Slow Cooker Recipes
Simple Beef Stroganoff
1 pound Stew Meet, Cubed
1/2 Cup Dried Minced Onion
1 Can (10 3/4 ounces) Cream of Mushrooms Soup
1 Can (4 ounces) Can Mushrooms, Drained
1/4 Teaspoon GARLIC SALT
1 PACKAGE (8 OUNCES) SOUR CREAM
COMBINE ALL INGREDIENTS expect THE SOURM CREAM IN GREASED 3 1/2 TO 5 QUART SLOW COOKER. COVER AND COOK ON LOW HEAT 6-8 HOURS. ADD SOUR CREAM THE LAST HOUR OF COOKING. makes 4-6 SERVING.
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SPOON OVER HOT NOODLES.
French DIP SANDWICHES
2 TO 3 POUND rUMP ROAST
2 CANS (14 1/2 OUNCES EAC) beef CONSOMME
4-6 HOAGIE BUNS
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place ROAST IN GRASED 3 1/2 TO 5 QUART SLOW COOKER. PUR CONSOMMEOVER THE TOP OF ROAST. COVE AND COOK ON LOW HEAT 8-10 HOURS OR ON HIGH HEAT 5-7 HOURSS. REMOVE ROAST AND SAVE EXTRA JUICE. WITH A FORK BEARK APART MEAT AND SERVE ON HOGIES.
use EXCESS JUICE FOR DIGING SANDWICHES. mAKES 4-6 SERVING.
Ramen Noodles Recipes
Creamy Mushroom Ramen Soup
Serves: 2
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Ingredients:
1 package Ramen noodles (any flavor)
1 can (10-11 ounces) Cream of Mushroom soup
1 cup or 1 can (8 ounces) Mushroom
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Cook noodles according to package directions and drain.
Prepare soup as directed on can. Mix noodles and soup together in a small saucepan. Add mushrooms and simmer for 5 minutes.
Cheesy Tuna Ramen
Serves: 2-4
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Ingredients:
2 packages Ramen noodles (any flavor)
2 can (10.75 ounces) Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 cup Milk
1 can Tuna, Drained
1 can Peas
2 cup Shedder Cheddar Cheese
Cook noodles according to package directions and drain. Add soup, milk, tuna, and peas. Simmer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over top and serve.
Ramen Berry Trail Mix
Makes 12-14 cups
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Ingredients:
3 packages Ramen Noodles (any flavor)
15 small sticks Beef Jerky (cut into small pieces)
1/2 pound Dried Apricots (cut into small pieces)
1/2 cup Dried Cranberries
1/2 cup Dried Cherry
1/2 cup Dried Blueberry
1/2 cup Dried Bananas
2 cups Dry Roasted peanuts
Break noodles into a bowl. Add remaining ingredients and stir.
Where's the Beef? Here it is!
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Tacos
Serves: 4-6
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Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Beef
1 Package Taco Seasoning
Flour or Corn Tortillas
Optional Toppings:
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Shredded Lettuce
Sour Cream
Guacamole or Sliced Avocado
Red Onion Sliced or Diced
Directions:
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Brown ground beef on medium-high heat, drain excess fat if desired.
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Stir in package of taco seasoning and water (it says how much on the package).
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Warm tortillas in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
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Place taco meat on tortilla with toppings of choice and enjoy!
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Taco Pop Tarts
Serves: 4-6
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Ingredients:
4 Refrigerated Pie Crusts
1 tbsp Olive Oil
½ lb Ground Beef
½ Package Taco Seasoning
1 C Shredded Cheddar
1 Egg, beaten with 1 TBS water
½ Can Black Beans (optional)
½ Onion thinly sliced (optional)
Directions:
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Brown ground beef on medium-high heat, drain excess fat if desired.
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Add olive oil and onions if desired, cook for about 5 minutes.
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Add taco seasoning and stir.
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Add black beans if desired and cook 3-4 more minutes.
