Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie

Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pie

You have to remember this blog is entitled "Just Put It In A Crockpot". I am a working, empty nester and I cook mostly for just my husband (in the crockpot or microwave). There is nothing fancy or elegant here. Just real throw togethers. If it doesn't taste good, I won't post it.

As usual, this is a very flexible recipe. It can be adjusted to suit your taste and needs.

3 frozen chicken breasts
1 bag frozen vegetables
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 layer pie crust or Bisquick mixture or make your own
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place the the chicken breasts and vegetables in the crockpot and cook 6 or 7 hours. Add soup, cook for another hour. Mix ingredients well, breaking up the chicken as you go. It should just fall apart at this point. Remove the crock from the electric cooker and add pie crust on top or Bisquick mixture or your own crust as the top layer and bake according package directions.

That's is! Easy and delicious!

If you want crust on the bottom, you can put a pie crust in a glass oven safe pie plate and pour the ingredients from crock onto it and cover with 2nd pie crust.

If you are cooking for a large family, use 2 cans of soup and 2 bags of vegetables.

Crockpot Butternut Squash

Cut the squash all the way around, rather than trying to cut through it; half it, scoop out the seeds and rub it all down lightly with olive oil.


Fill with apple slices and place in crock. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg and cinnamon and sugar (as if you making cinnamon toast). Add 1/4 cup of water to crockpot.

Slow cook on low for 5 to 7 hours. Melt together in the microwave on half power 1/4 stick butter or margarine, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 cup brown sugar and pour mixture over squash in the crockpot. Cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Microwave Chicken Casserole

1 to 1 1/2 lbs chicken (cubed)
1 12 to 16 oz bag frozen vegetables
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup herb bread crumbs

1 cup additional herb bread crumbs (for topping)

Place cubed chicken into glass microwaveable dish and cover with cling wrap. Cook on 70 to 80% power for 5 to 6 minutes. Place bag of frozen vegtables in the microwave next to the chicken and cook at the same time for the same length of time. If the chicken doesn't look done after 5 minutes, Cook at 2 minute intervals until "almost" done.

Mix first 5 ingredients together and put into glass microwave/oven safe casserole dish. Top with additional bread crumbs.

Cook on 70 to 80% power for another 3 to 5 minutes.

If your bread crumb topping is no longer crunchy, you can place the casserole in a 450 degrees preheated oven for about 5 minutes or you can use the convection portion of your microwave if yours has that option.

If your topping is too crunchy. Cook covered for another minute in microwave and let stand while covered for an additional 5 minutes.

This recipe is based on an 1100 watt microwave. The entire process should take no longer than 30 minutes. Average time is 20.

This will serve 4 people 1 helping. If you are cooking for 6 to 8, you will need to double the recipe and use a bigger casserole dish.

Easy Cube Steak Supper

4 to 6 cube steaks
1 can diced tomatoes
Shredded cheese
salt
pepper

Cook in crockpot on low for 45 minutes to an hour. Pour tomatoes over cube steak, salt and pepper to taste and cover for about 15 more minutes. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Cover for 2 to 3 minutes (to slightly melt cheese) and serve.

Easy and tasty!

Apple Butter In The Crockpot

I used 3 regular size bags of apples you get from the grocery store (8 to 10 apples per bag). Any kind of apples would be fine except for Granny Smith or other sour apples (unless you like your apple butter tart).


I used this cool little gadget. I got it at Kmart. It said apple peeler on the package, but it also cores as it slices. It is so easy! I love it!!!



For apple butter, I cut each slice in half manually to make it smaller so that I could pack it down with my hands to get as many apple slices in the pot as possible. If you drop the slices into the crockpot loosely, you'll end up with only a couple of pints of apple butter. Pack in as many apple slices as you can. As you can see, I piled them past the rim. I have a dome lid on my crockpot. Next time, I'll put the sugar in before the crockpot is full.


I used:

1 Bag McIntosh Apples
1 Bag Golden Delicious Apples
1 Bag Red Delicious Apples

1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 bottle cinnamon candy

Cook in crockpot on low 12-14 hours.

Note: My crockpot is 4 or 5 qts. If yours is larger, you will need to adjust the spices to taste once the apples have cooked down and before you put it into the jars.

My apple butter is for Christmas gifts so I bought 12 half pint jars. With this recipe, I was able to fill 11 of them.

To get them to seal, I placed the lids and jars into a large round pot of water sitting on the stove that had already reached the boiling point. I turned it on low and took out each jar with tongs, one at a time, to fill it. I put the lid in the ring and placed it on the jar immediately and placed it upside down into another pot of water, on the stove. After about 5 minutes, they were completely sealed.

My family is very pleased with the flavor of the apple butter.



I think next time I make it, I'll try using spice drops candy instead of the cinnamon candy.

"Make It In A Hurry" Crockpot Soup

After all the Thanksgiving cooking, a simple crockpot soup was a joy! I have a full-time job and feel a little "cooked out" anyway. I pulled out the crockpot, threw in a few items and went off to work. When I came home, dinner was ready! I love my crockpot.

