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Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole I
This is another recipe where everything was processed, I changed it up here to reflect fresh ingredients. I made this on 29 Sep 2016 using diced ham in place of the bacon, and this is very good and highly recommended! Now since all slow cookers are different, this one you need to keep an eye on regarding the time then you can make adjustments based on your particular slow cooker. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 4-6 potatoes, washed, skin on
- 250 grams Cheddar cheese, shredded, (8 oz)
- 500 grams cooked bacon, see Step 1, (1 lb)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 12 eggs
- 1 cup, milk
Instructions
- For any meat used, it needs to be cooked first. Good choices would be cubed chicken, minced Italian sausage, minced or sliced breakfast sausage, or diced ham, or any combination.
- For your hash browns, wash, peel if you desire, then grate. Take the shredded potatoes and rinse them in cold water, and really squeeze them to get the water out, do this 3-4 times until the water is clear, this removes the starch, then your potatoes are ready. This photo shows the potatoes, bell peppers, onion, and ham ready. Only about ¾ of the potatoes were used.
- Now with your slow cooker, add this in layers, in this order: half the hash browns, half the bacon or meat of your choice or omit, half the onions, half the bell pepper, and half the cheese.
- Now add the remaining hash browns, remaining bacon or meat of choice, remaining onion, remaining bell pepper, and the cheese. If you like cheese, you know what to do. When you get done adding everything, it will look like this.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk, pour this over the contents of the slow cooker, add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook on low for 8 hours. IF YOU HAVE NOT MADE THIS BEFORE IN YOUR SLOW COOKER, THIS IS WHERE YOU NEED TO WATCH THE TIME NEEDED. SO PLAN ON THIS FOR A DINNER FIRST BEFORE YOU COOK OVER NIGHT FOR A BREAKFAST. AT THE 4 HOUR MARK, INSERT A BUTTER KNIFE IN THE MIDDLE AND PULL OUT, IF CLEAN, THE EGGS ARE SET AND IT IS DONE, IF RUNNY EGGS, YOU NEED TO COOK MORE, ADJUST YOUR TIME AS NEEDED. I was hungry so I took two scoops out of the pot before I thought of taking the photo when the dish is done.
- Variations, you can figure this out as well, whatever you like in an omelet can go in here, think mushrooms, tomatoes, Swiss cheese, chilis, asparagus, etc. Serve with some toast and you have a meal.
- Two scoops in my bowl, ready for dinner. The peppers and onion are crunchy, excellent flavor overall.
Notes
Nothing expensive here, this is easily under $1.00 per person.
Shortcuts: Sausage, Breakfast Sausage.
Creamy Italian Chicken
This is an excellent recipe, the sauce is very nice and creamy, the chicken is tender and juicy. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4-6 chicken breasts, skinless, boneless, cut in half
- 1 packet dry Italian salad dressing mix, OR make from a shortcut
- 1/2 cup water
- 250 grams Cream cheese, softened
- 1-2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup, OR make from a shortcut
- handful fresh mushrooms, think Tesco variety pack, chopped
- cooked rice or pasta, to serve
Instructions
- Place the chicken breast halves in the slow cooker. Combine the Italian dressing mix and water until smooth, pour over top of chicken. Cover and cook on Low setting for 3 hours. NOTE: since there is very little liquid during this step, it is important to not remove the lid for the 3 hours of cooking, the lid holds in the steam and heat.
- Remove chicken to a plate, mix soup and cream cheese in the slow cooker along with liquid in the pot, then mix in mushrooms, add chicken back to the pot and spoon mixture over chicken pieces to make sure they are covered. Cover and cook 2-3 more hours on Low setting or until chicken is cooked through. NOTE about the soup: If using only 4 chicken breast OR 4 thighs, use only 1 can of soup. If using 5-6 breasts or 5-6 thighs, use 2 cans of soup, all other ingredients remain the same.
- Serve over rice or pasta.
Notes
Chicken breasts run about 88 Baht/kilo, and if you make the Italian seasoning mix and soup from shortcuts listed on this site, this is easily under $1.00 per person. If you use thighs, which would be ideal, the cost is even lower with thighs at about 65 Baht/kilo.
