Pasta Fagioli Soup & other recipes

I have really been enjoying my crock pot lately. It makes my life so much easier and I also find that I'm making healthier meals with it.

I've been trying to plan my menu in advance, make sure to buy all the needed ingredients at the store, then make myself remember to take the meats out of the freezer in advance and prepare the veggies and stuff so I can just throw it all in the crock and be done with it.

Anyhow ... this week I tried a few new recipes and I really liked them all! The only thing I'm having trouble with is getting the timing just right with the crockpot because a couple of the items came out a little dry and overcooked. I suppose a lot of that is trial and error.

So without further ado ... the recipes ...

My homemade bread - not made in the crockpot, but went so well with hot pasta fagioli soup! Yum! I love homemade bread - just don't make it too often as I end up eating WAY too much of it. I did this in the bread machine so it didn't make much. Most times I let it mix and rise in the machine, then bake it in the oven since I end up with 2 full loaves instead of one when I do it that way. Anyway ... sorry for the bunny trail - back to the recipes!

Pasta Fagioli Soup

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 lg red onion
1 cup chopped carrots
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 can kidney beans - drained and rinsed
1 can white beans - drained and rinsed
4 cups beef broth
1 jar pasta sauce
2 tsp oregano
1 TBSP tabasco
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup dry pasta - I used a whole cup and honestly it could have used a little more, but I love pasta so that's just my 2 cents.

brown and drain meat. set aside.
chop all veggies and add to crock.
then add cans of beans, liquids, sauce.
add spices. add meat.

Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 -- add the pasta the last hour of cooking.
This recipe makes A LOT, use a 6 qt crock. You will definitely have leftovers! Or you could just halve the recipe. I love having leftovers for lunches and also to freeze some.


Pineapple Chicken

Chicken breasts or thighs
1/4 cup soy sauce
one full can of chunk pineapple / drained

Cook in crock on low for 4 hours. My chicken came out too dry -- next time I will check on it sooner and take it out sooner if needed.

Salsa Chicken

6 chicken thighs - you can remove skin if you want -I tend to cook with the skin on, then remove before eating.
1 can black beans - drained and rinsed
1 can corn - drained
1 jar salsa - whatever spiciness you choose - I always choose medium

Put chicken in crock, add other items over top, cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-9. This chicken came out SO juicy it was falling off the bone! So I actually pulled the chicken pieces out of the crock at the end, cut all the chicken off the bone and chopped it into small pieces - then put the pieces back in with the salsa/corn/bean mix and mixed it all up. It was sort of like a thick chicken/salsa soup. It came out so yummy!

Beef and Broccoli

1 lb thin beef rib eye
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 TBSP white wine {didn't have any so I skipped it}
2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP brown sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
2 cloves smashed/chopped garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 bag froz broccoli - thawed

Add liquid to crock. Add garlic, stir in spices. Slice meat into thin strips. Add meat and toss all items in crock to coat meat with liquids/spices.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Add the broccoli the last hour. Stir. Serve over rice.

Again my meat came out too dry. I need to figure out the best cooking times and temps for some of these foods. I also bought extra lean meat - so maybe that was another reason for the dryness? Not sure. But nevertheless ... still a good recipe and one I will probably try again.

I hope to share more as I discover new recipes and things to try ... happy cooking friends!

PS. all of these recipes were found on A Year of Slow Cooking. Check it out - she used her crock every day for a whole year!