Michael's Sunday Slow-cooked Roast

This recipe has been a favorite of my family as I have tweaked and developed it over time.  I generally use Beef Roasts, but this recipe has also worked well with good quality pork loin roasts.

I like things that are sweet, so this recipe uses a healthy coating of cinnamon-sugar along the top.  I like garlic too, so I mix the two.  A strange combination, perhaps, but it works.   I may try substituting brown sugar, as it would hint of the delicious spiral hams at Christmas. :-)

Experiment away, but this is the way I generally prepare it.  Because the size of roasts vary significantly, there are no absolute measurements.  Using a crock-pot or slow roaster, it's really quite difficult to ruin a roast.  :-) 

Ingredients:

 * Roast (3 - 4 lbs)
 * Garlic Cloves
 * Cinnamon-Sugar mixture
 * Onion Soup Mix Packet 
 * McCormick's "Season All" Seasoning
 * 1/2 of a medium Onion (sliced)

Directions:

1. Prepare a medium-sized Crock Pot, and pour 1/3 cup water into base.
2. Take your favourite style of roast (tenderloin, rump, chuck, etc.) and place in crock pot. 
3. Cut ½" deep slits across the short side of the roast, spacing them 1" apart, along the length of the roast. 
4. Take some fresh or minced garlic cloves, and work it into the cuts you made, according to taste. 
5. Sprinkle a healthy amount of mixed cinnamon and sugar across the top of the roast. 
6. The cinnamon-sugar adds a hint of sweetness, similar to a holiday ham. I also rub some extra into the slits. 
7. Also sprinkle desired amount of "Season-all" seasoning, or use salt & pepper instead. 
8. Pour a packet of onion-soup mix across the top of the roast. 
9. Slice up half of an onion to make decorative and tasty rings to drape across the roast.
   

NOTES:

• Cooking Time varies by weight and temperature: HIGH (3 -4 hrs) or LOW (5 -7 hrs) 
• I recommend the low temperature, if you have 6 - 8 hours to cook it in.  High heat will take half the time (3 - 4 hours), depending on the size of the roast.  
  
• You can certainly add the roast while frozen, although it is recommended to thaw it the night before. 
• To make a full meal, I like to create a bed of sliced potatoes (red or russet) to set the roast on, with sliced carrots on the sides.  Smaller red potatoes are best quartered, and dropped in.  Easy!

Best Dang Crockpot Beef Stew EVER

This is from AllRecipes: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-beef-stew-i/detail.aspx but a couple minor changes.

Ingredients

• 1-2 pounds beef stew meat, cubed

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 2 onion, chopped

• 2 beef or vegetable bouillon cubes 
• 4 cups water

• 5 potatoes, diced

• 2 c. carrots, sliced

• 3 stalks celery, chopped

Directions

1. Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; sprinkle over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, onion, bouillon cubes, water, potatoes, carrots, and celery.

1. Cover, and cook on Low setting for about 6-8 hours.

Wonderful Wild Rice Soup

Cut 4 oz. of bacon into small pieces and cook. (Or you can use a cup of chopped, cooked ham.)

Place in crock pot. 

Add:
2-10 3/4-oz cans condensed cream of potato soup
1 pkg prepared Uncle Ben's instant wild rice
2-2-oz cans non-fat or 2 % evaporated milk
1-2 cups grated mild cheddar cheese

Put on warm all day long and thin with additional regular milk, if desired.  

The original recipe is from Mom (Kathryn)'s co-worker but used a pound of bacon, whipping cream and much more cheese - so this is very tasty but a healthier version that Kathryn adapted.

Navy Bean Soup

Mom has very good memories of this - her mom used to make it and Mom thinks this is pretty darn close.

Boil and simmer ham bone until meat falls off the bone. Discard the bone and cut up the ham.

Add:

1-2 T minced garlic
1 chopped onion
Boil until done. Add 16 oz. canned white beans or soak and cook 1 pound dried beans instead.

(If you want to do this in the crock pot, boil the ham bone, onion and garlic first.)

Skinny Chili

When first fall weather hits, you've gotta make this!

Brown and drain:
1 pound lean ground beef
8 stalks celery, chopped
2 chopped onions
1 chopped green pepper.

Add to the meat mixture and simmer until hot:
4-16 oz. cans of chili beans (in seasoned sauce)
2-16 oz. cans of plain stewed tomatoes
2-16 oz. cans of mexican seasoned stewed tomatoes

Add additional seasoning if desired (but with mexican tomatoes & seasoned chili beans, it is quite yummy!)

More!

This is the classic More! recipe I learned from Mom. I hesitated posting it, since Alison just posted Thayne's custom variation on the recipe. However, I had already typed it up from my recipe book, and there are several differences between the two. Furthermore, this recipe offers the specific measurements that I am familiar with.

