Crock Pot Ranch Roast

I recently started attempting to feed Miss K cereal. I've been dragging my feet majorly, but last weekend I made up my mind this is the weekend to do it. Oh my goodness I didn't know what I was in for at all!

My mom once told me, or maybe she told me multiple times because I remember her telling me, "Julie I almost broke down in tears when I tried to feed your older brother the first times."

Oh Mom you are totally exaggerating and I have it so much more together it can't be that hard can it? I mean Miss K is a rockstar (not that older bro isn't LOVE YA!) it can't be that bad.

Oh she was right. I kind of want to throw the spoon across the kitchen when it comes to supper time.

It goes something like this....

Cereal in the mouth
Funny face
Cereal out of the mouth, down the bib, down the high chair, you get the picture
Miss K smiles

Honestly?! Why do you have to smile ever time you spit it out.

So tonight I'll try again. Because that's what you do when you are a mom. You keep trying. Someday you will get it. Or Miss K will get it.

Because we are Mom's and even if you aren't I know you love fast recipes since you keep coming back! This is a melt in your mouth dish and it's done when you come home from work. It's a different twist on the general old Crock Post Roast with the ranch but you will not be disappointed! 

Oh if you have any feeding tips let me know!

Remember to go enter the Tiny Prints Giveaway for your chance to win a $50 print credit!

Crock Pot Ranch Roast
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Ingredients
2 1/2 lb roast
1 lb red potatoes, halved
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz package cream cheese
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix

1. Coat crock pot with nonstick cooking spray or stick in one of those handy dandy crock pot liners.


2.  Placed halved potatoes on bottom of the crock pot and place meat on the potatoes.

3. In a bowl whisk together soup, cream cheese and dressing mix. Pour over meat and potatoes in slow cooker.

4. Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or on high for 4 1/2 to 5 hours.


Recipe From: Six Sisters' Stuff

Shared on the following sites - Please give them a visit!

Couponing & Cooking
 Flour Me With Love
Our Delightful Home
Mandy's Recipe Box
Semi Homemade Mom  

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Do you have those foods that you know you want to make but you never really get there? This is one of them for me. I have bookmarked, cut out, highlighted etc. None of this ever helped me actually make BBQ Pulled Pork. I knew it couldn't be that hard but all the recipes I found had all sorts of rubs, homemade sauce, etc. I knew I wanted simple recipe that I could throw in the crock-pot and go to work and when I got home it would almost be done. Then I came across this recipe and it had rave reviews on Tasty Kitchen and I knew I had to make it. Another motivating factor was I'm trying to find recipes that I can make and not heat up the entire kitchen which made me think of the crock-pot, but all the recipes I have reminded me of winter. This is a summer recipe in my opinion so I gave it a whirl. I can not say enough about it. It's super duper easy, incredibly good, and the meat literally fell apart when I was trying to take it out the crock-pot. It got rave reviews from my hubby also, which is good because I truly have been striking out lately as you all read in the last post. This totally redeemed me and I'm sure he thinks I'm the best wife in the world again! Try this recipe even if you have a different one you usually use. The secret ingredient is the hickory flavored smoke so make sure you use it. I used a 4 lb bone-in pork shoulder because the local grocery store didn't have boneless and it still turned out great although I cut back on the BBQ sauce a little. We had leftovers so stay tuned for what I used them for the next night! Enjoy!

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
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Ingredients

4 lbs boneless pork shoulder or pork loin
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 c. water
1 Tbsp hickory-flavored smoke
2 c. barbecue sauce
Buns

1. Rinse the pork shoulder and pat dry. Rub salt and pepper over the pork and place in a crock-pot.

2. Add water and liquid smoke. Cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours, until the pork is very tender.

3. Remove the pork from the crock-pot and discard the remaining liquid. Shred the pork using a couple of forks.

4. Place the meat back in the crock-pot along with the barbecue sauce and continue to cook for another 20-30 minutes until the pork is hot again. Serve on buns with extra barbecue sauce.

Recipe adapted from: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Foil-Pack Taco Chicken

