Category Archives: Crockpot Creations

Hardcore Hobbit: Roast Beef

Posted on November 14, 2011 | 2 comments

As LOTRO says, “nothing can beat this savory pot roast”. So delicious! I don’t make roast very often because of the expense of buying one, what I keep forgetting though is each time I buy one it makes a few meals, not just one. With that consideration it’s actually a bargain when you pick one up on sale and oh so tasty. In the game roast beef is made with salt, cauliflower, and marinated beef (beef, green onion, salt). I highly recommend doing a roast in the crockpot, I find I get the most tender meat this way with very little fuss. I also always cook my roast from frozen, again omg tender! It will also make it’s own gravy this way. My mouth is watering just thinking about this roast again. Time to get to pictures and recipes before I raid the fridge.

  • 1 roast of choice, frozen
  • 2 tbl cornstarch
  • 2 pouches beef low salt oxo
  • 1 tsp herbs de provence
  • 4 tbl white wine
  • 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 1 tsp dry mustard powder
  • pinch salt and pepper
  • 2 cup cauliflower
  • 2 tbl margarine
  • 1 tsp steak spice
  • green onion, sliced
  1. Place the roast in a crockpot, top and surrounding with the next nine ingredients on the list.
  2. Cover and cook for 6 hours on high or 10 hours on low.
  3. Before serving, boil a pot of water. Add the cauliflower and cook until fork tender, about 10 minutes or less. Drain. Add the margarine and steak spice. Mash. Season to taste.
  4. Serve and top with gravy from the crockpot and green onions.

There are so many variables in this recipe, cut of meat, size of cut, etc. So sadly I cannot give nutritional values for this one. The picture above is from my husband’s plate, it is a surly dwarf portion for sure. A hobbit trying to watch their figure should probably aim for a portion that looks more like this:and go easy on the gravy…I know…it’s hard. So nummy!

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Hardcore Hobbit: Wild Mushroom Soup

Posted on October 26, 2011 | 4 comments

To make up for not posting for so long I have made it a double hardcore hobbit recipe week. Am I forgiven? How about after you taste this soup? It is delicious! It is exactly what I needed after a busy day. I paired it with some light havarti stuffed buns. Omnomnom! In Lotro this soup is made using mushrooms, mixed herbs, and leek stock. Fantastic! The soup was nummy nutritious velvet in a bowl. With the large serving size it was incredibly filling, a great dinner course all on it’s own. What hobbit would protest a dinner with mushrooms as the star? Shall we?

  • 5 cups Hardcore Hobbit Leek Stock
  • 4-5 cups various mushrooms, sliced (I used shiitake, portobello, and crimini)
  • 2 tbl soy sauce
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • 1 fl. ounce dry sherry
  1. Combine the ingredients in a crockpot. Do not worry if the mushrooms seem to over power the amount of stock, they will cook down and provide their own liquid.
  2. Cook for 8 hours on low (or stovetop simmer 30- 60 minutes)
  3. Using a handblender or blending in batches process the soup until it is blended. I went with a texture that was blended but not smooth. I liked the variations in colour and texture. That is personal taste, go with what you like! Season with extra salt or pepper as needed. Serve.
  4. Want a tasty variation? My husband topped his soup with fat free sour cream. He even made a ghost on top to celebrate the season. Isn’t it cute? I tasted his variation and it is indeed nummy!!

Makes 5 generous and filling servings. Each serving contains 205 calories, 5 grams fat, 35 grams carbs, 4.7 grams fibre, and 5.9 grams protein. A great fall day treat. Using local mushrooms makes the flavour of those mushrooms sing! When selecting your variety of mushrooms you might want to check out what is local to your particular shire and in season. Every hobbit deserves the best mushrooms they can find.

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Hardcore Hobbit: Leek Stock

Posted on October 24, 2011 | 6 comments

My first weekend at yoga teacher training was a crazy one but a great one! I met a whole bunch of awesome new people AND I worked a couple of really tasty recipes on the side. Epic win! I made this mostly in the crockpot while I was away at training, so it’s perfect for you other busy hobbits out there. In LOTRO leek stock is made with leeks, water and shire taters. I love the smell of this stock, it certainly picked up my spirit when I walked in the door. Look at all those beautiful leeks!

