Slow Cooker Tater Tot Dinner Casserole

All crock pot dinners don’t have to be stews, soups, and pot roasts.  Traditional baked casseroles can also be done in the crock pot!  And you don’t have to babysit the oven and there’s no need to make sure you didn’t burn the top.  This one is just a spin on the cheesy tater tot and beef casserole dish.  Not the healthiest meal in the world, but honestly, it’s not horrible either.  This is still better than ordering a pizza or picking up take-out.

Ingredients:

• (1) lb of ground beef
• (1) can of cream of mushroom
• (16 oz) bag of frozen vegetable mix
• (32 oz) bag of frozen tater tots
• (1) cup of shredded cheddar cheese
• Salt & Pepper to season
• Pam cooking spray

Directions

1) On the stove top, brown the beef and get it crumbled up.  It doesn’t have to be fully cooked… browned on the outside and into small pieces.

2) After the meat is ready to go, in the crockpot – Spray the bottom with cooking spray.

3) Spread about 1/3 to 1/2 of the tater tots at the bottom of the crock pot.

4) Place the beef, cream of mushroom, frozen veggies and about 1/2 – 3/4 of the cheese on top of the tater tots and mix it all up.  Also, add in salt and pepper to taste (amount to your liking).

5) On tap, layer the rest of the tater tots and remaining cheese.

6) Cook on high for about 5-6 hours… afterwards, it’ll look like the casserole below and be ready to for dinner.

"Lazy" Pozole

i will start by apologizing for my masterpiece of a picture…. we made this last night and packed it away for lunch at work.  Sadly, didn’t get a chance to take a snapshot of it in the crockpot in the morning… thinking back, totally should have.  But hey, this is a blog about a working law student.  When finals are less than a month away, I’m just happy I’m eating homemade food and not suffering through the cafeteria at work.  But below is a picture of a totally legit traditional pozole and the link to an old fashioned variation on the recipe:

Oh, wait… you can’t read Spanish?  Just click the translate link at the top for Google.. it’s a pretty good translation  .  Gosh, and you thought I tricked you or was testing your language skills.  No , Spanish was not a requirement to read this website.  I will also add that you may notice the ingredients are fairly different in the recipe in the link above in comparison to mine… each region in each Latin country makes this soup differently… like hot dogs in all the regions in the US: NY style dog, Chicago dog, Coney dog… etc.

Pozole… a traditional Mexican dish, well really, most Latin countries have a spin on this.   Every year during when we travel to visit my family in Mexico for Christmas, they serve this soup/stew at the posadas.  So, educational side note on Posadas in Mexico which actually originated from Spain.  They’re a type of party celebrating the birth of Christ.  Families and neighborhoods host them (almost like a large block party) and all the children walk the streets singing, knocking on neighbors’ doors.   The children represent Mary and Joseph seeking a place to stay the night Jesus was born.  Finally, after stopping and serenading multiple homes, the children knock on the last door – the host’s home!  The host lets everyone in and the rest of the celebrations begin.  Inside the home there’s pinatas, candy, treats, and a feast for everyone (plus some) to partake in.  There’s also the praying of the rosary – and I will admit, this is where my Mexican Catholic roots get a little shaky… 1) I’m fluent in Spanish, but needless to say, never learned the rosary.  Heck, I barely know it in English!  and 2) I will admit, I’m too anxious for the food to truly pay attention to the whole praying part.  My sense of smell and taste buds are pretty much reminding me the whole time that there’s a kitchen full of cooked food just waiting… waiting for the prayer to finish and for the feasting to begin.

So, anywho…  the quintessential part of Pozole or Posole depending on how you’d like to spell it is hominy – large, white corn kernels.  The meat can range from chicken to pork to beef or a combination of any of the three.  This recipe, just chicken.  This is a great alternative to chicken soup AND it has a little kick, so also great if you’re trying to clear out your sinuses from a cold.

