Shepherd's Pie

Cheese, mashed potatoes, meat and veggies... how could this be bad?!

This week I may or may not have forgotten it was Crock Pot Monday until Sunday night. My friend Sam and I always make the crock meals together so we had to quickly figure something to make at 10 pm Sunday night. This meant going grocery shopping then too and I must say late night grocery shopping is seriously SO much better then day time shopping! I would highly recommend it. Way less obnoxious people. Anyways, I was going through the Crock Pot cookbook my mom got me for Christmas, 101 Things To Do With a Slow Cooker, and found a recipe for Shepherd's Pie. Now I had only had it one time, but it was delicious so I decided to try it out in the Crock Pot! 

After looking over the recipe, I decided I wanted to add a few more veggies and seasonings to it but because I am a little nervous with all things cooking, I looked up another recipe online and did a sort of hybrid take on Shepherd's Pie. I got it from my blog inspiration, Crock Pot 365. This lady made a new year's resolution to use her Crock Pot every single day for a year. She is also very smart and went straight to Rachel Ray with her idea and got on her show and basically the blog is internet famous... which is basically my dream... Anyways she has 2 slow cooker cookbooks for sale on Amazon and I am very jealous. 

This recipe turned out really good and I ate so much of it I felt kind of like dying... but the leftovers were not as great. You win some, you lose some!

Onto the recipe... Here are the ingredients:

So American!

First you brown the meat and onion on the stove and drain any fat. Combine the cooked meat and onions with the spices. You also want to make some mashed potatoes while this is cooking. On the blog it says to use left over mashed potatoes so I guess you could use those if you had them... but I'm not sure why anyone would have EXTRA mashed potatoes. Anyways, I used instant mashed potatoes and they actually turned out delicious! 

mmmm!

Spray your Crock Pot with cooking spray. This step is never included in my Crock Pot Recipe Collection cookbook, but it's good to do because cleaning a Crock Pot is... not fun. Add the meat to the bottom of the crock, stir in frozen veggies, and add a cup of water. I definitely forgot to add the water til after the mashed potatoes were on so I had to scrape them off and add the water underneath.... whoops! 

All mixed up. I'd recommend not getting a frozen veggie mix with carrots because they were weird in it.

Now you add cheese on top of this. This is honestly the best part! When it's cooked its all melty and gooey and YUM. Plus, its a hidden surprise when you add the mashed potatoes on top of that. 

yes please!

Then you are supposed to add paprika but I didn't have any and was too cheap to buy my own, plus I figured it didn't REALLY matter. I added extra cheese on top of the mashed potatoes just for fun. :) Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 hours or LOW for 6 hours. Then remove the lid and bake for an extra 30 minutes to release condensation and for the potatoes to brown. 

cheesy, melty, goodness!

My mom painted this cupcake plate, isn't it cute?!

Overall, this was really yummy! Not sure if I would make it all the time, but it was definitely a very home made hearty American meal! My friend Clare particularly enjoyed it...

Look, all gone!

Shepherd's Pie

Crock Pot 365

Ingredients: 

• 3 cups leftover mashed potatoes
• 1 lb ground turkey or beef
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cups frozen vegetables (I used a veggie medley)
• 1 medium onion, chopped finely, or 1 T onion flakes
• 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp paprika (then a bit more for garnish)
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups shredded cheese

Directions: 

I just copy and pasted this straight from the blog.

Brown the meat and onion on the stove, and drain any fat. Toss the meat with the spices and garlic---I didn't but next time I'd probably put the garlic and spices in with the meat in the frying pan, it would be easier.

Spray the inside of your crockpot with cooking spray. Put the meat in the crockpot and stir in the frozen vegetables, and a cup of water. Add two cups of cheese on top. Press the mashed potatoes down on top of the cheese and meat. Sprinkle with a bit of paprika.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for about 3, then remove the lid and cook on high for 30 minutes to release the condensation and allow the potatoes to brown a bit on top. Everything is cooked already, so you're really just allowing the flavors to meld and the potatoes to crustify. 

Easy Parmesan Chicken

omg.

This weeks "Crock Pot Monday" happend to coincide with one of my favorite holidays... VALENTINE'S DAY. I know people like to call it "singles awareness day," or some other bs, but me and my 20 closest girl friends saw the Justin Bieber movie in 3D and ate heart shaped pizzas. Anyways, this was all on Sunday so for Monday I decided to make one of my favorite dishes, Chicken Parmesan. I never really make it (as in I've never made it...) because I am way too lazy to cook chicken, and I also have a fear of salmonella poisoning so every time I do cook chicken, it ends up so dry you have to drink water to wash it down. My roommate can attest to this. And here comes ANOTHER reason why I love the Crock Pot. I am never worried about dying a horrible slow death from food poisoning because its been cooking for 7 hours and thats a really long time so it should be cooked thoroughly. 

I used the Crock Pot Recipe Collection cookbook once again and once again it did not fail me. Also, they did not lie when they put "Easy" in the title of the recipe. 

