Slow Cooker Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce

One of the best comfort foods is spaghetti with meat sauce, in my opinion! But, it is made even better with homemade pasta sauce instead of the canned, pre-made stuff. Now, in the middle of winter you may have to rely on canned tomatoes to make this (unless you have a bunch canned from your garden last summer), but I still think it tastes better then the jarred sauce. And I am most definitely going to grow more tomatoes this year to make my own garden-fresh sauce! I made a double batch of this a few weeks ago and froze most of it to enjoy yet this winter. It's very versatile to use in other ways, too, like for lasagne or manicotti. Also, I did a mixture of italian sausage and ground turkey to cut the calories a bit. Tweak as you wish, as always!

Slow Cooker Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce

• 1-1/2 lbs bulk italian sausage
• 1 cup diced onions (about 2 medium)
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 can (28oz) diced tomatoes
• 2 cans (8oz) tomato sauce
• 2 cans (6oz) tomato paste

Brown up the italian sausage, drain, and pour into slow cooker. Then add all remaining ingredients. Use at least a 4 qt slow cooker. I doubled it and it fit fine into my 6 qt cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Crock Pot Chicken Teriyaki

**originally posted on www.WGLR.com on 1-6-14**

This week, I have a guest "Crocker", my husband! Mr.Jacobs spent a few weeks over the holidays home with our kiddos while I was working, so I took advantage of it, and asked him to crock something! he was excited to be a "guest crocker" on Julie's Crock of the Week, and I have to say, he did well! This week's recipe is Slow Cooker Chicken Teriyaki! He even went the distance and tried something else I have always wanted to...cooking brown rice in a crock pot! It did get overcooked, but it worked, we will just have to adjust cooking time next time, as every crock is different. But I recommend it, as brown rice takes a long time to make the old fashioned way.  But the chicken over the rice was really delicious and very flavorful. AND, a public shout out to my husband, Scott, who has lost 110 lbs in the last year, in large part due to the healthy recipes I made in my wonderful slow cooker :) So proud of you, honey!

Crock Pot Chicken Teriyaki

• 3 to 4 lbs of boneless skinless chicken thighs (we used chicken breasts)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 4 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 4 1/2 teaspoons cold water
• Cooked rice (Your choice, we used brown rice)

Put chicken in crock pot.  In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic and pepper.  pour over the chicken.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours, until the chicken pulls apart easily with a fork.  Remove chicken from the slow cooker, and pour the liquid into a saucepan (if you use chicken thighs, you may want to skim the fat off the top of the liquid) and bring to a boil.  Combine cornstarch and water until smooth, then gradually stir into liquid and stir until sauce is thickened. If you use chicken breasts like we did, you will have to use more cornstarch to thicken it up, since there isn't as much fat.

Serve over rice. You can either shred the chicken up and put everything back in the crock, or put chicken on the rice then top with the sauce, whichever you prefer. The flavor was great! Leftovers were delicious as well. This would freeze wonderfully, too.

(originally posted on WGLR.com on 11-25-13)

Well, the holiday food rush is here! Let your slow cooker help you get through all the holiday gatherings at your home over the next weeks. Here is an easy recipe that you can impress everybody with, Crock Pot Cranberry Sauce! Forget the “sauce” in the can that comes out with the ridges from the can on it (although I do love that stuff, haha!)! Throw this in your crock, and you’ll have a delicious, homemade cranberry sauce for all to enjoy. Plus, it makes your house smell divine! I think I love the smells created by crock pot cooking as much as eating the delicious creations that come out of the crock!

Crock Pot Cranberry Sauce

• 12 oz cranberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Put all ingredients into the crock. It will look like a lot of liquid, but don’t worry, it will cook down to a nice sauce. Cook on high for 3 hours, stirring every hour. After a few hours once the skins on the cranberries are soft, you can smash them against the side to “pop” them. It’s fun! Do it!

After 3 hours, remove the lid and cook another 45 minutes or so, until the sauce is a good, thicker consistency. It will thicken upon cooling and refrigerating, too. You can make this a few days ahead of time and store in the fridge!  It also freezes well. I made this the Saturday before Thanksgiving, froze it until Wednesday, then moved it to the fridge again, and it was perfect on Thursday for Thanksgiving!