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 medium onion, diced
  • 2 tbl butter
  • 3 medium leeks, thinly sliced, white/light coloured parts only
  • 4 small potatoes, cubed
  • 5 cups water
  • salt and pepper
  1. Heat a pan to medium high. Add the butter, swirling it around to coat the pan.
  2. Add garlic and onion. Cook until onions begin to caramelize.
  3. Add the leeks, cook for about 1 or two minutes. Stirring constantly.
  4. Pour into a crockpot.
  5. Add the potatoes and water. Heat the crockpot for 8 hours on low. You can do this faster by just adding the ingredients to a stock pot and heating over the stove for 30-45 minutes on medium high. Make sure the potatoes are tender before serving.

Makes 5 super generous servings. Each serving contains 180 calories, 4.9 grams fat, 32 grams carbs, 4 grams fibre, and 3.7 grams protein. This is a great soup base! A great departure from the same old veggie soup base that most vegetarians can get stuck with. You can use lighter butter substitutes for this soup but I found that full fat butter really helped those leeks along flavour wise.

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Pulled Chicken Sandwich

Posted on May 6, 2011 | 2 comments

No, we are not engaging in cruel and unusual chicken torture here. I just couldn’t call this bbq since I made it in a crockpot. It really is a bbq pulled chicken sandwich, so very delicious. My aim here was to control more of the sauce. I would usually make the sauce using ketchup but since my beloved ketchup does contain a lot of sugar I had to investigate another way. Happily after much tweaking, I found it! I suggest serving this as an open face sandwich, it is nummy and the bread doesn’t dull the sauce as much that way. I love how using the crockpot means you can have that bbq joint style of taste no matter what the weather is like, and healthy too! This was great at the end of a really busy day too. Stir sauce, add chicken, set crock, run around all day, eat nummy food. Epic win.

  • 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, frozen is best if using thawed lower the cooking time
  • 1 cup tomato sauce
  • 1 tbl rice wine vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes
  • 2 tbl garlic powder
  • 2 tbl worcestershire sauce
  • 3 tbl splenda
  • 1 tsp smoked sea salt
  • 1 tbl sweet with heat mustard
  1. Combine all the ingredients except the chicken in a small bowl.
  2. Pour a layer of sauce on the bottom of the crockpot. Add the chicken and then top with the remaining sauce.
  3. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
  4. Using a pair of forks shred the chicken and stir. Ladle onto bun of choice.

Serves 4. Nutritional info does not include the bun. Each serving contains 183 calories, 2.8 grams of fat, 10.9 grams of carbs, 1.6 grams of fibre, and 27.6 grams of protein. Definitely a tasty plan for busy days. Remember that each serving of this also contains a serving of veggies! Pair this with a salad and you are dealing with a beautifully balanced meal for so little effort.

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Hardcore Hobbit: Chicken Carrot Soup

Posted on April 4, 2011 | 4 comments

So, here we are, all drenched from those april showers. It is still so cold out there! Must comfort our little hobbit selves with a bit of soup I say. In LOTRO chicken carrot soup is made from carrots, green onion, and chicken stock. To do something different with the soup I added some matzo or matza balls to it instead of noodles, rice, etc. All I did was use a mix and drop them in during the last 20 minutes of cooking. So delicious. If you havent’ tried matzo balls before you should really give them atleast one chance. They are delicious and filling! My husband has been asking when I plan to cook with them again. One day I will definitely have to make some of my own, for now I trust the mix. Another fun addition was the use of “carrot noodles” they make it so the carrot flavour is everywhere in the soup but more fun texture wise.

  • 3 medium carrots
  • 6 cups hardcore hobbit chicken stock
  • 150 grams shredded cooked chicken (may already be in your stock)
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground pepper
  • 1 tbl italian seasoning
  • 10 matzo balls (optional)
  1. Using a peeler shave the carrots into noodles. Cut the length if they are longer than desired.
  2. Add all the ingredients except the matzo balls to a crockpot. Cook low for 6-8 hours.
  3. Add matzo balls during the last 20 minutes of cooking.

