Baked Potatoes (IN THE CROCKPOT!!)
Posted by admin in Crockpot, Keeping Cool, Veggies
It is soooo hot here. I’m trying to save money like always and cook at home, but I’m also trying to not add extra heat to the interior of my house in the process. So looking around online I found a crockpot recipe for baked potatoes.
Unfortunately the directions say, “Wrap in foil” and ”if you want a crispier skin, pop into the oven for 5 minutes”. My Hubby loves the skin on his potatoes to be crispy. And turning the oven on for 5 minutes defeats the purpose of “crockpot baked potatoes” so I’m thinking to myself the foil makes for a softer skin, keeps the moisture fm the potato next to the skins. Then I’m thinking if the potatoes are on the bottom of the crockpot without the foil the steam will collect on the lid (as it does in a crockpot) and it will drip down and the potatoes will be sitting in their own water (making for a soggy potato skin). The solution is still foil with the addition of a steam rack. I only had a small rack so I needed the foil too.
See the rack? And the ring of foil I used to keep the potatoes up off the bottom of the crock?
They are washed and poked (to release steam) set to high, cover with lid. Cook 4-5 hours.
Now we found “high” for 4 + hours to be a bit over done. Next time I’m going to try them on low and see how long it takes to cook through. But! The skins were crisp on the outside and everything was soft and delicious on the inside. We served this with a Rotisserie Chicken I made in the neat rotisserie gadget my MIL gave me, and with fresh sliced vine ripened tomatoes and quartered english cucumbers.
Tonight I’m going to try making “roasted veggies” in the crockpot. 
Wish me luck!
I just kind of threw this together tonight…
Posted by admin in Comfort Food, Leftover Makeover, Veggies, frugal, spur of the moment
Doesn’t that just look yummy?!
I don’t have a printable for this yet, but I will soon.
Tonight I had the house to myself. (Yea me!) So as I do with these so few times I have with no picky eaters, I made something loaded with veggies!
Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan (I’m partial to my frying pans. usually my cast iron but it wasn’t available). I diced a whole onion and added it to the pan. I let that cook as I washed and diced half a green bell pepper. I added that to the pan the a little salt and freshly ground pepper and then took a look in the fridge, I had some tomatoes, so I seeded and diced them and added them to the mix. Back to the fridge… The other night I’d made cabbage rolls (I’l post that after I’ve tested a few more recipes for it) so I had some leftover leaves. Those soft tender inner leaves. I chopped up a few and added them to the pan. I added the precooked shrimp (about 10 shrimp) I’d defrosted from the freezer (bought on sale of coarse) and let is cook just a minute or two to warm the shrimp through. I turned off the heat, and added about 1 tablespoon of minced garlic which I mixed through, letting the warm veggies heat the garlic. I served it over brown rice (leftover from the cabbage rolls). And I had enough for lunch tomorrow as well. (Yea me again!)
Doesn’t that just look wonderful? Let me tell you, it tastes as good as it looks!