#then i put the dry ingredients of another batch in my lunch crock

[fancassticfiction]

God bless tiny crock pots...

They're fixing my burnt out cooking problem.

[poormommamay]

Bulk Meals are Beautiful

Seriously, when you’re crazy busy with kids and work and life, you don’t want to deal with cooking. I figured I would give you lovelies a few of my family’s bulk meals that can be super cheap and last you well. I have the benefit of having a freezer in my basement as well as in the kitchen so I have enough space to make and freeze extra meals and our usual groceries, but all of these are good for fridging and eating through the week for lunch or dinner again. 

Lasagna is a classic. Lasagna is almost better the second day, is easy to section out and freeze, and is one of those meals that you can do just about anything with. Because I’m pescetarian, we typically do a vegetarian lasagna with cottage, ricotta, and parmesan cheese, fresh mozzarella, spinach, and mushrooms. I also make my own red sauce, which is super easy. A can of crush tomato, a can of tomato paste, a can of tomato sauce to thin it down a little, salt, pepper, garlic or garlic powder depending on what you have, and an italian seasoning blend or if you have the individual herbs you can add them in as you like. Super quick, takes like 30 minutes of simmering, you can add extras to it like peppers, mushrooms, chunks of tomato, or browned meat. You can use that red sauce for any pasta dishes or as a pizza sauce. It’s quick, it’s easy, put it in a jar and it stores for a week (possibly longer but since pasta is fairly cheap and something you can easily buy in bulk and store we eat a lot of pasta). 

Red beans and rice is a fantastic, dense meal that stays delicious. It can be done in a crockpot which means you can start it before work and have it basically ready when you get home, or you can make it on a day off and have a week’s worth of lunch. It’s pretty cheap too--especially if you make the vegetarian version we make. Just need a couple pounds of dry red beans, a medium yellow or white onion depending on your preference, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper. If you want it meaty, a hamhock goes in the pot with your beans, onion, and spices. Fill the pot with water enough to cover the beans, and set it on the stove. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for a few hours, checking in on it from time to time to add spices if they need or water if it needs. In the crock pot you want to add a little extra water since you won’t be able to add any if it’s needed throughout the cooking process. When the beans are mostly soft and easy to smush, cook your rice and if you’re making cornbread that’s the best time to get it in the oven. If you’re going the meaty route, fry your kielbasa to add in to the beans at that point. And bam. You have a super comforting bowl of red beans and rice, and for fairly cheap.

Potato soup is a staple in our house during the winter. It’s not as cheap as other meals but you can make a lot of it and can kind of do whatever. I typically boil about half the potatoes first and let them get melty and creamy before I add in cream, cheese, carrots, celery, and more potato so I have a thick base and big chunks. Spice it to suit your tastes, make it thick or thin however you please, really besides potatoes being the main ingredient you are free to do whatever you want. This is generally true of all food but it’s a great to remember for soups and stews that you can kind of go nuts. 

Enchiladas are a new go to for me. I made my first batch of enchiladas maybe a month and a half ago but they quickly added into the rotation. I make my own sauce (this is something you will find with me, it is often cheaper to make your own than buy premade), which is just oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and tomato sauce. Super simple. And its another meal you can kind of do whatever with. You have your sauce which is your base, get your tortillas and stuff em with whatever you’re feeling. I typically do jalapeno and shrimp with pepper jack and colby jack cheese but do whatever. Go crazy. I found a recipe that used ricotta which, weird, but do you.

So, there’s four meals  you can make in bulk to portion out for lunches for the week, to freeze for another night, to stress eat all of in front of the TV at midnight when the kids are asleep, just whatever. 

You lovelies have a beautiful day.

[nixieacquanetta]

