Hot and sour rhubarb pork and noodles

Tangy rhubarb is used to make a hot and sour sauce for a delicious Asian-inspired pork and noodle dish that is bursting with flavor.

Slow Cooker Peanut Clusters

Slow cooker peanut clusters are an easy and delicious treat to make for the holidays. They are perfect for parties and gift giving as the recipe makes a lot to share. 

How to Make Vegetable Scrap Broth in the Slow Cooker

Use your vegetable scraps to make delicious and easy vegetable broth in the slow cooker. Just save your vegetables in a freezer bag and when you have enough you can make this simple broth for soups, gravy, sauces, and more. 

Slow cooker cinnamon carrot applesauce

This slow cooker cinnamon carrot applesauce is an easy and tasty side dish for all ages. It's also a great purée for babies and a delicious snack for toddlers. 

Slow cooker chicken, stuffing, & green beans dinner

A simple, hearty, one-pot dinner of chicken, stuffing, and green beans all comes together easily in your slow cooker. This is one of the easiest dinners and we enjoy it on a regular rotation.

Slow cooker honey mustard chicken

Chicken breasts are slow cooked with a honey and Dijon mustard sauce and then shredded when tender. This chicken makes delicious sandwiches or can be eaten on wraps or over rice.

Easy slow cooker butter chicken

This popular and flavorful classic Indian restaurant dish can be made easily at home using your slow cooker. Spicy and creamy tomato sauce coat this chicken that is best served with some rice and Naan bread for dipping in the sauce.

Slow cooker chicken bacon ranch sliders

Disclosure: This recipe is being shared as part of #NationalSlowCookerMonth. I received products from our event sponsor Rhodes Bake N Serve Bread for this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

Creamy ranch chicken is slow cooked and topped with bacon and cheese on slider sized rolls for a delicious family pleasing meal.

Slow cooker sausage pasta e fajioli soup

Disclosure: This recipe is being shared as part of #NationalSlowCookerMonth. I received products from our event sponsor Camellia Brand Beans for this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

Hearty, warming, and delicious soup is what you need on a cold winter day. This slow cooker soup is full of vegetables, beans, sausage, and pasta for a complete and filling meal.

Slow cooker creamy chicken and tomato pasta sauce

This creamy, flavorful, and simple pasta sauce is sure to become a family favorite! Your slow cooker does the work and you have a hearty dish for a weeknight dinner.

Slow cooker honey sesame ginger chicken

This tender chicken is sweet, savory, and has a touch of warmth from ginger and the best part is it cooks up easily in the slow cooker until it is falling apart. This is a family friendly dish that is both tasty to eat and easy to make.

Slow cooker apricot chicken

Chicken thighs are cooked until tender in the slow cooker with a sticky sauce of apricots, soy, and mustard, and then topped with sliced almonds for a bit of crunch. 

Slow cooker ranch chicken & rice bowls

The slow cooker is my food best friend lately. I've been using it several times a week. 

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It does, of course, require menu planning so that I know what to thaw, put in the slow cooker in the morning, and what ingredients I need to have on hand. But as a frugal mom of toddler twins, it's essential for me to plan ahead so that our meals go as smoothly as possible and I resist the temptation to order take out. 

I also like versatile dishes where I can use up some things in the fridge and pantry to create a delicious meal like this ranch chicken. It's versatile because you can add or remove vegetables based on what you have. I use chicken, corn, peppers, and onions - you can use any/all of these and/or others like black beans, pinto beans, jalapeno, green onions, etc. 

I topped mine with cilantro, cheddar, salsa, and sour cream, but other options are avocado, shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, pickled jalapenos, etc. It's also nice served with a side of corn chips (or sprinkle crumbs from the bottom of the bag on top for a little crunch). 

You can also wrap it up in a burrito shell! Easy family friendly meals like this are what work in our life right now. This recipe will serve about four people, but can easily vary (stretch it with beans or make more rice).

Slow cooker eggplant "baked" ziti

Pasta cooked with eggplant and tomato sauce and topped with gooey mozzarella cheese all comes together in your slow cooker! This is a perfect summertime meal that won't heat up your kitchen and to use seasonal eggplant.

Slow cooker chicken enchilada soup

 

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The frigid winter weather had settled upon us here in western New York, and then we have had a streak of 40 degrees days with rain. It's so weird to go outside in January and not have everything be a blanket of white. I'm not sure how I feel about it.... I don't think I like it though. One thing that I do like though --- SOUP! I think my readers know that I love soup. I also love slow cooker recipes. 

It's so nice to be able to throw your food in it in the morning and then have your dinner finished, or almost finished when it's time to eat. This soup is delicious, hearty, and very flavorful. It's full of Tex-Mex food flavors, which we really enjoy in our house. 

This recipe will serve about four people. A side of corn tortilla chips is highly encouraged!

Creamy potato and ramp soup

Do you forage? Foraging is something relatively new for me and it started when my husband introduced me to the ramp. 

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These little wild alliums are ready to eat in the spring and are fleeting like the spring wildflowers. They are delicious, pungent, and fill your house with the smell of onion and garlic. My husband and I were recently featured in our local paper in an article and recipe on foraging, specifically for ramps.  

This is the same recipe I wrote for the paper and since my husband brought home some ramps the other day, I figured I should make this soup again and get it up on my blog. 

While foraging is a wonderful way to get close to nature and your food, you must remember three important rules: 1) know what you are picking and eating; 2) only take a few (you don't want to decimate a patch); and 3) no trespassing. 

Ramps are often over-harvested. We get ours from a family members land and there are loads and loads of them that they've been sustainably harvesting for many years. Don't dig up whole patches of ramps or large clumps, or harvest them from small patches. Or, try using just the greens until you find a place to get the bulbs. 

This recipe will make a large pot of soup - enough for about 4-5 large bowls. You can make it in the slow cooker (which I did for this version) or on the stove (which I did in the article). 

 I served it topped with some finely sliced ramp greens, but you can also top it with some sour cream, minced parsley, and/or even a little cooked and crumbled bacon.

Spiced peach butter

I was trying to figure out something to do with all of the peaches we have and decided to try making a peach butter. I also decided that I was going to try to make it in the slow cooker overnight. 

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I left on the skins, threw everything in the slow cooker, and set it to low before I went to bed. It was really nice to wake up to the smell of this slightly spiced peach butter on a Saturday morning. 

The peaches we had were very juicy and this peach butter ended up taking quite a long time to cook down in the slow cooker. When I woke up in the morning, I pureed it with the immersion blender and then bumped up the setting to high, took off the lid, and let it reduce some more. 

This made about 5-6 jelly jar sized containers of peach butter. It will be perfect for spreading on toast, muffins, or any other baked good! 

You should taste your peaches first to gauge how sweet they are and help you determine how much sugar you want to add. Start low and add more if needed.

Spiced peach butter
about 15 medium peaches, pitted and cut into chunks
about 1/4 cup granulated sugar
about 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
dash of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

Put all of the ingredients in your slow cooker on the low setting. Let cook about 6-8 hours.


Puree using an immersion blender or in a blender or food processor (then return to slow cooker). Taste for sugar and spices and adjust if needed. Set slow cooker to high and continue to cook for another 1-3 hours uncovered, stirring occasionally, until your desired thickness.

Let cool. Place the peach butter in jars or freezer containers. Refrigerate for up to one month, or freeze for later.