Easy Crockpot Butter Chicken

This is a great crockpot recipe for the colder days coming up.  It's so delicious and ridiculously easy and so much healthier than a lot of butter chicken recipes.  My husband doesn't care for Indian food and he really enjoyed this.  I got the recipe from HERE.  I also made the homemade Naan suggested on the blog.  Also easy- my husband LOVED those.

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken, cut into bite size chunks

1/2 onion, finely minced

2 tablespoons butter

3 cloves garlic, minced or grated

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

2 teaspoons curry powder

1-2 teaspoons red curry paste

2 tablespoons garam masala

1/2-1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (use less if you are not a spicy person)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk

1/2 cup greek yogurt

1/4 cup half and half or heavy cream
cilantro for garnish

cooked white rice, for serving

Fresh homemade Naan , for scooping (so easy)
Raita to serve along side as a cooling element

Directions:

1.  Mix together the coconut milk, greek yogurt and cream. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, ginger and all the spices. Mix well.
2. Spray the inside of your crockpot bowl with cooking spray or grease with olive oil.  Sprinkle the onion over the bottom. Add the chicken and then pour the coconut milk mixture over the chicken so the chicken is completely covered. Add the butter and place the lid on the crockpot. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. You can stir it once or twice during cooking, but it is not necessary. When ready to serve taste and season with salt and pepper if desired. Serve over rice with a aprinkle of cilantro and a big piece of fresh Naan.

With the Raita

Make-Your-Man-Love-You Beef Dip Sandwich

You know those pub style beef dip sandwiches you can get? This isn't that.  This is so much better.  It's made with real chunks of slowly simmered roast beef and will put a smile on your man.  Assuming he's a big meat eater.  It's a stereotype I know- but if your man fits the stereotype, pull this baby out next Father's Day, birthday, Superbowl or any day you just want to make him happy.  This recipe is mine- it's what I came up with when Cole said he wanted beef dip.  I never ordered it in the restaurants because it never looked very good.  This version is scrumptious.

Ingredients:

1 beef roast (it's going to simmer in your crock pot all day so a tough cut is ok)
salt/pepper
Montreal Steak Seasoning
red chili flakes (optional)
2 tbsp oil
4 submarine buns
3 large, sweet onions
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar (optional)
shredded cheese (I usually use white cheddar)
garlic butter (I mix butter with minced garlic, lemon zest, chopped parsley and salt)

Directions:

Rub your roast with salt, pepper, steak seasoning (I use Montreal), and chili flakes if you like it to have a kick. 

In a HOT pan (medium high heat), add some oil.  Then sear your roast on all sides.  Let it sit undisturbed for a good 4-6 minutes before turning it to the next side.  Put your seared roast into a crock pot and cover half way with beef broth.  Let it go for 5ish hours on high (depending on your crock pot- you want it shredable).

Make your garlic butter and set it aside till your roast is done.

A half hour or so before you are ready to eat, slice your onions and get them into some butter on low/medium heat with some salt.  Stir and let them carmelize.  It takes a while.  I add some brown sugar towards the end of the process to sweeten them a little more because I use chili flakes on the roast so it's a little spicy.  The sweet onions with the spicy beef is a nice mix. 

When you're ready to assemble your sandwiches, take your subs and spread some garlic butter on each side then put under the broiler to toast.  Add your cheese on one side a few minutes into the broiling and let it melt. 

Top your buns with meat and onions.  Slice.  And serve the au jus (the simmered broth from the crock pot) on the side.

Homemade Refried Black Beans (Slow Cooker Prep)

I love refried beans...especially black.  I hate cooking dried beans the old fashioned way in a pot.  Enter slow cooker.  Now I make these all the time and freeze them for lunch and dinner.  My whole family loves them.  My husband (who is a self proclaimed refried bean hater) repeatedly steals bites from my bowl and spreads a heavy layer on his burritos.  Turns out, he hates canned refried beans.  These are clearly NOT canned beans!

Find the prep for cooking dried black beans in the slow cooker HERE. I add some time to the cooking when I am only using them for refried beans because I find a slightly overcooked bean lends itself to being blended easier.  I do 5 hrs on high or 8 hrs of low (often overnight). 

Blend your beans with cooking liquid (doesn't matter how much, it will be cooked out) and put in pan on medium-medium/high heat.  Add salt, chili powder and whatever else you think you'd like your beans to taste like.  You can taste and adjust along the way.  Cook down till you get the consistency you like. 

You know what else I love about these beans? The "fried" part isn't real.  There's no fat!

Healthier Slow Cooker Spinach Dip

A few healthier modifications plus the convenience of the slow cooker makes this recipe a winner.

Ingredients:

• 14-28oz artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
• 1 (10 oz) package frozen spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup low-fat/fat-free Greek yogurt
• 2 (8 oz) blocks low fat/fat free cream cheese
• 4 cloves garlic, minced (1 tablespoon)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 

Directions:

Coat the slow cooker with cooking spray. Add all ingredients. Stir to combine, cover and cook until heated through. 1-1/2 to 2 hours on high, 3 to 4 hours on low. Recipe may be doubled.

