Chicago-Style Italian Beef Sandwiches

Yummy.

3 cups water
3 beef buillon cubes
1 t. each of:  salt, pepper, oregano, basil, parsley onion powder, garlic powder
1 bay leaf
1 or 2 pkgs of Italian salad dressing seasoning (The recipe says one, reviewers say two, I had one and a half on hand so I did that ;)

Boil all together and pour over beef roast (3-5lbs) in crockpot.  Cook on low 8-10 hours.  Shred and leave meat in juices for another hour.

Optional: (but not so optional in my opinion)
Slice and add red and green peppers and onions to crockpot during last hour, but remove for serving to top sandwiches.  Mushrooms would also be fabulous.   

Serve on Kaiser rolls topped with melted provolone cheese, cooked peppers & onions, and peppecini's.

You can remove some of the juices, but as they say in Chicago "The wetter the better!"  Mmmmmm, Mmmmm.

Slow Cooker Lasagna

This is out of the Kraft Food & Family magazine. This recipe is basically the Simply Lasagna recipe made in a slowcooker. (If you, like me, needed Simply Lasagna to be just a little bit simpler...) This would have been great when I was working to refrigerate the night before and throw in the crockpot in the morning. The noodles were a little soggier than the oven version.

What You Need!

1 lb. ground beef

1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce

1 cup water

1 container (15 oz.) Ricotta Cheese (I always use cottage cheese, I like it better:)

1 pkg. (7 oz.) Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided

1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

1 egg

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

6 lasagna noodles, uncooked

Make It!

BROWN meat in large skillet; drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce and water. Mix ricotta, 1-1/2 cups mozzarella, 2 Tbsp. Parmesan, egg and parsley.

SPOON 1 cup meat sauce into slow cooker; top with layers of half each of the noodles, broken to fit; and cheese mixture. Cover with 2 cups meat sauce. Top with remaining noodles, broken to fit; cheese mixture and meat sauce. Cover with lid.

COOK on LOW 4 to 6 hours or until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses; let stand, covered, 10 min. or until melted.

Cream Cheese Chicken Sauce

This is another Babcock favorite. The picture doesn't make it look very appealing but it really does taste good.

6 Chicken Tenders
1 Can Chicken Broth
1 Packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dip
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Package of Cream Cheese

Cut your tenders in bite size pieces and combine with chicken broth in crock pot. Add Hidden Valley Ranch packet and stir together. Cook on low for 5 hours. Then add Cream of Chicken Soup and Cream Cheese. Turn crock pot up to high and let cook for 30 minutes. Serve over rice or noodles.

*My friend tried leaving the tenders whole but the one can of broth just isn't enough to cover them. You can also reduce the fat and salt by using a lower fat cream cheese and a reduced sodium chicken broth. I have tried the low fat Cream of Chicken Soup but I could tell a difference as well as my kids. You could also make this healthier by using brown rice.

This tastes very rich and has a lot of flavor. You really don't need a lot of sauce. You can also add more chicken. My kids won't eat a lot and sometimes they will pick out the chicken so I only put in the 6 tenders.

Apricot Chicken

This is not the greatest photo, sorry. I am not a photographer.

1 c apricot jam
1 c Catalina dressing
1 pkg. onion soup mix
chicken
Combine ingredients and pour over chicken. Bake at 350 for 1-1 ½ hours. Serve with rice.
This almost taste like a sweet and sour chicken. It is sooo good!

I made this again tonight, and Ryan told me that it is one of his favorite meals. I didn't really want to have my oven on for an hour and a half, so I tried it in the crockpot. It worked great in the crockpot, but both Ryan and I thought that it was a little better baked in the oven. I served it as breasts(or tenders) last time I made it, but since it was in the crockpot it became shredded. It seemed a little more dry than I remember it being last time I made it. It was still good and I will probably do it this way again while the weather is warm so that my house doesn't get too hot.

Crockpot Bacon Chicken

boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 (8oz) sour cream
4-5 slices of bacon, cut into pieces
Put chicken and bacon into crockpot. Mix soup and sour cream together and pour over chicken. Cook on low 7-8 hours, high for 3-4. Right before serving I add peas and mushrooms. Serve over pasta.

Honey-Glazed Chinese Chicken

½ c Kikkoman Teriyaki Marinade &Sauce
¼ c Hoisin Sauce
¼ c honey
2 1/2 lb Chicken drumsticks
1 green onion, thinly sliced

Combine first 3 ingredients: pour over chicken in large plastic food storage bag. Press air out of bag: close top securely. Turn bag over several times to coat all pieces well. Refridgerate 2 hours or overnight, turning bag over occasionally. Bake chicken in 350 degree oven 1 hour, turning pieces over and basting with pan juices once. Sprinkle on green onion before serving.

*This is one of our favorite recipes! I do not use drumsticks. I use thighs, but you can use chicken breasts. I like that the thighs aren't as dry. I also cook this in the crockpot. I have never done it the oven like the recipe does. Just mix your ingredients and pour over chicken in crockpot. low 6-8 hours. high 4-5. I have never used the green onions either. Serve with rice. SO YUMMY!!!

Easy BBQ Crockpot Ribs(or Chicken)

I like to use country style ribs(or chicken) for this.
Put meat in the Crockpot pour a bottle of your favorite over the top.
Cook on high 4-5 hours or low 6-8 hours.
Serve with mashed potatoes or rice or shred it and put it on buns.
Told you it was easy!

Barbecued Pulled Chicken Sandwiches(this could also be made with country style ribs)

1 8-ounce can reduced-sodium tomato sauce (I used regular)
1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles, drained
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon sweet or smoked paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Stir tomato sauce, chiles, vinegar, honey, paprika, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, ground chipotle and salt in a 6-quart slow cooker until smooth. Add chicken, onion and garlic; stir to combine. Put the lid on and cook on low until the chicken can be pulled apart, about 5 hours.Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred with a fork. Return the chicken to the sauce, stir well and serve.
You can use breasts instead of thighs but if you use thighs it will not be as dry.

Creamy Cooker Chicken

1 envelope dry onion soup mix
2 cups sour cream
10 ¾ oz can cream of mushroom soup
boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 7 oz can of mushroom bits and pieces, drained
Combine soup mix, sour cream, mushrooms and mushroom soup in slow cooker. Add chicken, pushing it down so it is covered in sauce. Cover. Cook on low for 8 hours. Serve over egg noodles or rice.