Slow Cooker Tomato Soup

If there was one meal I could feed to Adam every day that he would never complain about, it would be grilled cheese and tomato soup. So much so that I've started stockpiling those red and white cans of tomato soup in the pantry for when one of "those days" rolls around. Right next to the blue box blues.

Yes, even my pantry has it's own dirty little secrets.

Like most things, the homemade version is way better than store-bought. However, also like most homemade things -- this takes a bit longer than the open-can-dump-in-bowl-place-in-microwave store-bought variety. Even in the slow cooker form.

BUT, if you're actually craving tomato soup and not just pulling it out of thin air as a last minute dinner option, then making it yourself is really the way to go. Trust.

Campbell's doesn't give you the option to leave things slightly chunky or ridiculously smooth. It doesn't have the extra nuance from the bay leaves, cayenne pepper, and sherry. And it most certainly doesn't have that lovely extra bit of creaminess, even if you use milk instead of water. It.just.doesn't.

But this does. And it's fantastic. Which is why you should really hope for a rainy day soon. I mean, if you really need that excuse and all.

Slow Cooker Tomato Soup

Adapted from: Pass the Sushi

2 tablespoons butter
3 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained and juices reserved
2 cups onion, diced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 dried bay leaves
1/2 cup light cream
2 teaspoons cooking sherry
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Stir in tomatoes (without juice), onion, sugar, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Cook until tomatoes become lightly browned and dry, 8-10 minutes. Whisk in flour and cook for an additional minute. Slowly pour in 1 cup chicken broth, whisking constantly. Pour tomato mixture into a slow cooker (with no plastic liner).

Add the remaining chicken broth, reserved tomato juice, and bay leaves, stirring to combine. Cover and cook on low, 4-6 hours.

Remove bay leaves and lower heat to "warm". Puree soup in the slow cooker with an immersion blender until smooth (or transfer in batches to a regular blender, then return to slow cooker). Add the cream, sherry, and cayenne and still until fully combined. Add additional chicken broth if soup is too thick.

Serves: 6

The only thing I forgot to do when making this was to throw in the rind from some Parmesan cheese to add another layer of flavor in this soup. Dang it. Next time. And according to the hubby, there will most definitely be a next time. If you happen to make this (which why isn't it on your to-make list already?), try it out for me and let me know how that goes. Just make sure to pull out any remaining rind before pureeing away.

Oh, and happy day -- the homemade version is actually lower in calories and sodium than the Healthy Request canned version (1 cup vs. 1 cup). A little more saturated fat, but I think taste totally trumps that in this case.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 388g
Amount per serving
Calories 144	Calories from fat 67
% Daily Value
Total Fat 7.5g	12%
Saturated Fat 4.5g	22%
Cholesterol 21mg	7%
Sodium 275mg	11%
Total Carbs 17.0g	6%
Fiber 3.5g	14%
Sugars 8.9g
Protein 3.9g
Vitamin A 41%	Vitamin C 50%
Calcium 5%	Iron 8%

Slow Cooker Posole

Winter isn't only a time for snow and chilly weather. It also ushers in the classic cold and flu season. Joy. As much as I try and avoid it, at some point the cold always catches up to me. In some form or another.

Which is why I spent most of yesterday morning surrounded by a sea of kleenex followed by an evening of not being able to breathe due to a stuffy nose. And it looks like I'm in for a repeat today.

At least it's just confined to my nose, right?

Too bad this soup is long gone. I could definitely go for a bowl right about now. All steamy and full of warm cozy flavors. Someone make me another batch, stat!

And let's just ignore the cornbread that has completely fallen apart because I was far too impatient/hungry to let it rest a bit. Tasted way better than it looks, promise. But we'll get to that another day. ;)

Slow Cooker Posole

Adapted from: Bon Appetit, January 2012

1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds boneless pork shoulder
1 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 ounces fresh baby spinach, chopped
6 cups fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
28 ounces pinto beans, undrained
28 ounces white hominy, drained
28 ounces diced tomatoes, undrained, pureed
1 tablespoon oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 ounces grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

In a small bowl, mix together the first 5 ingredients (through pepper). Rub mixture over pork. Cover a slow cooker with a slow cooker liner. Place pork in the slow cooker with 1 cup onion and water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until easily shredded with forks. Remove pork from slow cooker and shred.

In a large dutch oven over medium heat, warm the oil. Add onion and cook under tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, stirring often, and cook for another 2 minutes. Add broth, beans, hominy, tomato puree, oregano, and cumin. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Add pork and simmer for another 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide posole between bowls, topping each with shredded cheese and cilantro.

