This is a home-style dish that is nice and hearty and full of flavor

Ingredients:

• Two tsp olive oil
• ¾ pound chicken breast, cut into ¾ inch cubes
• Four ounces of mushrooms (sliced)
• One can of crushed tomatoes
• Four large garlic cloves (crushed)
• Twelve fresh basil leaves (minced)
• One tbsp. dried onions (minced)
• Two tsp. sugar
• 1/8 tsp. celery seeds
• 1/8 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
• One tsp. mild (Louisiana-style) pepper sauce
• Three ounces of Swiss cheese (reduced fat) and cubed
• ¼ cup of bread crumbs (season)
• Eight ounces of rotelle

Preparation:

This will make about six servings

First, heat the oil in a large pan on medium heat, and then add in the chicken and the mushrooms. Then sauté it until the chicken is a bit browned. This will take about seven minutes

Then take the chicken mixture and the tomatoes, the garlic, the basil, the sugar, the onions, the nutmeg, the pepper sauce, and the celery seeds, and add it all in the crock-pot. Then cover it and cook it all on low until the chicken is tender and cooked thoroughly, for about six to eight minutes. Then add in the cheese and cook it until it melts, for about twenty minutes.

While you are doing this, cook the pasta according to the directions. Then drain it all and you are almost ready to serve. Just split it all among six plates. Top with the chicken mixture and the bread crumbs.

There are about 365 calories per serving and 6.5 grams of fat.

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• Two ½ pounds flat beef briskets (trim the fat)
• Two ½ cups of water
• One onion, cut into wedges
• Four cloves of garlic (sliced)
• One bay leaf
• One tsp. pickling spice
• ½ cup cider vinegar
• One tsp coriander leaves

Preparation:

Take the beef, water, onion, garlic, bay leaf, vinegar, pickling spice, and coriander seeds and add to the crock pot. Then cover it and let it cook on a low heat setting until the beef has become tender and nice and the meat thermometer is 160 degrees or more. This will take you about eight to ten hours.

Then remove it all and place on a platter, let it cool down a bit. Then shred the beef and throw away the fat. You may use this beef to create several dishes like beef and corn burritos, beef stir fry, and much more!

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This is a unique pot roast that has a very flavorful gravy!

Ingredients

• Non stick cooking spray
• Two pounds of top round roast beef (trim the fat)
• Six onions (quartered)
• Six cloves of garlic (pressed)
• Eight ounces of mushrooms, quartered
• Twelve ounces of nonalcoholic beer
• One bay leaf
• ½ cup of cold water
• ¼ tsp. of ground nutmeg
• A pinch of ground cinnamon
• Two tsp. of browning and seasoning sauce
• ¼ cup of flour
• Sixteen ounces of wide noodles

Preparation:

This will make about eight servings

First, coat a pan with the spray and let it heat on medium. Then add in the beef and cook it until it has browned, making sure to stir sometimes, this will take you about eight minutes. Then remove the beef and add to the crock pot along with the mushrooms, garlic, onions, bay leaf, and the beer. Cover this all and let it cook at a low for about eight to ten hours or until the beef is nice and tender and the meat thermometer is about 160 degrees.

Then remove the beef and take it a platter, but reserve the beer mixture. Make sure to keep the beef warm. Then throw away the bay leaf. Then pour the beer mixture into a pan.

In a measuring cup, take and combine the turmeric, cinnamon, water, flour, and browning sauce. Then pour this into the beer mixture in the pan and heat this on medium until it thickens.

In the meantime, cook all of the noodles as the directions say, and drain.

Then slice the beef and serve with the noodles and the beer mixture.

This recipe has about 433 calories per serving and about 7.1 grams of fat.

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The lean roast is a wonderful slow cooker! The gravy compliments this dish really nicely.

Ingredients:

• Olive oil cooking spray
• 2 ½ pounds eye of round beef roast (trim the fat)
• Two onions (cut into thin wedges)
• Four ounces of mushrooms (sliced)
• One can of fat free beef broth
• ¼ cup of dry red wine
• Four cloves of minced garlic
• ¼ cup of dry red wine
• 2 ½ tbsp. instant flour
• One tsp. of browning and seasoning sauce

Preparation:

This dish will make about eight servings

First, coat a pan with the nonstick olive oil spray, and then heat it on medium. Then add in the beef and let it cook until it browns, making sure to turn the beef. This will take you about five to ten minutes. Then remove it and add it to the crock pot

In the same pan, take and sauté the onions and the mushrooms, making sure to stir it. Do this until it has browned slightly (this will take you about four minutes) Then add it to the crock pot along with the broth, wine, and the garlic. Then cover this all and let it cook on low until the beef has become nice and tender (this will probably take you about eight to ten hours, and the meat thermometer will be about 160 degrees)

Then take the beef out and add to a platter, but reserve the broth and the vegetables, make sure to keep the beef warm. Then pour the broth and the vegetables in a saucepan.

