Five Favorite Crockpot Meals

No matter what your busy holiday season may look like, you may still want a hot home-cooked meal with little fuss and healthful ingredients.  So I’m sharing my five favorite crockpot meals and hope to inspire you treat yourself well.

My kitchen countertops are often sporting a crockpot full of something.  It’s probably my number three go-to appliance.  Right after the electric tea kettle and Keurig, of course.

Dumping ingredients in the morning and eating in the late afternoon fits our lifestyle to a tee.  Less fuss doing dishes afterwards and putting together a meal when I’m not exhausted at day’s end is also a plus.

In the summer we don’t want to heat up the kitchen and the winter means a lot more soup.

So you see, I feel I’m pretty well versed on using a slow cooker!

Slow Cooker Italian-Style Meatballs

For some reason I didn’t take a picture of this dish as I was preparing it to bring to a get-together.  Well, to be honest, I’m not a big meatball fan, and I didn’t have very high expectations.  But meatballs are nice for a happy hour because they can serve as a snack or with a bit of pasta or bread, as an entire meal.

I served these with zoodles, so they couldn’t be healthier and boy what a nice surprise I got.  I loved them.  Best meatballs ever. 

And.  They are made with turkey meat.

I used this Joy Bauer recipe and the Rao’s marinara from Costco. 

Homemade Vegetable Soup

A meatless Monday favorite, homemade vegetable soup shows up in our kitchen all year long.  I love using the Mueller vegetable chopper to get all the vegetables the same size for even cooking.  It smells divine with a bay leaf as it simmers.

I use whatever I have on hand, both fresh and frozen, but usually:

• Carrots
• Celery
• Onion
• Garlic
• Green beans
• Corn
• Potatoes

A hearty meal with a grilled cheese sandwich, a crusty roll or of course, a biscuit.  Which is always in my freezer and easy to pop out and thaw.

Beef and Bean Chili

For a big pot of chili, I use only about ½ – ¾ pound of beef.  Subbing turkey is okay, but certainly not as flavorful.  I use whatever beans I have in the pantry, but pinto beans, white beans and kidney beans are my favorite mixture.

This recipe is not SIBO friendly, but it is very fiber-friendly.  I really missed having this for the year and a half I was on SIBO.  I don’t make it frequently, but I love it so much.  With a pile of saltine crackers.  Do you see a pattern here?

Moroccan Chicken

This is a wildly adapted (by which I mean it bears no further relation to) an old Cooking Light recipe.  The original calls for a lot of spices we don’t eat and is served over couscous.  Which only I eat. 

So I’ve adapted it for a more understated (read:  boring) palate which hub loves and serve with a side of mashed potatoes. 

The sauce makes a nice gravy, but John usually eats his potatoes plain (if you don’t count all the butter and sour cream) and I like my couscous flavored with chicken broth and slivered almonds.

I’m going to remove “Moroccan” from the title because I don’t want to insult any wonderful culture with our boring version.  I’ll just call it Crockpot Chicken Thighs.  Okay?

Crockpot Chicken Thighs

• 8 chicken thighs (about 2 pounds), skinned
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 shallot, peeled and sliced thinly
• 1 cup chicken broth

Combine spices in a dish and coat and press into chicken thighs.  Place in slow cooker, cover with broth and shallot. 

Cook until chicken is done and serve with couscous or mashed potatoes.

Beef Stew

Crazy, I know, but stew meat is hard to find now and um.  Sort of expensive.  Which used to be a cheaper, tougher cut.  Because you cook it all day.  Now beef stew is a splurge.  Well, sometimes, you just need a bowl and it’s a wonderful hearty meal during this season.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Okay, this is actually Number 6.  But if I said Six, I would lose my alliteration. We make chicken tortilla soup frequently.  It’s a recipe we both agree on, it’s got healthful ingredients and it’s gluten-free.  Checks all the boxes.

Christmas Puzzle

I found this puzzle at TJ Maxx and John put it together this week. On on puzzle table which we love. It turned out just gorgeous.

DF Jill says reading my blog is like a Where’s Waldo but looking for the cat in the post.  😉

Wrap Up

I am sending you extra blessings and prayers for this holiday and hope you are feeling the spirit.  God bless you and yours and Merry Christmas!