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Take off of heat and let cool until warm.
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Place pie crusts on a flat surface and cut into squares (you should get 4-6 squares per pie crust depending on how big you want your pastry).
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Place half of the squares on a greased cookie sheet.
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Place a spoon full of taco mixture on top of the pie squares (make sure you leave room on the edges)
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Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of taco mixture.
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Place other half of pie squares on top of the filled squares and gently press around the edges so that no filling will escape.
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Crimp edges with a fork (so it looks like a pop tart edge) and then place a few small cuts on the top layer of the taco pop tart.
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Brush pop tart with the beaten egg mixture.
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Bake at 350 Degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until the pie crust is golden brown.
Italian Meatloaf
Serves: 7-9
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Ingredients:
2 lbs. Ground Beef
(optional sub 1 lb. of ground beef with 1 lb. of ground spicy Italian sausage)
2 Eggs
¼ Cup Bread Crumbs
2 Tsp Italian Seasoning
2 Tsp Garlic powder or 2 cloves minced fresh garlic
½ Yellow Onion Finely Chopped
½ Tsp Salt
¼ Tsp Pepper
½ C Grated Parmesan (don’t use the shaker parmesan unless you have no other choice,
it will taste weird)
½ C Marinara Sauce
½ C Shredded Mozzarella
Optional Toppings:
More Marinara Sauce to place on slices of meatloaf
Parsley
Directions:
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In a large bowl combine meat, eggs, breadcrumbs, seasoning and parmesan cheese. (Try not to handle it too much because it will get tough).
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Place meat mixture in a greased bread loaf and poor marinara sauce over top.
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Place bread loaf on a cookie sheet (the sauce may bubble over and you don’t want a mess in your oven).
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Bake at 350 degrees F for 60min.
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Remove from oven and sprinkle the mozzarella on top.
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Bake for 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.
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Allow meatloaf to rest 5-10 minutes before you cut into it.
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Serve with additional marinara and parsley if desired.
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Beef Pot Pie
Serves: 6-8
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Ingredients:
1lb Ground Beef
1 Pie Crust
1 Large Russet Potato
2 Large Carrots
¼ Onion
1 C Frozen Peas or Corn (I hate peas so I use corn)
¼ C Butter
¼ C Flour
2 C Beef Broth
1 Beaten Egg
Salt and Pepper to taste
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Directions:
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Brown ground beef in a large pan (you want a pan with higher sides because everything is going to end up in here).
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Peel and dice the potato and carrot (yeah you do actually need to peel the big carrots, try to cut them all the same size so they cook evenly).
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Dice the onion into small pieces.
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Once your beef is browned add the carrots, potato's, and onion cook for 10ish minutes.
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Add the beef broth and butter and cook until the potato's are starting to get soft.
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Turn heat to medium-low and gradually add in flour while stirring, cook until sauce has thickened.
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Add frozen peas or corn and add salt and pepper to taste.
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Spray pie pan or casserole dish with non-stick spray and then pour meat and vegetable mixture into dish.
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Place the pie crust over top of meat mixture and press into side of dish.
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Brush pie crust with the beaten egg and cut 4-6 small slits into pie crust for ventilation
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Bake at 350 for 25-40 min or until pie crust is brown.
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Fantastic Featured Blogs: Cheap Eating
Budget Bytes by Beth:
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This lovely blog features interesting and flavorful recipes that won’t break the bank. Beth, the author of the blog, shows the approximate cost for each dish and each serving of the dish. She also provides step by step instruction with pictures so that her recipes are easy to follow even if you’re not super savvy in the kitchen.
In addition her blog features how to’s on everything from how to freeze various foods to how to make yogurt. Also as a bonus, she doesn’t ramble on and on and on about her life or kids or whatever before giving you the recipe. If you have never read a food blog, know that is a thing that some people do and scrolling endlessly past the stories about some ladies kids I don’t care about trying to find the recipe is a pain in the butt when you’re hungry and just want the food.
