Crockpot Cooking | A Pinch of Joy

Aloha Chicken with pineapple and honey

February 26, 2013 by Charlene

This recipe started out as a crockpot recipe. It was definitely good! However, I use my crockpot most frequently when I am going to be tied up most of the day. You do not want to overcook this one. So I converted it to an oven baked chicken. I know, I know. . . . swimming upstream again. That is backwards to what most cooks do. But what can I say? It’s really good either way, baked makes a beautiful presentation for guests (and fits my schedule), crockpot is convenient for family (and might fit your schedule). Besides, polite persons don’t say anything with their mouth full. So. . . . . you choose which way you want to cook it and we’ll both be happy campers! With full tummies.

I’ve increased the pineapple for this recipe because we happen to really like pineapple. It’s not something we eat a lot, so when I do use it I tend to make a statement! I use a large can (20 ounces) and partially drain it. I don’t measure, just eyeball it but if you prefer a more formal approach you’ll want at least 1/3 cup of pineapple juice. If you want, you can decrease the pineapple to one 8 ounce can but don’t drain it. I’ve also used pineapple tidbits because that’s what I had on hand – works too. You get the flavor but the tidbits are more likely to be part of the sauce rather than covering the chicken. Serve with colorful vegetables and plenty of brown rice to soak up the sauce.

I hope you get the idea as you peruse this blog that food is not something that requires a rigid approach but rather food fits into the flow of the rest of our lives. Take time to fuss when you have time. Don’t apologize if you find you are fitting a meal into a hectic day. Do the best you can. Use what you have on hand. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Change things so they fit your family. If things don’t work out the way you thought it would, laugh about it. There is always another meal. Food should bring a pinch of joy into our day!

Aloha Chicken with pineapple and honey

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

Aloha Chicken with pineapple and honey

Ingredients

3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast or breast tenders, thawed
1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple, partially drained
1 Tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 Tablespoon mustard
½ teaspoon salt or to taste
¼ teaspoon pepper
¾ cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup lemon juice

Instructions

Baked directions

Turn oven on to 350 degrees.
Spray 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray
If using whole chicken breast cut in 2 inch strips for even baking.
Place chicken in pan and add undrained pineapple.
Melt butter in microwave.
Mix melted butter, honey, lemon juice, mustard and soy sauce, salt and pepper. Pour over chicken and pineapple.
Sprinkle brown sugar over top of chicken and sauce.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20-30 minutes until chicken is done and pineapple is lightly browned.
Serves 8

Crockpot directions

Spray slow cooker or line with cooking bag.
Add chicken and undrained pineapple.
Melt butter in microwave.
Mix melted butter, honey, lemon juice, mustard and soy sauce, salt and pepper. Pour over chicken and pineapple in slow cooker.
Spread brown sugar over top of chicken and sauce.
Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.
Serves 8

http://www.apinchofjoy.com/2013/02/aloha-chicken-with-pineapple-and-honey/

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Filed Under: Crockpot cooking, Eating, Main Dishes, Meats, Recipes Tagged With: Baked, chicken, Crockpot, Eating, honey, Main Dish, pineapple, Recipes, slow cooker

Pork roast, sweet potatoes and fried apples

February 17, 2012 by Charlene

Pork loin roast, fried apples and sweet potatoes – a classic dinner. It is very simple, calling for only basic cooking skills, but looks fantastic and like you spent hours in the kitchen. My kind of cooking!

Start with a crockpot that has been sprayed well with cooking oil or lined with a cooking bag. I put about a half cup of hot water from the superhot tap into the bottom to provide moistness and help heat the crockpot quickly. You can brown the pork loin in a skillet to deepen the flavor, but I often do not take the time. There may be a bit of fat on the loin. Pork has a tendency to be dry so don’t give in to the temptation to trim it because it will add moistness to the meat. Mix together the brown sugar, salt, pepper, mustard with enough orange juice to make a thick paste. Pat a bit on the sides and spread the rest on the top of the meat. Place meat in the crockpot and drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil, being careful not to “wash” off the sugar rub. If you are going to leave the house for the day, use a larger pork loin, be sure you add enough water to cover the bottom at least ¼ inch deep and cook on low. I generally use smaller roasts so it cooks for a shorter time (around 4 hours) and someone is around who can check an hour or so before eating time to make any adjustments needed. If you want to check the internal temperature, federal guidelines have changed to a lower temperature than they used to recommend – 140 degrees vs 160 degrees. Let the meat rest on its platter outside the crockpot while you fry the apples.

