Embracing Him

My Crock Pot doesn’t have that sparkly, fresh out of the box look anymore. It’s starting to dull, scratch, and peel, but that’s fine with me as long as it continues to work well. Whether your Crock Pot is well loved like mine or is still hiding out among the unused wedding gifts, you’ll want to pull it out for this recipe!

We think this hearty barbecued beef recipe is a keeper! Toss a chuck roast into the Crock Pot, cover it with a “doctored up” semi-homemade barbecue sauce, and let it slow cook all day. It really doesn’t get much easier or much tastier than that!

When I prepare barbecued beef sandwiches, I serve them on round rolls with a side of sweet potato fries and a salad and we always enjoy a fabulous, filling meal!

Barbecued Beef Sandwiches
1 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup  ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2  teaspoon garlic powder
1 (4 pound) boneless chuck roast

In a large bowl, combine barbecue sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and liquid smoke. Stir in salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Place chuck roast in a slow cooker. Pour ketchup mixture over chuck roast. Cover, and cook on low for 8 hours.

Before serving, use a fork to shred the beef and stir beef to evenly coat with sauce. Spoon meat onto rolls and top with additional barbecue sauce.

Once the holidays hit, I abandoned my weekly meal planning. Now that we’re back into our regular routine, I’ve started planning my meals again. Yesterday, I was flipping through the recipes in my binder and came across Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings. I had forgotten how much we enjoyed this simple, delicious, and filling meal! I’ve already included in next week’s meal plan.

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of celery soup
1 onion, chopped
1 (14.75 ounce) can chicken broth (may be a bit more or a bit less)
2 (10 ounce) cans refrigerated biscuit dough (cut into pieces)

Place the chicken, butter, soups, and onion in the slow cooker. Fill with just enough chicken broth to cover. Cook on 5 hours on High. Approximately 30 minutes before serving, add biscuit dough to the slow cooker. Cook for another 30 minutes or until dough is no longer raw in the center.

When I prepare this recipe, I usually season the chicken with garlic, poultry seasoning, and pepper. Then I sear the chicken in a pan quickly because I like the seasonings to stick to the meat I place in the slow cooker. I also toss in a bag of frozen mixed veggies to make this meal a “one pot wonder”. In addition, I do not recommend using buttered biscuits as it makes the dumplings too greasy, but I do recommend using low sodium soups and broths which, in my opinion, taste just as good.

Photo: Courtesy of craftyasiangirl (Flickr)

My Crock Pot addiction has spilled over onto another Taste Tested Tuesday. It’s hard for me not to share a Crock Pot recipe because I love this marvelous appliance and I want others to experience it’s life changing capabilities! Though it’s only Tuesday, I’ve used my Crock Pot to prepare meals twice since Saturday.

I recently found a blog that makes my Crock Pot addiction seem like child’s play. Stephanie O’Dea is a blogger who has committed to posting a Crock Pot recipe for every day of this year! Her blog, A Year of Crock Potting, features a new recipe each day complete with photos. Stephanie offers a wide variety of recipes, including appetizers, main courses, desserts, and even beverages. If you have any questions about how to use your Crock Pot, I highly recommend Stephanie’s blog as it is a tremendous source of information. It’s one of my new favorite places to visit.

This week’s recipe  did not come from Stephanie’s blog, but it is absolutely delicious! I discovered it on allrecipes.com a few years ago and we have been enjoying it ever since. I hope your family likes it as well.

German Short Ribs:

4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 pounds beef short ribs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup chile sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup water

In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons flour, salt, and pepper. Coat the short ribs with the flour mixture. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown short ribs in olive oil.

In a slow cooker, combine onions, wine, chili sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and chili powder. Mix thoroughly. Transfer the short ribs from the skillet to the slow cooker. Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

Remove ribs, and turn the slow cooker control to High. Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour with 1/4 cup water, and stir into the sauce. Cook for 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened.

Photo: Courtesy of stu_spivack (Flickr)