Another Monday down. As the alarm went off this morning Jason's first words were "I hate Mondays." My thoughts were....ya I just hate every morning I have to get out of bed at a set time. After a run at the gym and getting ready things weren't looking so aweful and I had a crazy busy day at work which definetely helped the time fly by and get this Monday over with. You might wonder what I'm doing to round off Monday...well I've successfully planted myself on the couch and my oh so wonderful hubby is downstairs making noise which I translate into PROGRESS on the basement! He also grilled for me tonight which meant no cooking for me. Trust me I love this and am ever so happy to wash dishes after supper by myself that's for sure. I forgot to update everyone the last time I wrote on our tax appointment. It was wayyyyyy less painful then I had thought it was going to be. This is good...our marriage has survived our first tax appointment! What a successful tax appointment translates into is a garage. Yay!!!!!! Yes I said we might start another project. The way it's looking it might be before the basement gets done. Yikes. This is not good, but what do you do? I asked my cousin's husband on Friday when he was coming to pour the cement. His reply was next week if you are ready....well that's all nice but that snow bank is still there in the back yard. Speaking of snow...what's this business about another snow storm coming our way? I was really hoping to be done and things to dry out but I needed to be reminded this is MN we live in and that just doesn't happen so easy. I think I will make some soup Wednesday and enjoy one LAST snow storm for the season. Mother nature that is my threat. Listen up and don't you dare snow again! The recipe I am sharing with you tonight can either be made in the oven (which is how the recipe calls for it to be done) or the crock-pot which I did because I wanted it to be done when I got home. It's a little bit of a different twist on chicken but it was great! Enjoy!

Foil-Pack Taco Chicken
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Ingredients

4 small boneless skinless chicken breaswts halves (1 lb)
4 tsp Taco Seasoning
1/2 lb red potatoes, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
3/4 c. Mexican Style 2% Milk Finely Shredded Four Cheese
3/4 c. Salsa
1/4 c. Reducted Fat or Light Sour Cream

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees

2. Sprinkles chicken with seasoning mix. Place 1/2 c potatoes on center of each of 4 large sheets of heavy-duty foil; top with chicken, cheese and salsa

3. Bring up foil sides. Double fold atop and both ends to seal each packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside. Place in 15x10x1 in pan

4. Bake 30-35 min or until chicken is done (165 degrees). Cool 5 min. Cut slits in foil to release steam before opening. Top with sour cream.

*My Version

I sprayed a crockpot with Pam. Then I layered the potatoes on the bottom, the seasoned chicken, cheese and salsa on top. Cook on High 4-6 hours. Top with sour cream.

4 Servings
270 colories each

Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan

It's another Saturday and I just got done with work. After a quick stop at the grocery store to grab some stuff for throwing together a supper tonight I'm relaxing on the couch, watching Gossip Girl and writing a blog posting. I have every intention of making a "good" supper that isn't out of the box tonight also. Sometimes life just gets going and night after night we are eating some "pre-fab" meal so sometimes I try to get out of that rut! I've been spoiling you with yummy treats lately in my postings so I thought I should probably add a "main dish" in here sometime. My hubby liked this one to and he's usually the true test. Speaking of my hubby he is out fishing with his brother in a tournament. I was putting the groceries away and I noticed that our beer stash is missing...so I'm not sure if they are actually catching many fishing...but I think they are having fun! As for this recipe I'm going to share with you tonight it's another crock pot recipe that seems to be my favorite! And it's supper simple. My one word of advice is don't cook your chicken to long because it will dry out and no one wants that!

Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan
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Ingredients

1 Egg
1/3 C Bread Crumbs
1/3 C Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (I used three but you can use four! I always get the packs of 3 so I just go with it!)
1 Jar (26 oz) Tomato Pasta Sauce
1/2 C Shredded Italian Cheese Blend
2 2/3 C. Penne Pasta (Or whatever pasta you have on hand!)

1. Spray 2-3 quart slow cooker with cooking spray.

2. In small shallow bowl, beat egg until foamy. In separate shallow bowl, mix bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Italian Seasoning, Salt and Pepper. Dip chicken into egg, then coat evenly with bread crumb mixture; place in cooker. Spread pasta sauce evenly over chicken.

3. Cover; cook on low heat setting 5-6 hours.

4. Sprinkle Italian cheese blend over top. Cover; cook on low 10 more minutes or until melted. Meanwhile cook pasta and drain. Serve with chicken.

Recipe from Betty Crocker.com

Slow Cooker Lasagna

Well it's been a while since I've updated this. No I haven't forgot to cook supper for my husband I've just been to busy to post anything. And now I bet you are wondering what I've been up to. Honestly I'm going to say life. Life just happens. And it gets busy, and crazy and all of a sudden it's the next month! I know many of you are shaking your head and agreeing to this. I suppose I could blame it on the holidays but they haven't really started yet. We have our first Christmas this weekend and then the madness takes off from there. Hopefully we'll wrap things up in about two weeks and about 6 Christmas events later. I hope you guys have all your gifts bought, and wrapped and who am I kidding...it's not the 24th yet why would we do that? I'm almost done but I always have to leave a few things to get right before Christmas. My philosophy is that if I get done to soon I'll just keep shopping anyways so why get done early?? So if you are a procrastinator like me you can use that line too! Ok enough of that stuff...on to the recipe. I love lasagna but it takes so long to make and well when you get home at 6:00 from work you just don't want to wait another two hours for supper so I found a lasagna recipe that is for the crockpot....here it is!

