Beef Stew Crock Pot Recipe - Budget Beef Hotpot

If it is comfort food you seek, check this out. This lovely comforting, rich and fragrant beef casserole served with a big pile of creamy mashed potatoes and a selection of your favorite seasonal hot or cold side veges will be enjoyed by the whole family!

Budget Beef Hotpot

Serves 6
Cook for 8-10 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.


1/4 cup flour
1 tspn powered beef stock
fresh grated black pepper
2 lb chuck, blade or skirt steak cut to bite size
1 rib of celery sliced and diced
1 large carrot sliced into half rounds
1 onion chopped finely
14 oz can whole tomatoes in juice
1/4 cup red wine

Add the flour, beef stock and pepper to the crock pot insert. Add the meat and toss to cover the meat with the mixture. Remove the meat and set aside.
Add the celery, carrot and onion to the slow cooker and toss to coat.
Add the meat back on top of the vegetables.
Open the can of tomatoes and chop with a knife to break them up a bit before pouring over meat. Rinse the can with the red wine before adding.
Gently move and prod the meat and vegetables to ensure the juice and wine combine with the other ingredients.
Cover and cook for 8-10 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.

Serve with creamy mash and seasonal vegetables or a salad.


From a Previous Post:  Chocolate Fudge Pudding has got to be an option to, when you are in the mood for comfort food - the only problem is what do you cook first if you only have one slow cooker?  May be it is time for another?

Are you in the market for a new slow cooker? Designed to help you make your decision easier by giving you all the info, check out the Slow Cooker Reviews and Useful Resources on my website here.

How To Make Hummus

Hummus is a useful condiment to have in the fridge – especially in summer. It's wonderful as a raw vegetable dip or with torn up pita pockets as dippers and on sandwiches as a spread. And best of all, if you have ever wondered how to make hummus, you will be pleased to know it's a snap to make if you have a food processor - and it will save you a lot of money making it yourself.

All year around I batch cook quantities of red kidney beans and chickpeas in the crock pot, and freeze them in 2 cup containers, so I always have them on hand.

Next time you have some pumpkin in the house, and you will be using the oven, roast 4 oz of pumpkin so it's ready next time you want to take out a container of chickpeas and make this delicious home made hummus recipe.

Roast Pumpkin Hummus

3 cloves of garlic

2 cups cooked and drained chickpeas

4 oz roasted pumpkin, chopped into chunks

¼ tspn curry powder

3 Tbsp peanut butter

3 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp olive oil

Add the garlic to the food processor and chop.

Add the chickpeas, roasted pumpkin, curry powder, peanut butter and lemon juice and process until it's a smooth and creamy consistency. Then pour oil in slowly while the processor is still going.

Check the consistency, if it needs to be thinner add a little water.

Pour into a container that has a lid (for easy use) and use the contents over the next few days.

My favorite way to serve it is with toasted strips of pita pocket. Enjoy!

Variation: The roast pumpkin can be replaced with either roasted red peppers or red peppers from a jar. The peanut butter can be replaced with the traditional tahini or sesame seed paste. Curry powder can be omitted or replaced with coriander or cumin. Once you have made it once, you will see how easy it is to substitute ingredients and add more or different flavors.

More Dip Recipes? If you love Creamy Spinach Dip this slow cooker recipe is handy to have.

From a Previous Post:  Easy Chicken Crock Pot Recipe - Mediterranean Summer Chicken

Are you in the market for a new slow cooker? Designed to help you make your decision easier by giving you all the info, check out the Slow Cooker Reviews and Useful Resources on my website here.

Easy Chicken Crock Pot Recipe - Mediterranean Summer Chicken

Mediterranean Summer Chicken is one of my favorite summer crock pot recipes.  When it's hot outside the last thing you want to do is heat up the kitchen cooking, but if you have a slow cooker you won't be heating up your kitchen to cook this delicious dish!



