Slow Cooker Beef Au Jus (French Dip) Sandwiches

This recipe is the easiest thing ever and it was delicious!

This was also a camping thing.  Ok so maybe we weren't "roughing it".  As a good friend of mine calls it..."glamping". 

I brought the slow cooker along and put this on while we were swimming and fishing.

For tailgate I would make it ahead and transport and throw in the chafing dish to keep warm.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of deli roast beef (best if its still got some red to it since it will cook for awhile)
• 2 cans of beef consomme
• 2 cups of water
• 1 packet of Lipton Onion soup mix
• Provolone Cheese

Directions:

Set crock pot to low.

Put in all the ingredients except roast beef and stir.

Put in roast beef.

Cook on low for about 4 hours.

Serve on mini sub roll with provolone cheese on top.  Scoop out some of the beef broth into a little bowl and serve on the side of the sandwich.  Dip the sandwich in the broth each bite!

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

So I had some chicken breasts that needed to be used soon so I did this recipe.  Turned out ok.  I shouldn't have cooked that long though because I was out and didn't get back in the recommended time.  Oh well...next time...still good even an hour over the recommended cook time.

The original recipe is from A Year of Slow Cooking blog.  The link is here.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (4 or one thigh per family member)
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 cup soy sauce (La Choy or Tamari wheat-free are gluten free)
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup honey

Directions:

 

Use a 4-quart slow cooker (if using a 6-quart, this will cook faster. Check after 3 hours on high, 5 hours on low).
Put the chicken into your cooker. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, then pour evenly over the top. -- Yeah I just poured it in and didn't combine first. 
Cook on low for 6 hours

Barbeque Chicken Wings (in the Slow Cooker)

I've made these wings several times but always in the oven and/or grill.  This time it was 100 degrees outside and I said screw it I'm not going outside or turning on the oven for 2 hours.  I don't know where I saw these done.  I think I was watching a grilling special on TV and saw someone make it. 

These are always a hit and turned out great in the slow cooker!

Ingredients:

• Famous Dave's Rib Rub
• Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing
• Fresh Chicken Wings
• Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce

Directions:

Preheat slow cooker on High.

Cut off strips of aluminum foil to make pockets.  Take 2-3 chicken wings at a time and coat with ranch dressing then sprinkle with rub.  Place in the aluminum pocket and seal.  Place in slow cooker.

Repeat until crock pot is filled with chicken wing pockets.

Cook on High for approximately 2 hours.

Take a tray and place wings on the tray meaty side up. 

Brush with BBQ sauce (I used my Bobby Flay basting brush!).  Stick under the broiler in the oven on High for aprox 5 mins.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker French Onion Meatballs

The final recipe from Father's Day weekend was the meatballs.  This was so easy and so good.  Anything in a crock pot or slow cooker is the best because I can throw it in without a lot of fuss.

I got the recipe from the Six Sisters Blog Site ... link is here.

But again the picture sucks.

Ingredients:
1 (24 oz) package of frozen meatballs (I bought Italian style, but plain are fine too)
2 (10.5 oz) cans of condensed French onion soup

Directions:
Spray your slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Dump in the package of meatballs and dump the soup on top. Cook on LOW for 4 hours OR on HIGH for 2 hours.

Philly Cheese Steak Dip (in the Slow Cooker)

There's only one word to describe this dip...AMAZING!!!  This was the last one I did in the triple dipper for father's day and everyone who tried it loved it.

I got the original recipe from Better Homes and Gardens...link is here.

Horrible picture again of this dip but oh well it was awesome so I don't care :-)

Ingredients

• 1 17 ouncepackage beef roast au jus
• 1 cupchopped onion (1 large)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoonolive oil
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 15 ouncejarprocess cheese dip
• 3/4 cup chopped red sweet pepper (1 medium) Skipped this
• 3/4cupchopped green sweet pepper (1 medium) -- Skipped this
• 1 4 ouncecan (drained weight)sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1/3cuppepperoncini salad peppers, stemmed and chopped
• 1 tblespoonWorcestershire sauce
• 1/4teaspoonground black pepper
• Hoagie Planks

Directions

1. Remove cover from beef roast package and cook beef in the microwave on 100 percent power (high) for 1 minute. Remove beef roast from package; reserve 1/3 cup of the au jus. Cut beef roast into chunks. Using two forks, pull beef into shreds; set aside. In a large skillet, cook onion and garlic in hot oil over medium-high heat until tender. Stir in beef.

