Pages

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I *heart* My Crockpot

Bible Study starts a little early tonight, because we are having a potluck dinner and then a meeting! YAY! I love potlucks...brings me back to my good 'ole Baptist roots. :o)

Anywho, during Christmas I joined a "Secret Santa" (*ahem* no such thing!) at work and I got THE BEST GIFT EEEEEVEEEEEER!! Well, from a work function anyway. It is...wait for it...a 500+ page cookbook full of crockpot recipes!! I'm talkin' everything from breakfast, to casseroles, to dressings, you name it, it's in there. It even tells you what size/shape crockpot is best for each recipe. So, now I have to go out and buy 10 more crockpots of various shapes and sizes!

Since I am currently working, sometimes it's nice to be able to throw a bunch of stuff into the cooker, forget about it, and have a yummy, no-stress meal ready and waiting at the end of the day! Especially when I need to have something ready to go for evenings such as this...and it's still relatively (technically?) homemade. So...today, I wicked *heart* my crockpot. :o) This is what I made for church tonight:

Old-Fashioned "One-Pot" Bean Dinner
(as always...tweaked to perfection!)

8oz to 1 Lb lean ground beef (I used about 1 1/2 lbs.)
1/2 pound sliced bacon or turkey bacon, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
2 31-oz cans port and beans (or if you're like me, 16oz can Touch of Honey beans, 16oz can Maple beans, 28 oz can Homestyle beans. I know...it doesn't add up to 31 oz. Close enough)
1 16-oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15.5 oz can lima beans, drained (Instead, I used can of Cannelini beans, rinsed & drained)
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp liquid smoke flavoring (????? OPTIONAL!)
3 tbsp cider vinegar

Cook ground beef over medium-high heat until browned; drain fat and transfer meat to slow cooker. In the same skillet, cook the bacon & onion over medium heat, stirring until limp. (about 6-8 minutes). Bacon should be slightly undercooked; drain the fat. Transfer bacon/onion to slow cooker and add rest of ingredients. Stir to combine. Cook on LOW for 6-9 hours, or until hot & bubbly.

I could smell this outside our door when I got home. I cannot wait to eat it!! I think tonight's potluck will be a "TOOT"!! :o)

1 comment:

  1. Check out this blog -
    http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
    She did a recipe in the crockpot everyday for 2008, she even made it on Rachael Ray.

    ReplyDelete