In a measuring cup, mix the water, seasoning sauce, and flour. Then mix this into the broth and vegetable mixture. Then cook it all over medium heat until it has thickened, make sure to stir it. Then slice the beef and serve it with the broth mixture as a topping.

This recipe is about 229 calories and has 5.5 grams of fat per serving.

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Ingredients

• Three cups of crushed tomatoes
• Two cans of great northern beans
• ½ pound of Canadian bacon (cut into ¼ inch cubes)
• One medium minced onion
• ¼ cup of brown sugar
• One tbsp. coarse brown mustard
• Two tbsp. rd wine vinegar
• ½ tsp. hickory smoke flavoring

Preparation:

This will make about 10 servings

First, take the tomatoes, the beans, the bacon, the onions, the mustard, the sugar, the smoke flavoring, and the vinegar and add it all into the crock pot. Then cover this all and cook it on a low for about seven to nine hours.

This meal has about 202 calories per serving and about 2.2 grams of fat.

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This is a simple dish, but it is extremely tasteful!

Ingredients:

• Two ounces of cooked sweet Italian sausage (sliced thinly)
• One can of stewed sliced tomatoes
• One can of fat free beer broth
• Two cups of rinsed and drained canned cannelloni beans
• One large carrot (sliced thinly)
• One potato (chopped finely)
• Three sprigs of thyme
• One tbsp. of chili sauce

Preparation:

Take and combine the tomatoes, broth, sausage, potatoes, carrots, thyme, beans, and the chili sauce and add it all to the crock pot. Then cover it all and cook on low until the potatoes have become tender, this will take about five to six hours. You may also cook it on high and it will take about three or our hours. Throw away the thyme sprigs.

This recipe has about 225 calories per serving and about 1.1 grams of fat.

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Garbanzo Chili with ham and Peppers: This is a deliciously hot and very hearty meal, you will love it!

Ingredients:

• ¼ pound of thinly sliced ham
• One can of crushed tomatoes’
• One can of garbanzo beans
• One can of pinto beans, rinsed and then drained
• One large onion (chopped)
• Two green bell peppers
• ½ cup of water
• Two tbsp of chili powder
• One tbsp of cider vinegar
• One tsp cumin seeds
• Six coves of garlic
• One dried cayenne pepper (seeded and the minced)
• One small avocado (diced)

Preparation:

This will make about 8 servings

Take the ham, the tomatoes, the pinto beans, the garbanzo beans, the onion, the chili powder, the bell peppers, the vinegar, the garlic, the cumin seeds, the cayenne pepper, and the water and add into the crock-pot. Then cover it and let it cook at a low until the vegetables are nice and tender and the flavors have become nicely blended. This will take about four to six hours on low, but you may cook it at a high for three to four hours.

This recipe has 268 calories per serving and has 6.4 grams of fat.

** make sure to wear some gloves when you are chopping/ seeding the chilies, or else the compound within the chili will sting and burn your fingers. **

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Fajitas with cumin seeds: Slow cooking this dish will get you a mouth watering dish!

Ingredients:

• ½ pound of lean chips (cut it into thin strips)
• ¼ cup of fat free beef both
• Two medium onions (cut in half length wise and sliced thinly)
• One medium sweet green or red pepper (sliced thinly)
• Six cloves of garlic (minced)
• ½ tsp. cumin seeds
• One chili pepper (minced)
• ½ cup of frozen corn
• ½ cup of cooked black beans
• Juice from a lime
• Four flour (or corn) tortillas
• Four tbsp. nonfat sour cream
• ½ cup of medium or hot salsa
• For the garnish: Sprigs of cilantro

Preparation:

This will make four servings (or 4 fajitas)

Take the steak, the onions, the broth, the steak, the garlic, the broth, the corn, the chili pepper, the cumin, and the beans and add it all to the pot. Then cover it all and cook at a low until the steak has become nice and tender. This will take you about seven to eight hours.

Then take the steak and divide it within the tortillas, and roll them up. Then place it in a microwave safe dish and sprinkle it with the lime juice. Then warm it all in the microwave oven for about one minute. You may also warm it in the regular oven, just cover it with some foil and place in a preheated oven for five minutes at about 325 degrees. Now you are ready to serve, just top with the sour cream and the salsa and use the cilantro as a garnish.

This dish will have about 377 calories per serving and 9.3 grams of fat.

** you may also use ground cumin instead**

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These are some great guidelines to help you along in your cooking.

Meats and Poultry

• Buy meat roosts in the sizes and shapes that properly fit your crock-pot, or you will have to find other ways to cut it so that it will fit.
• Use lean meat cuts for low fat meals, or cut away all of the fat before you cook. Also, remove the skin.
• Brown any ground beef, chicken, lamb, or turkey in a pan/ skillet over a medium heat, so that you give the pastas, chilies, and other sauces a nice flavor and color. If you wish to lower the fat content, do it in a non stick pan or use non stock spray. When you have browned the meat, transfer it into the crock-pot.
• Cook meat (chicken, pork, turkey) that is cubed, for about ten hours, but make sure to check up on it after seven hours to see if it is ready.

