Crock Pot Recipes - Raleigh,NC

I have tons of ideas but if you still need some help with meals think about hiring a personal chef. I cook in Raleigh NC and am very affordable. Look at my website at culinarydelightsnc.com. Some of my favorite recipes for myself are just stew beef with frozen mixed veggies, potatoes, and onions. Also you can make a beef stew with prunes, carrots, onions, and one bottle of guinness draught. Sausage, carrots, onions and cabbage is another good one. Hope you enjoy them and e-mail me if you want to have a week off of cooking at a time.

Our entire family favorite- and the easiest EVER to prepare- is Lemon Pepper Chicken or Garlic Chicken. All my four kids love it! Put a pound of baby carrots in the bottom of the slow cooker. Buy a few pounds of chicken thighs (I find chicken breasts taste papery in the slow cooker) and remove skin and fat. Place them over the carrots. Take a bottle of Lawry's, or the like, of Lemon Pepper Marinade (or Garlic Marinade) and pour it over the top. Cook on slow for 8-10 hours! Serve over hot cooked rice and enjoy! The marinade makes a delicious sauce and flavors the carrots so even my kids love them! Note, I have used two pounds to five pounds of chicken depending on how many I am servings or how many leftovers I want. I add a second bottle of marinade when I fill it up to the top with chicken.

You can do just about anything in a crockpot! I made an awesome beef stew that was a Sandra Lee Semi-Homade recipe found in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of her magazine. (Recipe name is Slow Cooker Beef Stew! How original!) I have even made soups, spaghetti sauce in the crockpot. McCormick makes seasoning for slow cookers. You can find these in the gravy section. Also find a Homemade Gourmet rep in your area (I know one you can contact) as they have MANY recipes for crockpot cooking.....go to www.homemadegourmet.com and check out easy recipes. You can pre-make your meals by adding a liquid item and seasoning to your meat and then freeze. Label the bag with the name of the recipe. Stack your freezer like this as you get home from shopping instead of plopping the meat into the freezer and wondering what you are going to do with it. Plan your meals for the week also. Then just pull out what ever looks good for that night for supper. You don't have to thaw it; just put it in the crockpot and it will thaw as it cooks. Hope this helps make your life easier. Also use those slow cooker liners as they make clean up easier. I have made meatloaf in a crock pot as well. If you premake it, line the crockpot with the liner and form your meatloaf to the crockpot. Then freeze the meatloaf in the liner inserted into another freezer ziploc with "meatloaf" written on it with the date. This way you can plop the whole thing right into your crockpot and it is easy to cook! Good LucK!

I love the crock pot!!
I usually do PORK AND SAUERKRAUT, just plop the pork roast in and dump a bag of sauerkraut on top I put on low for about 8 hours and ...TA DA!!
I also do pork RIBS, just put the ribs and some bbq auce in for about 6 hours on low.
BONELESS CHICKEN BREASTS I put some salsa and sour cream in with boneless chicken breasts. Tastes great with rice (I buy the kind of rice you can throw in the microwave and it steams it in the bag, takes about 5 minutes)
I also do the pulled pork and roast with carrots and potatoes that the other two mothers suggested.

I just made this one for the first time and it's so easy it's crazy...pulled pork. Buy a pork roast, put it in the crock pot and pour one bottle (I use real cane sugar soda) of root beer over it. Cook for 8 hours. Drain. Shred with 2 forks. Mix in one bottle of your favorite bbq sauce and have another on reserve for extra sauce. I made this with some whole wheat buns, sweet potato fries and a salad...viola! You can probably eat it for a few days and/or freeze some for another day. I couldn't believe it worked and it was so tender and delcious!

There are so many great answers to this question. Just use the search feature at the top of the page with exactly your title, and you'll get a million great recipes! I just started using a slow cooker too, and I can't believe how many great ideas I got from doing that!

I don't know if you're a SAHM, but while the kids are playing during the day, I prep as much as possible.

1. I fill pots with amount of water needed and set on burner.
2. I measure out milk, margarine, ect... and put in a cup in fridge.
3. I line pan for oven.
4. If we're having something like baked chicken or baked french fries, I will go ahead put on lined pan and store in fridge or freezer until time.
5. I set the oven to start preheating at correct time.
6. I prepare salads ahead and put in fridge.

I do as much ahead as I can so that I'm not stressed with two hungry kids while I fix dinner. It usually only takes me 15 minutes to prepare dinner AT dinner time.

Not crockpot, but super easy!

Kielbasa and Potato Bake
Ingredients
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound kielbasa sausage, sliced thin
4 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375
2.In a large mixing bowl, mix together soup, milk, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir in potatoes and kielbasa. Spoon into a 7x11 inch casserole dish.
3.Place casserole on a baking sheet, and bake in the preheated oven for 90 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

I like a pot roast. I cut up some potatoes, put in a pot roast, some carrots, sprinkle onion soup mix on and pour water up to cover the veggies (which are on the bottom). Very yummy.

Dr. Pepper Chicken
Spray bottom of crock pot with non-stick spray
Put 3-4 boneless chicken breasts on bottom
Mix about 3/4 cup of ketchup with 1 1/2 c. Dr. Pepper in a bowl. Add chopped red or green peppers (or both) some garlic, minced onion, salt and pepper to taste. Pour mixture over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
It's tender and juicy and my kids love it.

Buffalo Chicken Soup (in the crockpot)
--2 cups cooked and cubed chicken
--1/2 yellow onion, chopped
--3 stalks celery, chopped
--1/4 cup unsalted butter
--1/4 cup flour
--2 cups fat free milk (no higher content than 2% or it will curdle)
--3/4 cup chicken broth
--4 oz Velveeta
--1/2 cup hot wing sauce
--1/2 tsp celery salt
--1/2 tsp garlic salt

**A 4 to 6 quart crockpot works well for this soup.**
1. Make a roux with the flour and butter. I usually use the stove top, but tried the microwave yesterday---it worked great. In a bowl, melt the butter on high for 45 seconds, then whisk in the flour. Set aside.
2. Chop up the onion and celery, and dump it into your crockpot. Add the cooked and cubed chicken. Pour in the chicken broth and milk. Add Velveeta. Add the salt.
3. Stir in the flour and butter mixture. Add hot sauce.
4. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4. The soup is done when the celery and onion reach desired tenderness and the flavors have melded.