Slow-cooker Minestrone
3 cups water
1-1/2 pounds stewing meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 medium onion, diced
4 carrots, diced
14-1/2 oz can tomatoes
2 tsp salt
10-oz package frozen mixed vegetables OR your choice of frozen vegetables
1 Tbsp dried basil
1/2 cup dried vermicelli (We couldn’t find vermicelli, so we used orzo instead.)
1 tsp dried oregano
Added 1 15-oz can cannellini beans, because minestrone should have beans in it
grated Parmesan cheese
1. Combine all ingredients in slow-cooker. Stir well.
2. Cover. Cook on Low 10-12 hours or on High 4-5 hours
3. Top individual servings with Parmesan cheese
Also, we don’t add that much salt to our food. We have sea salt in a grinder and I probably just added a couple turns of that. I’m sure it wasn’t 2 teaspoons.
The 3 of us (Gary, Emily, and me) all loved it! It was gone in a matter of days.
California Chicken
3-lb chicken, quartered
1 cup orange juice
1/3 cup chili sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp molasses
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp garlic salt
2 Tbsp chopped green peppers
3 medium oragnes, peeled and separated into sections OR
1 13-1/2 oz can mandarin oranges
1. Arrange chicken in slow cooker.
2. In separate bowl, combine juice, chili sauce, soy sauce, molasses, dry mustard and garlic salt. Pour over chicken.
3. Cover; cook on Low 8-9 hours
4. Stir in green peppers and oranges. Heat 30 minutes longer.
Variation:
Stir 1 tsp curry powder in with sauces and seasonings.
Stir 1 small can pineapple chunks and juice in with green peppers and oranges.
Plus, I made Chunky Cinnamon Applesauce in the crockpot, from Two Peas and Their Pod.
I love using my crockpot, because you can set it up with a minimum of work, then go about your day, and supper’s made when you come home at 5 or 6pm. I made the applesauce during the night, then transfered the applesauce to a container to go in the fridge, washed the crock, and got the California Chicken all set to go. I’ve used it 3 times in the past two weeks.
Today, it’s been snowing all day! There are probably 7-9 inches on the driveway and it was very much NOT done snowing yet. The snow is almost up to Jasmine’s belly. I need to measure from belly to end of legs, to find out how many inches that is. Emily did not get a snow day and my clinic hours went on, as scheduled, so no slacking for us! I’m glad I had nowhere to go tonight!
Remember to vote today!!! As if anyone could forget! Hubby, 19yo daughter Sarah, and I all voted about 3 weeks ago. Hubby and I decided we didn’t want to have to wait in line and Sarah was concerned because her Tuesday class schedule is busy and she would have had to stand in two lines to register and vote, since she’s not in the same dorm as she was last spring, during the primary. I can’t wait to start watching the results this evening! It’s going to be a LONG day! It seems weird to not be voting today, though. Emily wishes she could vote for Obama, too. She will get to vote in 2012.
