Slow Cooker Italian Pork and Peppers

Alright, I know...ANOTHER slow cooker recipe. Honestly, though, can you ever actually have too many? Not in my book you can't, and since I'm the one writing this blog...well, slow cooker meals it is!

My husband doesn't love pork, but he REALLY liked this dish. It's one of the best dishes I've had in awhile, actually, and that's saying a lot since I cook almost every night. I love it because it's SUPER easy to put together, the slow cooker does practically all of the work, and the flavors are SO yummy when you actually sit down to eat it. The pork is so tender it almost melts in your mouth! Mmm.

I got the initial recipe for this from Cooking Light as is noted below; their suggestion was to pair the pork with polenta. You can do that, or you can do like I did and pair it with mashed potatoes.

Slow Cooker Italian Pork and Peppers

Adapted from Cooking Light, January 2015

 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 (1 1/2-pound) boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

3/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided

2 cups vertically sliced onion

1 cup sliced yellow bell pepper

10 garlic cloves, minced

2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

 

 Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and swirl to coat. Sprinkle pork with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add pork to pan and cook 10 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Transfer pork to your slow cooker.

 

Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, tomatoes, rosemary, and thyme to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 1/2 hours.

 

Add vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes and turn off heat. Shred pork. Serve over polenta or mashed potatoes.

 

Until next time...

 

Cheers!



Chicken Squares

There are certain dishes that were staples in our household when I was growing up, and, as I'm sure is true for most anyone, those particular dishes hold a very special place in my heart. I still love them like I always have, but now I may even love them more - both for the whole nostalgia thing and, most importantly, that I now get to prepare and enjoy them with my family now that I'm an adult. I can only hope that my daughter loves them as much as I do!

I've seen versions of today's recipe floating around the internet/on Pinterest, all with varying titles and preparations. None of them have been quite exactly the same as this one, though. It was one of my favorites as a kid and has actually become one of my husband's favorites now (which, of course, I LOVE). I've tried at least one variation of this (I used jalapeno cream cheese along with chopped tomatoes, onion and bell pepper, just as info), but I just can't stop coming back to the original. So, my dear friends, I give you: Chicken Squares. Simply amazing! I hope you enjoy.

Chicken Squares

3 oz cream cheese, softened

1 tbs milk

3 tbsp. margarine, melted

1 tbsp. chopped chives

2 cups cooked chicken, chopped (use a grocery rotisserie to save time!)

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 tbsp. chopped pimentos (about 1 small jar)

1 8 oz can refrigerated crescent rolls

3/4 cup seasoned crushed croutons or crushed cheez-its

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend softened cream cheese and two tbs melted margarine until smooth. Add cooked chicken, salt, pepper, milk, chives and pimento. Mix well.

 

Separate dinner rolls into 4 rectangles (so you'll have two rolls become one rectangle). Seal perforation. Spoon 1/2 cup chicken mixture onto the center of each rectangle. Pull the four corner of the dough to the center of the mixture to make a "pouch." Seal.

 

Brush tops with remaining 1 tbs melted margarine. Sprinkle crushed croutons/cheez-its over top. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.

 

Until next time...

 

Cheers!



Red Beans and Rice (Slow Cooker)

Happy Friday!

This week has been a big week for me - it was the first week in my journey as a stay-at-home mom to my beautiful little Bug! I am SO beyond blessed to have this opportunity, and I'm so excited to watch her grow and learn.

There were a lot of things I wanted to get done over these last five days - I was VERY ambitious with my "to do" list. While I didn't exactly cross everything off of that list (okay, I maybe got to about 30% of it. Still proud!), I wanted to be SURE that there was one thing that I definitely did. That one thing was to write in this blog. Lucky you! ;)

Don't get me wrong, I got plenty accomplished - I deep-cleaned my kitchen, did the grocery shopping for the week, cooked dinner every night (with the exception of last night, when we ate leftovers), and spent a whole heck of a lot of awesome time hanging out with Bug. We had two really nice days here in GA this week, so we went on walks and hung out at the park for a bit. I'm absolutely loving our "new life" so far!

I'm looking forward to not only having more time to cook, but more time to blog as well. Be on the lookout for new recipes at least a few times a week! If you haven't already liked the Facebook page, be sure to go ahead and do so to make sure that you don't miss out on any of the yummy goodness I'm posting.

Today's recipe is a slow cooker dinner that I've been meaning to post for quite awhile now. Honestly, I'd normally focus more on "spring"-y recipes here in March, but good grief -Winter just wants to keep hanging around this year! Feel free to cook up this Louisiana favorite to help you warm up after playing in the snow all day.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice

Adapted from Cooking Light, September 2014

2 cans red kidney beans

1 tablespoon olive oil    

1 pound andouille sausage, quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise into 3/4-inch pieces

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 1/2 cups chopped poblano chile

1 cup diced celery    

Click to see savings

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

10 garlic cloves, crushed

1 (12-ounce) can lager-style beer (I used Yuengling)    
4 cups unsalted chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper   

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 bay leaves

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions, divided

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

 

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add oil to the pan, swirling to coat. Add sausage and cook 6 minutes or until browned. Add onion and next 5 ingredients (through garlic) and cook 8 minutes. Stir in beer and bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.

 

Place sausage mixture in slow cooker. Add beans, stock, red pepper, black pepper, and bay leaves. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.

Discard bay leaves. Stir in 1/4 cup green onions and vinegar. Serve over rice; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup green onions.

 

Until next time...

 

Cheers!