Crock Pot Black Beans & Rice

**originally posted on WGLR.com on 12-15-14**

When I make Mexican meals at home, I have a hard time coming up with a side dish! In a restaurant, they include yummy beans and rice, but that seems like too much work, doesn't it? Well, thanks to the crock pot, it isn't! We had some guests for supper a few weeks ago and I made a delicious baked sour cream enchilada dish (which is in the photo below, too!), but I really wanted something to go along with that. So I hit Pinterest, and found this recipe for Crock Pot Black Beans & Rice. It was easy to throw together, and pretty delicious! Not only can you use this as-is for a side dish (or a meal in itself!), but I'm sure it would be great as a burrito filling or even just eaten with tortilla chips. It is nice because it doesn't take long to cook, too. I actually had two crock pots going for this meal, one with the rice & beans, and one with the chicken breasts for the shredded chicken mixture I used to fill the enchiladas with! Embrace your slow cookers, people! They help make meal prep easy!! :)

CROCK POT BLACK BEANS AND RICE

• 2 (14OZ) cans black beans, drained & rinsed
• 3/4 cup UNCOOKED rice
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 3/4 cup salsa
• 3 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Spray your crock pot with cooking spray. Add all ingredients into the crock pot and stir well to combine. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. Stir well before serving! You can top it with additional salsa or sour cream, if desired.

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Harvest Chex Mix

**originally posted on www.WGLR.com on 11-27-14**

Happy Halloween Week! As I have mentioned often, I use my slow cooker year round. But, I do try to do seasonal dishes when called for. This time of year, I love to experiment with fun recipes that involve what I love about fall! One thing I definitely love is the spices in autumn dishes, from pumpkin spice to cinnamon and all that goes with it. I stumbled upon this recipe over the summer, and couldn’t wait for Fall to get here so I could try it. My son is a September baby, so this year, I finally had his birthday party (5th!) at a pumpkin patch, like I had always wanted to do! I made this recipe for guests to snack on at the party, and wow, is it delicious! My husband and I were snitching more of it than we should have when I first made it, because it is quite addicting (especially when warm out of the crock pot!). I almost had to make a second batch for the party, haha! This is a great one to do with your kids or grandkids, because they can help you measure and add all the ingredients easily. With Halloween parties/school events this week, this would be a perfect treat to make and throw in some decorated up small ziploc baggies to give to kids or co-workers. It would also make a really nice thing to set out at your Thanksgiving celebrations, so people can snack on something while waiting for the big meal to hit the table! PLUS, it makes your house smell DELICIOUS when you make it!!!!!

*note: The original recipe calls for mini graham crackers. I don’t think these are made anymore, i couldn’t even find them online. You can just break up larger grahams or omit them from the mix. If you don’t mind shapes in your mix, use Teddy Grahams, or I used Annie’s little graham cracker bunnies in mine!

SLOW COOKER PUMPKIN HARVEST CHEX MIX

• 2 cups cinnamon Chex cereal
• 2 cups Wheat Chex cereal
• 3 cups Vanilla Chex cereal
• 1 cup pecans
• 1 cup mini graham crackers* (see note above)
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup salted & roasted pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

In a 5-6 quart oval crock pot, stir in cereals, pecans, graham crackers, cranberries & pumpkin seeds. Stir gently so you don’t break up the cereal too much.

In a small bowl, mix together melted butter, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice & vanilla. Pour over mixture in the crock pot, and gently stir until the mixture is evenly coated.

Cook UNCOVERED on HIGH for 2 hours, gently stirring every 15 to 20 minutes. When done, spread mix onto ungreased baking sheet or waxed paper. Let cool for 3-5 minutes (yeah right, I was eating it right out of the crock, YUM!).

Store in an air-tight container!

Crock Pot Whiskey Meatballs

**Originally posted on www.WGLR.com on 12-3-13**

First, a big shout out to my husband who bought me a programmable slow cooker for Christmas! Some women would not be thrilled with a gift like that from their husbands, but NOT ME! I love it. I already used it this past weekend for this week's recipe...Whiskey Meatballs! With New Year's Eve parties, and now a Packer playoff game this weekend, this is a great dish for a party. I actually made it for a gathering of friends yesterday. Now, back in season 1, I shared with you my Dad's meatball & weinie recipe , and I admit that I still prefer that one best, but this one is tasty as well.

Crock Pot Whiskey Meatballs

• 1 bag (2 lbs) frozen meatballs (I prefer Italian Style)
• 1 heaping cup ketchup
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup whiskey
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Use a smaller crock for this, like a 4 quart one.  Add  all ingredients into the crock pot EXCEPT meatballs. Whisk together to create the sauce, then add in the meatballs and stir to coat them all.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours, or if you need them for a midday event, you can put them on high for an hour, then low for a few. Leave on warm when serving at a gathering. Just don't cook on high too long or the sauce with get too thin.

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!

Crock Pot Shredded Buffalo Chicken

Well, it is that time of year! Superbowl time! Even though my Green Bay Packers are not making a repeat appearance this year, we will still watch, of course. And that also means eating lots of food at a Superbowl party! So, if you are hosting or bringing a dish to a Superbowl get-together, I will help you out with this week's recipe, Shredded Buffalo Chicken! I posted a Buffalo Chicken Penne recipe a few months back that got a lot of good comments, so I am sure you will all enjoy this one too. The best part is that you can use it as a base for SO MANY dishes! My family enjoyed it this weekend in sandwich form, on toasted sourdough sub rolls. But it would also work great for tacos, nachos, on crackers, or even made into a buffalo chicken cheese dip, just throw it together with some velveeta! You can even freeze it to use later if you don't eat it all. Yum. Also, if you are like me and often forget to thaw the meat you intend to cook for dinner, this uses FROZEN chicken, so you don't even have to think too much in advance :) So, have fun with it, it will be a big hit at your Superbowl party, or any time of the year!

Shredded Buffalo Chicken

3 pounds FROZEN chicken breasts (I like tenderloins, but regular breasts will work well too)
1 large bottle Frank's Red Hot Buffalo WINGS sauce
1 envelope ranch dip dry mix

Place the frozen chicken breasts in the crock. Pour about 3/4 of the bottle of Frank's over the chicken (I used the whole bottle but it was a bit too juicy, you can always add more sauce at the end of you think the mixture is too dry). Sprinkle the envelope of ranch dip over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours.

Take the breasts out of the crock onto a plate, and use 2 forks to shred the chicken (if it doesn't shred easily, the chicken isn't quite done, but after 6 hours that really shouldn't be an issue), and return the shredded chicken into the crock pot. Continue to cook on low for another hour, to let all of the shredded chicken soak up the sauce. Enjoy!