Serves: 10

Why yes, I do realize that it does take about an hour to finish this dish outside the slow cooker. However, I have no intentions of letting pork simmer on the stove for 5-6 hours. I just don't feel comfortable leaving it if I have to step out for a minute. Or an hour. Thank goodness for crockpots.

And really though, after the slow cooker it's pretty much just a dump and heat process. That's my kind of dinner. Especially when it brings variety to the table. Not to mention fiber. Tricky tricky.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 529g
Amount per serving
Calories 595	Calories from fat 131
% Daily Value
Total Fat 14.6g	22%
Saturated Fat 4.9g	24%
Cholesterol 78mg	26%
Sodium 908mg	38%
Total Carbs 68.4g	23%
Fiber 16.1g	64%
Sugars 6.9g
Protein 46.7g
Vitamin A 19%	Vitamin C 30%
Calcium 22%	Iron 38%

Slow Cooker Butter Chicken

Ha. I bet you thought with my last slow cooker recipe that I was done with this whole crockpot business. Nope. I have one more for you, then I promise, I'm done. For a while anyways.

The slow cooker really shines when it comes to cooking meats "low and slow". Unfortunately, it can make for some fairly repetitive meals. Pulled pork seasoned with this, shredded chicken sprinkled with that. Again. And again. My goal in the hunt for slow cooker recipes was to find ones that weren't your everyday recipes. Sure, I had a few of those too, but was far more interested in things such as the Slow Cooker Lasagna.

You may roll your eyes and point out the fact that um, yeah, this recipe is essentially just seasoned shredded chicken -- and I would agree with you on that. But, the flavors in this dish are not your everyday flavors. At least in our household. Indian rarely makes it to our table, and we really have to be in the mood to eat it. Not only do a lot of Indian dishes call for coconut (which is a no-go from both of us), but the curry presence can tend to be very strong and pronounced at times. It's not that we don't like it, we just like it in small doses. This dish definitely settles those Indian cravings, and is super easy to throw together.

Slow Cooker Butter Chicken

Adapted from: The Family Kitchen

1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2-3 tablespoons tomato paste
4-5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2-3 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 (4 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, fresh or frozen
4 cups fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
1 cup plain fat-free greek yogurt
2 tablespoons roughly chopped cashews

Cover a slow cooker with a liner. Combine first 8 ingredients (through chicken) in the slow cooker. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Using two forks, shred or cut the chicken into chunks. Stir in the yogurt until fully combined, then stir in the spinach until it wilts. Serve over white rice.

Serves: 6

I think "easy" is another requirement for a good slow cooker recipe. If you have to brown a bunch of meat, or pre-cook/prep a bunch of other ingredients, all you're really saving is the waiting time to eat from the time you walk in the door -- basically about 30 minutes to an hour. On those recipes, I'm not 100% sure it's worth it. I like the kind that involves dumping the ingredients and going. Period. This recipe definitely falls into the latter category (although you do have to wait about 20 minutes or so for the rice...) . While it may be ridiculously easy to throw together, this is one of those recipes that needs those extra few hours of TLC to get those spice flavors really melded together. Definitely a keeper for those random times we crave Indian food.

Nutrition Facts - does not include rice
Serving Size 279g
Amount per serving
Calories 146	Calories from fat 29
% Daily Value
Total Fat 3.2g	5%
Saturated Fat 0.0g	0%
Cholesterol 32mg	11%
Sodium 286mg	12%
Total Carbs 13.8g	5%
Fiber 3.1g	12%
Sugars 7.3g
Protein 18.0g
Vitamin A 65%	Vitamin C 44%
Calcium 13%	Iron 13%

Slow Cooker Soy and Cola Pork Sandwiches

Oh.my.goodness. Yet another slow cooker recipe?

It happens. Kind of like life.

Which is why these slow cooker recipes are so important. Some days you just can't make a wonderful nice meal, slaving away in the kitchen for an hour or two, no matter how much you want to. (Anyone claiming otherwise... I strongly beg to differ.)

And if you're wondering, yes, I am getting a bit "pulled pork"-ed out. It's still pulled pork, no matter how you dress it up. But Adam was the one that picked out this recipe and stared me down with some puppy dog eyes, so it's not like I had a choice in the matter. The only choice I had was to convert this from a stove-top to a crockpot recipe. Which I did gladly. Much less work for me. And it helps to avoid hungry-cranky husband syndrome. Definitely a must.