Cooking sweet potatoes is so easy, starting about 25-30 minutes before mealtime. Scrub the skins and trim as needed. Slice into chunks about 1-2 inches thick striving for a semblance of uniformity so they will cook more evenly. Cover with water and bring to boil. Boil about 15 minutes and test by cornering a chunk with a fork. If the skin is the only place you meet resistance, they are done. Pour into colander to drain. Hold each chunk down with a fork, use a sharp knife to pierce and pinch the skin so you can pull it off the potato. Whip with mixer, add salt to taste. Serve with butter. Mmmmmmm

Fried apples – never heard of ‘em until college. I come by my minimal preparation criteria honestly, you understand. With six kids, my mother was not one to add unnecessary steps or dishes to wash. You want an apple – pick it up and eat it. But fried apples are almost the equivalent of no extra preparation. Put about a tablespoon of butter into a small frying pan for every two apples, wash and slice the apples into the pan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally until apples start to turn limp but are still crisp to bite — if that makes sense! Don’t let them get mushy in other words! It will take 5-10 minutes, depending on the variety of apple. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and serve.

Add a vegetable and/or a salad. Perfect meal for the family or for guests!

This recipe was featured at: Rattlebridge Farm, Lady Behind the Curtain,

Crockpot Pork loin roast with sweet potatoes and fried apples

Ingredients

Crockpot pork loin

Pork loin, 3-5 pounds
¼ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground mustard
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons orange juice (stock, water, lemon juice can substitute)
1 tablespoon olive or canola oil

Sweet potatoes

2 large sweet potatoes, 5-6 inches in length to serve 3
Salt and butter to taste

Fried apples

2 apples, sliced to serve 3
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
Cinnamon to taste

Instructions

Crockpot pork loin

Prepare crockpot with cooking spray or liner. Add water to cover bottom at least 1/4 inch deep.
Brown first one side and then the other of pork loin in skillet with 2-3 tablespoons of oil. This is an optional step, but does deepen the flavor.
Mix dry ingredients and orange juice to make paste. Pat on sides and spread most of it on top.
Place pork loin into crock pot and drizzle with olive or canola oil.
Cook on low 8-9 hours for roast 4 pounds and up or 4-6 hours for less than 4 pounds.
Internal temperature should reach 140 degrees at least. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Sweet potatoes

Scrub and trim, then cut into uniform chunks. Smaller ones cook faster.
Place in medium pan and cover with water.
Bring to boil and boil for 15 minutes, until sweet potato pierces easily with fork.
Drain and peel.
Whip with mixer and season with salt and butter to taste.

Fried apples

Melt butter or margarine in small skillet
Wash and slice into melted butter
Cook 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until slightly limp.
Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon.

http://www.apinchofjoy.com/2012/02/pork-roast-sweet-potatoes-and-fried-apples/

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Crockpot Cheesecake

October 1, 2011 by A pinch of joy

Sorry for the unannounced Blog Break! I wish I could say it was because Wheels whisked us off to Paris in the family jet for a few days. Unfortunately, the family jet is wingless and in Wheel’s boyhood box in the basement. He lost interest right after he glued the wheels on. . The truth involves dental surgery and drugs, but all is well now. Let’s make up for lost time with a yummy and super easy cheesecake!