Here are the ingredients: 

Nothing hard to find OR expensive here!

The first thing you do is chop the onions into thin wedges. The recipe also calls for mushrooms, but I find mushrooms revolting and confusing so I left them out. 

Aren't you glad I added a picture so you can see what "thin wedges" look like...?!

Next you heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it gets hot. I'll be honest, I didn't wait for it to heat up and it was fine... Lightly brown the chicken on both sides and then put it in your Crock Pot on top of the chopped onions (and mushrooms if you added them, ew) 

brown!

Then you pour the pasta sauce over the chicken and add basil, oregano and a bay leaf on top. I don't have bay leaves so I didn't add it in. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours, or until chicken is cooked. Take out the bay leaf and throw it away. 

yum! and dont you love my Hello Kitty toaster peeking out from the back?

Also, my Crock Pot has this fancy timer thing on the outside which is really great and fun to look at. I know not all of them have them, but I would recommend getting one with the "Countdown Timer" on it.

After it has cooked for the correct amount of time, sprinkle chicken with parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Cook this, uncovered, on LOW for 15-30 minutes or until the cheese is all melted. Serve over spaghetti. 

I forgot to take a picture before serving... Here is the melted cheese in case you aren't sure what it looks like.

The Verdict:

THIS WAS THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER MADE IN THE CROCK POT OR ANYWHERE. When I ate the leftovers by myself, it was like I was a savage beast that had never eaten food before. It was seriously so good and the onions were cooked to perfection and I just... can't... even... explain. It was amazing. So amazing that I am currently making it again even though I just had it 2 days ago and it is Thursday, not Monday. Actually, I had my cooking challenged friend Samantha make it all on her own and she did great! She just cooked pasta for the first time a few weeks ago so this really proves how easy this recipe is. 

This picture doesn't do it justice. It was sooooo good. 

The only thing that would've made it better was if I had used my Grandma Grace's marinara sauce. This can be purchased at my aunt and uncles store in Shell Beach, CA called DePalo & Sons. They also have  lots of other yummy Italian goodies! 

And if you happen to be interested in LA or live there and want some recommendations for places to eat, things to do and people to see you should follow/read my friend Morgan's blog City Wayfaring. 

Overall, this recipe was amazing and I think everyone should make it!

Easy Parmesan Chicken

Crock Pot Recipe Collection

Ingredients: 

• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 jar (26 ounces) pasta sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Hot cooked spaghetti

Directions:

1. Place mushrooms and onion in Crock Pot slow cooker.
2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Lightly brown chicken on both sides. Place chicken in Crock Pot slow cooker. Pour pasta sauce over chicken; add basil, oregano and bay leaf. Cover; cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours or on HIGH 3 to 4 hours, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove and discard bay leaf.
3. Sprinkle chicken with cheeses. Cook, uncovered, on LOW 15-30 minutes or until cheeses have melted. Serve Over spaghetti.

Makes 4 servings.

Italian Hillside Garden Soup

yum yum yum!

This week for Crock Pot Monday (should I copyright this or what?!) we decided to make some soup! I LOVEEEE  tortellini so I thought this would be the perfect soup to make. It also has lots of veggies too so that was a plus. I had to wake up early to make this since it takes SEVEN HOURS! (The one and only downfall of crock pots... and I also like to wake up at noon everyday so...) But this recipe was really cheap to make which I am always into!

This recipe was also from my Crock Pot Recipe Collection cookbook. So far this book has not failed me! Thanks Aunt Gracie!

Here are the ingredients:

Look at all those vegetables!

First you need to chop the bell pepper, onion and celery. Then you heat oil in a skillet and cook the vegetables for 4 minutes or until the onions are clear. This is really the "hardest" part and its really easy.

Then you put the cooked veggies in the greased crock pot and add the tomatoes with juice, navy beans, zucchini, green beans, broth and garlic powder. As for the navy beans, I had no idea what those were and could not find them at Safeway so I called my resident cooking expert, DAD. He said to just get white beans. This was confusing since the recipe clearly called for NAVY beans, but much to my surprise, printed on top of the white bean cans it read NAVY BEANS. I don't understand, but you can just go ahead and get white beans instead of navy. You cook this all on LOW for 7 hours or on HIGH for 3 1/2 hours. 

After you cook it for 7 hours you turn the slow cooker to high and add the tortellini. You cook these for 20-25 minutes or until the pasta is tender. When it is done you add in the basil and garnish each serving with cheese. I didn't have fresh basil so I used dried and it was just fine!

This soup was SO GOOD! I was worried it wouldn't be that flavorful because I only added a little bit of garlic powder, but it was perfect and it tasted even better the next day. Overall, it was a success. Kelsey and Sam loved the soup as well and gobbled it right up. 

Spoiler Alert: I am making Chicken Parmesan on Monday! 