Full-Thyme Student by Daisy:
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Can we just take a second to appreciate the pun here… ok moving on. This quirky blog is written by a college student, for college students. She focuses largely on food, however she does include other tidbits of information that could be useful to other college students like how to save money in college and various arts and crafts projects. Also she apparently travels a lot and brings a Mr. Potato Head and takes pictures of him at various interesting international sites so that’s kind of cool. The recipes are largely inexpensive, easy to make and don’t take a ton of time. Step by step instructions with photos are available for most of the recipes as well.
The College Food Blog by Sam and Justin:
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These two guys focus on how to make hearty food on a budget and sometimes the food is even healthy! Now this website is set up more like a traditional blog on tumbler so it’s not as easy to navigate however, you can scroll through the thumbnails of all of the recipes that they post in their archive. They again provide pictures of the various steps in cooking so that you can make sure that your dish is looking like how it’s supposed to.
http://thecollegefoodblog.tumblr.com/
The 99 Cent Chef by Billy:
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I love this blog! It’s full of actual videos on how to cook things so you can watch exactly how the progression of the dish should go. It also has some great basic how to posts such as how to cook and eat an artichoke, which yeah I didn’t actually know what parts of that thing were edible before hand so that’s cool to learn. Also for a lot of his recipes he provides different ways that you can cook the dish such as roasting versus frying and so forth. Plus as the title indicates the blog is focused on how to eat interesting food without emptying your wallet.
http://the99centchef.blogspot.com/
5 Dollar Dinners by Erin:
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This blog is great because it has approximate prices per ingredient listed in each recipe so you can know for sure if it’s within your budget. Now each recipe may cost more than 5 bucks to make but they will not cost you more than 5 bucks per portion size. This site is also nice because it’s super easy to navigate. She has her recipes categorized by cooking method, ingredient, dietary restrictions, and so on so you can find exactly what you are craving. She also provides videos for some of her recipes so they are easy to follow along to.
All Hail the Glory that is Couponing!
I know, I know, couponing is not the most exciting way to save money on groceries. I’m sure you have the image in your head of that annoying lady holding up the line as she digs through her mountain of coupons so that she can save 25 cents on a box of crackers. But honestly, couponing isn’t that bad and if your organized it won’t take up that much time at home or at the store and it can save you a lot of money over time. So without further ado here are some tips and tricks on how to coupon effectively without like, having to become an extreme couponer.
1. Try to plan your meals for the week around what you know will be on sale at your grocery store of choice. Then make a list and actually stick to that list, chances are if you go to the grocery store without a plan you will spend significantly more than you planned to and you will likely forget something and have to go back. Also don’t go to the grocery store hungry, maybe you have a will of steel and can avoid getting that extra box of cookies when your stomach is gnawing on your backbone but for most people it leads to more spending than you wanted.
2. Create a junk email that your use exclusively to sign up for rewards clubs or email offers. A lot of grocery stores will have rewards cards and they are a great way to get exclusive deals for member only sales.
3. Actually pick up the pamphlet/flier thing at the front of the grocery store that you are shopping at. Not only will this tell you what is on sale this week but they also frequently include coupons throughout the handout.
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4. Old school newspaper coupons. The Sunday paper has been a friend to coupon clippers for a very long time and it can still be a great source of coupons today. I know, I know, actually cutting out individual coupons sounds like a lot of work and no one reads newspapers these days (although the comic section is probably worth buying the whole paper for) but hey penny saved is a penny earned and all that.
5. Coupon apps, get them! Pretty straight forward there are some great coupon application that can provide you with local deals. There are two main kinds of grocery apps, one is the actual coupon provider type that give you coupons that can be used as most chain grocery stores the other is the cash back app which provide opportunities to gain some cash back on certain items. Here are some recommendations for grocery apps that can help you save a bit of cash.
Coupon Apps:
Snip Snap – This organizes your coupons, simply take a picture and it is saved for use at the grocery store without having to carry around a stack of coupons.
