Slow Cooker Question

[morganskye.livejournal.com]

I know I've seen several 'how to save money' posts about bringing a crock pot to the con. I decided that if I did this I would need 2-3 things to make, but I really don't want to bring half my kitchen. Does anyone have suggestions for recipes with a low ingredient count or can be frozen/reheated?

This is a perfect example. I've made it before, and could pre-make and freeze the chicken portion ahead of time if I wanted to.

Also, I'm serving around 6-7 people at any given time, so something that makes LOTS is appreciated. :)

Comments

[boomergoodheart.livejournal.com]

Canned goods are your friend! You can make a sort of soup with just canned stuff, and frozen chicken or beef. Include whatever veggies you like, and a can or two of broth (either chicken or beef, but low-sodium would be the best). You could also use either an envelope of stew mix, or one of chicken gravy. If you'd like other spices, you could always mix them together in a ziploc at home to dump in at the hotel.

Ok, it's not really a recipe, but it's convenient and not too expensive. ;-)

[morganskye.livejournal.com]

That sounds really good. Hmm, I think I should practice before the con! lol

Thanks!!

[mirana.livejournal.com]

Just made our easy pot roast again. Roast, two cans of cream of mushroom soup, one packet of onion soup mix and water for 3-4 hours. We do mashed potatoes separately on the stove, but you could probably throw in some potatoes, carrots or whatever in there to cook all at once. We get all our stuff off Allrecipes as well, so the exact recipe should be on there.

We also do a chicken soup that can be found on Allrecipes. As I remember, that one is broth, chicken, celery, carrots, seasoning, and egg noodles. I don't have it on hand, though.

[morganskye.livejournal.com]

Pot roast has always been one of those great kitchen mysteries to me after I burned one to hell in the oven. Yours sounds really easy and yummy! Glad I splurged for the big pot. :) Thanks!!

[attilia-auborne.livejournal.com]

If I were to do this, I'd prepare and freeze them in those slow cooker browning bag things. There should be away to tie off or close them somehow until you need them. Then they will be ready when you need them, also the bags will ease clean up.

[morganskye.livejournal.com]

I was thinking that. I didn't see the bags when I went to the store this weekend, so I wonder if I need to hit a specialty shop. It would really help with cleanup.

[ladyvalkris.livejournal.com]

Reynolds now have slow cooker bags. Essentially oven bags but better shaped for the crock pot.

[ubiquitous-a.livejournal.com]

I don't have specifics to give you on this, but you might check out this LJ community for some crock-pot specific ideas.

what_a_crock 

[morganskye.livejournal.com]

Hoh boy! I think I found a new comm to haunt. Thank you!!

[phantomminuet.livejournal.com]

Soup! And again, I say soup! I have a great taco soup recipe that is made entirely from canned ingredients, except for a pound of ground beef. You could brown the meat in advance and bring it iced down in a cooler to use when you needed it.

Here's the recipe:

1 lb. ground beef
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chili beans
1 can niblet corn
1 package taco seasoning
2-3 cans of water

Brown the beef, add the remaining ingredients and slow cook for three-four hours. If you want to make a lot, double the recipe.

Also, vegetable soup. You can bring raw vegetables or canned vegetables--neither need refrigeration (in the short term)--and a big bottle of V-8 juice. Dice the veggies into the V-8 juice, slow cook for four-five hours, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

[rocklymber.livejournal.com]

LOVE this! I add some onion to the ground beef, and I use ranch style black beans instead of chili beans, but other than that, it's a great recipe. You can make it ahead of time and freeze it.

[coffeesuperhero.livejournal.com]

Yes! I was about to leave this recipe! It's delicious, quick and easy. And if you toss in a package of frozen soy crumbles, you don't even have to worry about finding the time to brown the ground beef before Con.

[morganskye.livejournal.com]

Oh wow! That's perfect!! Heck, I might make that this weekend. Thank you so much!!

[pixiekingtom.livejournal.com]

Remember, there's no place for prep on veggies or meat, so I would suggest picking up some frozen slow cooker bags from the market, or prepping meals before hand (stew ALWAYS tastes better reheated. It's a law of physics)

I like making my own chicken soup, toss in a can of garlic roasted tomatoes, and just before serving a bag of ravioli. You get a nice hearty meal with some tasty cheesy bits of pasta

[dulcimeoww.livejournal.com]

Most hotels give you a desk, with antiseptic wipes and a cutting board it does fine for most of the prep work. They'll also give you a fridge, which is helpful with frozen items. Last year I did all my veggies fresh except for a spinach dip that I did the first night we arrived. It took a little more time, but I find that a crockpot kills flavors over time so I don't like to reheat stews in it. I intend to work with fresh again this year, if for no other reason than maintaining food safety... though one of my recipes involves zucchini and summer squash, which MUST be added fresh towards the end so it doesn't turn to mush anyways.

Chicken tacos!

[coleoptera.livejournal.com]

This cooks easily, can be made from frozen ingredients or thawed (we've done both a lot at home) and reheats very easily in a microwave, and is portable.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Crockpot-Chicken-Tacos

Often what I'll do is toss in entirely frozen (sometimes thawed in the microwave) boneless skinless chicken breasts (bought at BJs or similar in 10 or 20 pound bags, frozen) with fresh or frozen (I'll cut and freeze onions, peppers, etc when I don't use the whole) and the other stuff - salsa or picante sauce, can of peppers, etc. I leave the thing on low all day.