Easy Recipes for The Cooking Virgins 2: Chicken and Dumplings

--- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts --- 2 tablespoons of butter  --- 2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup --- 1 (14.5 oz) can of Chicken Broth --- 1/2 of a diced onion (or 1 Tablespoon of Powdered Onion if you hate the texture of actual onion) --- 1 Tablespoon dried parsley (optional, to taste) --- 1 can of flaky refrigerator biscuits --- 1 small bag of baby carrots (optional) 1) Put chicken breasts in crock pot and throw the butter in with it 2) Add the two cans of cream of chicken and one can of chicken broth 3) Add the parsley and onion 4) If you are doing the baby carrots, throw them in too 5) Cover and cook on low for 8 hours (Or high for 4 hours, but I find the chicken gets very dry this way and don’t recommend it.) 6) At the 8 hour mark (or when the chicken reaches a temperature of 165), take the chicken out of the crock pot and shred it up with two forks. Return to the crock pot. 7) Cut up or tear apart the biscuits into small pieces, and throw them into the crock pot. Stir. 8) Cover and cook on high for another hour. 9) Enjoy!  This is enough to make about 3 nights worth in my house, with two 27 year old men, a 2.5 year old girl and me. So what you can do if you can’t eat that much and for days in a row: Option 1) Halve the recipe ingredients, but keep the cooking time. Plenty for dinner and possibly one serving for lunch the next day. Option 2) Keep the ingredients the same, but DO NOT THROW IN THE BISCUITS YET! Take two thirds of the meal and split it into two containers and freeze them (the biscuits aren’t that good going from frozen to reheated.) THEN add the biscuits to your main batch that you’re going to be eating, except only use a third of the can (or however much you want, depending on how much dumpling you want.) You can cook the remainder of the can per regular biscuit directions and eat them with other meals. When you’re ready to eat the frozen ones at a later date, you can defrost it in the microwave or overnight, and reheat it either on the stove or in the microwave. Just eat regular biscuits with it. ( I havent yet figured out how to reheat from frozen and still make the biscuits into actual dumplings. Will update when I figure it out.) http://juliesfreebies.com/easy-crock-pot-chicken-dumplings/ <---here is the link I used as a foundation for my recipe. You can change anything to taste, but beware this makes the giant batch. @aerefyr

[bobbilder-blog1]

Crock Pot

Remember how dry and soft individuals crock pot roasts was once whenever you were a child? You'd to beg for glass after glass of milk simply to wash lower the meat, carrots, and taters. For many, individuals recollections stick so strongly within their heads that even though they receive one like a house warming or wedding shower gift, it sits at the back of their cupboard gathering dust. For more information on hamilton beach stay or go programmable slow cooker manual, visit our website today!

Or even better, individuals meals that come out so mushy you can swear it had been produced (after which pureed) for any baby. More often than not, these common problems could be fixed having a couple of simple adjustments.

Consider your crock pot just like any other appliance inside your kitchen. Remember the very first time you moved to a new home or apartment and used the oven and stovetop? It had been probably totally different from your last and most likely required a couple of days to get accustomed to. Likewise, each logo and model differs, so make time to get accustomed to your crock pot. Observe that most new slow cookers prepare in a greater temperature and for that reason may need a spinal manipulation always employ the cooking occasions given on recipes like a guide.

In case your meal is dry:

Most likely, an excessive amount of steam has steered clear of while cooking or even the meal itself was overcooked. Test out the next:

1) Don't lift the lid! Any time you lift the lid steam escapes, therefore affecting the consistency from the meal and cooking.

2) Cover the top stoneware insert with aluminum foil just before covering using the glass lid. This helps prevent steam from getting away keeping the food moist.

3) Give a little water. Whether it still appears dry, add a bit more water the next time.

4) Reduce the quantity of liquid absorbing ingredients. Grain may be the big offender here in case your recipe requires grain to become cooked within the crock pot, frequently the grain will absorb a lot of the liquid resulting in the grain to become mushy and all of those other meal to become dry.

5) Try lowering the cooking by 30-an hour.

In case your meal is mushy:

Once more, the chances are your food was overcooked (oddly enough). It is also entirely possible that there's an excessive amount of liquid and an excessive amount of steam cooking the meals.

1) Reduce the quantity of liquid. This is also true when cooking meals which contain grain or stuffing that's cooked directly within the slow oven. I can not let you know the number of occasions I have had super mushy grain and stuffing to function as a family meal. A minimum of my toddler loved it!

2) In case your glass lid is rattling from steam, leave the lid off for 10-fifteen minutes, stir the contents (if required), and lower heat setting your meals is most likely done or quite close.

3) Again, try lowering the cooking by 30-an hour.

Make certain you are while using right size crock pot it shouldn't be under half or even more than two-thirds full.

Lastly, for a lot of the cooking of every recipe may also be a problem. I am lucky enough to be considered a work from home mother who's only minutes from her kitchen and may prepare the crockpot meal anytime throughout the morning. However, many of them can't and fundamental essentials people that needs to be truly enjoying the advantages of a crock pot!

For individuals who work 8-10 hour days (or even more) now you ask , always, "How do you make a crock pot meal that just cooks for five-6 hrs?" A couple of solutions can be found, one to be the new programmable crock pots that switch heat setting to help keep warm once cooking is performed. If purchasing a new crock pot isn't an option, there's additionally a module that may be connected to older crock pots that will the same factor and it is quite affordable.

For those who have a lunch hour, prepare your food each morning or even the previous night and the stoneware insert inside your fridge. Then (if at all possible) you or another person inherited could put the insert in to the cooking module and switch the switch.