Flipp – Provides weekly sale flyers for most major store chains as well as providing various coupons.
Coupon Sherpa – This has some grocery coupons that are brand, not store, specific but has great coupons for a wide variety of products.
Cash Back Apps:
Now I know that couponing may not seem like it will really save you that much money but think of it this way. You’re in college, you’re probably broke or at least you probably wish that you had a bit more money, so why wouldn’t you spend 15 or so minutes before you go the store to save yourself a couple bucks on something that you have to buy anyway?
Porky Goodness
Pork is truly a lovely type of meat. It can be sweet, it can be savory, and it’s overall a very versatile meat that has the added bonus of being fairly cheap. Plus there is bacon which needs no explanation of its awesomeness, and while none of these recipes have bacon in them, (bacon deserves its own blog post) they can still help you to serve yourself up some porky goodness.
BBQ Pulled Pork
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients:
4-6 Pounds Pork Butt or Shoulder
2 Tsp. Chili Powder
¼ C. Brown Sugar
4-5 Tsp. Garlic Powder
1-2 Tsp. Salt
12-2 Tsp. Pepper
1-2 Tsp. Onion Powder
3-4 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 C. BBQ Sauce (I prefer Cookies BBQ sauce)
1 Package Hamburger Buns
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Optional: Slices of cheddar or American cheese
Directions:
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Rinse and pat dry roast.
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Mix up all the spices and the olive oil in a bowl.
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Spread spice mixture evenly over the roast.
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Place in crock pot on low heat for 4-6 hours flipping half way through. Or to cook it in the oven, spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray, cover the roast with tin foil, and cook at 300 degrees for 4-6 hours, flipping half way through.
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When the roast can be pulled apart by forks then you know it is done.
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Shred the pork using two forks.
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Stir in BBQ sauce then serve.
Baked Pork Chops
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
4 Boneless Pork Chops
1/3 C. Shredded Parmesan Cheese (freshly shredded will work better than the pre-shredded stuff)
3-4 Tbsp. Italian Bread Crumbs
1 Tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tsp. Onion Powder
½ Tsp. Salt
½ Tsp. Pepper
½ Tbsp. Olive Oil
Directions:
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Rub olive oil evenly over the pork chops.
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Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl or Tupperware (it should be big enough for the pork chop to lay flat).
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Dip pork chops in the dry ingredients so that both sides are evenly covered.
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Spray sheet pan with non-stick spray.
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Place pork chops on pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.
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Let pork chops sit for 5 or so minutes and then serve.
White Beans and Sausage
Serves 2-3
Ingredients:
1 Kielbasa or Andouille Sausage
1 Can White Beans
½ Red or Green Pepper
¼ Onion
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 Tsp. Cayenne
1 Tsp. Pepper
1 Tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tsp. Chili Powder
Optional: 1 C. Spinach
Directions:
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Slice the sausage into bite size pieces.
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Dice the pepper and onion.
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Open and drain the can of white beans.
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On at medium heat sauté all of the ingredients until the meat is hot.
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Enjoy!
Apple Pork Loin
Serves: 7-9
Ingredients
3 Lb. Pork Loin
3 Red Delicious Apples
5 Tbsp. Honey
Optional: 2 Tbsp. Cinnamon and/or 3 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
Directions:
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Slice apples into approximately ½ inch slices.
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Lay two of the sliced apples on the bottom of a crock pot.
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Cut about 8 slits into the pork loin big enough to hold the apple slices but don’t cut all the way through.
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Place apple slices in the slits of the pork loin.
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Place pork loin on top of apples in the crock pot.
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Drizzle the honey over the pork loin (make sure to get some in the apple slits).
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Place the remining apple slices on top.
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Sprinkle the cinnamon/brown sugar on top if desired.
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Cook the pork loin on low for 5-8 hours.
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Take out of crock pot and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
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Serve sliced with apples on top!