Makes 5 servings. Nutritional info does not include the matzo balls as they are optional. Each serving contains 66 calories, .6 gram of fat, 4.7 grams carbs, 1.2 grams of fibre, and 10.4 grams of protein. These servings are pretty big too! About 2 cups of broth and carrots. Plenty of room for a couple of matzo balls I say!

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Hardcore Hobbit: Chicken Stock

Posted on January 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

A bit of a later day post than usual today. It was a Brrrraaaargh day out there today….meaning it was cold and crazy busy. Well, I can’t think of a better time to put up a less complicated and comforting hardcore hobbit. This is an ingredient recipe in the game and real life really. Having a good soup stock in my freezer is definitely a must, be it chicken, vegetable, beef, turkey, etc. Let’s face it soup rocks. It makes you feel better when sick, full for low calories and fat, warms you up on a cold day…and in some cases cools you down on a hot day. In the game chicken stock is made from water, green onions, and chicken. Simple enough really…and oh so tasty.

  • chicken carcass from roasted chicken (hehe I got to say carcass in a recipe) with bits of leftover chicken
  • 3 green onions, sliced
  • 1 tbl dried parsley
  • 2 tbl white wine
  • 6-8 cups of water
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  1. Place all in a crockpot and allow to cook on low for 8 hours.
  2. Allow to cool, skim the fat off the top, remove bones, and store for future num.

Makes 6-8 cups of chicken stock. The recipe really varies given your volume of leftover chicken bits. I had about 1 cup of chicken bits. I got about 8 cups of stock from my attempt. Each serving of one cup came out to 31.7 calories, .2 grams of fat, and .1 grams of fibre.

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Boeuf Bourguignon

Posted on January 19, 2011 | Leave a comment

Putting the peasant back into this peasant food inspired haute cuisine dish. This is only vaguely close to the cooking processes used for this dish today. It’s easy and tasty this way though…and I don’t argue with tasty. She fights dirty. Ofcourse, the other thing that makes this dish a good idea for hungry hobbits all over the world….MUSHROOMS!! See? Tasty fights dirty bigtime. The key to make this healthier is really in the cut of your stewing beef. Try to get one that only has a bit of marbling. If you can get sirloin stewing beef then you are golden. Some butchers offer “steak ends” which are the bits they cut off those sirloin steaks to make them beautiful. These are awesome lean cuts that are perfect for this dish. The other reason I absolutely had to post a beef dish today? I was watching ‘Come Dine with me Canada’. On it was this woman who kept complaining that when she was dieting all she could eat was chicken, that is why she dislikes chicken. Sheesh. No idea what diet she was trying but I seem to be doing just fine and NOT living on just chicken. So there. It’s not a beautiful picture, as I embraced it’s peasant roots, but it sure was tasty.

  • 1 slice bacon, chopped
  • 1 pkg crimini mushrooms, sliced or puree (according to preference)
  • 8 pearl onions (I used red pearl onions for colour)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tbl cornstarch (I like my boeuf with a thick sauce, if you don’t skip this)
  • 1 tsp poultry spice
  • 1/2 chicken broth
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 2 large potatoes, cubed
  • 4 carrots, sliced
  • 2 celery stalks, sliced
  • 8 oz stewing beef
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Heat a pan to medium, add bacon, garlic and mushrooms. Cook until the bacon is crispy. Drain the fat and pour into a crockpot.
  2. Toss the beef in cornstarch to coat then add to the pan and brown. You just want to sear the meat here, not cook it. Pour into the crockpot.
  3. Deglaze the pan with the red wine, scraping off the browned bits from the pan. Pour into the crockpot.
  4. Add the remaining ingredients to the crockpot and allow to cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours.

Makes 4 servings. Each serving contains 278 calories, 5.7 grams of fat and 3.8 grams of fibre. Very diet friendly to me. Living on chicken, heh, the very idea!

