Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli

I don't believe in a slower cooker season. What's not to like about dinner cooking away all afternoon, no matter what the weather? Even as the Spring warms (ever so sloooooooowly) I still aim to use mine at least once a week. It's perfect for the days we are running to ballet, karate, and soccer right around the dinner hour. Cause really, if I hadn't planned a head, what would be the chances of serving up a home cooked meal when I walk in the house with 3 STARVING kids at 5:45?

Note....STARVING is their word, not mine. And it's always accompanied by bodies that can no longer support their own weight and a chorus of whine.

This recipe caught my eye immediately in an America's Test Kitchen cookbook. I changed a couple things around and adapted to our tastes, but it still delivers on the melty, cheesy goodness I know and love. And the bonus? It's a melty, cheesy broccoli vehicle.

~Erin

 

Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Brocoli

Author: Erin (adapted from America's Test Kitchen)

Prep time: 20 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 3 T. vegetable oil


• 2 onions, minced


• 4 garlic cloves, minced


• 1 tsp. dried oregano


• 3 T. flour


• 1 c. chicken broth


• 1/2 c. heavy cream


• 1 tsp. dried mustard


• 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs


• salt and pepper


• 2 c. rice, cooked


• 1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded


• 1/2 c. parmesan cheese, grated


• 12 oz. broccoli florets, fresh or frozen (see note)

Instructions

1. Heat 2 T. of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic, and oregano and cook until onions are softened.


2. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.


3. Whisk in chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits, until no lumps remain. Pour mixture into slow cooker.


4. Stir in heavy cream and dried mustard into slow cooker.


5. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper, add to slow cooker, turning to coat. Cook 4-6 hours on low.


6. Break up chicken into bite size pieces with a wooden spoon. Stir in cooked rice, cheddar, parmesan, and 1 tsp. salt.


7. Cook broccoli in microwave until tender. Gently fold into casserole in slow cooker. Serve.

Notes

To avoid a broccoli and rice mush, cook them separately instead of with the chicken in the slow cooker. I use "steam in bag" frozen broccoli (12-ish ounces), and pre-cooked brown rice. A frozen rice is often available right along side the frozen veggies in the grocery store. Follow the directions for each on the bag and add them (cooked and hot!) to your chicken. Other options are leftover rice from a previous meal, and fresh broccoli steamed on the stove top. Watch your chicken cooking time as well. I find that chicken can be done long before a recipe says, depending on your slow cooker. If you use chicken breasts instead of thighs, be aware they take less time to cook through.

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Fried Artichoke Hearts

This is another recipe courtesy of my soon-to-be-famous (if we ever get famous from this blog) sister-in-law, Denise. It's one of those recipes that I remember her making waaay back when when I first met her (I can't even think about how long ago because it's depressing...let's just say that a person could vote if they were as old as how long ago this was). Back when we weren't as health-conscious...or I guess we were health conscious but we could afford to not care about it TOO much because we were in our 20s. Those glorious 20s when I had a metabolism and no stretch marks and everything was, let's say, perkier. I know I'm not one foot in the grave or anything, but man what a difference 18 years can make! :)

So, anyway, these artichoke appetizers are SOOO good that I used to get so excited when I knew she was making them for a get-together.  It's been a while since she's made them but as I was thinking about recipes I'd like to put on our blog, this was one of the first ones that I knew I wanted to use. And when I made them recently, I thought WHY have we not made these in so long?! They're delicious! Hopefully we're getting these babies back into the rotation!

~Leah

Fried Artichoke Hearts

Recipe Type: Appetizer

Author: Leah

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 1-2 cans halved artichoke hearts (if you can't find them halved, you can get the whole and cut them in half or get the quarters and they'll just be a little smaller)


• Vegetable or canola oil


• Ranch dressing


• Batter for hearts:


• 2 1/2 cups flour


• 2 eggs


• 2 1/2 cups milk


• 1 Tbsp. garlic powder


• 1 1/2 tsp. fresh parsley, chopped


• 1/2 tsp. salt


• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Drain and rinse artichoke hearts. Squeeze out excess liquid by placing between multiple sheets of paper towels and pressing down with the palm of your hand.