Beef Stew AND Beef Enchiladas

These recipes were posted on my other blog before I had a recipe blog, but they are too good not to have here as well:

One Beef Roast will get you two delicious dinners (Serve 4)

Dinner One: Shredded Beef Enchiladas with Roasted Salsa

beef roast + broth or liquid to cook it in
tortillas
2 cups sour cream
2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
2-3 onions
2-4 jalapenos
1 green pepper
roma tomatoes
few cloves or garlic
cilantro
2 limes
taco seasonings

In the morning place the roast in a crockpot and pour in some broth (or water) and let it cook all day long.

The enchilada sauce and salsa can be made ahead of time.

Enchilada Sauce:

-saute one large onion and one large jalapeno (seeds in our out depending on your preference)
-when tender, add one tablespoon of flour and let cook for a minute or so to get rid of the raw flour taste.  Add 2 cups of sour cream and 2 cups of shredded pepper jack cheese (or similar) and cook on low for 10 minutes until the cheese is completely melted and the sauce has come together.  Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference.  I added a little more salt, pepper and cayenne.
Put aside for later.  If you're doing this hours ahead of time, put in fridge. (it does NOT need to be warm to assemble enchiladas)


Salsa (from Pinterest)

I usually make pico de gayo but this was a nice change and a super great alternative to buying it.

Halve some roma tomatoes (I think I used 7-8...use more or less depending on how big of a batch you want...I made like 2-3 cups of salsa with my amounts), halve or quarter an onion depending on how big it is...I used one and a half onions because mine were smaller.  Throw on a cookie sheet with 1-3 jalapenos (whole) and a few cloves of garlic.  Roast at 375 for around 30 minutes, turning veggies once.  You're looking for some char on the peppers, for the tomatoes to get juicy and soft, for the onions to get translucent with hardly any char at all.  Take out, cool.  Then run through a food processor with cilantro, lime and salt.  Start with one pepper, taste and decide if you need more.  One large jalapeno with seeds in was enough to make my salsa hot without any burn.  Put in fridge for flavours to meld.

When the beef is tender, pull the roast into two sections.  Chop one half up into big chunks and place in a container in your fridge.  The other half gets shredded up and goes into a saute pan with some water or broth you cooked your beef in and your favourite taco/enchilada seasonsings (or packet if that's how you roll) to season the meat for the enchiladas.  I also added some green pepper and onions to this mix to stretch the filling- you can add whatever you like to put in your enchiladas or nothing else at all.

Set your oven to 375 and it's time to start assembling your enchiladas.  Half a beef roast will get you about 6 regular enchiladas or 15-18 small enchiladas.  I used medium sized flour tortillas for Cole and me and small corn tortillas for my sister who stays away from gluten.  Both were delicious.

Heat a pan with some oil and run your tortillas through the oil and onto some paper towel- softening them up and making them easier to roll.

Put some sauce on the bottom of a casserol dish.  Take a tortilla, put some sauce and filling down the center of it and roll it, placing it seam side down in the dish.  After you're done, pour more sauce over the top.  Bake for 20-30 minutes.  Serve with salsa and whatever sides you like.  We had some refried beans.  If you bump up the sides and only give one enchilada per person you could stretch this meal even further, making it super economical.

DEEELICIOUS! (Even my sister, who had been snacking on my leftover birthday cake all before dinner and who is not generally a very big eater, went back and ate more after her first helping)




Dinner Two: The Best Beef Stew of my Life!
makes 4-6 serving depending on how greedy you're being


2 bulbs roasted garlic
left over beef roast
Flour, 2 tablespoons
6 carrots, sliced in 2-inch chunks on an angle
2 apples, such as Honeycrisp, peeled and chopped
2 to 3 ribs celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 to 2 1/2 cups cloudy organic apple cider (couldn't find any so I used a good apple juice without any added sugar- worked real well)
2 cans beef consommé
Herb bouquet, a few sprigs each of thyme, parsley and sage tied together with kitchen string (or a combo of dried spices- I used dried thyme and sage and fresh parsley)
Mashed potatoes

This stew needs about 2 hours in the oven, so take that into account when starting dinner.


Also, it calls for 2 whole bulbs of roasted garlic, which need 40 minutes in the oven.  This could be done ahead of time or another day completely.  (350 for 40 minutes.  Most people know how to roast garlic, if not, google it.  Super easy and mellows out the garlic for a nice sweet taste)


This is a Rachael Ray recipe and starts with bacon but I've never done that part.  Feel free to add some bacon to this stew if you are so inclined though.  Chop up 6 carrots (recipe originally called for 3 carrots but I didn't find it enough) into 2 inch pieces on an angle, chop up 2 sweet apples, 2-3 ribs of celery, 1 large onion.  In an oven safe pot, saute in some oil until tender.  Add 2 tbsp flour and cook the taste out for a minute.  Add cider/juice, consommé, the roasted garlic cloves, bay leaves and stir to combine. Add reserved bacon (if you used it) and herb bouquet or dried spices to pan, bring to a boil then cover and transfer to oven (350 degrees). After one hour add beef that you saved from last night (it is already super tender so I don't cook it in the stew for the full 2 hrs).  Return to oven for an aditional hour.  Let stand 20 minutes while you cook potatoes.


Make your favourite mashed potatoes (in the Rachael Ray recipe she adds parnsips and cheese).  Serve bowls with mashed potatoes in the bottom and stew on top.  Yummmmy.