2. Lightly coat the inside of a 3 1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Add beef mixture to cooker. Stir in the reserved 1/3 cup au jus, cheese dip, sweet peppers, mushrooms, pepperoncini, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper.

3. Cover and cook on high-heat setting for 1 to 2 hours. Serve immediately or keep warm, covered, on warm setting or low-heat setting for up to 2 hours. Serve with Hoagie Planks.

4. Hoagie Planks: Preheat broiler. Split 5 hoagie buns and place, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Spread with about 1/4 cup softened butter and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning, crushed. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until lightly toasted. To serve, cut bun halves diagonally into pieces.

Nutrition Facts (Philly Cheese Steak Dip)

• Servings Per Recipe 20,
• Calories 193,
• Protein (gm) 9,
• Carbohydrate (gm) 18,
• Fat, total (gm) 11,
• Cholesterol (mg) 38,
• Saturated fat (gm) 6,
• Monosaturated fat (gm) 1,
• Dietary Fiber, total (gm) 1,
• Sugar, total (gm) 5,
• Vitamin A (IU) 389,
• Vitamin C (mg) 12,
• Sodium (mg) 604,
• Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Hormel Chili Cheese Dip (in the Slow Cooker)

Another one from the triple dipper experiments on Father's Day.  It was yummy and tasted similar to Chili's Con Queso Dip.  The link to the orginal recipe is here.

Again this picture sucks and does the end product no justice but its all I could do on that day.

Main Ingredients:

This recipe is recomended for 12 servings

• 1 (15-ounce) can Hormel® Chili No Beans
• 1 (1-pound) package pasteurized prepared cheese product, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Instructions

1. In medium microwave-safe bowl, stir together chili and cheese product; cover. Microwave on HIGH (100%), stirring once, 4 1/2 to 5 minutes or until hot and cheese is melted. Serve with corn chips, if desired.  I actually put this in the Triple Dipper to cook and it was fine.

Hormel Easy Pepperoni Pizza Dip (in the Slow Cooker)

For Father's Day Dinner I wanted to use the Triple Dipper again but I wanted to try some different dips.  I cruised around the recipe websites and found one on hormel.com.  The link to the recipe is here.

This one was good.  Everyone liked it a lot.  I just wish I would have gotten a better picture of it.  Maybe next time.

Main Ingredients:

This recipe is recomended for 16 servings

• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 (15-ounce) can or bottle pizza sauce
• 1 package Hormel® Pepperoni Minis
• 1 cup shredded pizza cheese blend
• Crackers and breadsticks

Instructions

1. In 2-quart slow cooker, place cream cheese
2. In bowl, combine pizza sauce and pepperoni minis; pour over cream cheese. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. 
3. Cover slow cooker; cook on LOW setting 2 hours or until cheese is melted. Stir before serving. Serve with crackers and breadsticks.

Slow Cooker Corn on the Cob

I did Baked Potatoes in the crock pot a while back and they were delicious.  So I decided to try my hand at corn on the cob.  Figured for a tailgate I can cook these in the slow cooker before I leave and throw into a chafing dish when I get there!

This was so easy it was crazy.  And the corn was perfect!  Didn't need a tray for the corn since it was in the foil so I used that instead!

Ingredients:

• Corn on the Cob
• Aluminum Foil
• Salt

Directions:

Shuck the corn.  Wash.  Sprinkle lightly with salt.  Wrap individually in foil.  Cook on High in the slow cooker for 2 hours.

