Dude’s Taste of Tuscany Soup

• ¾ cup dried lentils, rinsed and
  drained
• ½ cup fresh garden snap peas
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1-2 Anaheim peppers, diced small
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ tsp. German thyme
• ¼ tsp. corriander
• 1 ¼  tsp. dried basil
• 1 ¼ tsp. dried oregano
• 1 ½ tsp. celery salt
• ¼  tsp. pepper
• 16 oz. can green beans,
  undrained
• 16 oz. can corn, undrained
• 14 ½  oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 14 ½ oz. can tomato sauce
• 2-3 cups of water

Add all ingredients except zucchini into large crock pot. Cover. Cook on LOW for 8-9 hours, or HIGH 4 1/2 – 5 1/2
hours, or until veggies and lentils are fully cooked.  Add zucchini two hours (if cooking on LOW) or one hour
(if cooking on HIGH) before cooking end time.

Crock Pot Picadillo

• 2 pounds ground beef (grass-fed beef preferably)
• 1 pound cooked nitrite-free chicken sausages, diced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chilli powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes, drained slightly
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1 1/2 red onions, diced
• 2 chopped and seeded Anaheim peppers
• 1 chopped and seeded poblano pepper
• 20 green olives, chopped
• 8 cloves of garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Brown ground beef in a frying pan. Drain, then place in large oval crock pot. Add all other ingredients except salt. Stir to combine, cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.

Crock Pot Grinders

One round loaf Artisan Italian Bread
18 slices Provolone
18 slices Mortadella
18 slices sweet or hot Capicola
18 slices Genoa Salami
Sweet pepper rings  (if desired)
Thin onion slices
Olive oil
Oregano and basil or Italian Seasoning
Large 6 quart oval crock pot

Slice bread 13 times, almost all the way through but leaving 1/2 inch space at the bottom.  Layer three slices of cheese and top with 3 slices each of Mortadella, Capicola, and Salami.  Top with pepper rings (if desired) and onions.  Sprinkle with Italian Seasonings and repeat 5 times. Fold each bundle in half and tuck down between every other slice of bread to create 6 sandwiches.  The sandwich may have “arched” its back, gently push down and wrap sandwich tightly with one large piece of aluminum foil. Then wrap a second piece of foil over the first piece.  Place in crock pot on top of a small aluminum foil pan or balls of foil – do not allow wrapped grinder to touch bottom of pan.  Pour in 1/4 cup of water into bottom of crock pot  (it does nothing to the sandwich since it is wrapped up so tightly in foil – just helps to keep the cooking temperature a bit moist).  Cover and cook on LOW for 2-4 hours. To serve cut each sandwich apart and drizzle the insides lightly with olive oil. Makes six sandwiches with the center two being quite large in size.

(courtesy of bigredkitchen.com - check out the original recipe write-up with fantastic photos and directions here)

California Tamale Pie

• 1 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 3/4 cup yellow corn meal
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 package chili seasoning mix
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 can (15 oz.) diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 can (15 oz.) black or pinto beans, drained
• 1 pound whole kernel corn, frozen, drained
• 1 can (2.25 oz.) ripe olives, sliced and drained
• 1 can (4 oz.) mild green chiles, diced

In skillet, brown ground beef until crumbly, and drain.

In large bowl, mix corn meal, milk, and egg. Add drained meat, dry chili seasoning mix, seasoned salt, tomatoes, corn, beans, chiles, and olives. Pour into crock pot. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours. Sprinkle cheese over top. Cook another 5 minutes. Garnish with dollop of sour cream if desired.

Crock Pot Jambalaya

•  2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 1 pound smoked sausage, cut into 2-inch slices
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large green pepper, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 – 28 oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon Cajun or Creole spice mix
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 pound extra large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 3/4 cups long-grain rice
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

 
Combine chicken, sausage, onion, green pepper, celery, tomatoes, garlic, chicken broth, spice mix, thyme and oregano in a large (5-quart or bigger) crock pot. Cook on LOW for 5 hours.

Add shrimp and rice; raise heat to HIGH and cook for 30 minutes more, or until rice is fully cooked. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Crock Pot Squash Casserole / Stuffing

• 2 lbs. yellow squash, zucchini, or Yugoslavian Finger Squash (Danish Squash) cut into bite size pieces (around 6 cups)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1/2 cup flour
• 8-10 oz. bread crumbs
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 package Shake & Bake Italian Seasoning

1. Combine onion, squash, shredded carrots, and soup in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix sour cream and flour together. Then spoon into veggie bowl and mix all together.
3. Melt stick of butter, and toss bread crumbs with butter. Add dry package of Shake & Bake seasoning to bread crumb/butter mixture and toss, so that crumbs get seasoning on them.
4. Spray crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.
5. Put half of the bread crumbs on the bottom of the crock pot, then put squash mixture on top of the crumbs. Put remaining bread crumbs on top on squash mixture.
6 Cover, and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or until squash is cooked.

Meal can be easily made vegetarian by substituting cream of celery soup for the cream of chicken soup.

Crock Pot “Refried” Beans

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
• 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1 3/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 9 cups water

Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into crock pot. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on HIGH for 8 hours (or until beans are completely cooked), adding more water as needed. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.
Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.

Dude’s Easy Leftover Turkey Chili

1 lb. leftover turkey, cut into bite size pieces
28 oz. tomato sauce
1 – 16 oz. can pinto beans
1 – 16 oz. can black beans
1 – 16 oz. can kidney beans
1 onion, chopped
1 – 4 oz. can green chiles
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 – 12 oz. can of beer

Put all ingredients into crock pot. Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours.

Italian Vegetable Soup

• 2 large carrots, diced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 1/4 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 16 oz. can red kidney beans, undrained
• 3 cups ham stock
• 14 1/2 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes, undrained

Add all ingredients into crock pot. Cover. Cook on LOW for 8-9 hours, or HIGH 4 1/2-5 1/2 hours, or until veggies are fully cooked.

Dude’s Provencal Stew

• 1 – 15 oz. can pinto beans, or 2 cups cooked dry pinto beans
• 1/2 cup dried red lentils, rinsed
• 2 potatoes, cut into small pieces
• 4 carrots, cut into small pieces
• 1 onion, cut into small pieces
• 1 red pepper, cut into small pieces
• 2 celery stalks, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 28 oz. tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1-12 oz. can of beer

Put basil, thyme, coriander, beer, lentils, pinto beans, celery salt, sugar and tomato sauce in crock pot. Cover, and turn on HIGH.

Cut up all veggies. Place in a large saute pan with olive oil and garlic. Saute until veggies are about halfway cooked. Place saute pan contents into crock pot, stir to mix, and cover.

Cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours, or until lentils are fully cooked.