The Crockpot--A Writer's Best Friend (And this is an interactive blog!)

[Writers Plot]

posted by Leann Sweeney

Thank goodness some semblance of autumn finally arrived in southeast Texas this past week. For me, that first real cool front means it's time to make chili. And I did. I do a good chili, but not Texas chili, Yankee chili. I know. You can the girl out of Yankee-land but you can't .... Anyway, it's also time to pull out the best kitchen invention ever--the Crockpot. What better way to free up daytime hours to write than to throw everything you can in a pot, put on the lid and forget about it for hours?

This week I made baby back ribs that fell off the bone and Swiss steak that melts in your mouth. But did you know you can make a great lasagna in your Crockpot (don't have to cook the pasta) or even dessert? Like apple crisp and pudding cake? You can even take the time to stuff peppers with couscous or the more traditional ground beef and rice. One of my favorite things to do with the Crockpot--I have the BIG one, but also several others in various sizes--is dump a frozen turkey breast in there (the bone-in kind), salt the skin, crinkle a little foil on top and let it cook from early on until dinner time. The bone-in breast makes a wonderful broth that in turn makes a fantastic gravy (I do add a bouillon cube, usually an herb & veggie one, to my gravy). Voila. Hot turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce on the side.

Many of you may know one of the very best Crockpot recipes ever. Pot roast. All you need is a chuck roast (or leaner cut if you like), a can of mushroom soup and a box of onion soup mix. I've had to adapt this recipe a couple ways. Early on I used golden mushroom soup rather than the creamy version because my kids were (and still are) allergic to milk. Then I discovered that I can't tolerate preservatives or MSG. Sorry, but Campbell's cream of mushroom is full of all kinds of those things. But Health Valley makes a perfect substitute. And then there's the dry Lipton soup--bad ingredients for me. But Campbell's--who, as I said, puts all kind of stuff in their condensed soups--makes a dry onion soup mix with simple natural ingredients. It's all about reading those labels! The great thing about Crockpot pot roast is you can throw in potatoes, carrots, onions, celery or root vegetables galore, mix the two soups together and pour them over the meat and veggies and you've got everything you need for a great meal. Next day, if you have leftovers, use your food processor and chop everything together, add some ketchup, maybe some herbs and heat it all up in a skillet. Yup. You've got hash!

Now for a couple recipes I love besides the pot roast:

Swiss Steak

1 1/2 lb round steak cut into serving pieces and dredged in salt and peppered flour

2 onions, sliced

1 TB. Worcestershire sauce, 1 TB brown sugar mixed with 2 cups of stewed tomatoes

Put steak in the bottom of pot (no need to brown it), cover with onions, throw in garlic or celery or carrots if you want and than top with the tomato mixture. Cook on low until meat is fork tender. Serve over rice or noodles, add a salad from a bag if you need something green. I don't!

Easy Potato Soup

6 cups diced, peeled potatoes+5 c. water+2 c. diced onion+1/2 c. diced celery+1/2 c. carrots+ 1/4c. butter+ 4 tsp. chicken or veggie bouillon granules (or 2 cubes works)+2 tsp. salt+ 1/4 tsp. pepper. Cook all this for 7-8 hours on high or until veggies are tender. Then add 12oz. evaporated milk and some parsley (fresh or dried). Mix this all together and then stir in 8 oz cheddar or Colby cheese, shredded. Heat thoroughly until cheese is melted. YUM!!!

Okay--and here's a little fall dessert that doesn't use a Crockpot but is soooo easy! Mix together a can of pumpkin, a yellow or vanilla cake mix and the spices on the back of the pumpkin can for pumpkin pie. Pour into an 8x13 pan that's been Pam-ed. Cook at 350 until it looks and acts like a cake. No need for eggs or mixers or oil or whatever. You have pumpkin pie cake in a jiffy!

Now it's your turn! Send me those Crockpot recipes people!!!!!!!!!!

(And by the way, I will be gone for the month of November as I travel to Seattle to be with my new granddaughter and my family. See you back here on December 7th! In my place will be Kate Flora blogging about all kinds of things. Thank you, Kate.)