 

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Turkey Meatball Sub

Posted on January 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

Aack, so I forgot to update on friday again! I was so busy running errands, gazing at my newly acquired blood oranges, shopping for new 10 sided dice, gazing again at the blood oranges, that I completely forgot! Maybe a meatball sub will make it better? Oh I think so. Always a big old mess to eat but such a happy mess really. In this recipe I was going for a quick fix so I used store bought turkey meatballs. If you want to make your own turkey meatballs I would make them the same way I made my thintastic thai meatballs just use turkey meat, and skip the hoisin sauce in the mix. This was such a tasty indulgence…and without consequence. Sweet!

  • 2 sub buns
  • 16 lean turkey meatballs
  • 1 can tomato sauce
  • 1 tbl oregano leaves, dried
  • 1 tbl italian spice
  • 1/2 onion, sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced (Garlic and I are best buds for evah!)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 6 tbl parmesan cheese
  1. Saute the onion and garlic in a pan until golden. Add to crockpot.
  2. Add the meatballs, tomato sauce, oregano leaves, and italian spice to the crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours.
  3. Serve 8 meatballs on each bun with a bit of sauce, top with 3 tbl of cheese. Enjoy!

Serve 2 hungry hobbits. I did not include the bun in the nutritional value since there is so much variation in what you can choose. I suggest a nice high fibre bun. I’m lucky to have a store local to me that makes a good fibre bun that pretends to be white bread. Tastes just like subway…or maybe even better! Each serving contains 217 calories, 7 grams of fat and 6 grams of fibre. You will have leftover tomato sauce from this. I suggest saving it for a pasta night. Delicious!!! Don’t have a crockpot? No sweat, you can do this stove top same way except you should leave it simmering for 30 minutes.

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Red Wine Chicken

Posted on November 24, 2010 | Leave a comment

Now a part of me would call this a coq au vin rouge but…since I’m not using a rooster it just doesn’t seem all that traditional. Now if you are looking for a cheaters version of coq au vin, then I think I can help you out. Not only is this a lovely fancy sounding dish it really is quite economical. It would amaze the people in finances when I would tell them how much I spent on groceries and that the week of groceries included dinners such as coq au vin. I’m not sure why though considering the dish has humble rustic beginnings. Since we are all trying to save a bit before those holidays hit us, I figured this recipe might come in handy for some folks.

  • 4 skinless chicken thighs (bone in gives more flavour)
  • 2 slices bacon, chopped
  • 1/2 pound crimini mushrooms
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 3 tbl flour
  • 4 red potatoes, washed and quartered
  • 2 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 2 celery stalks, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 1/2 fat free chicken broth
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp herbs de provence
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a bag. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
  2. Heat a sprayed pan to medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned, 2 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a crockpot.
  3. Add the bacon to the pan and cook stirring occasionally for one minute. Add the onions, mushrooms, remaining flour and garlic. Stir in the wine to deglaze. Transfer to the crockpot.
  4. Add the remaining ingredients to the crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

This makes 4 servings. Each serving contains 275 calories, 5 grams of fat and 4.5 grams of fibre. Great served on rice if you really need a super filling meal or with a side of lovely crusty bread. Delicious!

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Turkey Noodle Soup

Posted on October 27, 2010 | Leave a comment

When it’s been a rainy mess all week it is so nice to come home to an already bubbling crockpot full of soup. This works really well with my turkey broth recipe as a base. Just another way to use up those leftovers in an oh so tasty way and warm your core temp. I usually make a turkey barley soup from my broth but this time I wanted to do something a little different. Besides, why should chicken continually hog the noodle love? Selfish, selfish chicken.

  • 4 small sweet gourmet carrots (if you can get them, if not any carrot will do)
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 8 cup turkey broth
  • 1 cup turkey meat shredded or cut up
  • 112 gram no yolk egg noodles
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground pepper
  • 1 tsp poultry spice
  1. Slice up the veggies, add even more if you like. Can’t hurt! Room for variation here.
  2. Add all of the ingredients to your crockpot.
  3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

This makes approximately 8 1.5 cup servings. Each serving contains 113 calories, 1.9 gram fat, and 1.6 gram fibre. This is a lovely filling meal, served with a nice bun and salad you have yourself a great comforting feast! I couldn’t believe how full I was after that. I’m thinking the noodles played a part in that one. Num!

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