Ingredients

• 1 Pack of Chicken Thighs or about (6) of them
• 1 Can of Hominy (29 oz) – Drained
• 1 Can of Green Chiles (~4 oz)
• 1 Can of Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
• 1 Medium Onion – Chopped
• 3-4 Cloves Garlic – Minced OR (2) Tbsp Minced Garlic
• 2 Large Carrots – Chopped
• 2 Tbsp Cilantro – Chopped
• 2 Chicken Boullioun Cubes
• 1 Quart of Water
• (1) tsp to (1) Tbsp of Cayenne Pepper
• (1) Can of Red Enchilada Sauce (We DID not have this on hand, so ours does not have the red coloring to it… also a great way to reduce the kick of you’d like this to be a kid friendly stew)

Directions

1) Dump all ingredients into the crockpot

2) Cook on high for 5 hours….

3) Either eat OR let cool down to room temp and store in the fridge until ready to be reheated and enjoyed.

Note: This slow cooker thing, pretty awesome huh?  And I love how the chicken thighs just shred on their own in the crockpot once they’re fully cooked.

Irish Beef Stew with... GUINNESS (or any other stout)

As you can see, I haven’t posted in quite some time… law school has gotten… busy, very very busy.  BUT we have certainly continued to cook.  And with fall, the crockpot is making regular appearances in our kitchen again.  I’m not going to lie, I bought a 6 pack of Guinness and drank 1, the rest were used in recipes throughout that week which hopefully I’ll get to posting all of them – they were honestly all scrumptioulicious!

The awesome thing about crockpot cooking, you can prepare these ahead of time over the weekend and freeze them until they’re ready for use.  But be forewarned – it takes 2 days in the fridge or a full day on the counter for these meals to defrost and be ready for cooking.  So there will have to be some thinking in advance if which “frozen meal” you would like to have for dinner tomorrow night.  But really, if that’s the only drawback – I can deal.

I will also admit, I drew my inspiration for my Guinness dishes from Fine Cooking… I will certainly not take credit for concocting these.. perhaps just modifying a little 

Ingredients:

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lb. boneless beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large carrots, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 (12-oz.) bottle Guinness (or other stout)
4 cups lower-salt beef broth  (The original recipe only called for 1 cup.. I desired more of a stew and used 4 cups)
2 large russet potatoes (about 1-1/2 lb.), washed and cut into 1-inch cubes

Instructions:

Wait.. hold on… what I love about the crockpot….

1) THROW/TOSS/DUMP/POUR all ingredients into the crockpot

….OR Toss into gallon freezer ziploc bag and freeze

2) Set on high for 5 hours or low for 10 hours

3) When time is up, ladle into bowls and slurp up.

Right?  Can it get any easier for a delicious meal that meets your dietary needs and is WAY healthier than Taco Bell AND pretty much just as quick and effortless?

Chipotle Lime Chicken in the Slowcooker – Watch Out, it’s HOT!

So this is certainly not the prettiest dish I’ve ever created AND it was hot as all get out… I mean, hot enough where if you’re not into spicy, I would say CLICK OFF THIS PAGE NOW.  Don’t even read this.  BUT if you have an adventurous palette and you can handle the heat, definitely check this recipe out.  This is another slow cooker recipe… so in other words… either prep and slow cook or freeze and then cook sometime in the next few weeks.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium sliced onion
• 3 stalks chopped celery
• 2 large chopped carrots
• 4 pounds skinless chicken thighs
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (15-ounce) can Enchilada Sauce (for the more timid, try some tomato sauce)
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce with 1 teaspoon sauce from can
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• Lime wedges, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1) You know the drill for the slow cooker, this follows the same method.  Add it all to crockpot… high for 5 hours or low for 8-10 hours until chicken is well done.

2) If you decide to freeze in advance in a 1 gallon bag, here’s what it looks like before freezing.  Again, after freezing completely – it will take about a full day to two days in the fridge to defrost and be ready for crock potting.

3) Serve it in a bowl… I recommend Jamaican Rice or Spanish Rice as a side dish.