It's Crockpot Season, Y'all!

When Joe and I moved into our home three years ago, there was one thing I begged everyone for as a housewarming present: a crockpot. And in that first year of living in our cute little house, I probably tested out 23574 crockpot recipes I dug up on Pinterest. Some failed, some succeeded.

After some time of tweaking recipes and concocting my own creations, I found my groove in the crockpot world. It legit became my best friend. And I’m honestly surprised that I still choose to cook on the stove or in the oven some nights.

I mean, seriously. This bad boy does it all for me! Why would I EVER want to cook when I can just dump the ingredients into one pot at 6am and come home at 4pm to dinner finished?!

With our hectic schedule, it’s sometimes hard to come home and cook. I leave the house at 7:20 every day and get home between 4:30 and 5 every evening. My husband goes to school two nights a week, Everleigh has dance on Wednesdays (and will now have gymnastics an additional night a week), and I sometimes have after-school clubs or meetings I need to attend. Plus, after working all day, I find myself sometimes dreading having to come home and prepare a full-course meal.

With the crockpot, I put all of the ingredients into it around 6am, turn that sucker to “low,” and BAM. Dinner is served in 8-10 hours, y’all.

As if the convenience wasn’t enough, I’ve seriously made some of our most FAVORITE meals in the crockpot. For example: I’ve made BBQ baby-back ribs in the oven. I’ve also made them in the crockpot. Something about that simmering, slow-cooking just brings out the best in those babies. And this is something I make probably 3-4 times a month.

Now that fall is finally in full swing (about damn time, Mother Nature) and our routines are finally settled, I’ve deemed this time of year Crockpot Season. Out of the six nights a week I cook (and one for a weekend take-out night), about 3-4 of those nights we have crockpot meals. And one of those nights is tonight.

I’m usually all about the soups and comfort foods during this time of year, and I bring out some of my most favorite recipes are during the fall/winter seasons. Today, I’ve decided to share a few of the ones I am constantly making with you mommas (or dads) out there!

(* I don’t have photos of everything mentioned below, so I apologize!)

Beef & Broccoli

Ingredients:

• About 2lbs of boneless chuck roast (I slice and chunk into small pieces)

• 1 cup of beef broth

• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil

• 1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 3 garlic cloves (minced)

• 4 tablespoons cornstarch

• 4 tablespoons water

• 1 bag of frozen broccoli florets (12oz)

• Cooked white rice

1. Mix together beef broth, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic cloves and brown sugar in a bowl.

2. Put beef slices in crockpot and coat in mixture.

3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

4. Dump frozen broccoli florets in crockpot and mix in. Mix water & cornstarch together, and pour into crockpot. Stir to mix well. Cover and let cook for another 30 minutes.

5. Serve over cooked white rice.

Chicken Spinach Tortellini Soup (tonight’s dinner!!) 

Ingredients:

• 2-3 large boneless chicken breasts

• 6 cups of chicken broth

• 3 medium carrots, chopped

• 2 cups baby spinach

• 2 cups cheese tortellini

• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon pepper

1. Place chicken breasts in crockpot and pour in chicken broth.

2. Chop carrots and toss in crockpot.

3. Sprinkle in salt, pepper & Italian seasoning.

4. Cover crockpot and cook on low 6-8 hours.

5. Remove lid and add tortellini. Cook another 30 minutes.

6. Add baby spinach. Stir in well. Cover once again and cook for another 10 minutes.

7. Ladle into bowl and garnish with fresh parsley and/or a little Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Beef Pot Roast 

Ingredients:

• Any roast of your choosing (I usually prefer a shoulder or chuck roast)

• 5 large russet potatoes, cut into small pieces

• 4 medium carrots, chopped

• 1 dry ranch dressing packet

• 1 dry Italian dressing packet

• 1 dry brown gravy packet

1. Place roast in crockpot. (Be sure to trim off any fat if you’re not into having those little fatty pieces in your roast before placing in crockpot.)

2. Scatter chunked potatoes and chopped carrots around the roast.

3. Sprinkle Italian dressing, ranch dressing and brown gravy mix packets over the contents of the crockpot. Cover with lid.

4. Cook on low 8-10 hours.

5. Remove lid. Meat will fall apart when cut into. Use tongs to grab roast and vegetables. Garnish with fresh parsley.

Mac & Cheese (* an easy recipe kids will enjoy!) 

Ingredients:

• 16 oz elbow macaroni

• 2 1/2 cups of milk (whole recommended)

• 8 oz cream cheese

• 3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

• 12 oz evaporated milk

1. Pour dry elbow macaroni into crockpot.

2. Mix in milk and evaporated milk.

3. Chunk the cream cheese and disperse evenly in the crockpot on top of the macaroni.

4. Sprinkle the shredded cheddar on top. Cover with lid.

5. Cook on low about 4 hours.

6. Remove lid and stir well to be sure the macaroni consistency is where you desire. Add a little more shredded cheddar if not thick enough and cook for 10 minutes.

7. Scoop onto dish or into bowl and enjoy! (Sometimes we mix in bacon pieces for a little extra “mmm!

Shredded Venison Sandwiches (for all you hunter’s wives out there!) 

Ingredients:

• Deer roast

• 1 onion soup mix packet

• 2-3 cups of ketchup

•  2-3 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce

1. Place deer roast in crockpot.

2. Mix together ketchup, BBQ sauce & onion soup mix in a small bowl. Pour over roast, and cover with lid.

3. Cook on low 6-8 hours.

4. Remove lid and shred meat.

5. Toast buns in oven (or however you prefer) and use tongs to place shredded venison onto buns.

6. Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

If any of you have any crockpot recipes for me to try out, send them my way, y’all! And if you haven’t purchased a crockpot yet… WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

Happy Crockpottin’, mamas!

♡ Kelsey