FOOD

Human flesh.

Humus

Livna wrote:Humus

Take Beano first...  I'm just saying...

Grindboy wrote:All right, I'm afraid that in good conscience I need to report back and say that the slow cooker macaroni and cheese recipe that I posted was not a hit tonight with myself or my 13 year old.  Kind of flavorless mush, as shocked as I was that such great ingredients couldn't produce something delicious.

So here's one we've been using for forever, easy and cheap and healthy, it's too much for 1 person but makes great leftovers:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cans of corn, drained
1 can of black beans, drained
1 jar of salsa (16 oz probably, but honestly whatever)

cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8.  For bonus points sprinkle some shredded cheese over the top 5 minutes before serving.  Can't go wrong.


By the way, welcome to the board, kids bop is lame.  But know that Kids Bop is, in fact, awesome.

If you do this, make sure to put the chicken on bottom so it won't dry out.

Deepfriar wrote:

Livna wrote:Humus

Take Beano first...  I'm just saying...

Pfft... Amateurs... Sriracha is all you need!

Driven wrote:Buy a barbeque and cook pork chops, chicken, burgers, whatever.

This man speaks the truth. I love to cook on my grill. I've cooked everything from burgers, brats and steaks to chicken and even this year I grilled the turkey for Thanksgiving!

And if you buy a cast iron skillet (something you will never need to replace in your lifetime) you can even throw it on the grill for cooking all kinds of foods.

Welcome kids-bop-is-lame to the forums!

Everyone, this is my lovely wife.

Welcome KBIL!  And thank you for your ideas!  Well, next time I go grocery shopping, I'm going to have to print out this thread as a shopping list.    Also, a crock-pot is on my list of things to buy.  I'll probably wait til after Christmas and hopefully get a good deal on one.

For crock-pots, what do y'all recommend?  In the past, I've used my mom's which is older than I am and the "standard" size I believe.  I know they make 'em bigger and smaller.  I'd probably go for just the simple off/high/low one without any fancy electronics.  Any specific brands, sizes, or the like that you've found to be better or worse than the others?  Thanks!

Adam wrote:

Driven wrote:Buy a barbeque and cook pork chops, chicken, burgers, whatever.

This man speaks the truth. I love to cook on my grill. I've cooked everything from burgers, brats and steaks to chicken and even this year I grilled the turkey for Thanksgiving!

And if you buy a cast iron skillet (something you will never need to replace in your lifetime) you can even throw it on the grill for cooking all kinds of foods.

He speaks with truth and true intentions, yet with an honest inaccuracy which you corrected.  "Barbeque" and "grill," although often used as synonyms (where "barbeque" is meant to mean "grill" -- nobody would ever say "grill" and mean "barbeque"), are tremendously different.  He means "Buy a grill," which is absolutely a great idea.  If anybody actually buys a barbeque and learns to use it, please move to NH and open a restaurant.  Good bbq here is almost as hard to find as fresh seafood in Nebraska.

I'd get a 3 or 4-quart slow cooker.  With a family or if you want to do huge batches a 6 quart is great, but would really be overkill for a bachelor and they take up a ton of space.  The really small ones, if it was me, wouldn't be enough to be worth the trouble -- if you're going to make a killer meal, I'd think you'd want to enjoy it for a couple of days.  And absolutely, if you stay away from the electronics they can be very reasonable.  For a single dude I'd just get whatever cheap brand.  They're not complicated and you'll get 4 of them when you get married anyway.

Btw -- the one terrible thing about slow cookers is cleaning them.  Stuff gets stuck on, baked on, crusted. . . but they sell liners that you can put inside.  They'll be $1-$1.50 per (usually in packs of 4 or so), but if you aren't that close to the edge they're awesome.  No clean up at all, the bag just lifts right out, put it in the fridge for leftovers or the trash if it's gone, and your life just got better!

Kerrick wrote:Well, next time I go grocery shopping, I'm going to have to print out this thread as a shopping list.

Just highlight this:

Deepfriar wrote:Ramen noodles, summer sausage (not at the same time).

Oh, and white cheddar rice cakes.

press Ctrl+P, and check to print "Selection only."

Win.

easy pork chop crockpot dinner...

