Slow Cooker Swiss Pork Chops

Not wanting to relinquish my recent love-affair with pork chops just yet, I thought to myself - Why not try your Slow Cooker Swiss Steak recipe on them?I'm so glad I did - these might even be better than the beef.

They turned out so tender and subtly sweet that I think this is going to become a new favorite of mine. I'm sure my boys won't complain about that since they gobbled them up with as much enthusiasm as I did. I'm also really glad that I tried my idea to lessen the number of potatoes in the pot and make mashed potatoes on the side. We had a few roasted ones with dinner, but what we didn't eat saved well to go with Josh to work as leftovers.

Slow Cooker Swiss Pork Chops

* 1.5 lbs pork chops, trimmed of fat
* pepper
* 2 medium red potatoes cut into bite sized pieces
* 1.5 c. baby carrots
* 1 med onion, cut into wedges
* 1 can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs
* 2 packets pork gravy mix
* 1 c. cold water
* mashed potatoes, if desired

Layer potatoes, onion and pork in your slow cooker. Sprinkle chops with pepper. Add tomatoes. Mix up one packet of gravy with 1 cup cold water and pour into crock pot. Top everything with the baby carrots.

Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 8 hours or until beef and vegetables are tender. I did 5 hours on low, then one more hour on high with great results.

Kim's notes: If you want to serve this meal with mashed potatoes, then make them near the end of your cooking time. Use the second packet of gravy for serving, or add liquid from the slow cooker to the package gravy and and then thicken it.

Never thickened your own gravy? It's easy as can be - add 1/4 c. of flour to 1 c. of water, shake until combined, or if you don't have a shaker of some sort you can use a wire whisk to get the clumps out. Add just a little of the flour mixture at a time to your gravy so that you don't over thicken it. Be sure to taste the gravy along the way so that you don't over flour it or so that you can add spices/pepper if desired.

Happy Cooking!

Slow Cooker Chicken and Vegetable Chowder

I don’t have a lot of witty commentary to say about this soup, only that it’s awesome, all American, easy, and that I tweaked it to be a bit healthier and loaded it with extra veggies (I’m sure no one is surprised by this). Both of my boys devoured it, which is the best recommendation that I can give.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Vegetable Chowder

• 1.5 pounds chicken breast meat cut into ½ in. pieces
• ½ onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 celery ribs, cut fine
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 2 c. frozen corn kernels
• 2 cans cream of potato soup
• 1 can low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tsp. dried dill
• 1 tsp curry powder (optional – this isn’t enough to make it taste like curry, but does add a depth and richness to the flavor that I love for chowder)
• pepper to your liking
• ½ c. fat-free half and half

Using a little cooking spray, brown the chicken breast pieces with onion and garlic in a skilled over med-high heat. Put in slow cooker. Next add celery and carrots to pan and sauté with a little water for a few minutes until just tender, then add to slow cooker. Next add corn, soup, broth, curry, pepper, and dill to slow cooker. Cook on low for 5-6 hours, stirring ingredients together after half the time. During the last 10 minutes, stir in half and half.

Happy Cooking!

Pass the Plate: Crock Pot Lasagna

Hi Sisters! Thanks to everyone who came to Pass the Plate last night, and to those that couldn't make it, we missed you! Our theme for the night was crock pots, and since I wanted to show that there's more to crock pots than merely pot roast, I made crock pot lasagna. This is a super easy way to get real lasagna without the heat from an oven, or big pots of boiling water.

Crock Pot Lasagna
1 lb lean ground beef
1 jar favorite spaghetti sauce
2 c. cottage cheese
2 c. mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
6 regular lasagna noodles - UNCOOKED
1/4 c. water

In frying pan, brown ground beef and drain fat. Add water and pasta sauce, reserving a small amount of sauce to line bottom of crock pot. Stir until well blended. Line crock pot with very thin layer of sauce, then top with 2-3 uncooked lasagna noodles that are broken to fit shape (some overlap is fine). Cover noodles with half the cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese, then top cheeses with half of the meat mixture. Repeat layers with the other half of the ingredients. Cook on low for 4 hours.

Kim's Special Note: If you noticed the plastic lining in the pictures, that is a Reynold's crock pot liner. You cook your meal in it just like normal, but then after serving the bag removes for virtually no clean up. If you want to try them, they are at the grocery store near the foils. I'm addicted to these things!

Happy Cooking!