, it's the biggest game of the year, and gobbling up extra calories is part of the fun, right? It's Crock Pot Bacon Cheeseburger Dip! Nom nom nom! We ate it with tortilla chips, but I think it would go great on some chunks of big crusty bread, too.

CROCK POT BACON CHEESEBURGER DIP

• 1 lb of lean ground beef or turkey
• 8 oz package of cream cheese, cubed
• 2 c shredded cheddar cheese
• 10 oz can of diced tomatoes with green chiles (like Rotel)
• 6 oz package of real bacon bits, divided
• 1 t dried parsley
• assorted dippers like tortilla chips, bread chunks, etc.

Brown the meat in a skillet and drain. Add to the skillet over low heat: cheeses, the diced tomatoes with it's juices, and all of the bacon bits except for 2 tablespoons (save that for garnish on top when ready to serve). Cook until all cheeses are melted and the mixture is well blended. Transfer to crock pot (a 2 quart one is best unless you are doubling the recipe) and cook on low for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. Stir in parsley and top with bacon bits just before serving.

Crock Pot Honey Mustard Chicken

**originally posted on www.WGLR.com on 1-19-15**

One of the meats I cook with most in my crock pot is chicken. We love chicken in our house, and it’s so versatile with how you can cook it and what you can put it in, like soups. I came across this week’s recipe online as a healthy crock pot recipe. It is only 200 calories per serving, and this recipe makes 4 servings. It’s easy to throw together, and I had most ingredients in my house already actually. Now, I am generally not a fan of mustard, but this is delicious. The honey balances out the mustard nicely, along with the other spices and ingredients. The original recipe says to cut the chicken in strips, but I chose to shred it up and serve it over mashed baby red potatoes, SO GOOD! The sauce from this is pretty tasty, which is why I chose to serve it over potatoes, but you can just serve it on it’s own if you would like with a side of your choice.  I did thicken the sauce up to make it a bit more gravy-like (2 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tbsp cold water, then added to the crock pot), and it was really delicious.

Crock Pot Honey Mustard Chicken

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 large onion, sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon country-style (coarse-grain) mustard
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper

Place chicken in the crock pot, and add sliced onions on top. In a small bowl, mix together all remaining ingredients, and then pour over the chicken & onions in the crock. Cook on low for about 6 hours.

Serve on it’s own or shred up to serve over potatoes or rice. If you want a thicker sauce, add in 2tsp corn starch dissolved in 1 Tbsp cold water at the end.

Crock Pot Ground Beef Picadillo

**originally posted on www.WGLR.com on 1-12-15**

This week's recipe is probably one you haven't heard of. I follow an awesome blog for healthy DELICIOUS recipes called Skinnytaste, and that is where this recipe came from. I had never heard of the dish, but thought it sounded good and was willing to give it a try. It's called Crock Pot Picadillo (pronounced peek-uh-DEE-yo). Apparently, the term means "chopped" and is used for a few types of dishes. This picadillo is ground beef based, and is popular in Cuba and central american countries. It is typically served over rice (which is what I did with it initially when I made it), but it can also be used as a meat filling for tacos, nachos, or even as a sandwich. I used leftovers to make some hearty nachos with and wow, it was good! Lots of flavors mix together in this dish, and it isn't spicy.  So give it a try, I bet you'll like it.

CROCK POT PICADILLO

• 2 1/2 lbs ground beef ( I used 93% lean)
• 1 cup minced onion
• 1 cup diced red bell peppers
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup minced cilantro
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup alcaparrado (manzanilla olives, pimientos, capers) or green olives
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper, to taste

Brown the meat in a skillet, making sure it is well broken up into small pieces. Generously salt and pepper the meat while cooking. Drain. Add in onions, bell pepper & garlic and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Transfer meat mixture to your crock pot, and then add tomato, cilantro, tomato sauce, 1 1/4 cups water, alcaparrado (or olives), and then add the spices (you can also add some of the olive brine for some flavor).

Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8. Taste when done and add more salt and spices if desired. Serve over rice (I use brown) and enjoy!

Crock Pot Creamy Chicken Fajita Soup

**originally posted on www.WGLR.com on 1-5-15**

Well, with a cold week ahead like the one forecast, I pretty much only feel like eating soups & stews!! So, if you agree, here's a soup for you to help warm you up! It's Crock Pot Creamy Chicken Fajita soup! Pretty easy to throw together, and it has just enough spice to give you an extra warm-up while you eat it :) I was able to use some of the salsa I canned over the summer and some sweet corn off the cob that I froze. Was nice to enjoy some summer in this soup!

 

 

CROCK POT CREAMY CHICKEN FAJITA SOUP

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup salsa
2 cups frozen corn
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 - 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro (optional)
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
favorite toppings like sour cream, tortilla chips, avocado, extra cheese/salsa, etc

Place the chicken breasts into the crock pot. Combine chicken soup, salsa, corn, beans, water, cumin & cilantro in a large bowl. Mix well and pour over chicken in the crock pot. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours. Remove chicken from the crock and shred it up with 2 forks. Return it to the crock pot, add the shredded cheddar, and cook for another 15 minutes.

Serve in bowls with your favorite fajita toppings!

Crock Pot Kielbasa Bites

**originally posted on www.WGLR.com on 12-29-14**

I tested this week's recipe on my lovely co-workers here at QueenB Radio at our Holiday Potluck last week, and it was liked! So, thanks to their approval, I am sharing it with all of you! It's Crock Pot Kielbasa Bites! This is a great dish to take to any New Year celebrations or playoff footbal/Super Bowl parties! I doubled the recipe for the work potluck. Just make sure you don't overcook it though, and Hubs said that the leftovers the next day weren't all that fantastic. But they sure are delicious when eaten fresh right out of the crock! You may look at the ingredients and think I'm crazy, but for real, it's a wonderful flavor. I used a mix of kielbasa and smoked sausage when I made it. I imagine this would taste great on any kind of sausage you wanted to slice up and throw in! Even cocktail weinies!

 

 

CROCK POT KIELBASA BITES

• 1 lb. kielbasa (or smoked sausage)
• 1 cup apricot preserves
• 1/2 cup dijon mustard

Slice up the kielbasa and put in the crock. In a bowl, mix together the apricot preserves and mustard until well combined. Pour into the crock and stir together to evenly coat all of the sausage. Cook on low for 2-3 hours or high for 1-2.