2 or 3 pork chops 
Cream of mushroom soup 
Sliced mushrooms 
1/2 cup milk

Brown pork chops in skillet (lol not the band!). Transfer to crockpot add your cream of mushroom soup, milk, mushrooms. Cook on lower setting 6-8 hours. 

Great idea for when you leave for work. Prepare first thing in the morning and you've got dinner when you get home. Comes out tender every time. Serve with mashed potatoes and a salad. Also makes great leftovers to bring for lunch.

Kerrick wrote:Welcome KBIL!  And thank you for your ideas!  Well, next time I go grocery shopping, I'm going to have to print out this thread as a shopping list.    Also, a crock-pot is on my list of things to buy.  I'll probably wait til after Christmas and hopefully get a good deal on one.

For crock-pots, what do y'all recommend?  In the past, I've used my mom's which is older than I am and the "standard" size I believe.  I know they make 'em bigger and smaller.  I'd probably go for just the simple off/high/low one without any fancy electronics.  Any specific brands, sizes, or the like that you've found to be better or worse than the others?  Thanks!

I'd get at least a 3 qt. We have a 4 qt. for just the three of us and a 6 qt. for dinner parties and whatnot. As far as the electronics and stuff, the simpler the better. Both of ours are high, low, keep warm and off.

Crock pots can do amazing things. You can even bake a cake in there!

Cake in a crockpot? Sounds interesting please enlighten me. In the meantime I'm gonna try Jessie's crockpot pork chop recipe

Livna wrote:Cake in a crockpot? Sounds interesting please enlighten me. In the meantime I'm gonna try Jessie's crockpot pork chop recipe

1. take a large sheet of parchment paper and line the crock pot with it. Make sure it's big enough that it covers the bottom and still reaches up and over the edges of the crock pot (kind of like a coffee filter that is too big for it's basket).
2. Pour in cake mix and bake on high for 1 hour
3. Then bake on low for about 2 hours or until you can insert a large toothpick and it comes out clean.
4. Once cake is baked, simply pull out the parchment paper by the edges and set on cooling rack to cool.
5. Then remove paper and cake is ready to be iced or served.

Livna wrote:Cake in a crockpot? Sounds interesting please enlighten me. In the meantime I'm gonna try Jessie's crockpot pork chop recipe

Daughter did this for 4H years ago and it made something like a molten cake gone sloppy.  I think the dessert was good.  i also have a faint memory of it being a pain to clean -up.

Like Grindboy said, I think you would be best with something bigger than those dipper-size ones maybe a 2qt?  

Many of the ones they sell nowadays have it were you can take the crock out to put it in the sink/dishwasher

We have a large 6qt one and a regular size one.  I can put a 3 pound roast into the little one with veggies.  I think it is a 2.5qt.  we got it as a wedding present nearly 20 years ago and it works fine.  (just remember to plug it in and turn it on   )

Tonight we are having Unstuffed Peppers an idea I adapted from BudgetBytes.  Here is my version

This serves 12, so you will have to adjust it for yourself

2-3 lbs. ground beef 

1 package El Popular Chorizo (I imagine you can find some good stuff out there, but in the Midwest they don't know much about Mexican, southwest-Mexican, or Tex-Mex, cooking )

rice (I like to cook the rice separately, because when I cook it in the pot, the rice never gets done)

mexican/ro-tel tomatoes (I puree it because my family will pick out any 'maters they can see,)

beef broth? (I can't remember)

chopped bell peppers different colors make it not boring

diced onion 
(in our house "diced" is more like their version of minced and "chopped" is more like diced )

garlic

brown chorizo.  remove from pot and drain grease.
brown ground beef.  Add peppers, onion,and garlic.  cook for a few more minutes.  return chorizo to pan.
add everything else and cook until done.

You could always not chop the pepper and stuff the pepper the ol'fashioned way and then stick it in the oven to cook.

I got a crock pot for my birthday and today marks its [iron] maiden voyage.    I concocted some spicy chili and can't wait to get home from work and dig in!

I'm with the crock pot users. My wife is always making something in it. My quick meal is french toast or pancakes and pizza with the pouches for the dough cheese, I use white pizza sauce and whatever meat I find in the fridge. Pancakes I add fruit or mini chocolate chips. Also pre-make my own Sausage egg McMuffins with cheese for breakfast. I make the round eggs and sausage at the beginning of the week. Toast the muffin or use bread. Homemade waffles with chicken or turkey gravy also.