2. Mix all of the ingredients for the batter in a medium to large bowl. Batter should be slightly thick.


3. Coat a frying pan with vegetable or canola oil and heat over medium-high to high heat.


4. Take an artichoke heart, swirl it around in the batter and place in the pan and let the extra batter drip over the heart. Repeat with as many hearts as can fit comfortably in the pan. Flip when golden brown on bottom. Place on paper towel lined plate to drain. Repeat until all the hearts are used. You will likely have to add and heat more oil as you go.


5. Serve immediately with ranch dressing.

Notes

The yield (8-10 servings, 28 appetizers) I provided is based on using 1 can of hearts. You can use two cans if you are serving more people but you don't have to double the batter amount. It should be plenty as it's written. Also, if the method is too hands on for you, feel free to use a table/soup spoon to scoop the hearts out of the batter, drop into the oil, and then drip some more batter on top of the heart. There's no wrong way to do these. :)

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Slow Cooker Ham

I almost never make a full sized ham or turkey during a "normal" week. I always associate them with holidays and for some reason it never crosses my mind to make them for any other reason. That thought process might have just changed though. When I was shopping at Aldi last week they had a special for $5 off any ham. That meant I could buy this gimonsterous ham for $6! So being the sucker-for-any-sale girl that I am, I bought one. We not only used the ham for dinner that night, but also for dinner two other nights that week (in a frittata and with some mac n cheese). Not to mention the lunches that it was worked into. I swear I got 4-5 meals out of my $6 ham!!



Cooking ham always confuses me. Most of the hams you buy at a grocery store all say "fully cooked". So why do I need to cook it again?? I still don't have an answer to that question, but my second round of cooking for this ham turned out well. I had to be a little creative with the recipe. I recently gave up refined sugars for Lent. No I'm not Catholic and yes I am crazy. I don't know what I was thinking, but I'm still trying to stick to it. Most ham recipes call for at least a little brown sugar so I needed to come up with a sweet alternative. The great news is that maple and ham go together very well, so I used pure maple syrup as the sweetener and combined it with some sweet pineapple chunks. If you don't have pure maple syrup at home, use brown sugar instead. Don't use the corn syrup-filled version of maple syrup, its too sticky and watery. This recipe really could not be easier, perfect for your Easter dinner!

~Wendy

Slow Cooker Ham

Recipe Type: Dinner

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 6 hours

Total time: 6 hours 5 mins

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 1 7-8lb ham, bone-in, spiral cut


• 1 16 oz can pineapple tidbits


• 1 c. pure maple syrup

Instructions

1. Empty the can of pineapple tidbits on the bottom of a slow cooker.


2. Add 1/2 cup of the maple syrup to the pineapple and stir to combine.


3. Unwrap the ham and discard any flavor or glazing packets.


4. Place the ham in the slow cooker on top of the pineapple/maple syrup combination and pour the remaining 1/2 cup of maple syrup over the top of the ham.


5. Cook on low for 5-6 hours, occasionally basting with the pineapple juice from the bottom of the crock pot.

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Peppered Beef

Today's been a rough day.

While it does look beautiful outside with all of the snow we had fall on us today, inside our house it was a different story. My little munchkin was not in the best of moods (that's putting it VERRRY nicely) and she also woke me up early on the day I decided I was going back to my strict,  low-carb, low-cal way of life which made mommy not in the best of moods either. (Not to mention I'm at that wonderful week where I want to eat everything in sight -- you ladies know what I'm talkin' about -- maybe not the best planning on my part). So....today...rough.

I am proud to say that I did make it through today eating very well (I know the day's not completely over yet, but I think I'm good) but looking at the awesome photo Erin took of my yummy beef on delicious, soft bread and those potato chips is NOT helping matters! :)

This is one of those recipes that has been around my whole life. I have NO IDEA where it originally came from, all I know is it's darn good! It definitely has a kick to it so you can be the judge as far as if it's "kid appropriate" or not. It's too spicy for my 7 year old who does tolerate some heat, but my nieces and nephew who are 9, 10, and 13 gobble it up.