Shortcuts: Italian Dressing, Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Boiled Chicken
I know, you folks are like, eeeewwwwww, boiled chicken! Boiled chicken is used in many recipes, and you are making chicken broth as well, bonus! I routinely boil chicken when making chicken salad, chicken burritos, stews, casseroles, etc. If you are making a chicken based soup or stew, use the broth in place of water in the recipe. Do you have to use a whole chicken? No but your chicken pieces should have skin on and bone in, the skin, the fat, and the bones, is where the flavor is for a broth.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, OR, quarters, or thighs, see note about the chicken
- 1 onion, unpeeled, just cut in half
- 2 carrots, unpeeled, cut into 3-4 pieces
- 2 stalks celery, if you have it, just cut in 2-3 pieces, leave end on as well
- 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
- water
Instructions
- Place chicken in a large pot with onion, carrots, celery and peppercorns; add water to cover. Cover pot and bring to a boil; reduce heat to a gentle boil and cook for about 90 minutes, or until chicken meat is falling off of the bone.
- Here is the trick, when the meat is falling off the bones, let the chicken sit in the water until the water is cooled, this will give you more juicier chicken meat.
- Once the water has cooled, remove the chicken using several slotted spoons, and put the pot back on to a simmer. Remove the meat from the bones and use per your recipe, return the bones to the pot and continue to simmer for another 2-3 hours.
- Turn the heat off, strain the pot, now you have chicken stock, and chicken meat for your recipes, how easy is that?
Notes
What can you use? A whole chicken is cheapest if the mixed white and dark meat has no impact on your recipe. If you prefer prefer dark meat for a recipe, go with quarters but cut them apart first.
Keep in mind, you are making not only the chicken for use in a recipe, you are making a good broth as well.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
Grilled Chicken Thighs Tandoori
Takes time to marinate the chicken but well worth it. This recipe is written as it was posted, so unless feeding a large group of folks, I think cutting back on the chicken thighs but keeping all the rest as written, would work fine. Inexpensive meal! I made this on 12 Nov 2016, well worth the time to marinate! I took some step by step photos and my report is in the comments section.
Ingredients
- 16 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
- 2 containers plain yogurt
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- 4 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin, see note on this
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, see note on this
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- olive oil
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir together yogurt, and all spices listed. Set aside. All the spices added on top of the yogurt.
- Everything mixed.
- Rinse chicken under cold water, and pat dry with paper towels. Place chicken in a large resealable plastic bag. Pour yogurt mixture over chicken, press air out of bag, and seal. Turn the bag over several times to distribute marinade. Place bag in a bowl, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight, turning bag occasionally.
- Get your outdoor grill fired up for direct medium heat.
- Remove chicken from bag, and discard marinade. Scrape off excess marinade with a spoon, using a brush, lightly coat each side of the chicken with olive oil.
- Place chicken on the grill over direct heat, and cook about 2 minutes. Turn, and cook 2 minutes more. Then arrange the chicken to receive indirect heat, and cook approximately 35 to 40 minutes, turning occasionally, to an internal temperature of 82 C. Serve with grilled corn on the cob and grilled potatoes for a meal.
- Removed from the grill.
- Dinner!
Notes
Note about the cinnamon and cloves, you can replace these two items with 1 tablespoon of Garam Masala and add 2 tablespoons of lime juice, if you choose.
Feel free to use just thighs, or legs and thighs, or quarters. Chicken thighs will run about 65 Baht/kilo, 16 thighs could cost, I am guessing about 200 Baht. This comes out to about 75 cents per person.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Sausage, Bean, and Pasta Stew
I was looking through recipes yesterday and this dish caught my eye, as it sounds really good. But what through me off was that nearly every ingredient was canned, even the beans! No need to slow cook canned beans, which are already cooked! So this is my version. I made this on 9 July 2016, report in the comments section, and recipe modified just slightly.