Slow Cooker Soy and Cola Pork Sandwiches

Adapted from: Cooking Light, October 2011

3 pounds bone-in pork shoulder (Boston Butt)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cola
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
8 ounces Monterrey Jack cheese, cut into 1 ounce slices
8 hamburger buns

Cover a slow cooker with a liner. Place the pork shoulder in the slow cooker. In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour mixture over pork. Cook on low for 4-6 hours, or until pork shreds easily. Remove the bone and transfer pork to a cutting board. Using two forks, shred the pork. Place pulled pork on each hamburger bun and top with a slice of cheese.

Serves: 8

This is a nice combination of the infamous Coke Pulled Pork and Asian flair. Neither one are overly pronounced or outweigh the other. I didn't boil down the liquid mixture as called for in the original recipe, but that is always an option, and would probably give some extra punch to those flavors. While I wasn't overly impressed, the hubby sure enjoyed these and quickly devoured a few of them in one sitting, followed by polishing the rest off for the lunch the next day.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 345g
Amount per serving
Calories 638	Calories from fat 309
% Daily Value
Total Fat 34.3g	53%
Saturated Fat 14.4g	72%
Cholesterol 136mg	45%
Sodium 1361mg	57%
Total Carbs 35.5g	12%
Fiber 1.5g	6%
Sugars 12.8g
Protein 41.5g
Vitamin A 6%	Vitamin C 1%
Calcium 30%	Iron 22%

Slow Cooker Lasagna

I was so excited last night. For the first time since we'd moved to Pittsburgh, we had the chance of having trick or treaters. So I filled up the candy bowl, and waited. Made some lasagna, and waited. Ate some lasagna, and waited.

Wouldn't you know it -- we didn't get a single trick or treater last night. Bummer.

Except for the fact that now I get to keep all the candy. Which is just marvelous in my book. Except for my teeth. Which may just rot out in 2.3 days at the rate I'm going.

While this isn't the lasagna I made last night, it is another one of my slow cooker meals that worked out perfectly during soccer season. And I've decided that lasagna might just be one of the more infuriating things to try and get a good picture of. Usually it just ends up in a cheesy, meaty, gooey pile of deliciousness. Which, tastes excellent, but photographs... not so great. Especially when you're starving and all you want to do is eat -- but no, you have to take 257 million pictures first. Give or take a few.

Slow Cooker Lasagna

Inspired by: The Meat and Potato Foodie

6 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1/4 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 (8 ounce) package reduced-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup 2% cottage cheese
1/4 cup low fat sour cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the remaining oil over medium heat. Add in the onion, and cook until they start to become fragrant and soft, about 5 minutes. Add in the Italian sausage, breaking up into smaller bits with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle with garlic powder and red pepper flakes and cook until brown (about 8-10 minutes) stirring often. Turn off heat and stir in tomato sauce, paste, and broth until the mixture is fully incorporated.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk together the cream cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream. Stir in the eggs until well mixed, then add in the salt, nutmeg, parsley, basil, and Italian seasoning.

Cover a slow cooker with a liner. Spread part of meat mixture on the bottom of the slow cooker so it is lightly covered. Layer with 3 lasagna noodles (you may need to break a few). Spoon half of the cheese mixture over the noodles, spreading evenly across the noodles. Top with 1/2 the mozzarella. Repeat with the remaining meat mixture, lasagna noodles and cheese mixture. Cover slow cooker with lid and cook on low for 4-6 hours. 30 minutes prior to serving, top with remaining mozzarella and the shredded Parmesan. Let melt, then serve.

Serves: 12

I was a little leery at first using noodles in the crockpot. Wouldn't they just end up in mushy nastiness? Surprisingly, no. Although I was closer to the 4 hour end rather than the 6, so I can't guarantee anything at that point. This does take a little bit of work to put together prior to cooking, so it's great if you have a lot of free time earlier in the day, need to go do stuff later, yet want to eat as soon as you walk in the door (unlike traditionally cooked lasagna where you would still need to bake it at least 30 minutes once you arrived home). For the way my schedule broke down, this method worked perfectly.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 186g
Amount per serving
Calories 400	Calories from fat 210
% Daily Value
Total Fat 23.3g	36%
Saturated Fat 10.3g	52%
Trans Fat 0.1g
Cholesterol 104mg	35%
Sodium 1032mg	43%
Total Carbs 22.7g	8%
Fiber 1.0g	4%
Sugars 3.1g
Protein 24.0g
Vitamin A 14%	Vitamin C 9%
Calcium 23%	Iron 8%

Italian Pepperoncini Pork Sandwiches

I've warned you. I'm on a slow cooker streak here. Mostly because I'm lazy we've had soccer practice, which has left little time for meal prep and cooking when we get home. And when we get home, we are usually hungry.

