DIE FOR CROCK POT ROAST

1 beef roast, large enough to fit in your crockpot
1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
1 pkg. brown gravy mix
1 pkg. Italian dressing mix
1/2 C. warm water

Place roast in crockpot. Mix all three envelopes and
sprinkle on top of roast. Pour water in the bottom of the
crockpot. Cover and cook on low 6 to 7 hours.

ZIPPY SWISS STEAK


Serves: 6
Effort: easy
Comments: To lower fat content, brown your steak using a skillet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, or just don't brown your steak. I have done that and it is fine.


Ingredients:
2 lbs. boneless round steak (1/2" thick)
4 T. oil
flour
seasonings to taste (I used salt, pepper, season salt and chicken seasoning plus)

1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (4 oz. chopped green chilies
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 stalks of celery stalks


Instructions:
Cut steak into serving pieces. Dredge in flour, and brown in hot oil in skillet. Just brown both sides. Then sit out on plate. Be sure a season the steak to your liking.
In slow cooker, put in tomatoes, chilies, onion and garlic.
Stir good.
Then add browned steak.
Top with celery stalks
Make sure the steak is cover somewhat.
Cover and simmer for 5 hrs. or until tender.
Serve with mash potatoes. Gravy is awesome.



"Personality can open doors, but only character can keep them open"

CHICKEN AND RICE DINNER

1 1/2 c. raw rice
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 c. water
1 chicken cut up
salt and pepper
1/2 c. margarine, melted

Combine rice, soups, water in a bowl; mix well. Spoon into crock pot. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Dip in margarine.Arrange over rice mixture. Drizzle with remaining margarine. Cook on low for 7 hours or longer. Yield: 5-6 servings
* I like 2 use 1 cream of celery and 2 cream of chicken soups, also I generally use boneless chicken breasts.

Cheesy Crock

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
garlic powder
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup

Rinse chicken and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Mix undiluted soup and pour over chicken in a crock pot. Cook on low all day. Shred chicken with two forks and serve over rice, noodles or potatoes

Easy and Delicious Chicken

4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
1 (8 oz) bottle italian salad dressing. (Fat free is fine)
1 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup.
1 cup chicken broth.
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese.
1/2 tsp dried basil.
1/2 tsp dried thyme.
salt and pepper to taste.

In a slow cooker, combine the chicken breasts and the italian dressing. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. When chicken is tender, drain most of the dressing and discard. Shred the chiken meat and return to the slow cooker.

Combine the soup, broth, cream cheese, basil, thyme, salt and pepper. Pour mixture over the chiken in the slow cooker and cook for 1 more hour on low. Serve over pasta, rice or potatoes

Easy 1-2-3 Ribs

1 - 2 lbs short ribs, separated
1 large onion
2 cups of your favorite barbeque sauce

Slice onion and place in bottom of crockpot.
Put ribs on top of onion.
Pour sauce on top. Replace lid.
Cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours.
Ribs will be tender and literally falling off the bone.

Beef French Onion Casserole

2-3 pounds round steak or a mock tender, cubed
1 large onion, sliced into rings
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
1 can Campbell's French onion soup
1 box Stovetop beef flavor stuffing mix
1/3 cup melted butter
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Brown the meat cubes in a frypan in a little oil or butter. In crockpot, put a layer of beefcubes, onion rings, mushrooms. Repeat layers. Pour the can of onion soup mix over all. Cook on low for 8 hours. Take your stuffing mix and add the melted butter plus a half cup of the accumulated juices from the crockpot. Mix well and layer on top of the casserole. Turn your crockpot setting up to high. After 15 to 20 minutes...fluff your stuffing with a fork. Top with the shredded cheese and cover and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

This stuff is to die for!

DorothyR's All-Night Crock-Pot Apple Butter

If you have one of those apple parer/corer/slicer gizmos, by all means use it. Run the apples through the gizmo, then simply chop the peeled rings and your apples are ready.

5 1/2 pounds apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped (Gala apples work well)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

Place the apples in a 5-quart slow cooker. Add the sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt to the apples and mix well.

Cover and cook on low for 12 hours, stirring once (if you remember).

The mixture will be thickened and dark brown. Uncover and continue cooking on low for another 3-6 hours (with the lid off), to thicken it further, until the consistency suits you. (The time variance has to do with how juicy the apples are. Juicier apples will need to cook longer with the lid off to thicken up.)

Insert a stick blender into the mix and whir for 20-30 seconds or so to smooth it out a bit. You don't want to remove all the chunks though, or make it so pureed it looks like baby food. Leave it a bit chunky.

For quick usage: Spoon mixture into clean jars, cover, label and refrigerate or freeze.

For pantry storage: Follow standard canning procedures. Spoon hot apple butter into sterilized 1/2-pint canning jars, cover with hot lids and screw rings, and process in a 200-degree water bath for 10 minutes. After removing and cooling, be sure to check the seal before placing cooled jars in the pantry for storage. If any do not properly seal, put them in the refrigerator.

Makes 5-6 half-pint jars.

This recipe produces a soft creamy macaroni and cheese. There is no written recipe for this one, so measurements are approximate.


16 oz box of macaroni
1 stick of margarine (can use a little less)
2 cans evaporated milk (12 oz can)
approximately 3 cups milk
24 oz (or less) grated sharp cheese
1 T. minced onion (optional)
1 T. oil
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
1 or 2 finely grated carrots (optional)

Put all the ingredients into the slow cooker. Cook on low for 3-4 hours until soft.

Note: To cut down on fat, use nonfat evaporated milk, nonfat skim milk, less than 1 stick margarine, and less than 24 oz of cheese. You may also add a grated carrot or two for additional nutrition.
(I sprayed the crock pot with Pam and did not cook the macaroni)