Ingredients
- 250 grams Pinto beans, dry, sorted, and rinsed, (1/2 lb)
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- 3 cups chicken stock, fresh or from a powder
- 1 carrot, diced, OR a diced green bell pepper would work well here
- 500 grams sausage links, spicy or Italian, see note about this
- 1 can tomatoes, with tomatoe juice, diced
- 1 cup ditalini pasta, dry, OR use macaroni, OR spiral pasta
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1-2 cups tomato juice, as needed near the end.
Instructions
- Spread the onions over the bottom of your slow cooker and top the garlic.
- Then with the carrots.
- Then with the beans and sausage. I used Spicy Smoked Pork Sausages from Makro, yes, those 4 sausages are 500 grams.
- Mix the diced tomatoes and juice with the stock and pour over the sausages. (I use a can of Brooks brand whole peeled tomatoes in tomato juice, pour the juice into the stock, roughly chop the tomatoes and add them as well. This is the 565 gram can.)
- Cover and cook on High for 4 to 5 hours or on Low for 7 to 8 hours; the beans will be tender and begin to fall apart.
- Uncover the slow cooker, remove and transfer the sausage links to a cutting board. Stir the pasta into the stew and continue to cook, covered, until the pasta is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Add tomato juice as needed to keep a good stew like consistency.
- Cut the sausage into bite size pieces and return the stew along with the parsley.
- Serve with grated Parmesan cheese on the side to sprinkle on the top if desired.
Notes
Note about the sausage, this can be done several ways. Makro has thick pork sausages (bangers) as well as beef sausages. There is also a thick sausage variety that is very similar to Kielbasa, called Spicy Smoked Sausage and they also have what is called sausage scraps, these are thick sausage pieces that are left over from from cutting up and packaging the long sausages, these are also a variety pack, some is like Kielbasa, some is garlic sausage, some is chili sausage. The sausage scraps would be ideal for this stew.
An alternative to the sausage would be dark chicken meat, cubed, think thighs. Not only would chicken make this a healthier meal, you can make your stock when you boil the chicken. Substitute 500 grams of chicken thighs, skin on and bone in, boil them until done, there is your stock to use, while the stew is cooking, simply remove the skin and bone (save for the pet dog) and roughly cube the meat and refrigerate until the step to cut up the sausage and add back to the slow cooker.
Most expensive ingredient is the sausage, at the most it would cost 250 Baht, for 6 servings this is about $1.25 per meal, for 8 servings this is about 95 cents per meal.
If using chicken, thighs are about 65 Baht/kilo, no need to do the math here, well under $1.00 per serving!
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Slow Cooked Tex Mex Chicken and Beans
A fix and forget chicken stew, I am going to try this one for sure. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried Pinto beans, rinsed
- 1 1/2 cups salsa, OR make from a shortcut on this site
- 2 tablespoons canned chipolte chiles, OR what ever chilis you have on hand, seeds removed
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 8 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on, it's flavor
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a slow cooker, add beans, salsa, chiles, flour, and 1 cup water, and stir to mix. Season chicken with salt and pepper; arrange on top of bean mixture. Scatter onion and bell pepper on top of chicken.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours. Do NOT open lid or stir.
- Remove chicken from stew; remove skin and bones (save for your dog), shred meat into large pieces and return to stew. Serve topped with sour cream and cilantro if you desire.
Notes
Chicken thighs will run about 65 Baht/kilo, 8 thighs is probably about a kilo. Beans will run about 55 Baht/500 grams. 120 Baht, the rest is minimal, comes to about 89 cents per person per meal if serving 4 people.
Shortcut: Salsa.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
This is a classic and basic split pea soup. Excellent and very easy to prepare in a sow cooker. Lots of instruction photos that I took while making this.
Ingredients
- 500 grams split peas, dry, no need to soak, just rinsed is fine
- 6 cups chicken stock, homemade OR make from powder
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1/2 stalk celery, diced, if using Thai celery, several stalks diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced, optional
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 small ham hock, OR one ham bone, OR 2 cups of chopped ham, OR omit
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- I bought a large ham hock in Tesco, called a pork side leg. Looks like a hock, and it is pre-cut through the bone in 4 places. The tape measure is in inches, this thing is huge, and only 120 Baht, weight is about 1 1/2 kilos. I only used about half, the right 3 sections for the soup, so the cost was only 60 Baht, my wife used the left 2 sections for a Thai soup.