You can't go wrong with either recipe... this original recipe is tangy, but mild. Whereas Thayne's custom More will certainly have more zest to it! Try both of them, and feel free to experiment with what you like most. It's a very forgiving recipe, and how you cook it is up to you! Either way you look at it, More! is a Monson classic!

Serving Size: Large Family w/ leftovers

Ingredients:
- 1 lb. Ground Beef
- ¼ cup chopped onions (or 2 Tbsp dehydrated)
- ½ cup chopped Green Peppers
- 1 cup chopped Celery
- 2 cups Macaroni Noodles
- 1 can Corn, drained
- 1½ Tbsp. Chili Pepper
- 1 can Tomato Sauce
- 1 can Tomato Soup
- Grated Cheddar or Mozzarella Cheese (to taste)

Directions:
- Brown and crumble the hamburger meat; add onions, green peppers, and celery.
- Cook meat and vegetables on the stove for several minutes; remove from stove and drain.
- Meanwhile, have the macaroni noodles cooking; remove when tender (but firm), and drain.
- Choose either a slow cooker/crock pot, or a deep pot atop the stove.
- Add meat mixture, corn, chili pepper, and cooked macaroni noodles.
- Add salt and pepper to taste; pour in tomato sauce and soup, and stir well.
- Cook over stove, covered, or in slow cooker. You can even Microwave it!
- Cover with grated cheese; cook until heated through.

Note: Because most of the items are cooked separately, the cooking time after combining the ingredients is short.

Eryn's Crockpot Chicken Soup

This is nothing fancy, but turned out pretty good!

Ingredients:
8 cups chicken broth (I just used 8 cups of water and some bouillon cubes)
2 cups diced celery
1 medium onion
2 cups diced carrots
1-2 lbs chicken, diced (can throw it in raw or throw it in a pan for a couple minutes with the onion to seal in juices)
Bag of frozen mixed vegetables
2 cups rice (I used brown)
3 cloves garlic
Some lemon pepper
Some thyme
Some basil

Preparation

Throw (or place) everything in the crockpot except for the rice and leave on high for 2-3 hours. Throw the rice into the pot for another hour and you should be good to go!

I will post a picture later - I took one using my phone.

Alison's Sunday Crock Pot Pork Roast

Ingredients:
Onion
Potatoes
Carrots
Celery
2 Garlic Cloves
Pork Loin
Seasonings (Mrs. Dash, Lemon Pepper, Garlic Salt, S&P)
1/2 to 1 cup Water

I didn't list how much of each ingredient to use because it really depends on the size of crowd/family you'll be feeding. Since it generally is just me, hunnybun, and the goobs, I chose a small pork loin out of the freezer, 5 potatoes, and a handful of leftover carrots and celery from the relish container that needed using up. It also depends on the size of your crock pot.

Defrost the pork loin in the microwave, if needed, while you prep/cut up the vegetables. Layer about half of the potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion on the bottom of the pot. Add a little seasoning. Place the pork loin on top and surround it with the rest of the vegetables. Add the water. Season with your choice of seasons. Put the lid on and turn the crock pot on to high for four hours or low for eight hours. (I generally choose high depending on the time of day.)

Cut into the middle to check for doneness (is that even a word?). If you like gravy, take some (or all) of the drippings left in the pot and mix with a packet of gravy (yup, I cheat sometimes, but that's okay).

Crockpot Chili

Well the past few months I've been eating a lot of chili, so this is an approximation of what I make on the weekends & freeze it -- it seems the longer it's frozen, the spicier it gets. (Or maybe it just depends on the temperature outside...?) I should add - It makes about 12-14 1-cup servings.

The night before:
Soak 1/2 pound of kidney beans and 1/2 pound red beans overnight. (If you don't remember to do this the night before, there are instructions on the bag on how to do a quick soak -- boil them then let them sit for an hour, I believe. Or of course you can buy the cans.)

In a skillet, fry the following:
1 lb hamburger
2 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced or smashed (to taste)

Throw the beans and hamburger mix into a crockpot with:

2 cans (6 oz each) tomato paste
2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes (the kind with green chiles is good)
2 sweet peppers, diced (I like to get the yellow to add color, but green peppers are fine)
1 bunch celery, diced
1 t ground cumin
1 t thyme
1 t oregano
2 t black pepper
2 T chili powder (ok, I really don't know - I just dump it in, but this seems about right)
2 t red pepper

Now sit back and let it cook... I usually leave it in the crockpot on high for about 3 hours and then turn it to low another 2 hrs (at least until the veggies are cooked). This is excellent with fresh rolls.