Autumn Sausage Casserole CrockPot Recipe

Ingredients:

1 pound sausage (we used chicken sausage)
1 large, or 2 small apples, chopped (no need to peel)
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped carrots
3 cups already cooked long-grain rice
1/2 cup raisins
1 T dried parsley flakes
1 T brown sugar
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup chicken broth or water

Directions:

The amount of ingredients fit nicely in a 4 quart crockpot. I'd say this comfortably feeds a family of 4-5 with a bit of leftovers. If you have a large family or teenagers, add more rice and sausage. It's a pretty easy recipe to adapt to your needs.

If you are going to use uncooked pork sausage, I'd recommend browning on the stove top, and draining before adding to the crockpot.

Otherwise, dump all the ingredients into the crock, and stir well.

Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours, or on high for 3-4. You're really only heating through, and allowing the vegetables to soften.

This will not stick together like a gloppy casserole; it has the consistency of fried rice. Use bowls to serve rather than plates.

Serves: 4-6

WW Points per serving: 6

Recipe Source: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

This was really good the first night but not so much leftover the next day. The prep took a lot longer than expected too. Overall, it was yummy but we probably won't make it again.

Crockpot Alpine Chicken Casserole Recipe

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
3/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
4 ounces diced Canadian bacon
2 carrots — thinly sliced, — (up to 3)
1 rib celery — thinly sliced, — (up to 2)
1 small onion — thinly sliced
1/4 cup water
6 Chicken breast halves, boneless skinless
1 can low-fat condensed cheddar cheese soup — (11 oz.)
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 package wide egg noodles — cooked, drained (16 — oz.) Don’t forget to add pts. for noodles.

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix bouillon granules, chopped parsley, and poultry seasoning; set aside. Layer in a slow cooker, in order. Canadian bacon, carrots, celery and onion. Add water. Remove skin, if desired, and excess fat from chicken; rinse and pat dry. Place meat in slow cooker. Sprinkle with half of the reserved seasoning mixture. Top with remaining chicken and sprinkle with remaining seasoning mixture. Stir soup and flour together; spoon over top. DO NOT STIR.

Cover and cook on high for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken is tender and juices from chicken run clean and vegetables are tender. Spread cooked noodles in a shallow 2 or 2 1/2 quart broiler proof serving dish. Arrange chicken on noodles. Stir soup mixture and vegetables until combined. Spoon vegetables and some of the liquid over chicken. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. 6. Broil 6 inches from heat source for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serves: 4-6

WW Points per serving: 5 + 4 for most noodles


Recipe Source: http://www.laaloosh.com


My thoughts:
This was pretty good but I think next time, I'd probably use two cans of cheddar soup as there wasn't a ton of cheese flavor. The chicken itself was very yummy and I preferred it without the noodles. But, I think more cheddar soup would make it a lot better. Also, like last time, this cooked a lot faster than the directions suggested. We cooked it on low and after about 5 hours, it was done. It's definitely a weekend dish, unless of course you work half days.

Crockpot Pot Roast Recipe

Ingredients:

3 1/2 pounds sirloin tip roast, trimmed
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
3 potatoes — peeled and quartered
2 Small onions – sliced
1 Stalk celery — cut in 2″ pieces
1 2 oz jar mushrooms – drained or 1/4 cup mushroom gravy
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup water

Directions:

Trim all excess fat from roast; brown and drain if using chuck or another highly marbled cut. Combine 1/4 cup flour, the salt and pepper. Coat meat with the flour mixture. Place all vegetables except mushrooms in Crock-Pot and top with roast (cut roast in half, if necessary, to fit easily). Spread mushrooms evenly over top of roast. Cover and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours. If desired, turn to High during last hour to soften vegetables and make a gravy. To thicken gravy, make a smooth paste of the 3 tablespoons flour and the water and stir into Crock-Pot. Season to taste before serving.

Serves: 4-6

WW Points per serving: 7

Recipe Source: http://www.laaloosh.com

My thoughts:

This is a great recipe. The house smelled amazing when I got home from work and the dish was very flavorful. However, we cooked in on low for 10 hours and the meat was overdone - and I'm a well-done kind of girl. I'd try this again, but cook for a shorter amount of time.

Crockpot Love

We had a great time in Washington DC and I will post photos soon. When I came back from DC, I weighed myself and realized that I had made my first Weight Watchers goal. Woot Woot! I then proceeded to eat everything in sight for a week to celebrate. lol

So, I vowed to get back on the wagon. In my preparation for grocery shopping last weekend, I came across a few WW-friendly crock pot recipes. M & I chose two and added the ingredients to our list, then headed out to the store. We spent $125, which is more than we usually do in a week. But, we actually had a cart full of real food and a plan for three nights that week. This was a first and it was sort of exciting in a weird sort of way.

We've used the crockpot before but only on weekends. So, this whole prepping before work and having it cook all day thing is very new for us. But, I looooooooooooooooove it.

I think it's going to be a weekly occurrence in our house from now on. I posted on facebook a few times about it and my friends apparently love their crockpots too. But, everyone seems to only have a few select recipes. So, I decided to try some new ones and post them on here to share with everyone. I'll try to update the blog weekly and review the recipes we've made. But, I'm pretty busy with work and school, so we'll see what happens. If you're reading this and have a good recipe to share, send it on over. Even if you are unsure if it is Weight Watchers friendly...I have access to the recipe builder on their website and will use that to figure out how many points per serving each recipe is.

For now, here is an excellent resource for Crockpot Recipes: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/. Stephanie O'Dea spent all 365 days of 2008 getting intimate with her crockpots. All the recipes on her site are Gluten free as well. Her book just came out on Tuesday and can be found at my favorite book store by clicking here.