We tend to get a lot of liquid, but you can kind of pour some of that out after you have your first helping. we don't really drain it, we sort of use a slotted spoon to dump it on a tortilla and garnish with anything available.

Re: Chicken tacos!

[morganskye.livejournal.com]

*drool* I'm getting so hungry after reading that. ;P

Being able to cook from frozen would be a big help, but you have have a point about the excess water. Maybe there's a way to throw rice in at some point?

[bean-bunny.livejournal.com]

1) Find meat of your choice. Place in pot.

2) Cover in favorite salsa

3) crock pot

4)

5) profit

[morganskye.livejournal.com]

lol!! If by profit you mean my roommates love me, then I'm down. :)

[tncyclops.livejournal.com]

favorite crock pot recipe; cook chuck roast(about 2.5-3lb) in oven for 1hr-1hr 1/4 (still a little pink in middle), then cool & freeze in freezer bag to bring to con in cooler. Next get 2 cans Golden Mushroom soup, 1 can cream celery, 1 can chicken broth, 2 cans sliced potatoes, 1 can carrots, 1 jar mushrooms,1 jar Holland baby onions, and 1 pack Lipton dry onion soup mix.
Put frozen roast, all 3 cans soup, broth, and onion mix in pot in morning & add water just to cover most of roast & cook on high; -in afternoon add veggies and lower heat- cook about 2 more hours and enjoy. this assumes u have full size crock pot!

[tncyclops.livejournal.com]

simple and quick brown 2 lbs hamburger and freeze. at con put in cooked meat,1 large pack Velveeta cheese (doesn't have to be refrigerated), and 1 large jar favorite salsa. can stay in pot all day on low. add chips & yaaaa!

[morganskye.livejournal.com]

O_O I love you. I could eat that tonight!

The roast sounds fabulous. It's a perfect travel recipe! Thanks so much!

[kismet76.livejournal.com]

I used to do a Mexican Rice dish....a couple cups of rice with enough water to cook it in, one or two bullion cubes or a packet of dried soup mix of your choice...add a can of corn, some canned or jarred chili's and cook for a few hours on low...add some cheese about ten minutes before you are ready to serve...really easy, I can find the recipe card at some point...

[morganskye.livejournal.com]

That's very simple. I'll have to put it in regular rotation. I've found that Mexican rice goes with so many dishes. Thank you!

[lunascura.livejournal.com]

This recipe is yummy and makes a ton. The ingredients are also fairly simple and, aside from the chicken, don't spoil quickly.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Sweet-and-Tangy-Chicken/Detail.aspx

In a pinch (or if you're concerned about having onions and garlic sitting around your room) you can replace the onion with onion powder and the garlic with garlic powder.

[morganskye.livejournal.com]

Good point. Plus powders travel really well. Thanks! :)

[dulcimeoww.livejournal.com]

I will have an entire menu-planning post up on my journal by this weekend, including how to transport a slow cooker and food. I will also include recipes, though I haven't tested all of them yet, I tend to do that before the convention just to be sure. I'm planning on serving four and having leftovers, but the recipes could easily feed 6-7 people at a go. All of my recipes include vegetables, I think it's really important for healthy eating at a con. I considered doing vegetarian, but figured the guys I'm feeding wouldn't go for it.

[morganskye.livejournal.com]

I look forward to it! I hate spending so much money in the food court.

[aerorea.livejournal.com]

Am I the only who is uneasy with the idea of so many hot appliances being used/left on in hotel rooms? I can't imagine the hotels are actually OK with this...

Of course, I'm also one of those people who unplugs the toaster and won't leave the house with any appliance running... maybe it's just me.

[morganskye.livejournal.com]

No you're not. One roomie was concerned as well. I'm going to be putting the pot in the bathroom when everyone is out of the room (thank goodness it's a sealed container!). It's the closest thing to a kitchen counter. I don't want to put it on wood or carpet. While I don't think it would set anything on fire, I do worry about scorch marks and such. Thankfully the pot I'm using is new enough not to have burn out, but has been used enough that if there was an issue I've had found out about it by now.

And I unplug things all the time at my place too. :)

Pre-Frozen Pot Roast

[redcub.livejournal.com]

Some great recipies on here - thanks for starting this thread!

There are also several pre-made Pot Roast dinners that you can buy frozen at your local fodo outlet. Dump in the vegiies, gravy and meat, add water, cover. About half an hour before dinner throw in some potatoes (included in separate bag) and usually the results are decent. Everything comes in one bag which doesn't take up a lot of space in a cooler and no chopping needed!

Re: Pre-Frozen Pot Roast

[ladyvalkris.livejournal.com]

I forgot about that, I believe Banquet makes them. They also have chicken stews as well. You can add additional spices for variety and dump additional meat in there as well.

[pixiekingtom.livejournal.com]

Not just for dinner too. You can get a can of broth, a bottle of your favorite marinade (Or just throw health out the window and a bottle of good bbq sauce)
Layer chicken wings in the cooker until about 1/2 inch below the lip, add about 8 oz of broth, fill with the marinade or sauce until it just reaches the top of the chicken (the rest of the space is for expanding liquid/bubbling). Leave the cooker on med for about 4 hours, as soon as the wings seperate at the joint by gentle pulling it's ready!
Bring a rice cooker and you've got a good supply of healthy carps and protein with enough sugars from your marinade/glaze to keep you going for a good amount of time