Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Easy Crockpot Favorites

So my new job is going great and I love being home earlier every night.  I actually changed my hours from 8-5 to 7:30-4:30, so I get to pick up Em from her sitter, and am home by around 5:10 or 5:15.  Its AWESOME!  I thought I would go alot more "new" meals and try out some new recipes, and I might in the future, but right now I am loving my crockpot again because I love having extra time with Em.  Last night I did meatball subs, and all I have to do was slice the onion and toast the bread - everything else was ready when I got home.  So, I know so many of you love your crockpot just like I love mine, so I thought I'd share a few more recipes with you - and this are EASY breezy!

NOTE:  If you have not invested in crcokpot liner - YOU NEED TO!  They can be found in the grocery store next to the ziplock bags.  It is a box of 3-4 liners, but they are WONDERFUL because all you do is throw them away and simply rinse your crockpot! 

CROCKPOT MEATBALL SUBS
Just a tip about this recipe, you can also make lots of meatballs and add 2 cans/jars of sauce and then save your leftovers for spaghetti and meatballs. 
1) Line the crockpot w/ your crockpot liner!
2) Throw in your meatballs (frozen).  I just use the frozen meatballs you can find at the grocery store.  My Kroger has Italian style meatballs and that is what I use.  I cook about 6 meatballs for every sub I'm going to make. 
3) Add a jar of marinara sauce - I use a very inexpensive sauce then I add my own spices for flavor.  I use garlic, onion powder, oregano and basil.
4) Add about 1 cup of water
5) Cook on low for 6-8 hours
6) Toast your bread - I use hoagie rolls!
7) Fill up your rolls w/ meatballs and lots of sauc3, add slices onions and some cheese (either mozzarella or provolone - and I stick mine back int he oven for about 5 minutes to let the cheese melt)
8) ENJOY!!!!!

CROCKPOT BBQ RIBS

SOOOO simple and SOOOO delicious!!!!!
1) Make a spice rub for your ribs. I use equal parts salt, garlic, paprika and just a pinch of fresh ground pepper.
2) Rub - and I mean RUB - down your ribs.  Make sure they are good and covered with the spice rub. 
3) Broil on high for about 15 minutes to let them brown.
4) Slice 'em up and throw in your crockpot with a jar (I only used 1/2 the jar) of your favorite BBQ sauce.
5) Cook on low for 8 hours!

CROCKPOT (WHOLE) CHICKEN
This is an awesome recipe, especially if you are on a budget because you can get a whole chicken for around $5, but it will feed several people!  This is so good and the meat will just fall off the bone. 
1) Thaw out your chicken
2) Make a spice rub - I used equal parts of salt, garlic, onion powder, rosemary and basil.
3) Rub your spice rub on your chicken - make sure you get under the skin wherever you can.
4) Make four 3-4" foil balls and put them in the bottom of your crockpot.
5) Put your chicken on the foil balls and cook on low for 6-8 hours. 

Hope you enjoy these EASY crockpot favorites!!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fixed Crockpot Meatball Subs for dinner last night. So easy and really yummy!

Anonymous said...

We tried the Crockpot Whole Chicken tonight...and it was delicious! :) Thank you for the recipe! I've never cooked a whole chicken before but always wanted to try it, and this recipe was so easy! When I tried to get the chicken out of the crockpot the meat literally fell off (like you said it would!) so I knew that was a great sign we had a delicious dinner ahead of us...it was nice to not need to use a knife. I realized last minute that we didn't have any onion powder, so I had to omit it, but I still think it came out great. Next time I'll have to get some!

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