A cheesecake in the slow cooker, in fact. I like using the slow cooker for an “oven” because it is environmentally friendly. The crockpot is much smaller than the oven, so uses less energy, and does not heat up the kitchen. It takes a bit of trial and error to use the crockpot this way. For the cheesecake you will have to find baking dish to fit inside. There should be at least ½ to 1 inch between the crockpot and the dish, enough room that your fingers fit comfortably into the opening to be able to handle the dish safely. I used a round quart and a half soufflé dish that fit into my round crockpot perfectly.

If you would like to make “handles” for your baking dish, measure a piece of aluminum foil long enough to go across the bottom of your slow cooker and up BOTH sides so that it rises above the edge of the crockpot. Fold the aluminum foil into quarters lengthwise and place it inside the slow cooker before you place the baking dish.

The crust question – I often omit crusts because it reduces the carb count of the finished product. This time I lined the bottom of baking dish with vanilla wafers because I had them on hand, but I think ginger snaps would work as well. Neither of these require additional sugar. You could crush them if so inclined and sprinkle the crumbs into the bottom of the dish. Or you could use a standard graham cracker crust. Or just graham cracker crumbs sprinkled in the bottom of the dish. Or nothing. I vote for the “little work as possible” option! Almost as important a factor as the carb count!

Add the remaining ingredients to the mixer bowl. Eggs can set for a few minutes in warm (not hot) water and cream cheese can go in the microwave for 30 seconds on half power, if you need to hurry up the room temperature requirement. (Why would I know those things? Experiments “in the name of science”,of course. What did you think? Well — you could be right!) Beat at least two minutes until fully mixed and no lumps visible. Light and fluffy here makes the cheesecake rise evenly with a nicely finished texture.

Cook on high for 1 to 2 hours until surface is no longer shiny and the cheesecake is firm around the edges and seems mostly set in the middle. When you do this for the first time, check after the first hour to see how things are progressing. Cooking time will vary with your particular slow cooker and the depth of the baking pan you choose. I start with hot water in the crockpot and mine finishes in about an hour and 15 minutes. Unplug and let set covered for at least an hour to cool. This helps the cheesecake continue to set up, but also makes it safer to remove the baking dish.

Refrigerate. Cut when cold, using knife run under hot water to make it easier. Or just spoon out of the dish. I get 8-10 servings using the 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Serve plain or with embellishment. We used about a teaspoon of homemade low sugar strawberry jam on each piece, but you could use a chocolate syrup, grated dark chocolate, cherries, or whatever takes your fancy. Enjoy!

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Crockpot Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust optional – see notes above.
2 8 ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup white sugar (if desired, substitute artificial sweetener to package directions)
2 eggs, room temperature
¼ cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Spray baking dish with cooking spray and add crust, if using.
Set in crockpot that has approximately one cup of water in bottom.
Beat Cream cheese and sugar until well mixed, add remaining ingredients.
Beat until fluffy, about two minutes
Pour cheesecake mixture into baking pan, in the crockpot.
Cover and cook on high 1-2 hours. Cheesecake is done when firm to touch, and glossiness appearance is gone.
Leave covered and let set about an hour
Remove dish from crockpot and refrigerate two hours or longer before serving.
Approximately 8-10 servings depending on the size and depth of dish.
10-15 carbs per serving without crust, less if using artificial sweetener.

http://www.apinchofjoy.com/2011/10/crockpot-cheesecake/

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Crockpot Chicken N Dressing

September 23, 2011 by A pinch of joy

Eating healthy is not difficult. Small changes make the biggest difference. Limiting carbs has gone a long way toward our goal of eating more healthy meals. If I had cooked a meal like this before it would have included the meat with potatoes or rice plus dressing and a starchy vegetable like corn. Now we choose “just one”. Just one kind of carb is all that is needed for satisfying appetitite, maintaining the daily carb goal and reducing calories without sacrificing nutrition. Tonight this dish was served with Sesame Beans and a tossed salad like Salad with Fruit and Nuts. That’s it. Full and satisfied. . . and a great reason to get in and out of the kitchen more quickly! I have a theory that preparing a meal should not take longer than eating a meal!

