Cooking Machine

I've been a cooking machine lately. Even when there are leftovers, I've been ignoring them and making more meals. It's because I had some new meals I wanted to try. I'm easily triggered by nudges around me. My friend, Theresa, asked me if I had some good Slow Cooker recipes to give her. I realized that I didn't! One Christmas I asked for Slow Cooker cookbooks and didn't try ONE recipe in the book!! I perused my 3 slow cooker cookbooks and found 3 recipes I would try myself and sent them to her. Then I decided to write all the ingredients for my shopping list so I COULD try them myself. I tend to get into boring meal habits of having the same, old, predictable stuff. Every now and then I love to shake things up and try something new. Granted, the kids don't always like my new endeavors, but I don't want that to keep me from experimenting. I just add sides that I know they will like.

Here are the 3 meals I chose:
Ham with Cheesy Potatoes
Serves 8
1 bag (28 ounces) frozen diced potatoes with onions and peppers, thawed
2 cups shredded Cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheese blend (8 oz)
1 can (10 ¾ ounces) condensed cream of celery soup
1 container (8 ounces) sour cream
3 pound fully cooked smoked boneless ham

1. Spray 5-6 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Mix frozen potatoes, cheese, soup and sour cream in cooker. Cut ham in lengthwise in half; place ham on potato mixture.
2. Cover and cook on low heat setting 5 to 6 hours or until potatoes are tender.
3. Remove from cooker; place on cutting board. Gently stir potatoes well before serving. Cut ham in slices; serve with potatoes.



Apricot-Glazed Pork Roast and Stuffing
Serves 6
4 cups herb-seasoned stuffing cubes
¾ cup chicken broth
½ cup dried apricots, chopped
1/3 cup frozen chopped onions (from 12-ounce bag)
2 to 2 ½ pound pork boneless loin roast
1/3 cup apricot jam
1 tbs balsamic vinegar

Spray 3 ½- 4 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Mix stuffing, broth, apricots and onions in cooker. Place pork on stuffing mixture (can brown in skillet beforehand). Mix jam and vinegar; brush over pork.
Cover and cook on low heat setting 7-8 hours or until pork is tender.
Remove pork from cooker; place on cutting board. Stir stuffing before serving. Cut pork into slices; serve with stuffing.


Brazilian Saffron Chicken and Rice
Serves 6
3- 3 ½ pound cut up broiler-fryer chicken
¾ teaspoon garlic salt
1 tbs olive vegetable oil
½ cup chopped fully cooked smoked ham (3 ounces)
1 med onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 med red bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)
1 can (14 ounces) chicken broth
1 package (8 ounce) yellow rice mix or (chicken flavored rice mixed with ¼ tsp turmeric)
1/3 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed olives

Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in oil until brown on all sides; drain. Place chicken in 3 ½ to 4 quart slow cooker. Top with ham, onion and bell pepper. Add broth.
Cover and cook on low heat setting 5 to 6 hours until juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.
Remove chicken from cooker. Stir rice mix (dry) into mixture in cooker; return chicken to cooker. Cover and cook on high heat setting about 1 hour or until rice is tender. Serve chicken and rice with olives.

I just tried the Ham with Cheesy Potatoes and they were very good. Although, I think I prefer my ham with a sweet glaze. Sunday night I plan on trying the Apricot Pork recipe.