Italian Hillside Garden Soup

Crock Pot Recipe Collection

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, undrained
• 1 can (15 1/2 ounces) navy beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1 cup frozen cut green beans, thawed
• 2 cans (14 ounces each) chicken broth
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 packaged (9 ounces) refrigerated sausage or cheese filled tortellini pasta
• 3 tablespoons fresh basil
• grated asiago or parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add bell pepper, onion and celery. Cook and stir 4 minutes or until onions are translucent. Transfer to 50quart Crock-Pot slow cooker.
2. Add tomatoes with juice, navy beans, zucchini, green beans, broth and garlic powder. Cover; cook on LOW 7 hours or HIGH 3 1/2 hours.
3. Turn Crock-Pot slow cooker to HIGH. Add tortellini and cook on HIGH 20 to 25 minutes longer or until pasta is tender. Stir in basil. Garnish each serving with cheese.

Makes 6 servings. 

Barbecued Meatballs

Okay, I will admit this doesn't look that good, but I swear they were amazing! I need to work on my picture taking skills...

My friends were having a Super Bowl party and since I couldn't care less about football (to be honest I didn't even know what the teams were...) I decided to utilize my trusty Crock Pot to make one of my favorite appetizers, MEATBALLS!! Okay so some people were confused and asked WHERE'S THE SPAGHETTI?? These people have obviously not been going to the right parties. A perfectly made barbecued meatball is difficult to do, but in the Crock Pot anything is possible, really! (Okay maybe not... but I figured I'd give it a try.)

I got the recipe from this Crock Pot cookbook. My aunt sent it to me and so far it has not done me wrong! Plus there are TONS of pictures, which is a deal maker for me when it comes to cookbooks. Its under the "Game Day Munchies" tab (yes, tabs!!) so it really was the perfect thing to make for Super Bowl Sunday.

The recipe has a few steps, but nothing too hard to manage. First off, here are the ingredients (minus the ground beef):

First you preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then you combine the ground beef, 1/3 cup ketchup, bread crumbs, onion flakes, garlic salt and black pepper in a bowl. I did some substituting here. I didn't have onion flakes so I used a fresh onion instead. The best part about onions is the crunch so I might've done that even if I did have onion flakes. I also did not have garlic salt so I used a very scientific rendering of garlic salt. I used garlic powder and put a little salt in to substitue. You mix this all up with your hands and then shape into 1 inch meatballs. 

I placed the meatballs in 2 pans and baked for 18 minutes, then put them into my Crock Pot.

Steamy!

Now for the sauce! I mixed 1 cup ketchup, brown sugar, tomato paste, soy sauce, and vinegar in a bowl. The recipe called for hot pepper sauce but I don't like spicy things so I omitted it. 

Pour it over the meatballs, cover, and cook on low for 4 hours and then they will be ready! 

Finished product!

These meatballs were SO GOOD and a such a hit at the party! One of my friends was eating them by the spoonful out of a bowl. They were gone really quick so in the future I might double the recipe. They were also a bit crumbly, especially the ones that were at the bottom but overall they were amazing. 

Rebecca and Marcela LOVED THEM! Look how happy they are!

Recipe from Crock Pot Recipe Collection

Ingredients: 

• 2 pounds 95% lean ground beef
• 1 1/3 cups ketchup, divided
• 3 tablespoons seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons dried onion flakes (or fresh if you have it!) 
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic salt (or garlic powder + salt)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 6 oz can of tomato paste
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce 
• diced bell peppers (optional to garnish with after cooking) 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine ground beef, 1/3 cup ketchup, bread crumbs, egg, onion flakes, garlic salt and black pepper in medium bowl. Mix lightly but thoroughly; shape into 1-inch meatballs.
2. Place meatballs in 2 jelly roll pans or shallow roasting pans (or whatever you have). Bake 18 minutes or until browned. Transfer meatballs to Crock Pot slow cooker.
3. Mix remaining 1 cup ketchup, sugar, tomato paste, soy sauce, vinegar and hot pepper sauce in medium bowl. Pour over meatballs. Cover, cook on LOW 4 hours. Serve with cocktail picks. Garnish with diced bell peppers if desired. 

Makes 4 dozen meatballs.

Welcome!

Hi Everyone!

As a college student myself, I know how hard it is to prepare a good meal after a long day, especially when I'm hungry. I love to cook and bake, but sometimes I can get lazy about. That's why a Crock Pot is the perfect solution; I can just throw all the ingredients in it before lunch and when I get home dinner is ready! And since I got mine for Christmas, the only New Year's Resolution that made sense was to try and use it all the time. So that's why I decided to make this blog, not only to keep up with my New Year's Resolution, but so I could share all my successes with others, since the Crock Pot is so easy and fun to use.

Every Monday I will be cooking a meal in my crock pot that I've chosen over the weekend. That night I will be having friends over to enjoy the meal with me and later I will post the recipe, pictures, and how the meal was overall.

I hope this blog will inspire you to use your own crock pot (or go out and get one) and give you some great recipes to make eating on the go more enjoyable.

Mia