Simple Crock Pot Roast

Any type of roast will work, even the cheap pieces of meat. I like pepper, so the rub may be too peppery for some people. Just reduce the amount of pepper used if you are not a pepper fan. The rub amount in this recipe is for a small to medium roast. If you have a large roast, just double the spice ingredients.


Ingredients


1 Roast - any size that will fit in your crock-pot
1 1/2 cups beef broth (use two cups broth for larger roast)
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon crushed rosemary
1 teaspoon sage


Directions
Trim excess fat from roast. Place roast and broth in crock-pot. In a small bowl, combine all spice ingredients. Rub top and sides of roast with rub. Follow cooking temperatures below. Once roast is done cooking, the broth can be poured into a sauce pan to make delicious gravy.


You can also add whole medium size potatoes that have been washed and stabbed with a forked into the broth. Do not cut into small pieces or the potatoes will be mushy after 8 hour of cooking.


Crock-pot settings:


1. If starting crock pot early a.m., (before work for instance) turn crock-pot on medium heat and allow roast to cook a minimum of 8.5 hours or more.


2. If starting roast mid-morning, turn crock-pot on high for one hour then reduce heat to medium and cook for 8.5 hours or more.

Pasta & Chicken (or Kielbasa)

This is a quick and easy recipe for those busy days.

Ingredients

1/2 package to 3/4 package Penne Pasta

2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped into bite-size pieces (or left over cooked chicken about 2 cups chopped)

1 Kielbasa can be substituted for the chicken.

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon minced onion

Optional items can be added:

1 medium tomato, cut into bite size pieces

4 medium mushrooms, chopped into slices

1/4 cup yellow zucchini, chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons crushed basil or Italian herbs, or herbs de province.

Directions

Sauté onion and bell peppers until onion is just translucent. Add minced garlic, salt, pepper, and minced onion and cook 3 minutes more (the mushrooms, and yellow zucchini can be added at this point.)  Add cooked chicken (or Kielbasa) and cook until warm (approximately 3-5 minutes.) The optional chopped tomatoes should be added during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Meanwhile Cook pasta according to package directions and drain water.

Combine the 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs. Stir until combined.

In a large bowl, combine pasta, chicken mixture and olive oil mixture. Toss to coat and serve.

Pozole

A soup you can find in cans in the Hispanic section of the store. This recipe is very good, especially on a cold day.

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds pork loin

2 medium onions, chopped

8 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon oregano leaves, crushed

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3 quarts chicken broth

 1  7-oz can green chilies

2, 1-lb cans hominy or garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

Optional

Sour cream

Green onions

Directions

Remove all fat from pork loin and cut into bite size pieces. In a large stock pot, combine pork, onion, garlic, chili powder, oregano, pepper and 1 cup of the broth. Bring to boil, cover and simmer rapidly on medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover pan and stir often on medium high heat until broth is gone, meat is streaked with brown and drippings are richly brown. Add 1 cup broth and stir drippings from pan. Add remainder of broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for approximately 1 1/2 hours or until meat is tender. Add green chilies and hominy, cook for about 15 minutes.