No, starving.

That is why it is of the utmost importance to have something that is practically ready to go (or maybe 5 minutes of work) once we do get home. Hungry hubby = cranky hubby. And nobody likes one of those.

Pulled pork can definitely bring on a big yawn-seen-that-a-million-times factor, but the fact that pepperoncinis were added caught my eye. Spicy pulled pork? Now that's something I hadn't thought of before, well without the addition of spicy barbecue sauce that is. Count me in.

Italian Pepperoncini Pork Sandwiches

Adapted from: The Meat and Potatoes Foodies

1 1/2 pounds pork shoulder
2 (1 ounce) packages dry Italian dressing mix, such as Good Seasons
1 (16 ounce) jar pepperoncini peppers, whole or sliced
6 slices Provolone cheese
6 hamburger buns

Line a slow cooker with a liner. Place the pork in the slow cooker; sprinkle with dry dressing mix. Pour the jar of peppers with juice into the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until the pork shreds easily.

Remove pork from slow cooker and shred with two forks, discarding any extra fat and bone. Place shredded pork in a large bowl. If whole pepperoncini are used, remove the stems and slice. Mix pepperoncinis into the pork.

Serve on hamburger buns topped with a slice of Provolone cheese.

Serves: 6

While I had high hopes that these would be nice and spicy, the pepperoncinis let me down a bit. This is definitely more spicy than regular ol' pulled pork, but if you're going for spicy, this was more on the mild side. Adam said he got a bit of heat, but I didn't really notice any. Next time I think I'll switch up which peppers I'm using.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 269g
Amount per serving
Calories 584	Calories from fat 305
% Daily Value
Total Fat 33.9g	52%
Saturated Fat 14.2g	71%
Cholesterol 121mg	40%
Sodium 1831mg	76%
Total Carbs 30.2g	10%
Fiber 2.0g	8%
Sugars 2.9g
Protein 38.0g
Vitamin A 5%	Vitamin C 1%
Calcium 30%	Iron 17%

Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

Thanks to everyone who wished me a quick fix for my furnace. I have good news and bad news. Bad news: It's not fixed yet -- they had to order a part, so it most likely won't be fixed until sometime next week. Boo. Good news: It's supposed to be in the high 70's and sunny for the next 5 days or so. Whew. No furnace needed for that!

Anyhoo, a couple weeks ago, after being frustrated with the amount of fast food we were eating and my lack of time and desire to be in the kitchen after soccer practice, I sent a shout out through twitter asking for any ideas for the crockpot.

Erin, from the Spiffy Cookie sent a few ideas my way -- all of which looked fabulous. Of course, I had to start off with the easiest looking one to begin with.

No, really. Throw some chicken breasts in the crockpot (they can even be frozen) and cover with chick broth. Step away for 4-6 hours. Shred chicken. Mix with dressing and a few other goodies. Done.

Time needed? 10 minutes. Maybe.

Now that's the kind of quick meal I've been looking for.

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

Adapted from: The Girl Who Ate Everything

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup Caesar dressing
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup torn Romaine lettuce
4 hamburger buns

Cover a crockpot with a slow cooker liner. Place the chicken in the slow cooker and cover with the chicken broth. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Remove chicken from slow cooker, draining as much chicken broth off as possible. Place chicken on a cutting board. Using two forks, shred the chicken; discard any fat.

Transfer the shredded chicken to a large bowl and toss with dressing, pepper, and cheese. If mixture has cooled, remove the liner and liquid from the slow cooker, replace with a new one, and reheat the chicken mixture in the slow cooker for about 30 minutes.

Place about 1/4 of the chicken mixture onto each hamburger bun, top with romaine lettuce, and serve.

Serves: 4

This is one of those recipes that are so easy you have to stop and think "why did I think of that?". But I didn't, some else did, and I am so glad. Especially when the hubby is ecstatic I just recreated one of his favorite sandwiches. Of.All.Time. apparently. Who knew? Well, if under 10 minutes is all it takes to make one of his favorite things, why then, put that up on the keeper list. Stat.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 234g
Amount per serving
Calories 428	Calories from fat 145
% Daily Value
Total Fat 16.1g	25%
Saturated Fat 4.1g	20%
Cholesterol 107mg	36%
Sodium 711mg	30%
Total Carbs 28.8g	10%
Fiber 1.6g	6%
Sugars 8.2g
Protein 39.8g
Vitamin A 21%	Vitamin C 4%
Calcium 15%	Iron 18%