Favorite Crockpot Recipes?

Beef stew. Put stew beef, cubed potatoes, baby carrots, some chopped celery and onion and some frozen peas into the pot. Add three small jars of beef gravy (I think it is Heinz brand) plus three jars of water. You can leave it on low all day. No need to brown the beef either.

Pulled pork sandwiches-use the McCormick's seasoning packet. Super easy and really good! I made 2 batches for a big party and got soooo many compliments, no one believed it wasn't completely from scratch. You can also freeze it if it makes too much. Easy to warm up some baked beans and throw a salad together and you've got a tasty easy meal. Good luck in school, I was single with no kids when I went to nursing school and it was still quite the challenge!

chicken in bbq sauce (or sweet/sour). Cook on low, & shred before serving.

chili, any soup, or stew. Just pick a fav & toss it in there...on low heat. Our fav is meatball soup: frozen meatballs, jar of spaghetti sauce, bag of frozen vegies, & fresh onion/garlic/peppers.

beef or pork roast. 1 carton of beef broth, onions, garlic, & put some quartered potatoes on top of the meat. I add caraway seed to mine.

I also do beef or pork roast....other ways. Mexican...using cumin & peppers. Italian....using Italian seasoning, zucchini, & squash. I just make sure the vegies stay on top of the meat so they don't get soggy.
A simple salad rounds out the meal.

Steak dinner...

Put thick steak (or pork chops, or chicken...) on the bottom of your crock pot. Coat it in your favorite steak or barbecue sauce, and cover with tin foil. Put in a couple of foil-wrapped potatoes, and some foil-wrapped ears of corn. (I like to put a splash of beer, Parmesan cheese, and some rosemary on the corn...)

Cook on low for about 6 hours. Hubby can turn it to war to keep it fresh for you. :)

Other than that, chili is always awesome.

We do pulled pork and spaghetti in the crock pot.

Pulled pork is a boneless pork shoulder, rub with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Use Root Beer for the liquid. Set on low for 6-8 hours. Drain, shred, and put meat back in the crock pot. I use Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, a little bit of mustard, and some more garlic. It's AMAZING. So easy too.

Spaghetti is also simple. I saute onions and fresh garlic then put it in the crock pot. Add one large jar of crushed tomatoes, one normal size jar of tomato sauce, and one small jar of tomato paste. I bake hot italian sausage, cut that up, and add it in. This only takes 4 hours on low, so I normally make the onions and meat the night ahead of time and then toss it together at lunch time, or even when I get home from work at 330.

Pork Shoulder (AKA pork butt) comes out great in the crock pot. Depending on the size, you can use it for a variety of dinners. I just did this on Monday . . . Pork shoulder rinsed and pat dry. salt and pepper all over and Worcestershire sauce all over the top. cook on low for 8-10 or high for 6. It will be so tender! It is good as is, or you can change it up a little. I pulled some off and mixed it with a green chili sauce for green burritos the first night and some with BBQ sauce for pulled pork sandwiches for the next night. I also plan on frying some up for carnitas tacos tonight. You can freeze the leftovers in the amounts you will need for dinner and then you have another no cook night!

Also, whole chicken is good in the crock pot. I just season it simply and let it cook on low for 6-8 or high for 4-5 hours. It falls off the bone and then you have shredded chicken for tacos, burritos, chicken wraps (always a favorite of ours when it is hot out), quesadillas, pizza or whatever! We have been known to flavor the chicken after its been cooked with BBQ sauce or hot wing sauce to change it up.

Beans are great too. Then you can have bean and cheese burritos.

Toss a few chicken breasts in the crock pot. Add about 3/4 a jar of Italian salad dressing and serve it over a salad. Or, add about 3/4 jar of barbecue sauce, shred it, and serve it on hamburger buns or tortillas.

Beef stew meat, cubed potatoes (we don't even bother to peel them), and a packet of potato seasoning (we like the onion and garlic by McCormick, but onion soup mix works, too). Add frozen corn or frozen peas if you want, at the end - they just have to warm. Serve with buttered sourdough - mmm. We had this for dinner last night!

Our family's big hits are Salsa chicken and manly stew. I make other things as mentioned below.

Salsa Chicken
4-6 chicken breasts
1 jar of salsa
Mexican blend shredded cheese (or what I have on hand) 1-2 cups.
Cook on low 4-8 hours. Make rice in the microwave and mix together. Enjoy!

Manly Stew
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 packet onion soup mix (I used can french onion soup and it works too)
2 pounds of beef for stew
Mix in crock pot and cook on low 4-6 hours. I make egg noodles or mashed potato's.

Congrats on nursing school! I still want to go back and be a nurse.

There is a web site - crockingirls.com - they are both moms and have a wide variety of family friendly and easy crock pot recipes.

All.recipies has a terrific carnitas recipe. I double the spice rub.

There is a McCormick packet for brown sugar bourbon chicken that I've been making. Easy and tasty. I've been using thighs and when I make the marinade I do not add the oil it calls for, I use more water instead. It is yummy. You can shred it for wraps or leave it whole. It's one meal everyone agrees on!