I cook with my slow cooker almost every day, all year around.  I love this dishes fresh flavors, they lend themselves well to being served with couscous, fresh tomatoes and a green salad.  You will find Mediterranean Summer Chicken makes a perfect main meal any day of the week.


The featured slow cooker for this post is the incredibly popular Hamilton Beach 33967 Set 'n Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker because of the thermometer probe feature - which turns the slow cooker automatically to 'warm mode' as soon as the food is cooked - how cool is that!  Absolutely fabulous feature if you slow cook chicken pieces or whole roasts frequently - you just program in the temperature for the type of meat and when it's reached, your food is perfectly cooked. 

A 6 quart slow cooker such as the Hamilton Beach 33967 Set 'n Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker is a great size to cook this...
 
Mediterranean Summer Chicken

Serves 6 Cook on low for 7-8 hours

1 onion
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
6 skinless chicken pieces with bone in
14 ounce can chopped tomatoes with basil
2 Tbsp sundried tomato pesto
2 tspn sugar
½ Cup white wine
2 Tbsp black pitted olives
1 tspn dried rosemary

• Brown onion and garlic in a non-stick pan and then place in slow cooker.
• Brown chicken in pan, and then add to slow cooker.
• Add the remaining ingredients and mix to combine.
• Cook on low 7-8 hours.
• Adjust seasonings and serve with couscous. In the summer I just add some fresh tomatoes and a seasonal green salad.  Garnish with fresh herbs such as basil, parsley or sprigs of rosemary. 

What could be easier.  Just let your slow cooker help you in the kitchen this summer!


 From previous posts:  Summer Crock Pot Recipes - Whole Chicken Slow Cooker Roast cook it overnight, pop it in the fridge in the morning, come home to a cold chicken you can make a dozen dishes with!

Do you know what goes great with barbecued food? Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese!

More great, tasty, easy slow cooker recipes and slow cooker reviews are on my website - enjoy!

Week Day Easy Slow Cooker Beef Casserole

My favorite thing about owning a slow cooker is dinner is ready as soon as you walk in the door at the end of the day. I like leaving home in the morning knowing I have done the best for my family by taking 5-10 minutes to prepare a healthy, delicious, nutritious meal from scratch for them! It gets my day off to a great start, and it makes sure the hardest part of the meal is done, which means that when I get home dinner almost ready. Just have to fix some vegetables, salad and rice or mash and it's serving time. I usually cook double the amount of rice, pasta or mashed potatoes so I'm not having to prepare them each night - so much quicker to reheat than start from scratch!

Regardless of whether you cook for just you or for a few, you will find this size slow cooker lets you prepare up to 5 servings of chili, stew, soup, casserole - or cook up to a 4 pound pot roast or roast chicken.

One of my other favorite things about slow cooker cooking is you can use cheaper cuts of meat and serve the most flavorsome, delicious, heart-warming casseroles that your family will be lining up for more!  Like this quick and easy beef casserole...

Easy Slow Cooker Beef Casserole

Serves 5-6

1-½ lbs beef casserole meat
3 Tbsp flour
1 tsp dried thyme
1-½ Tbsp wholegrain mustard
2 Tbsp soy sauce
3 tsp dried beef stock
1-¼ Cups boiling water
2 bay leaves

Pre-heat the slow cooker while you prepare the ingredients.
Trim the meat of any fat and cut in to 1 inch cubes.
In the slow cook base, combine the flour, thyme, mustard, soy sauce, beef stock powder and then add boiling water, stir until smooth, then add the meat and combine, add bay leaves.

Cover and cook on high for 4½ – 5½ hours or low for 9-11 hours.

From a Previous Post: Can't Decide What Size Slow Cooker to Buy? 3 in 1 Slow Cooker – A Crock Pot with Multiple Inserts  |  Lemon Rosemary Chicken Breast

To read my full review of this slow cooker, follow this link:  Slow Cooker Review
More slow cooker reviews are available from www.slowcookersandcrockpots.net

To check out my easy crock pot recipe collection on my website, follow this link: free recipes!