Monitoring servings and serving sizes is a second little change that has made a big difference. The dressing I used is 22 carbs per serving. A box makes 6 servings. It will be all gone at the end of dinner. With three people eating, that means we will each have consumed 2 servings of dressing. It is important to know this. If we ignore that fact and pretend we only each had 1 serving — well, you know what that will do to the carb counts for the day. Not to mention the difficult conversation with yourself in the mirror (or worse, the doctor or weight loss coach) that begins: “I don’t know why my numbers haven’t changed “. (Oh yeah, so guilty!)

Last winter I took a nutrition class, a refresher, offered by one of the grocery chains. The newly minted dietician was excited to introduce a new way of limiting carbs and moderating servings. It is the plate method, a guide from the United States Department of Agriculture. If you look at the plate, it provides a quick and easy visual. Half your plate should have fruit and/or vegetables. Slightly less than one quarter of the plate is for protein and the other slightly larger quarter is for grains. In the example above, the Sesame Beans and Fruit and Nut Salad would fill half the plate. The chicken fills the quarter designated for protein and the dressing is the quarter designated for grains. The grain foods and fruits are the ones that contribute most to your daily carb count. The plate method is another great tool for keeping yourself healthy and provides a quick check for carb counting.

Crockpot Chicken N Dressing

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, frozen
Pepper to your family’s taste, none, little, lot
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium ribs of celery, sliced thinly
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed low sodium cream of chicken soup with herbs, undiluted
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
1 (6 ounce) package low sodium stuffing mix

Instructions

Spray slow cooker pot with cooking spray.
Lay chicken breasts in bottom, overlapping as needed and add pepper.
Add sliced celery and onions on top of chicken.
Pour chicken soup over chicken, celery and onions.
Mix together chicken broth and package of stuffing, then spread over top of chicken.
Cook on low for four hours. Dressing will still be moist.

http://www.apinchofjoy.com/2011/09/crockpot-chicken-n-dressing/

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Crockpot Calico Beans

September 15, 2011 by A pinch of joy

Perfect for a summer barbecue or an autumn tailgate party, this dish is quick to make! Gather your crockpot and all the ingredients. Pour, stir and cook on low for 3-4 hours. Perfection for a side dish with brats or burgers. Or make it a main dish with a tossed salad.

This recipe is foolproof and flexible and known also as Trucker, Cowboy or Prairie Beans. Chips* contributed it to the Quasquicentennial cookbook and I have tweaked it several ways, including using the crockpot. Her family prefers the deeper flavor from baking and a little extra kick. Chips adds 1 tablespoon mustard and 1 teaspoon chili powder, though she warns against using beans or BBQ sauce with chili flavor. She also uses Splenda brown sugar and has used ham instead of bacon. My sister Bee uses Campbell’s pork n beans from the original recipe, but I like Bush’s baked beans because they are “thicker”. Kidney beans, dark or light, it doesn’t matter, but do pick up the low sodium version on your grocery shelf. (Less salt = good for you.) And I sometimes add a can of black beans for their nutritional value. If you are looking for the recipe so you can get going and get to the party on time, scroll on down and hit print. But you already know that this is a great dish for crowds because it will fill your crockpot. And you also know that it is perfect for potlucks and picnics. Besides your family.

But, if you gasped when you saw the picture of the ingredients and thought “does she know how many carbs are in those beans?”, then read on. Legumes, which is what these beans are called, are in a special class. Yes, they are higher in carbs – but they also have a built in protein and plenty of fiber. Legumes tend to be absorbed more slowly into the blood stream. The slower absorption keeps blood sugar levels more even and keeps you feeling full and satisfied longer than more quickly digested foods. Eating healthy for the long term requires a balanced diet that takes into account all your nutritional needs. The soluble fiber helps lower cholesterol and keep you regular. Protein is necessary for energy and strong muscles. Good– and good for you.

* Full Disclosure: Chips’ brother married my sister Kay. Millions of beans were consumed in the evolution of this recipe with no harm done.

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Crockpot Calico Beans

Yield: 25 servings

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Crockpot Calico Beans

Ingredients