Crock pot/ slower cooker?

Question

My husband will be coming home soon after doing a 15 month deployment to Iraq...The night that he gets in I want to have some food made and waiting for him but his plane wont get in until late (anywhere between midnight and 4am) I know he will be hungry so I want to put something in the crock pot..does anyone have any good ideas or recipes?

Answer 1

I would imagine that your basic pot roast would be something he may welcome.

I usually wing it but here are the basics:

3-4 lb rolled or rump roast
slit roast and insert hefty chunks of fresh garlic...10 should do it.

place in crock and cover with favorite soup or broth. I have used cream of mushroom, cheese soup, other cream soups, etc.

season liberally with your favorite...like season all

Slice up a big onion and spread around

carrots and potato chunks....if I am around, I add potatoes at the last 3-4 hours so they hold together better.

Add anything else you like...celery or frozen peas (last hour).

Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Glad to hear he is coming home. Please tell him I am thankful for what he is doing in service to our country!

Answer 2

I am so happy for you. He will probably be willing to eat anything that is home cooked. I would make a pot roast with potatos and carrots.
Peel the potatoes and leave them whole, slice your carrots in bite size pieces and place them in the crock pot, place the roast on top of the vegetables, slice an onion and put that on top, add an envelope of Lipton onion soup mix, one can of golden mushroom soup, salt and pepper and one cup of water. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Answer 3

Hi Army Wife,

First, what your husband does is truly amazing. I thank him.

Second, a great resource from recipes, from American to Indian, easy to difficult is: http://www.foodnetwork.com
Have a look through their recipes and once you find chef's who appeal to your tastes and culinary skill level, you can search through all of their individual recipes. This site also contains many useful videos on cooking techniques and recipe preparations.

Now, for the meat and potatoes, or rather turkey and beans. Your husband has been gone for over a year, and will be arriving home late in the evening, after what I'm sure has been a LONG day. He's probably going to want to eat something comforting, filling, delicious, and definitely home-made. I think a great idea would be Turkey chili, for many reasons. 1) He probably won't want to eat something SO heavy that he won't be able to sleep. Poultry would be a great choice. And, why not turkey?? The chemical in turkey, tryptophan has been known to make people sleepy, so it would be a perfect choice for a late-night welcome home meal.
2) This dish is warm and comforting.
3) To make sure your hubby can get a good night's sleep, this recipe can easily be altered by decreasing spicy ingredients, and onion and adding other good root veggies, like carrot or potato.

*I haven't tried this recipe yet, but Food Network has never steered me wrong.

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 chipotle chile en adobo, coarsely chopped, with 1 tablespoon sauce
1 pound ground turkey
1 (12-ounce) Mexican lager-style beer
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, with their juice
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Sliced scallions, cilantro sprigs, avocado, sour cream, grated Monterey jack cheese, and/or tortilla chips, for garnish, optional

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, salt, chili powder, and oregano and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and the chipotle chile and sauce; cook 1 minute more. Add the turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook until the meat loses its raw color, about 3 minutes. Add the beer and simmer until reduced by about half, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes--crushing them through your fingers into the skillet--along with their juices and the beans; bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 10 minutes.

Ladle the chili into bowls and serve with the garnishes of your choice.

Cook's Note: A skillet's larger surface area reduces sauces faster than simmering in a saucepan.

Copyright (c) 2004 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved.

You can really have a little fun with this recipe, and throw anything in the pot that you know your husband will like that will stand up to the heat. As you will see, this isn't a true Crock Pot recipe, but once you get all of the stove work done, you could transfer to a crock pot, on the lowest setting possible. This will help all of the flavors fully incorporate. If you're thinking about doing the potatoes, I would par-cook them depending on how long the chili will be slow cooking for. If you want to add carrots, they can be cooked along with the other ingredients on the stove. I would probably slightly decrease the amount of time the ingredients cook on the stove, as to avoid a crock pot of mush.

Another great idea is to make a nice round sourdough bread bowl. Cut the center out of the bread, lightly toast it in the oven, let cool completely, then cover loosely with plastic wrap.

I hope this helps!!

Answer 4

I would make a nice roast with potatoes. Comfort food. You can make almost anything in a crock pot these days, try to find a recipe for his favorite food.

Answer 5

*********CHICKEN CACCIATORE
3 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 sm. can sliced olives
1 sm. onion, chopped
2 each celery stock, sliced
1 c. mushrooms, slices
1 c. carrots (optional) or any vegetable desired
1 pkg. macaroni (shells, elbow, etc.)
Cut chicken in bite size pieces. In crock pot, combine chicken, spaghetti sauce, olives, onion, celery, mushrooms and carrots. Cook on low 6 to 7 hours or high 3 to 4 hours. Cook macaroni. Place macaroni in bowl, spoon Chicken Cacciatore over. Great with french bread and a salad.

Answer 6

I always use my crockpot. One dish is red beans and rice. I put 1 bag, I believe it is a 12oz bag of red beans, I add a smoked turkey leg, 2 table spoons of minced garlic, seasoning salt, ground black pepper and a pinch of garlic salt. I cook it on slow for about 9hrs and make a pot of rice and it is absolutely fantastic and very inexpensive. I also make chicken and rice with smothered cream of mushroom soup, season with seasoning salt, pepper and garlic salt and cook for 4-5 hours and it is fantastic.

Answer 7

I completely agree with the first answer, but I must say after 15 months away from you and the family, I doubt it if he is going to want to eat! Good Luck!

Answer 8

They both are Ideal for your health. If you eat both, you're better off. But yea, I'd personally choose fruits because they taste better.

Answer 9

It is determined by the fruit or veg involved with a comparison. In the event that you compare a farreneheit to a carrot, the carrot is the better of the two nutritional. When you compare an avocado to the carrot, then this avocado is better. Both equally the apple and avocado, are fruits.

Answer 10

My husband, a veteran, says chili. Or a corned beef brisket with the taters and veggies. Neither can go wrong while you wait, and he says it's nothing you get in a mess kit.

God bless you and him and your families.