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

One of my favorite blogs is "A Year of Slow Cooking".  She did this recipe so I thought I'd try it since Philadelphia Cooking Creme was on sale.  The original recipe is here.

I thought the beef was tendor and it was good.  Next time I would chop up an onion and put some minced garlic in.  Although it was good I think that would have given it some needed flavor.

Ingredients:

• 2 Packages of Mushrooms
• 1 (10oz) package of Philadelphia Cooking Creme - Savory Garlic Flavor
• 2lbs of Beef Stew cubes

Directions:

Dump everything into a crock pot / slow cooker.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours.  Stir Occasionally.

Slow Cooker Swedish Meatballs

The big Memorial Weekend Annual Cookout was Sunday and I always do some experimenting.  This time I wanted a lot of slow cooker foods because I was so busy setting up still.  My family thinks I have a crock pot addiction because I had 7 of them going at one time on Sunday.  They're sending me to counceling :-)

I didn't really get a chance to try them because by the time I got inside from grilling they were all gone!  For tailgate I can stick these in the crock pot overnight and just dump them in a tray and pop into the chafing dishes when we get there.  Super easy!

I got this recipe from this site and modified it a bit.

http://busycooks.about.com/od/precookedmeatballrecipes/r/cpswedishmeatba.htm

The modified recipe is ....

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. pkg. frozen cooked meatballs
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cans progresso cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 can of sliced mushrooms (drained)

Preparation:

Place all ingredients  in a 3-4 quart crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir occasionally.

Slow Cooker Sweet and Spicy Baked Beans

So for the birthday party this weekend I wanted another side dish that would go in a crock pot / slow cooker because I had the kids all day by myself and we still needed to get a bath.  (I had Warrior Dash on Saturday and on the first pass for a shower I somehow had missed an ear so I was still a little crusty from the mud).  So anyways I decided to use a recipe I found on Budget Bytes blog site called "Slow Cooker Baked Beans".

I started getting into the list of ingredients though and I didn't have 4 of the key ingredients.  So I decided WTF and just made due with what I had at the house to see how it would go.  Surprisingly they were delicious.  Here is my modified list of ingredients.  BTW I added the ground beef at the last minute because I had a 1/4lb left after I was done with the Bacon Cheeseburger Dip.

For the tailgate I will cook them at home overnight/morning and throw them into a tray to put in the chafing dishes.

Ingredients:

• 1 large yellow onion
• 1 jar of Hormel real bacon bits (the original recipe called for a pound of bacon)
• 2 cans of Great Northern Beans (the original recipe called for a pound of dry white beans)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey (the original recipe called for molasses)
• 1/4 cup spicy mustard (the original recipe called for dijon mustard)
• Generous amount of cracked black pepper
• Salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat the crock pot on low.

Dice the onion and place in the slow cooker.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Do NOT drain the beans just throw them in.  You'll need the juices so its not too thick.  Stir every 30 minutes or so.  Cook on low for 3 hours.

Slow Cooker or Oven Mac N Cheese

So it was my sister-in-law's 40th birthday over the weekend and we had a great time...pit beef...pool..boardwalk fries...YUM!

For the party I made Slow Cooked Mac N Cheese in the Crock Pot.  This can be done in the oven also.  For the oven just put in a a 9x13 pan with bread crumbs on top...cook for 40 mins on 350 degrees.

I had gotten this recipe from Paula Deen's site after my sister told me about it.  The kids LOVE it.  This was gone in literally 10 minutes at the party.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/creamy-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (an 8-ounce box isn't quite 2 cups)
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stuck) butter, cut into pieces
• 2 1/2 cups (about 10 ounces) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Boil the macaroni in a 2 quart saucepan in plenty of water until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain. In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. In a slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and add the eggs, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper and stir well. Then add drained macaroni and stir again. Set the slow cooker on low setting and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

The above is the work in progress!

The finished product!

Dip #3 in the Triple Dipper - Bacon Cheeseburger Dip

So the last dip I did in the crock pot was this one.  I got the recipe from Betty Crocker but modified it slightly since I don't do peppers.