~Leah

Peppered Beef

Recipe Type: Dinner

Author: Leah

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 6 hours

Total time: 6 hours 5 mins

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 3-4 lb. chuck roast


• 1/2 tsp.- 1 tsp. each of garlic salt and oregano


• 1 12-16 oz. jar sliced pepperoncini peppers


• 1 can beer


• 1 can beef consomme


• Provolone or mozzarella cheese (optional)


• buns/rolls

Instructions

1. Place the roast in crock pot. Sprinkle each side with garlic salt and oregano (to your taste).


2. Drain jar of peppers and pour peppers, beer, and consomme over roast.


3. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high 4-6.


4. Remove beef from crock pot and trim off any fat and shred the meat. Return meat to crock and stir into juices.


5. Serve on rolls with provolone or mozzarella cheese.

Notes

The original recipe does NOT call for draining the juice from the peppers. I would recommend draining the first time you make it and then going from there. Also, the recipe as written here is actually halved so if you want to make more for a bigger crowd, it doubles well. If you do want to make this for a get together but don't want to have to shred the meat during the event, you can make it the day before and refrigerate then simply return it to the crock pot or oven to reheat. If you do refrigerate it, you will probably see some hardened fat at the top. It is up to you if you want to leave that in or spoon it out before reheating to reduce some fat and calories. This can also be made in the oven. Simply put everything in a big pot with a lid and cook at 350 for 4 hours.

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Crock Pot Beef Sliders

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- and I'm sure every year for the rest of my life because I can admittedly be annoying that way -- I will NEVER understand why the Super Bowl game starts so late in the evening on a Sunday! Now (and hopefully we don't lose readers from what I'm about to say) I could really care LESS about football. There I said it...take away my "American citizen" card but it just is what it is.  I did enjoy going to games in high school and college and even a Bears game here or there, but I've never enjoyed sitting and watching on tv.

Ok, all that being said, I DO enjoy hanging out with friends and eating a ton of food so it irks me to no end that the game is when it is! Why can't it be moved earlier? Or to Saturday? Or (considering the way this country is with this game) declared a national holiday and have off on Monday? I feel like there are a lot of families who kind of get the shaft unless they a. host, b. have older or no kids, c. don't mind missing bedtime on a school night (which is pretty much a cardinal sin in my mind -- I know, I might need to loosen up a little bit).

So, for those of you who are hosting a Super Bowl party, or are signed up to bring something to a Super Bowl party, or are like me and will be hanging out at home (umm, I guess that covers everyone unless you're going to dinner and a movie or something), this is a great, easy recipe. I originally had it at one of my afore-posted-about sister-in-law's get togethers and immediately asked for the recipe. I've made it more than a few times for dinner and I cannot say enough about feeling like some domestic goddess when dinner is "made" at 9 am (I may have mentioned this before -- or maybe not -- or maybe it was Erin -- anyway I'm too lazy to go back and read all of our posts right now but I think I'm safe to say that on this blog, dinner in the slow cooker in the morning = domestic goddess). Enjoy!
~Leah

Crock Pot Beef Sliders

Recipe Type: Dinner

Author: Leah

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 6 hours

Total time: 6 hours 5 mins

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 3-4 lb sirloin tip roast


• 1 pkg instant onion soup mix


• 1 can cream of mushroom soup


• 2 beef bullion cubes (I like to use the low sodium)


• 1 cup water


• Hawaiian bread buns (the small ones)


• Kraft horseradish sauce (optional)

Instructions

1. Place the meat in crock pot.


2. Mix all the ingredients up through the water and pour over the meat.


3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours then shred with forks in the crock and stir with the juice.


4. Keep crock on warm for serving.


5. Serve on rolls and top with horseradish sauce (optional).

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