Favorite Recipes - Complete Slow-Cooker MEALS

I love utilizing my slow cooker, but it's a total drag when you spend your morning prepping something to go in the slow cooker, and then have to prep again before dinner to get the rest of the meal ready. Kind of takes away the convenience of using a slow cooker.  Today's recipes are two meals we've tried recently that are complete stand-alone meals in the slow cooker.  *Full disclosure: I actually boiled some fresh green beans to eat with the pork chops - but that took almost no effort, and it would have still been a meal without the beans.

• The Recipe: Apple Pie Pork Chops
• Pork chops, slow roasted with apples, potatoes and onions. Simple, but yummy!
• 4 pork chops, browned

  4 potatoes, cubed

  3 apples, cored and cubed

  1/2 onion, chopped

  1 t cinnamon

  2 T brown sugar, packed

   

  Arrange pork chops in a crock pot.  Top with potatoes, apples and onion; sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar.  Cover and cook in crock pot for 4-5 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low.  Serves 4. 
• The Revision: I followed this recipe pretty closely. Brandon has a philosophy that you can cut down on the sugar in almost any recipe. That probably holds true here. I used 2 Tbls, but you could definitely get by with less.
• The Rave: Apple pie and pork chops sounds like a strange combination - but it totally works!  The recipe was actually called "Brown Sugar Pork Chops" originally - but I thought it tasted like apple pie, and that name sounds more exciting to me :)  The cinnamon and brown sugar, combined with the softened apples, make it taste like dessert for dinner, but they also help to keep the pork moist and give it a great flavor.

• The Recipe: Cilantro Lime Chicken
• A fiesta-lime chicken dish with corn, black beans and tomatoes
1 1/2 -2 pounds chicken breasts
Juice from 2 limes or 1/4 cup bottled
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn
2 minced garlic cloves or 1 Tbsp canned minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small can diced tomatoes, drained
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder (or more to taste)

Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine all remaining ingredients; pour over chicken. Cook on LOW for 8 hours. Serve with guacamole and sour cream!
• The Revision:  I don't love cilantro, so one cup sounded like A LOT to me. I used probably less than 1/4 cup. But if you love cilantro, go crazy. Other than that, I followed the recipe.
• The Rave: This was yummy. And so easy. It would also work well as a make-ahead freezer meal. Just mix all the ingredients (including chicken breasts) in a gallon freezer-bag and toss in the freezer. When you want to cook it, pull it out and place in the fridge for 24 hours before you dump it all in the slow cooker. The guac and sour cream really made the meal for me - so don't skip them!

Previous posts in this series:

Favorite Recipes - Soups! Edition

Favorite Recipes - Desserts Edition

Favorite Recipes - Recipe Pairs