Slow Cooker Lasagna
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Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (29 ounces) tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 package (8 ounces) no-cook lasagna noodles
4 cups (16 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) 4% cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. In a skillet, cook beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink, drain.

2. Add the tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, salt and oregano; mix well.

3. Spread a fourth of the meat sauce in an ungreased 5 qt. slow cooker. Arrange a third of the noodles over sauce (break the noodles if necessary). Combine the cheeses; spoon a third of the mixture over noodles. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining meat sauce.

4. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until noodles are tender.

Serves 6-8

Recipe from Taste of Home

Crock Pot Chicken

It's brisk and blustery out and another Minnesota night. I survived Thanksgiving and am on family overload so am thinking that it would be a great idea to take a break from that till oh Christmastime! Speaking of Christmas it is right around the corner. I started pulling out cookie and treat recipes for Christmas tonight and promise to start sharing those with you too. This recipe I'm sharing with you tonight is a favorite from college. Yes that's right...I was the nerd with a crock pot in college! My last year of college I lived with two other girls and often times I felt like mom because they were looking to me for supper at night! Jason told me he could just take a straw and suck up the sauce over the noodles on this recipe. He didn't remember me making it before but I have. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or bad thing!

Crock Pot Chicken
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Ingredients

1 Block Cream Cheese, cubed
2 Can Cream of Mushroom or Chicken Soup
4 Chicken Breasts
1 1/2 Envelope Dry Italian Dressing
1 Package Extra Wide Egg Noodles

1. Place chicken in crock pot.

2. Empty dressing & coat chicken.

3. Add soup & cream cheese.

4. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

5. Boil noodles and serve with chicken.

Pizza in a Pot

Pizza in a Pot...doesn't sound all that wonderful does it? Well it's a hot dish glorified for the Crock-Pot! It is quite yummy and I almost think its better when you warm it up the second time. Yes I know this is an odd statement. I'll share the recipe with you in a bit. By the way the hubby really liked it. If he likes it the recipe usually takes up residence in my box o'recipes. But this not always the case like last night for example....I was trying out this new pasta recipe with bacon and a white sauce. Oh it looked soooo marvelous and scrumptious from the pictures. I had been meaning to try this recipe for a few months. Unfortunately my finished product was nothing like the pictures. Jason took to calling it Goulash....and informed me, " I bet I can throw the entire thing away with one scoop"...yes he did. It was stuck together in a big clump. I should have took picture for you all.....see this is the thing....I only show you the good finished products!!! I screen the recipes for you so you don't have too. Trust me your husband (or significant other) should appreciate this. Our Texas Toast out of a box last night was WAY better then my attempt at the pasta dish. Luckily Jason just laughs at me and tells me the worse thing that will happen is we will make a pizza. Thankfully I have a good sport when it comes to me being all crazy and trying to new recipes!

Pizza in a Pot
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Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
1 jar (14 ounces) pizza sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups spiral pasta, cooked and drained
2 packages (3 1/2 ounces each) sliced pepperoni
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

1. In a large skilled, cook the beef, green pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in tomato sauce, pizza sauce and tomato paste. (I didn't add green peppers due to hubby and used dried onion)

2. In a 5 qt slow cooker, layer the pasta, beef mixture, pepperoni and cheese. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until heated through. (You can use more pasta if you would like. In my opinion it could have used more and next time I'll make a little bit more!)

Recipe from Taste of Home
Servings - 8

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving equals 473 calories, 23 g fat (10 g saturated fat), 89 mg cholesterol, 829 mg sodium, 34 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 31 g protein

Scalloped Potatoes & Ham

This one is for Kasey! She called me today and told me she was looking at the blog for more recipes but I hadn't updated it for a little while. I said I had a Scalloped Potatoes crock-pot recipe I needed to put on here and she said she had been craving it for awhile so here it is. This would an excellent recipe for a day like this. I'm just thankful its a thunderstorm and not a blizzard! Plus its soooo easy and simple which is always a must in my life. You don't even have to peel the potatoes. Oh and the update on the kitchen is it's FIXED. Cory remembered there was this new vent that didn't involve taking down walls so that was installed and it's done. So thankful!

Scalloped Potatoes & Ham
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Ingredients

6 Large Russet Potatoes, slived into 1/4 inch rounds
1 Ham Steak (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into cubes
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can water
4 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
Grill Seasoning to taste

1. Grease the inside of the Crock-Pot. Layer potatoes and ham in Crock-Pot.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine soup, water, cheese and seasoning. Pour over potatoes and ham. I use Everyday Grill Seasoning by Tastefully Simple. Once again LOVE Tastefully Simple seasonings!

