Hey everyone! 

I live in DC and weathered Sandy relatively well (but it was my time - in two prior storms this year I lost a tree each time - the first one crushing my fence, the second one taking out my downspouts and putting a hole in the side of my house)

I even had cable, internet and phone service the entire time!

Which brings me to my point.  During the long day, I decided to give myself an early Christmas present.  I bought myself a crockpot!

I'm now nearly 7 weeks out from surgery and starting to have real foods (abet soft foods).  I've had chicken, beef, veggies, fruits, and beans!  Obviously only the soft stuff.  So I figured having a crockpot and cooking meals in that would be a great addition. 

So, does anyone have any good crockpot recipes?  I'm still on small portions and gotta chew-chew-chew - even more so than I imagined ****ep getting food caught and have to throw up)

Crockpots are fantastic after WLS since the meats come out very soft.  This website is great for all kinds of crockpot recipes and she gives reviews of everything she tries.  I have tried about a dozen of the recipes and loved them all...esp. the foil wrapped whole baked chicken and the recipes for Korean ribs but I just use the marinade she gives an a  whole frozen roast and shred it for tacos in lettuce wraps.

crockpot365.blogspot dot com

Good Luck

Lisa

My favorite thing to eat at that stage was Great Northern Beans. They had a great salt content, which I craved.

bag of great northern beans (soak a few hours)

2 smoked turkey drumsticks

garlic powder, chicken boullion (3-4) onion powder, oregano, 2 bay leaves Lawreys Season Salt.

I cook the drumsticks in a pot on the stove until the meat falls off using the seasoning above to taste, Once the meat is falling off the bones, take them out and cool. Debone & diced them. Place beans, diced onions, & turkey in crock pot and then add enough of the broth you boiled turkey in until it covers the beans. Cook on high until the beans are done. You may have to continue adding broth or water depending on how much the beans cook up. I always add more of the above listed seasoning to the beans because they will absorb alot, but that is just me. My family likes strong seasonings in things. Once they are done, you can either puree everythingso the Turkey gets ground down or pick out the turkey. But, the smoked turkey gived an awesome flavor.

I cannot recommend this cookbook highly enough: "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two" by Beth Hensberger.

Absolutely delicious, every one of them.  I find for my husband and me, there is ample quantity for left overs of many of the dishes.  The Baby Beef Stew Classico feeds us for a week of lunches!   

This chicken recipe is one of my favorites

Moroccan-Spiced Tomato Chicken with Almonds

Setting and time: Low for 2 to 2 ½ hrs (boneless); 4-4 ½ hrs for bone-in

1 T olive oil

3 T slivered almonds (optional—I often don’t use them)

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

6 chicken thighs

1 ½ C tomato salsa

3 T dried currants or golden raisins

2 T plus 1 t honey

3/8 t ground cumin

3/8 t ground cinnamon

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.  Heat oil in large skillet.  Add almonds, if using, and cook, stirring until golden.  Remove from skillet with slotted spoon and set aside to drain on paper towels.

Add garlic to skillet and cook, stirring,just until fragrant.  Add chicken thighs to skillet and cook, turning once, until lightly browned.  Transfer contents of skillet to slow cooker.

Combine salsa, honey, currants, cumin and cinnamon.  Pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on LOW for 2 to 2 ½ hrs (boneless) or 4- 4 ½ hrs (bone in).  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve hot, topped with almonds.

If you are willing to spend a little more money, Amazon has some amazing crockpot cookbooks that I love for decent prices. If you are wanting something free, just google "freezer meals" which you cook in crockpots and can make large batches for easy weekday cooking. Or google "crockpot" meals and the results are endless! Have fun! I LOVE my crockpot!

Oops, I also meant to mention that googling "freezer meals" results in some awesome blogs with tons of recipes.

chicken stroganoff...

4 chicken breasts  placed in the crockpot.., Mix 1 can cr. of chicken soup 98% fat free, 1 fat free or lite 16 oz sour cream, 1 envelope of dry lipton onion soup mix.   Put this over the chicken and let it cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.  I used to make this even when i was in the pureed stage as it was so tender and i could use the juice to moisten it up more.  This can be served over rice or noodles for the rest of the family.

The simplest "recipe" I have is for chicken and it has gotten me through so far haha

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, your favorite jarred salsa, garlic salt

Just put the chicken thighs in, pour in enough salsa to cover the thighs, sprinkle in some garlic salt. Put it on low for around 7 hours, give or take. I just check on it throughout the day and sprinkle more garlic salt and stir it when I do. When its ready, shredd the chicken, it will be super tender. If there is a lot of juice, drain some of the juice, you dont want i****ery. I eat the chicken just like that, but for my family they use it for burritos and quesadillas

I love the Crockin' Girls website http://crockingirls.com/ but my go to recipes are Tamale Pie and Taco Soup. The Taco Soup recipe is on Nik's website http://bariatricfoodie.blogspot.com/2012/06/teddis-taco-soup .html and the Tamale Pie recipe is on the Crockin Girls website.

Black Bean Soup

1/2 cup each chopped carrots,celery, onion, green pepper

3 cans undrained black beans (15 oz each)

2 cans Rotel tomatoes and green chilies undrained (11 oz each)

1 can whole kernel corn drained (11 oz)

1-1/2 tbs. cumin

Throw in a crockpot and let it cook.  To thicken I took one can of the black beans and pureed before I added.

If you want additional protein, add some shredded cheese, but it is not necessary if you are trying to keep the calories down. 

You can also omit the corn if you wish to reduce carbs.

Delicious!  I freeze in small portions and take to work for lunch.