Everyday Food for Busy People
This is a recipe that will be made often in my house. My kids have been asking for it again already.
I first saw the recipe when Mary from Giving Up on Perfect linked it for Ingredient Spotlight. I’ve since spotted it on Pinterest several times. This soup is fantastic! And it’s easy too.
I made just a few minor changes to the way Mary fixed it. I doubled the recipe, which made a lot. It completely filled my 6 quart slow cooker. Here’s what you’ll need: [Read more...]
I ran across a recipe for Chicken Shwarma on the blog, Jersey Girl Cooks. Lisa roasted her chicken in the oven and it looks fabulous. But being the lazy cook that I am, I decided this would work in the slow cooker.
Hot dog! I was right! My family loved this meal and I know I’ll be making it again.
I only made minor alterations to Lisa’s recipe. I changed the cooking method and more than doubled the recipe so it would feed my family. I never could find tahini, so I served it with cucumber-yogurt sauce instead. If I ever find tahini paste (Walmart, are you listening?) I’m going to try Lisa’s sauce.
Here’s what you’ll need: [Read more...]
I put this together before church one Sunday morning. It smelled (and tasted!) fantastic when we got home. If you have garden fresh tomatoes, they make a wonderful side dish. A simple tossed salad would be good too.
I don’t have an ingredient picture this time. I think I was too busy getting ready for church, cooking as fast as I could. I forgot to snap the photo.
I did use frozen chicken tenders and skipped thawing them. They cooked just fine. You can also save time by estimating the herb measurements instead of measuring.
Here’s the how-to: [Read more...]
Whoever invented the slow cooker should be held in high esteem, right up there with the inventor of the Ziploc bag.
You can make your slow cooker work even harder for you by choosing the perfect recipe to coordinate with your day. What do I mean by that?
Well, some days you may only have 5 minutes to throw food into the slow cooker.
Some days, you need the recipe to cook all day long. Not every meal will hold up to that.
And some days, not only will you not be home to cook dinner, but some members of the family will need to eat before you get home. I’ve found on nights when Jim or the older kids are going to have to fix it themselves, it needs to be ready to go. No veggies or rice or pasta to cook to go with it. It’s got to be simple and done.
With all of that in mind, here’s a list of meals to fit each category. If you want to check out all the slow cooker meals on my site, click the recipe box at the top of the page.
Sometimes you just need a choice. I usually do homemade scalloped potatoes in the oven, but this time I needed to make them early in the day.
It was one of those nights when you rush in the door at dinner time and need it to put itself on the table.
You know the kind.
Slow cooker to the rescue. Again. [Read more...]
The wonders never cease. My kids actually tried the pearl onions in this soup. And they liked them! Amazing.
This is one of those fantastic “assembly only” type recipes. Basically, you dump everything in the slow cooker and let it do its thing.
You don’t have to use pearl onions, if your kids are averse (but you might give it a go, because you never know…). The bag of frozen veggies I used included the onions. There are only 5 ingredients in this soup and they can be changed up as you wish.
Here’s what you’ll need: [Read more...]
Did you know you can convert all kinds of recipes to cook in the slow cooker? This one started out as a skillet meal. I didn’t have time to cook it right before dinner, but I did have a few minutes earlier in the day to put ingredients in the slow cooker.
The ingredients are a bit odd – Italian dressing and pancake syrup. Not your usual combo, but it makes for a flavorful sauce with a hint of sweet. Here’s what you’ll need to make it: [Read more...]
Using a slow cooker can really simplify your Thanksgiving dinner (or any other meal, for that matter). It allows you to prep a dish earlier in the day and it frees up the oven for other things.
Sweet potatoes and apples make a delicious side dish. They cook wonderfully in the slow cooker, with a sweet, cinnamon spiced syrup.
Here’s what you’ll need: [Read more...]
I’ve had a beautiful rosemary plant growing in my garden all summer. It’s one of the few things that did well out there. But I hadn’t used any of the rosemary. That’s crazy, isn’t it?
So, I decided that using sprigs of rosemary along with chicken, potatoes, garlic and white wine could be delicious. And to make it super easy, I cooked it in the slow cooker. It turned out great, a tasty version of basic chicken and potatoes. I used boneless chicken, but the dish would have even more flavor if you used chicken with bones. What is it about bones that adds so much flavor? [Read more...]
This may be one of the best things I’ve ever made. Warm, sweet and cinnamon-y. It made the house smell wonderful while it was cooking.
I altered the recipe on A Year of Slow Cooking. I used more apples, more brown sugar, more cinnamon. I also used apple juice instead of water. I will be making this again, it was so delicious.