3. Cover, cook on HIGH for about 3 1/2 hours unitl potatoes are fork tender. Tuner slow cooker to Low and continue cooking for about 1 hour until done.

Makes 5-6 Servings

Recipe from Rival Crock-Pot Slow Cooker Recipes for All Occasion

Cream Cheese Potato Soup

I'm currently trying to distract myself from the fact that my husband is ripping apart my, I mean OUR, kitchen. You see we have this lovely gurgling sound coming from our sink in the kitchen every time our washing machine or sump pump drains downstairs. I finally got sick of listening to it and I thought there was a smell being caused by this so I hounded him to fix it. Yes, I know this is my fault that he is ripping apart our walls, but seriously it is sooo annoying! First he started in the attic and I PRAYED that he would fix the pipe up there and everything would be peachy keen but that would be way to easy. We prefer things very difficult at the Evinks. I was out delivering Scentsy tonight and I was warned that when I come home there will be a mess. So of course there was...insulation from the attic pouring out of the hole he climbed up. I was then informed that he could not fix the problem up there. Next step, operation kitchen....emptying out the cupboards, dismantling one from the wall and knocking a hole in the well. As I ask, Jason are you sure that pipe runs on that side of the window?? Ummm his reply is, pretty sure! Now that makes me nervous. So he starts to confirm that it is the correct side of the window. Now he is doubting himself. He also just told me that no matter how we do this and no matter what side of the window the pipe runs on he doesn't think he can run it back up that wall. Instead he would like to run it BESIDE my cupboard by the door. Oh Julie we can just make a little box to put it in....oh lovely idea Jason. So if any of you show up at my house and you see a box built beside my cupboards you will know who won this battle! Well anyways I'm ranting and raving and my husband is saying naughty words behind me and this is not why I started this blog posting. When you read the title you were imagining our peaceful life as I slave away at soup and he comes home from work and I greet him with a kiss and we live happily ever after. I'm sorry I popped that bubble ;) BACK to the soup! It's a wonderful recipe and it's another recipe you can prepare in the Crock-Pot because what beats coming home on a cold winter evening to soup??

Cream Cheese Potato Soup
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Ingredients

8 c. water
7 tsp chicken bouillon
2 - 8oz pkgs cream cheese, cubed
1 - 32 oz frozen cubed hash browns potatoes, thawed
1 1/2 c. fully cooked ham, cubed
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dill weed

1. In a dutch oven, combine the water & bullion.

2. Add cream cheese. Stir till melted.

3. Stir in remaining ingredients.

4. Simmer until veg are tender.

I used my crock pot!! But make sure to use a big one. I tried it first in my little one, which is from my good 'ol single days and it was almost overflowing. So I recommend on getting that big one out! It takes about 6-8 hours on low and 4 hours on high.

Update on the kitchen, I'm pretty sure there is a reason my husband is not a plumber....

Chicken Yum Yum

Wow...what a day! It was Monday so that is always horrible but to top it off it was crazy crazy busy at work. Yes, usually I'm bored to death...well actually not as much anymore but at first when I started my job at the car dealership I was always bored. Good thing I got engaged soon after I started and could plan my wedding on my down time! Well I was there an hour late and completely exhausted when I got home. In fact I was signing out the last car and I'm pretty sure the people thought I was losing my marbles as I tripped over my tongue and my eyes were slowly shutting. I was sooo thankful I made something in the Crock-Pot at dinner. I absolutely love the Crock-Pot. It is a woman's best friend. This recipe is super easy and super delicious. My husband even agreed it was great. He said he could just eat the stuffing and that would be fine with him. It's already late tonight and I have to be at a meeting on social marketing for your business early tomorrow morning so it looks to be another long day. Maybe I'll put the hubby in charge of supper tomorrow night, which equals pizza!! Maybe Tuna Helper if he gets REAL daring! Oh well I'm usually so happy not to make supper when I get off work I could care less what it was he fed me! I'll shut up now and let you read the recipe!

Chicken Yum Yum
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Ingredients

4 Boneless Chicken Breasts
Shredded Cheddar and Mozzarella Cheese
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Can Cream of Celery Soup
1 Box of Stuffing Mix

1. First grease the crock-pot and then put the chicken on the bottom.

2. Put cheese on top of the chicken. I just sprinkled on as much as I thought was needed. My hubby loves cheese so I went plenty generous on it!

3. Mix soups together and then pour them over the chicken and cheese.

4. Put stuffing on top of soup. Pour 1/2 soup can of water over the stuffing.

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

6. Come home from a BUSY CRAZY day and ENJOY!