Zesty Slow Cooker Beef Roast!



My normal way of making a pot roast is in the slow cooker. I cut up a large onion into big pieces and put them in the bottom. Then I put the roast on top and on top of that I sprinkle on a Lipton French Onion soup packet, add about 1/2 cup of water and cook it slow from 9-10 hours. After I take it out, I take out most of the juice and whisk in one can of cream of mushroom soup to make a yummy gravy for the roast and mashed potatoes.

However, this time I changed it up a little bit like my BFF, Susan does. She adds Italian dressing from the bottle on top. It was a nice touch that adds a zest to it.  The drippings were even delicious drizzled over the mashed potatoes. Yum!



Zesty Slow Cooker Beef Roast

Ingredients:
1 beef roast (I usually use a rump roast or a chuck roast)
1 large onion
1 packet of Lipton French onion soup mix
1/3 bottle of Italian dressing (approximate measure)

Directions:
1. Spray slow cooker with non-stick spray.
2. Cut up the onion into large pieces and place on the bottom of the slow cooker.
3. Place roast on top.
4. Sprinkle the packet of French onion soup mix on top of roast.
5. Pour dressing on top of soup mix.
6. Pour 1/2 cup of water in bottom of slow cooker.
7. Cook on slow for 9-10 hours.

Enjoy!

Thank you for stopping by my kitchen!

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff!

Several weeks ago my blogging friend, Darlene of Darlene's Days tried a Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff recipe. Her family loved it and after reading her rave reviews on her blog, I decided to make it for dinner that night.

I didn't have any stew meat or the right canned soup so I made a few adjustments and incorporated some of Darlene's suggestions and it came out PERFECT!

You can click here for the original recipe and the recipe I am listing below is the one I've adjusted and will continue to use.

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:
1 pound of sirloin steak (2 steaks), fat trimmed off and cut into strips
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil or just enough to cover the bottom of the pan
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 small can of sliced mushrooms
1 packed of French onion soup mix
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup water
4 oz. cream cheese
Sour cream for top, optional
egg noodles or white rice

Directions:
1. In a medium saute pan, heat olive oil on an almost high setting. When the oil is hot and rippling, add the steak and onions. Sear the steak on all sides to give it a dark brown color on the outside. Do not cook it through. You just want to seal in the juices.
2. After the meat and onions are seared, place them in a slow cooker and add the soup, mushrooms, package of soup mix, Worcestershire sauce and water. Stir well to combine.
3. Cook on low setting for 8 hours or high setting for 5 hours.
4. Stir in cream cheese just before serving.
5. Serve over cooked egg noodles or white rice.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Slow Cooker Taco Soup!

This recipe is super easy! The best part is that it's a slow cooker recipe. I LOVE my slow cooker!

The most time consuming part of it is browning the ground beef. My trick to that is I usually already have browned ground beef in the freezer for recipes like this or to throw in pasta sauce. If you need step by step instructions with pictures, you can click here since I had posted this recipe on my other blog first.

Slow Cooker Taco Soup

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef, browned and drained

a small onion, diced or 2 Tbsp.dried minced onions

1 can of kidney beans

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can of whole kernel corn, drained

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce (I use 8 oz. because I like it thick.)

1 small can of diced green chiles

1 packet of your favorite taco seasoning mix

Directions:

~Place everything in a slow cooker and mix well.

~Cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

We top it with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream and green onions and serve it with tortilla chips on the side.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup!

Since today is the first day of Fall, it's time for some warm comfort food.

There was a request on Facebook for a potato soup recipe and it got me to thinking that it's the perfect recipe to share on the cool first day of Fall.

First let me say that I'm very picky about my potato soup. I like it creamy and rich and cheesy. I developed this recipe after trying many versions. I hope you like it.

Cindi's Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:

6 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped (6 cups)
2 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup chopped onion
10 chicken bouillon cubes
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 stick butter
1 12-ounce can (1 1/2 cups) evaporated milk
6-8 slices of American cheese

Directions:

1. In a 3 1/2 or 4 qt crockery cooker, combine potatoes, water, onion, bouillon and pepper. Slice butter into tabs and layer it on top of previous mixture. Cover, cook on low-heat setting for 7 ½ - 8 hours or on high heat setting for 4 to 4 1/2 hours.

2. Stir milk into soup and add 6-8 slices of American cheese. Stir until cheese melts. Cover, cook on low-heat setting for 1 hour more or high-heat setting for 30 minutes more. Mash potatoes slightly with a potato masher. Makes 6-8 side dish servings.

Top with shredded cheddar cheese and bacon bits.

**If it’s too thick for you, you can thin it out with any milk you have in your refrigerator.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen!

***Edited to link up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace and Tuesdays At The Table at All the Small Stuff.

My Crock Pot Chili Recipe!

Although I love chili, I haven't made it in years. Allison wouldn't eat it and since I don't believe in cooking separate meals for the family, I would only order it out in a restaurant. Last week when we had dinner out, Allison tried it and LOVED it! She ate her whole bowl! I was so excited because that was my sign that I can make chili at home again. So last night I asked her if she would like chili for dinner tonight and she gave me a big smile and said "YES!" and then she said she can almost taste it now. How funny is she?

Cindi’s Crock Pot Chili

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef, browned and drained
2 - 15.5 oz. cans of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 – 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes in juice
2 – 8 oz. cans of tomato sauce
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced
½ green pepper, chopped fine
4 oz. mushrooms, chopped fine
3-4 Tablespoons chili powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Directions:
~Mix all ingredients together in a big bowl.
~Put mixture in a Crock Pot sprayed with non-stick cooking spray for easy clean up.
~Cook for 8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.

We like ours with soda crackers, shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Thanks for visiting my kitchen!

Crock Pot Swiss Steak!

I tried a new recipe for Swiss Steak in the Crock Pot or slow cooker. Although Curtis liked the recipe I used previously, I thought the tomato flavor overpowered the dish. This new recipe is just perfect for me. I put it in the Crock Pot on Thursday because I wasn't sure how long I was working that day. I wanted to have dinner ready for them just in case. Good thing I did too because I didn't get home until after 7:00. Part of my new healthier eating is not to eat after 7 pm so I had something little for dinner earlier. However, when I got home the house smelled so good from the Swiss steak cooking all day that I had to have a little. This picture is of my little. I must have said "Mmmm" ten times while I was eating this. Curtis had 2 1/2 helpings and Allison loved it too. Next time I'm going to try fat free gravy in it. I wanted to this time but the store didn't have any. The only change I made in their recipe was to dredge the steaks in seasoned flour before browing in the skillet.

Crock Pot Swiss Steak
(adapted from Betty Crocker)

Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds beef boneless round steak
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon peppered seasoned salt
6 to 8 new potatoes, cut into fourths
1 1/2 cups baby-cut carrots
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cups petite diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained
1 jar (12 ounces) beef gravy
Chopped fresh parsley, if desired
Directions:
1. Mix flour and seasoned salt together.
2 Cut beef into 6 serving pieces. Dredge through flour mixture. Spray 12-inch skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Cook in skillet 6 to 8 minutes, turning once, until brown.
3. Layer potatoes, carrots, beef and onion in 4- to 5-quart Crock Pot or slow cooker. Mix tomatoes and gravy; spoon over mixture in slow cooker.
4. Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 8 hours or until beef and vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with parsley.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 8 hours

Thanks for visiting my kitchen!