Saucy Ravioli with Meatballs

Really easy and hearty meal.

Got this recipe from the slow cooker book Tiffany got me. The recipe in the book creates a huge meal so I adapted the amounts to work for a smaller group. Still a lot of food though.

Ingredients:

26 ounce jar of spaghetti sauce. (recipe calls for sauce with mushrooms and onions and I used four cheese sauce)

24 ounce package of frozen ravioli (I used store brand cheese ravioli)

12 ounce package of frozen cooked Italian meatballs, thawed

1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Snipped fresh basil (optional)

Lightly coat the slow cooker with cooking spray and add a layer of sauce to the bottom. Layer 1/2 the ravioli, all the meatballs, 1/2 the cheese, more sauce, the rest of the ravioli, cheese and sauce. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 4.5 to 5 hours or on high-heat setting 2.5 to 3 hours.

Add the parmesan and basil at the end if wanted.

Grab a bag of Caesar salad mix and some garlic bread and make this an amazing meal!

Slow Cooker Chicken Barbeque

• Got this recipe from allrecipes.com and loved it. Very simple yet all my roommates and I thought it was delicious!

• Ingredients:
• 6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays Original)
• 1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• Texas Pete (not called for in the original recipe but I shook some in for more flavor)

Directions:

1. Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.
2. Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

I did this with 4 chicken breasts and upped each amount a little bit. After ~3.5 hours on high, I took a potato masher and shredded the chicken in the crockpot. Served on buns with roasted carrots and forgot to take any pictures.

Shredded Beef

Just starting out...

Finished product...yum!

This is one of my favorite recipes and tends to please crowds of all sizes. A few months ago I cooked 8 lbs. of meat for about 20 people and ALL of it was eaten!

Ingredients:

Beef roast- I prefer bottom round or eye of round

Lipton's Beefy onion dry soup mix- blue box usually on the top of the soup aisle

There's 2 packs of mix in a box and I use about 2 packs per 3 lbs. of meat.

Buns

Sliced cheese- pepperjack or cheddar works best

1. Place the beef roast into the slow cooker. Add a bit of water (~1/2-1 cup) so the roast doesn't dry out over the course of the day.

2. Add the soup mix over the roast and let cook on low. I've let it go for 14 hours before and the roast was fine- just ensure there is enough water.

3. Shred the roast about 1/2-1 hour before eating. This entails taking two forks and pulling the meat apart. Pull off any excess fat and dispose.

4. Put the now shredded meat back into the crockpot and let simmer for as long as you need before dinner.

5. Eat on buns or just plain.

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff

Beginning shot with the raw chicken, italian seasoning, and margarine. Yum.

This is shortly after I added the cream cheese and soup.

Final product.

This is a recipe I tried last night and it's going to become a regular in my repertoire of cooking. Cooking in the crockpot is so easy yet you feel like you've slaved over the stove for an entire day when you taste the result. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. It's one of their favorite slow cooker meals and I have to agree. Jenna and Tiffany also concur.

Here's the website. I recommend reading the reviews- a lot of people vary the recipe and some of them sound good.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Chicken-Stroganoff/Detail.aspx

I followed the original recipe given but used 6 chicken breast halves instead of 4. I put it in partially frozen and then ended up shredding it shortly before dinner. Next time I may just put the chicken in completely frozen and then let it cook while I'm at work all day. I used low fat soup and cream cheese and didn't notice a difference. (Note that those ingredients don't go in the crockpot until 1/2-1 hour before dinner.) I served it over fettuccine noodles because that was all I had- rice or egg noodles would also be good.