My last suggestion could be this for those who have an 8 quart crock pot, think about making a dual batch from the recipe. This lengthens the cooking by about 50-75% (see example below*) as well as creates leftovers to freeze and revel in later.

I have found that cooking is really a test. Most are afraid to test out their crock pot. You shouldn't be! It's as with every other appliance inside your kitchen, take time to get accustomed to it and you will eventually not need to trade it for anything.

*illustration of double batch cooking: just one batch of stew taking 5-6 hrs on low, the double batch would take 7-9 hrs on low. Want to know what is the best hamilton beach programmable stay or go slow cooker? Visit our website to know more information.

[alitycool-blog]

Slow Cooker

Remember how dry and soft individuals crock pot roasts was once whenever you were a child? You'd to beg for glass after glass of milk simply to wash lower the meat, carrots, and taters. For many, individuals recollections stick so strongly within their heads that even though they receive one like a house warming or wedding shower gift, it sits at the back of their cupboard gathering dust. For more information on hamilton beach stay or go programmable slow cooker manual, visit our website today!

Or even better, individuals meals that come out so mushy you can swear it had been produced (after which pureed) for any baby. More often than not, these common problems could be fixed having a couple of simple adjustments.

Consider your crock pot just like any other appliance inside your kitchen. Remember the very first time you moved to a new home or apartment and used the oven and stovetop? It had been probably totally different from your last and most likely required a couple of days to get accustomed to. Likewise, each logo and model differs, so make time to get accustomed to your crock pot. Observe that most new slow cookers prepare in a greater temperature and for that reason may need a spinal manipulation always employ the cooking occasions given on recipes like a guide.

In case your meal is dry:

Most likely, an excessive amount of steam has steered clear of while cooking or even the meal itself was overcooked. Test out the next:

1) Don't lift the lid! Any time you lift the lid steam escapes, therefore affecting the consistency from the meal and cooking.

2) Cover the top stoneware insert with aluminum foil just before covering using the glass lid. This helps prevent steam from getting away keeping the food moist.

3) Give a little water. Whether it still appears dry, add a bit more water the next time.

4) Reduce the quantity of liquid absorbing ingredients. Grain may be the big offender here in case your recipe requires grain to become cooked within the crock pot, frequently the grain will absorb a lot of the liquid resulting in the grain to become mushy and all of those other meal to become dry.

5) Try lowering the cooking by 30-an hour.

In case your meal is mushy:

Once more, the chances are your food was overcooked (oddly enough). It is also entirely possible that there's an excessive amount of liquid and an excessive amount of steam cooking the meals.

1) Reduce the quantity of liquid. This is also true when cooking meals which contain grain or stuffing that's cooked directly within the slow oven. I can not let you know the number of occasions I have had super mushy grain and stuffing to function as a family meal. A minimum of my toddler loved it!

2) In case your glass lid is rattling from steam, leave the lid off for 10-fifteen minutes, stir the contents (if required), and lower heat setting your meals is most likely done or quite close.

3) Again, try lowering the cooking by 30-an hour.

Make certain you are while using right size crock pot it shouldn't be under half or even more than two-thirds full.

Lastly, for a lot of the cooking of every recipe may also be a problem. I am lucky enough to be considered a work from home mother who's only minutes from her kitchen and may prepare the crockpot meal anytime throughout the morning. However, many of them can't and fundamental essentials people that needs to be truly enjoying the advantages of a crock pot!

For individuals who work 8-10 hour days (or even more) now you ask , always, "How do you make a crock pot meal that just cooks for five-6 hrs?" A couple of solutions can be found, one to be the new programmable crock pots that switch heat setting to help keep warm once cooking is performed. If purchasing a new crock pot isn't an option, there's additionally a module that may be connected to older crock pots that will the same factor and it is quite affordable.

For those who have a lunch hour, prepare your food each morning or even the previous night and the stoneware insert inside your fridge. Then (if at all possible) you or another person inherited could put the insert in to the cooking module and switch the switch.

My last suggestion could be this for those who have an 8 quart crock pot, think about making a dual batch from the recipe. This lengthens the cooking by about 50-75% (see example below*) as well as creates leftovers to freeze and revel in later.

I have found that cooking is really a test. Most are afraid to test out their crock pot. You shouldn't be! It's as with every other appliance inside your kitchen, take time to get accustomed to it and you will eventually not need to trade it for anything.

*illustration of double batch cooking: just one batch of stew taking 5-6 hrs on low, the double batch would take 7-9 hrs on low. Want to know what is the best hamilton beach programmable stay or go slow cooker? Visit our website to know more information.