Vegetables

• Place thick vegetables like carrots and potatoes at the pots bottom, let them stay there under liquid for enough time to keep everything cooked nicely overall. Then put the meat on top of the vegetables, because the meat will cook faster then the vegetables ( it’s true!) Add in any liquid last
• When you are cutting vegetables, cut them evenly for cooking. Smaller sizes are great.
• Stir frozen vegetables during the last half hour of cooking
• Add tender( peas, etc) and highly flavorful ( cauliflower, broccoli, etc) and green ( spinach, etc) vegetables last during the last thirty minutes of cooking.
• Darken onions, and vegetables beforehand, so that you add some color to the dish, and flavor as well. Use the low fat technique mentioned above

Pasta, rice, and grains

• If you want nice and full rice, use the long grain variety.
• Add in the raw rice and barley at the last hour of cooking. You do not want to let the rice cook for hours, because it will be very sticky and sloppy, basically a mess. For another method, you could cook the rice as you would normally on a pot on the stove, and then add it into the meal during the last 15 minutes of cooking.
• The cooking time for brown rice is about twice that of regular rice.
• Use an extra ½ cup of water for ever ½ of grains.
• Add some pasta to your soups in the last few (last 10) minutes of cooking. For any other dish, cook the pasta as you would normally, and then put it in the pot as soon as it is done, right before you are almost ready to serve the dish.

Dried Beans

• All cooking times vary with different bean types and all the different ingredients that are coked with them. Some types, like baby limas take less time to cook than chick-peas and kidney beans. Remember that as the beans grow, they will expand in volume, in fact the volume of the cooked beans will practically double.
• When you are cooking beans like chick peas or kidney beans, make sure to cook it with about three times the volume of water in a regular pot, for ten minutes. Then drain the beans and then add them to the pot with the other ingredients.
• Make sure to soften beans before you add in sweeteners (like brown sugar, honey, and syrup) or acidic foods (like tomatoes) because these will harden the beans as you cook. So, boil the beans for about ten minutes and then lower the heat. Then cover and let the beans simmer until they become nice and tender. Then throw away the water. You may now add it to the rest of the ingredients in the pot.

Cheese, Milk, And Other Dairy Products

• Add in cheese, yogurt, and cream in dishes, soup, and stews right before you are to serve. Then cook it for just enough time to melt the cheese and to warm the ingredients. It is not a good idea to cook dairy products for a long time with the other ingredients, because the dairy will separate and look curdled.
• If you have to cook the cheese with the other ingredients for a lengthy time, use processed cheese instead, because it does much better with heat.
• Add the milk just before you serve the dish, unless it is a dessert, and you have to cook it in for two to three hours, because the milk will curdle if you cook it for two long.
• If you are to cook for a lengthy time, use evaporated milk, because it will last much longer without curdling. It also makes a nice low fat dish.

Fish

• Add in the shellfish, clams, shrimp, and other such things during the last thirty minutes of cooking. If you let it cook with the other ingredients for too long, it will harden.
• Add in small bits of tough fish like salmon in the last thirty minutes of your cooking. Then cook until it is done. If the fish are done, they will easily flake.
• If you are to cook for a long time, do not use light and delicate fish, such as flounder, because it will not hold nicely.

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These are some amazingly helpful tips when it comes to slow cooking your meals!

• At the end of your cooking, adjust the seasonings. There are some spices that become much more flavorful with longer cooking (such as pepper), however there are others that become diluted and not as powerful (such as basil). There is a good rule that you should follow, add in ground spices and tender herbs at the end and whole spices at the beginning. Before you serve, taste your dish and see if it needs seasoning adjustment!
• For a nice visual touch, garnish your dishes. It will add color and life to your dishes, becomes oftentimes lengthy cooking will give a duller color. You can use several different things for garnish like : crumbled bacon, tomatoes, sour cream, yogurt, ground nutmeg, paprika, lemon wedges, orange wedges, parsley sprigs, cilantro sprigs, cheese, ground nuts, and much more!
• When cooking soups, use smaller amounts of liquid. Before you serve the soup, add more liquid to thin it, by adding broth, water, milk, etc. Then cover it and cook on a high for about thirty minutes.
• You may give your cooking a nice jump start by heating the crock pot on high beforehand
• Try to avoid the temptation of peeking into the crock pot, because the more you lift up the lid, the longer it will take to cook. Try to remove the lid only during the last thirty minutes of your cooking.
• To make the best of your time, have the ingredients ready ahead of time.
• Fill the crock pots to about ¾ of the way full, and make sure to follow the manufactures guide
• If you live at a higher altitude, increase the cooking times as needed.

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