Crock Pot Apple Butter

(originally posted on www.wglr.com on 11-12-13)

This recipe was the result of timing working well with two things last week. First, I had too many apples in my pantry from a few orchard trips in October that were going soft. Second, I got a new toy! An immersion blender! I have wanted one for a while and found a great deal for one online, and it came in the mail last week. So, I had the perfect combination to try to make my own apple butter! And let me tell you, it’s REALLY delicious, it turned out better than I expected. And don’t fret if you don’t have an immersion blender. I prefer smooth apple butter, but you can just enjoy it chunkier, or throw it in your blender, too. It tastes awesome on warm biscuits, toast, crackers, english muffins, etc.! And the best part is how this makes your house smell all day! So wonderful!

CROCK POT APPLE BUTTER

• About a dozen medium apples, peeled, cored & diced (I used 18 small-medium, and got about a pint and a half of butter)
• 1/2 cup water or apple cider (I used cider)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice

Place apples in your crock pot, add in all other ingredients. Give it a good stir to coat all the apples with spices. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. The process is similar to making applesauce, except you need to cook it down more to a thicker consistency. After the initial cooking time, put (or keep) the crock on HIGH, and either vent the lid with a wooden spoon, or remover the cover altogether, and cook for another hour or two, checking consistency. It needs to thicken up to become apple butter.

When it cooks down to a thicker consistency than apple sauce, you can give it a good mash if you want it chunkier, or you can take the immersion blender to it to smooth it out. Store it in jars or plastic containers in the fridge.

Slow Cooker (NO BOIL!) Manicotti

This week’s recipe is sure to impress your family and friends, because it seems like you have some amazing culinary skills when you serve it…Slow Cooker Stuffed Manicotti! There is a tiny bit of prep involved (but NO BOILING of the manicotti!), but if you want to enjoy a tasty meal that everyone will not believe you made in the crock pot, this is something you should make ASAP. Pasta doesn’t have to be soggy and mushy in a slow cooker, and this recipe proves that. I used low fat cottage cheese and ricotta for the filling, worked well!

SLOW COOKER (no boil!) STUFFED MANICOTTI

For the filling:

• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1-1/2 cup shredded mozzarella (1/2 cup reserved)
• Italian seasoning blend

• 1 large jar of your favorite marinara sauce
• 1 package manicotti (uncooked, about 14 pieces)

Pour some marinara into the bottom of your crock pot. I used my 6qt oblong crock. The oblong ones work better than the tall crocks for this. Now it’s time to make the filling…mix together the cottage cheese, ricotta and 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella. Also pour in the italian seasoning, about a tablespoon, but I like more, so you can use your own discretion here. Now, if you have some cake decorating piping bags, you can use one of those to pipe the filling into the manicotti shells. If you don’t have one, grap a ziploc bag and cut a hole in a corner, that works well, too! Pipe cheese into one end of the manicotti shell, about enough to fill it up halfway, then turn the shell around to pipe in the cheese on the other side. Lay shells on top of the sauce in the crock in a single layer (I had about 3 manicotti on top of others, I couldn’t fit them ALL in a single layer, still worked fine).

Pour the remaining sauce on top of the manicotti. I used more sauce than the original recipe because I know my crock runs hot. You can use less sauce if you want, but make sure you check a few times while it is cooking then, because you don’t want it to get too dry and burn. I also threw in some frozen meatballs on top because I knew my 3 year old would need some meatballs when we ate this!

Cook on high for about 2.5 hours. Check around 2 hours to see how the firmness of the pasta is. About 15 minutes before serving, sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese on top, so it can melt.
Delicious!

Here is my pic, mid prep, showing the just stuffed manicotti in my crock pot.

Slow Cooker Sauced Chicken

This week’s recipe is mainly for the sauce. I got the recipe from a friend, and she says they use the sauce on many things, but it is especially good on chicken and ribs. I made it with chicken breasts, because that is what I had on-hand, but you can use any cut of chicken you like, bone-in or out, fresh or frozen. It just seems to be a good sauce for many different meats. Plus it is easy to make! I had everything in my pantry for it, I love recipes with basic ingredients that are so versatile and easy to whip up! I served the chicken with sauce over white rice, and it was delicious.  If you try it on ribs, let me know how it is!