Original Recipe...
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/slow-cooker-bacon-cheeseburger-dip/7bacb945-25ed-4117-b034-0da7b55df7cd

Modified Recipe....

• Half a jar of the Hormel Real Bacon Bits
• 1/4 lb of lean ground beef
• 8oz of cream cheese
• 3/4 can of drained petite diced tomatoes
• 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

                                               

Directions

In a skillet brown the ground beef.  Shop Rite only had 1.5 lbs of meat.  I used the other pound for my new post (bite sized meatloafs).

Preheat the crock pot.  Put in the cream cheese and let it soften until you can mix it.  Add the browned beef and the half a jar of bacon pieces (you can use real bacon crumbled up but that sure as hell wasn't happening for me on Sunday morning with both kids and the hubby at work :-)).

Mix this all together well.  Add the 3/4 of the can of tomatoes.  Stir.  Let it heat up about 10 mins.  I do this because it you don't let that stuff heat up the cheese will be hard to melt and will clump together.

Add the cheese.  Cook for 30-45 mins.  Stir every 15 mins or so.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It tasted just like a bacon cheeseburger.  I really need to start taking better after pictures of the food.

**UPDATE**

I made this again for a birthday party and I have a better after picture!

Dip #2 in the Triple Dipper - Spinach Artichoke Dip

I love this one.  Reminds me of TGI Fridays hot spinach dip.

Ingredients:

• 8oz of Cream Cheese (I used 10oz because I had the leftover box of cream cheese)
• 1 cup of mozzarella shredded cheese or pizza cheese blend (I used a little for cheese...I love cheese!)
• Box of frozen chopped spinach (thawed and squeezed)
• Jar of Artichoke Hearts (I used the marinated ones)
• Dash of Salt
• Dash of Pepper
• 1/4 tsp of minced garlic

Directions:

Preheat the crock pot a little.  Dump in the cream cheese and let it soften for 15 mins or so.  Until you are able to stir it.

Add the garlic, salt and pepper.  Stir.

Take the artichoke hearts and drain the jar.  I use about 1/2 to 2/3 of the jar.  Take the artichoke and cut it into smaller chunks for easier dipping.  Add to the pot and stir.

Take the thawed and squeezed spinach and add to the pot.  Stir.

I usually let this cook for about 15 mins.  If not the cheese takes forever to melt.  Add the Cheese.  Stir.

Cook for 30 - 45 mins on low.  Stirring every 15 mins or so.  Serve with tortilla chips or your favorite dipper.

Dip #1 in the Triple Dipper - Buffalo Chicken Dip

Buffalo Chicken Dip I have made many times.  I got the original recipe from Tastefully Simple website.  I've since adapted it for the slow cooker.  I use their Cheesy Chive dip mix but any cheesy dip mix would do.  I've also used the Beer Cheese dip mix of theirs and it worked out well.

Ingredients:

• 8oz of cream cheese (I used about 10oz...I had some leftover from another box)
• Packet of Cheesy Chive dip mix (Tastefully Simple...any cheesy dip mix would do though)
• 4 tablespoons of Buffalo Wing Sauce (use less for milder taste...more for extreme hotness)
• Can of white chicken meat
• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (I usually use a tiny bit more..I like cheese...a lot!)

Directions:

I turned on the triple dipper so the crock pots started to warm.  Put the cream cheese in and let it soften for 10-15 mins until you can stir it.

Dump in the packet of cheese mix until its mixed into the cream cheese.  Drain the can of chicken and add.  Stir.

At this point I let it cook for another 10 mins.   I then add the wing sauce and cheese and mix.  Cook on low for another 30-45 mins.  Stirring every 15 mins or so.  Serve with tortilla chips or my personal favorite the pretzel chips.

I took a pic of the finished dip but folks almost finished it off within 15 mins of when I set it out!  So all you see is what was left!

**UPDATE**

I made this dip again for my sister in laws birthday and I finally got a better picture!