I’m not great in the kitchen, but when you are responsible for three meals a day for five people, you start to figure some things out. :) One of the tricks I have learned with the crockpot is, when possible, to add extra meat to use for a later meal. I do that with both of these recipes.
BEEF ROAST / STROGANOFF
When I make a beef roast in the crockpot, I try to use an extra large cut or two smaller ones (at least 3 lbs. total), so that I have enough to take out after it’s cooked and use later to make Mom Dietsche’s beef stroganoff – mmmm!
For the roast, I usually add an envelope of dry onion soup mix while it cooks. Sometimes I also add in chunks of potatoes & carrots to cook with the meat, but a lower fat version is to toss them with olive oil and whatever spices you want and broil them in the oven to serve with the roast.
Another good reason to cook the veggies separately is that it makes it easier to take out the extra meat before serving. And here is the stroganoff recipe:
1 ½ cups beef broth
1 tsp salt
1 small clove garlic, finely chopped (I use ½ tsp minced garlic)
3 cups (8 oz) fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 medium (1/2 cup) onion, chopped
a splash or two of cooking sherry
3 Tbs flour
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
Reserve 1/3 cup of the broth. Stir remaining broth into a skillet with the garlic, onion, mushrooms, salt, sherry, and the cooked & shredded beef. Cover and simmer until onion is tender.
Shake reserved broth and flour in tightly covered container; gradually stir into beef mixture. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for one minute, then reduce heat to low.
Stir in sour cream or plain yogurt, cook until hot, and serve over noodles or rice. (We prefer rice.) This is one of our favorites!
WHITE CHICKEN CHILI
I add maybe a cup of water to the chicken breasts (2-3 packages) before cooking so that I have broth when it's finished cooking (more or less depending on how soupy you like your chili). After the chicken is cooked, I take out some of it to freeze or use in another recipe. (or, I make double of the chicken chili and freeze half of it for later.) To the chicken, I add the following (amounts are approximate -- I go mostly by what looks right):
Great northern beans, 2 or 3 small cans, undrained
Black beans, 1 small can, drained & rinsed
Canned diced tomates, small or large can, depending on how much you like tomatoes (I usually drain most but not all of the juice first)
1 McCormick white chicken chili seasoning packet
It's great served just with tortilla chips, or you could also add shredded cheese and sour cream if you want.
OVERNIGHT OATMEAL
I finally learned what the difference is between rolled oats, quick-cooking oats, and steel cut oats. Steel cut are the most nutritious because they are the whole oat groats that have just been sliced. Both rolled and quick-cooking oats are oat groats that have been steamed, rolled, and flaked for easier cooking. I was so happy to find this recipe online that is very nutritious and very little work!
2 cups steel cut oats
6 to 8 cups water
(additions if you want)
The rule of thumb is to use 6 cups of water if it will cook for less than 8 hours, and use 8 cups of water if it will cook for more than 8 hours. Cook on the lowest setting (for me, that’s “warm”) overnight, and serve in the morning. (If I make the amount called for here, we have leftovers for another morning.)
There is so much experimenting you could do with add-ins with this. So far we have stuck mostly to adding a little milk, brown sugar, and lots of blueberries. We add them in the morning, but you could probably also add it the night before. Let me know if you try it and come up with a great combination!
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