1 pkg of frozen stew beef
1 14.5 oz can beef broth
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 bag frozen vegetables
1 tsp sea salt
a dash of liquid smoke
(any leftover vegetables in the refrigerator)

I served it with toast sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

Chicken Beef Stew

While we were making candy on Saturday, my daughter was making a crock pot stew. She used

- a bag of small potatoes
- half a bag of baby carrots
- a chopped onion

She placed them all in the pot with a package of stew meat, 1/2 cup of water and sprinkled some Durkee Grill Creations steak seasoning on the ingredients.

After slow cooking for about 3 hours, she added a can of cream of chicken soup and cooked for another couple of hours. You would be surprised at how good it was. A very unique flavor.

It can't get easier than that!

Chocolate Dipped Cream Sandwiches

To make these, you will need:

* Melted chocolate
* Butter cream filling (or marshmallow cream)
* Mini or Regular Vanilla wafers


I have a little Chocolate Heaven fondue pot that looks like a little crockpot. I bought a tub of milk chocolate and dark chocolate discs and some white drizzle chocolate and some butter cream filling, all from The Chocoley Company (chocoley.com). I filled the pot with half milk chocolate and half dark. When using a fondue pot, it melts better when you stir the chocolate discs often and long.

Make small balls with the butter cream filling and place between two wafers and dip into the chocolate. Place on a lightly buttered platter or wax paper and allow to dry completely. If necessary, you can put them into the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.



If you have remaining chocolate, you can pour it into candy molds and decorate it after it has hardened enough to handle. I used the bottle of white drizzle chocolate and red and green sprinkles for decorating.

It's easy but time consuming so set an afternoon aside to do this. It's a fun thing to do as a family activity.

Sirloin Tip side Steak

I had some small sirloin tip side steaks and the last time I bought them, they cooked up very tough. I didn't plan to ever buy them again and wondered what in the world people do with them. I found some in the freezer and, of course, I decided to just put them in the crockpot.

I sliced some potatoes and put them on the bottom with about a half cup of water and put the little frozen steaks on top. I couldn't believe they came out out tender!

Caution: This is not an all day crockpot event. They are ready in about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. So, it would be better to have someone at home to turn the crockpot on or set it on a timer.

Chili in the Crockpot

This is a great dish to serve on a cold, winter night or when you just can't think of anything you want to eat for supper tonight. Plan ahead a little and you can have leftovers to keep on hand for weeks to pull out on those nights that you are just too busy to come up with a meal.

o 1 to 2 pounds ground beef or ground chuck, browned and drained
(unless it's VERY lean; then you can put it directly into the pot)
o 1 or 2 cans dark red kidney beans
o 2 cans 14.5 ounces) whole or diced tomatoes
o 1 can of tomato sauce or 1 small can of tomato paste
o 4 to 5 tablespoons chili powder
o 1 clove garlic or 1 teaspoon minced garlic
o 2 teaspoons salt
o 1 teaspoon pepper
o 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (optional)
o 1 tablespoon olive oil
o 1 large onion, coarsely chopped

If you like less meat than vegetables, use only 1 pound of ground beef.

If you like more meat than beans, use 2 pounds of ground beef and 1 can of
of tomatoes.

You can also add a teaspoon of italian spices.

The recipe if very flexible and can be adjusted to suit your individual taste.


Preparation:

Brown ground beef in a skillet and drain.

Put all ingredients into the crockpot.

Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Note: Add chopped, green peppers for added flavor or hot chopped peppers for a spicy boost.

Try some grated cheddar or mozzarella cheese sprinkled on top.

The following night, you can plan for hot dogs to be the menu item and use your leftover chili!

You can double the recipe and place full meal (or individual portions) into freezer bags and freeze to use later on those cold, winter nights or when you need something quick for dinner.

If you don't have a crock pot, you can use the stove top method, simmering ingredients for about 45 minutes to an hour. Make sure the onion is tender.

-OR- you can mix all ingredients together and put into a large microwave safe dish (glassware with cover, preferably) and microwave for 8 minutes on high. Stir and let stand for 10 minutes; then microwave on high for another 5 minutes. This method would be a better option when cooking a smaller amount of chili.

*Serving suggestions: Garlic toast or corn muffins and salad or slaw.

Crockpot Baked Potatoes

There are 2 kitchen appliances that I don't think get used to their full potential in most households. One is the microwave oven; the other is the crockpot.

I have a full-time job and I'm a lazy cook. I love to use both. One is quick and the other is slow but can have dinner ready by the time I get home!

My husband loves baked potatoes but he doesn't like them in the microwave. The stove heats up the house and uses so much electricity. Usually, I compromise and partially cook them in the microwave and then wrap them in foil and place them in the oven. The other option is the crock pot. They come out fluffy and tender, better than in the oven.

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes

Wash the potatoes and coat them with oil to keep the peel moist (I prefer olive oil). Place them in the bottom of the crockpot. If they are really big, you can cut some criss-crosses about a fourth of the way through to help them cook more evenly.

That's it! Cook on high power for the potatoes to be ready in a 1 1/2 to 2 hours or medium for 3-4 hours.

If they cook too long, their color will change but they are still good to eat.

You can use any kind of potato, even sweet potatoes. Try it!