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 baked Potato Soup

I got this recipe on a blog called "Mama Loves Food!" and wow, is it delicious! I have tried a few potato soup recipes in the past, but non were a keeper until this one. I think it's because this recipe uses cream cheese instead of heavy cream or milk. It is delicious! I used the new product from Green Mountain Farms that is a blend of cream cheese/greek yogurt. It works well in any cream cheese recipe, and is less calories. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup

• 5 pounds russet potatoes, washed but NOT peeled. Diced into 1/2 inch(ish) cubes
• 1 medium/large yellow onion, diced
• 10 cloves of garlic, minced (if you use jarred, it's a 5 teaspoon equivalent)
• 64 ounces (8 cups) chicken stock or broth
• 16 oz cream cheese, softened 
• 1 tablespoon seasoned salt 
• optional garnishes: crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, green onions

1. Add potatoes, onion, garlic, seasoning, and chicken stock to slow cooker.
2. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours.
3. Add the softened cream cheese and puree soup with an immersion blender until the cheese is incorporated and about half the soup is blended. (Alternately you could remove half the soup and the cream cheese to an upright blender, then re-incorporate).
4. Stir well, top with your choice of garnishes & enjoy!

DIPS!

With our new & improved WGLR website, I can keep a fe recipes at a time on the Midday Buffet page at WGLR.com, so I am a bit behind moving som eover into the archives! These two dips were the Crock of the Week over Christmas & New Year. Both are good year 'round, and especially with the Superbowl just around the corner. Great for parties! Both can be kept warm in the crock pot for hours to serve and enjoy.

Crock Pot Reuben Dip

• 1 8oz brick cream cheese
• 2 cups shredded swiss cheese
• 1 lb. corned beef, finely chopped
• 1 can sauerkraut (about 15oz can), not drained
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup Thousand island dressing (depends on how soft you want the dip)
• 1 to 2 loaves rye or pumpernickel cocktail party bread

Cube up the cream cheese and add to the crock with the shredded swiss cheese and the corned beef. Give that all about a half hour on high to melt together. The add the can of kraut, stir. Add the thousand island dressing until it is the consistency you want (it will get a bit thicker as it cooks together). Continue to cook on high for about another half hour until it is all heated through. Then you are OK to keep it in warm to serve and enjoy for a few hours. Spread on the cocktail bread to eat. YUM! Store leftovers in the fridge, and just warm leftovers in the microwave.

Crock Pot Salsa Spinach Queso Dip

• 1 8oz brick cream cheese, cubed up
• 1 lb Velveeta, cubed up
• 1-10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, drained
• salsa of your choice, about 12-16 oz (or 1 can Rotel if you want more kick)
• a handful of chopped up fresh cilantro (optional, but tasty!)

Throw the cheeses in the pot and add the other ingredients on top. It will take about an hour on HIGH for everything to melt together nicely, stir every 10-15 minutes to keep it all blended and melting evenly. Then just set on warm for people to enjoy for hours! We used tortilla chips, but I think chunks of bread or cocktail rye would work nicely with this dip too.
You can use light versions of the cream cheese and Velveeta (2%) if you would like.
Happy New Year! I hope 2013 is a great year for you all!

Italian Chicken

Well folks, we are nearing the end of this weekly feature for the season. Spring is inching in, so I will shelve the Crock of the Week for now, and maybe bring it back in the Fall. Next week will be the last Crock of the Week. But don't cry, because here is another recipe to add to your collection, Italian Chicken. Super easy and tasty! My 2 year-old son gobbled this up like he was never going to get another meal in his life.

Crockpot Italian Chicken

4 to 6 chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 lbs)

1 envelope dry Zesty Italian Dressing mix

1 8oz brick cream cheese

1-2 cans cream of chicken soup (depending on how much 'sauce' you want

Place chicken breasts in the crockpot (I used frozen, and it worked just fine). Sprinkle the Italian dressing mix over the chicken. In a saucepan, melt the cream cheese on low heat with the cream of chicken soup. Pour mixture over chicken in the crock, and cook on low for at least 4 hours (at least 5 if using frozen chicken), but you can leave it on all day if you need/want to.

When done, you can serve how you want. I shredded the chicken in the crock which made for a good chunky sauce. Serve over pasta or rice. We used rotini pasta this time.

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

This week, I decided to bring a beef recipe into the mix! One of the best things I like about using a slow cooker, is the great comfort foods you can create. Beef Stroganoff is one of those dishes to me. Nothing better than meat and cream cheese combined together, right? This recipe has just a few ingredients too, which is also a plus! This can be served over noodles (which is my favorite), rice, or even mashed potatoes. Leftovers heat up well too.

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

2 cans Golden Mushroom Soup

1 large onion, diced

1/2 cup water

3 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp garlic salt

2 pounds cubed stew meat

1 - 8oz brick cream cheese

In the slow cooker, combine all the ingredients, except the meat AND the cream cheese. Then 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. Serve over egg noodles, or whatever else you think it would be tasty on top of!