Yummy recipe- Crock pot Corned Beef

So I'm late for St. Patty's day...But, if you are like me and stocked up on corned beef when they were cheap this last week, you've got a couple socked away in the back of the freezer!

 

Corned Beef in the Crock Pot

 

• 1 2-3 lb Corned beef, rinsed (throw away the package of spices)


• 1 jar of stone ground mustard


• 1/2 cup brown sugar

1. Place corned beef in crock pot


2. In a small bowl, mix together remaining ingredients


3. Pour mixture over corned beef


4. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

 

Serve with Boiled little red potatoes, boiled green cabbage and corn on the cob!  Cooking it in a crockpot makes a great au jus- it's good on the meat or poured over potatoes. Makes about 4-6 servings.

 

It's also great on bread as a sammich!

Cook ahead day- Oatmeal in the crockpot

We eat Steel Cut oats, also known as Irish Oats.  They aren't as processed as quick oats or instant oatmeal, so it takes longer for your body to digest them, keeping you fuller, longer.

I cook a batch of Steel Cut oats each week, package them up and freeze them.  Mr. Coupondiva has it every morning for breakfast at the office. It's super easy!!

 



Ingredients:

• 1 cup steel cut oats (DO NOT USE old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats)


• 4 ½ cups water


• 1 tsp. of each: vanilla extract, honey and cinnamon (all optional)

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a slow cooker/CrockPot.  I also use a crockpot liner to minimize the mess.


2. Cover and cook on LOW 6-8 hours.


3. Add toppings of your choice and serve!

We like dried fruit, cut up apples, brown sugar, and/or cinnamon on our oatmeal.

This is a great breakfast.  It's Vegan and most Steel Cut Oats are Gluten Free (make sure to check the label!).

Cook Ahead night to the rescue!

About twice a month, I do a cook ahead day.  It's pretty simple, you just make a few extra dinners, put them in freezer safe containers and then when you don't have time to cook or you are just so busy, you can pull out your frozen dinner and you're all set to go!  I usually fire up both crock pots on a lazy Sunday morning.

With our move this weekend, I want to use up as much of the food as we can.  I haven't been on a serious grocery shopping trip in over a month, we've been living off the stockpile.

This weeks' menu:

• Tonight we are having turkey rotini Arribiatta.  Our brother in law made it when the family visited last month.  I froze the left overs, knowing they'd make a great meal!  I'll serve it with some mixed veggies.


• Tomorrow is Chicken chili with onion bread and veggies.


• Thursday is Chicken noodle soup, onion bread and salad.


• Friday is garden veggie fritatta with onions, green peppers, onions and cheddar cheese.

Saturday is the big day, the movers arrive at 8am.  We'll be without internet for a few days, so I'll be offline until the 14th.  By the time I'm back online, I should have some great posts for you!

Recipe: Salsa Chicken Soup

I probably should think of a better name for this recipe.  In our house, we have Salsa Chicken about once a month.  It's Boneless skinless chicken breasts with 1-2 cups of salsa poured over it and baked in the oven for about 30 minutes. Top with cheese and serve with rice.

 

Recently, I've been crockpot cooking 2-3 days per week.  It gives us a chance to have a yummy home cooked meal without 1-2 hours in the kitchen. When you cook in the crockpot, the crockpot seals in the moisture of the meat, so it's a lot more "soupy" than if you cook the same dish in the oven.  After a few meals of Salsa Chicken in the crockpot I added a few more ingredients and Salsa Chicken soup was born.

Salsa Chicken Soup

Serves 4-6

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken pieces


• 1-2 cups salsa of your choice


• 1 small can of fiesta corn


• 1 handful of rice (about 1/2 cup)


• 1 can of chicken stock

1. Combine chicken, salsa, corn and stock in the crockpot.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.


2. Fork shred chicken, return to crockpot.


3. Add rice, turn crockpot up to high for 1 hour.


4. Serve in a bowl topped with tortilla chips and cheese.

I serve this soup with a green salad and warmed flour tortillas. I'm told this soup is good with a splash of Srircha.

 

The leftovers will thicken up, you can use it as burrito filling or quesadilla filler. This is a pretty cheap meal.  You can use other cuts of chicken, but it should be skinless.  When You fork shred the chicken, remove and discard the bones.  If you opt not to use skinless chicken, remove the skin when you shred the meat.