Slow Cooker and Instant Pot Recipes

Slow Cooker Gingerbread Steel Cut Oats (with easy day before method)

Easy prep-ahead method and slow cooker tip results in ready-to-eat oats with toothsome texture and easy cleanup. The classic spice combination is holiday worthy!       The best part of this recipe? Lift the bowl of perfectly cooked oatmeal out of the slow cooker, cover and refrigerate for a wholesome breakfast at-the-ready. Done! As…

Slow Cooker Maple Applesauce

A small amount of maple syrup is the key to a wholesome applesauce that allows the natural sweetness and flavor of the apples to truly shine.    My grandmother was always known for her amazing applesauce. She used transparent or “early” apples–the ones that appear in farmers markets here in mid-July. Their appearance never fails…

Cheesy Grilled Pulled Pork (or Chicken) Sandwiches

There is nothing I love more than turning leftovers into something new and delicious. Sometimes, it enables us to get dinner on the table when we otherwise wouldn’t.  Beyond providing time savings, repurposing leftovers saves precious dollars. For this casual but yummy dinner, I started with the remains of the pulled pork barbecue I cooked…

Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oatmeal

I’ve mentioned a time or two in this space that I enjoy my morning oatmeal!  When I haven’t kept up with the demand for baked oatmeal or when we aren’t working our way through a backlog of eggs from our four chickens, this is the way I often prepare it. Steel cut oats lend themselves…

White Bean Soup with Kale and Cheese Toast (Slow Cooker)

This is one of those meals I have been cooking for years and I look forward to a warm bowl of it when the nights are cold.  The aroma wafting from the kitchen takes me right back to my grandmother’s kitchen.  It’s the ham hock.  The good smell it produces is matched only by the…

Chicken Tortilla Soup

A brimming pot of this wholesome soup is a filling favorite in our house. Topped with grated cheese and a few crushed tortilla chips, it’s extra special! Last year, as I was pondering what to give to several of my friends for Christmas, I struggled to think of something they would really need or want.…

Cauliflower Leek Soup with Parmesan and Bacon

The arrival of cooler weather always puts me in the mood for steamy, savory bowls of soup. Each fall, I start with one of my favorite tomato soup recipes (see the “Soup” category for my top two tomato picks), then work my way through butternut squash and several other fall vegetables before starting in on…

Root Beer Pulled Pork Tacos with Vinegar Sauce

This pulled pork is a slight variation on my Lean and Mean Pulled Pork which has really become a favorite in our house.  While I have always been a fan of tomato-based barbecue sauce, my Southern friend, Lisa, is partial to a vinegar sauce.  She shared here recipe with me and it just might win…

Slow Cooker Dulce de Leche

Irresistible dulce de leche is easy to make in your slow cooker. Plus you can control the consistency, making it soft set like pudding or drizzle-able for use as caramel sauce. Over the years, I read several times that simmering a can of sweetened condensed milk on the stovetop for several hours would magically transform…

Slow Cooker Turkey Tenderloin with Wild Rice and Butternut Squash

Hearty, wholesome, and hands off, this all-in-one slow cooker meal is perfect comfort food throughout the colder months.   Out of the crock pot and onto the plate. Dinner tonight was as easy as it was delicious. It had everything in it – juicy, tender turkey for filling protein, wild rice for high-quality carbs, colorful…

Grass-Fed Beef and Lentil Soup

A hearty soup that’s also healthy–perfect for a cold winter’s night or when you need a little comfort food. I think leftovers are great if they don’t taste like…well…leftovers! This recipe will make plenty of leftovers you’ll be grateful to have. Freezes well, too, although the recipe can easily be cut in half. Perfect as…

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