SLOW COOKER SAUCED CHICKEN

• 1 can tomato soup
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1tsp chili powder
• 1 to 1.5 pounds chicken pieces of your choice

Place the chicken in your slow cooker. Mix all the other ingredients together in a medium bowl and pour over the chicken. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Slow Cooker Butterscotch Lava Cake

Oh boy, do I have a great recipe for you! When I was making this last week, my husband said it was “Crock of the Week whiplash” because I did a broccoli recipe the week before, and then this one, Crock Pot Butterscotch Lava Cake. Oh yes, you read that right. It is pretty similar to the Crock Pot Hot Fudge Cake I made last year, in that IT MAKES IT’S OWN SAUCE, people. It’s magic. You have delicious warm and moist cake on top, with this sinful pool of butterscotch saucy yumminess on the bottom of the crock. After chocolate, butterscotch is my favorite flavor. Throw a scoop of ice cream on it or some whipped cream, and you have a delicious dessert that tastes like you got it from a fancy restaurant. Make it. Make it NOW.

Your Thompson’s IGA ingredient list:

Crock Pot Butterscotch Lava Cake

• 1 cup flour
• 1 pkg (3 oz.) Cook & Serve butterscotch pudding (NOT instant)
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Topping:

• 3 Tbs butterscotch sundae topping
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1-1/3 cup boiling water

Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, pudding mix, sugar, baking powder & salt. Make a well int he center for the milk, oil and vanilla. Whisk everything together, and then add in the butterscotch chips. Pour batter into the crock.

In a small bowl mix together the sundae topping and sugar. Pour boiling water into bowl, and stir until it is smooth and sugar is dissolved. Pour over the batter in the crock and DO NOT STIR. That is very important! No stirring!

Cook on high for about 2 hours, then turn off your crock and let it sit for a half hour.  Keep an eye on it in case your crock runs hot, you don’t want to burn the edges.

Scoop out the cake and then scoop out some sauce from the bottom to drizzle over your cake. A scoop of ice cream send this over the top YUM!

Crockpot Hot Fudge Cake

I am giving you a MAGICAL recipe this week. I had intended to do a delcious soup, but our weekend became busier than planned, so I did not have the time I thought I would, which led me to try this recipe I had been saving to try, sorry for another dessert. Soup next week!

WARNING: this cake is EVIL. And it has super powers. Like magic, a whole layer of fudgey sauce appears at the bottom of your crock, with delicious, moist cake on top. The evilness of it is enhanced by the fact that it is made from basic staple pantry ingredients, and can appear to promptly be put into your belly in just 2 hours. My husband said, and I quote, "I have had fancy restaurant hot fudge cakes that aren't as good as this" while he was devouring it last night. Make it, you will love it. But don't blame me if you become addicted.

Crockpot Hot Fudge Cake

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 3/4 c. light brown sugar, packed and divided

1/4 c. plus 3 Tbl. baking cocoa, divided

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. milk

2 Tbl. butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 3/4 c. hot water

vanilla ice cream!!!




Combine flour, one cup brown sugar, 3 Tablespoons cocoa, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in milk, butter and vanilla. Spread evenly in a 3 1/2-quart crockpot. Mix together remaining 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa; sprinkle evenly over top of batter. Pour in hot water; DO NOT STIR. Cover and cook on high setting for 2 hours, or until a toothpick inserted one-inch deep comes out clean. Spoon warm cake into bowls; top with vanilla ice cream. Serves 4-6.



Seriously, DO NOT STIR!!!!!! I know the ingredients and prep for this sound weird, but follow the directions exactly! I used my 4 quart crock, and cook time was about 1hr 50 min.

Recipe found on the blog "Eat Cake for Dinner."

Honey Parmesan Pork Roast

OK, the holidays are over, so we can all get back on track! I haven't had much time for crocking over the holidays, so I apologize for not getting a recipe up last week. But I am making up for it with this one! Now, let me just say that I am not a huge fan of pork, but my husband is, so I thought I would try this recipe, because if seasoned right, I do enjoy a pork roast. Awesome thing about making this in a crock pot is that the leftovers shredded up so easily, that we have a bunch of shredded pork in the freezer, just waiting to be thawed and slathered with sauce for some pulled pork sandwiches. Now THAT is a pork dish that I enjoy! This dish also makes it's own gravy, although I didn't have the best of luck with it, but I am not good at gravy in general. I made some mashed baby red potatoes with it, and it was a very tasty supper.

Slow Cooker Parmesan Honey Pork Roast

1 (2-3 pound) boneless pork roast
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup honey
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp dried basil
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place roast in slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the cheese, honey, soy sauce, basil, garlic, oil and salt; pour over pork. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.

Remove meat to a serving platter; keep warm. Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer to a small saucepan. Bring liquid to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir into pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice roast; serve with gravy.