- Add the hock to the slow cooker pot first.
- Then add the rinsed split peas around the hock.
- Add your diced carrot on top.
- On top of the carrot, add the onion, bell pepper if using that, garlic, celery, spices and bay leaves.
- Pour in your chicken stock, place the lid on and cook on High setting until split peas are creamy and pureed. Check the peas at 4 hours, when the peas are cooked, they will be soft and will puree on their own by simply stirring them, if not soft, check again at 5 hours, etc.
- At the 4 hour mark, use a meat thermometer to check the temp in the hock, if it is cooked through, remove the hock to a plate, remove the skin and fat then roughly chop the meat and return the meat to the pot and stir that in. This cut of meat has a lot of fat, so you will need to skim that off the surface of the soup from about the 4 hour mark onwards.
- When the peas have pureed for the most part and the pork is cook, chopped and added back, turn the slow cooker down to Warm setting, discard bay leaves and you are ready to serve.
Notes
Note about the meat added, I used 1/2 of a large ham hock but this is also very fatty (make sure you skim the fat at times during cooking). Another option is to use a meaty ham bone, or add 2 cups of cubed cooked ham. I also think a pork knuckle would be ideal for this but is also pricey.
Going with 1/2 of a large hock, cost was 60 Baht, the split peas were 56 Baht/500 grams, all the rest is minimal. The cost is about $0.60 cents per person for 6 meals.
An alternative would be to use chicken, I know, the Split Pea Soup haters are going to hate me for saying this, but 2-3 meaty chicken thighs, in place of the pork, I think would work wonderful.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Loaded Slow-Cooker Baked Potatoes
Lot of possibilities here, I will have to give this a try.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker (6+ quart)
Ingredients
- 4 large potatoes, washed and allowed to dry
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup fresh mushrooms
- 1 head broccoli, cut into small florets including stem
- ¼-½ cup chicken stock, hot
- ⅔ cup plain yogurt, room temperature
Instructions
- Wrap each potato in foil and place in a 5-to-6-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until potatoes are tender, about 8 hours.
- In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add mushrooms and cook 2 minutes, then add broccoli and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until broccoli is crisp-tender, about 8 minutes.
- Split potatoes, scoop out potato flesh, and transfer to a medium bowl, reserving skins. Add ¼ cup broth and yogurt to bowl, then season with salt and pepper and stir until combined, use more broth as needed; divide among potato skins. Top each stuffed potato with broccoli and mushroom mixture.
Bacony Egg Noodles with Green Beans
Simple and easy dish that is inexpensive as well.
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 can tomatoes, 565 gram can, diced
- 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- 500 grams yard beans, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 300 grams egg noodles, OR use Fettucine
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until golden, about 8 minutes. Push the bacon to the side of the pan and add the onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook until the onion is softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 15 to 18 minutes. Stir in the parsley.
- Meanwhile, add the green beans to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beans to a colander; season with salt and pepper and cover to keep warm.
- Return the water to a boil, add the noodles and cook until tender, about 9 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Toss the noodles with the sauce, adding the pasta water if needed to thin the sauce; season. Divide among 4 plates; serve with the green beans.
Notes
4 slices of bacon is minimal, about 20 Baht for a bundle of yard beans, and about 55 Baht for the can of tomatoes. Easily under $1.00 per meal per person.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Roasted Chicken & Cauliflower
Simple 5 ingredient dish that sounds really good.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken quarters
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cups cauliflower, fresh, florets and stems
- 12 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 C.
- Pat chicken dry and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- In a oven proof pan (cast iron would be ideal) heat the olive oil on med high, add chicken skin side down and cook until browned, about 8 minutes, turn over and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate.
- Add cauliflower and garlic to the pan, cook until cauliflower begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken back to the pan on top of the cauliflower, put the pan in the oven and bake until chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.
Notes
Chicken quarters run about 64 Baht/kilo, 4 would be about 100 Baht or so. Import cauliflower is about 58 Baht/kilo, will probably need 2-3 heads depending on the size you can find. I'll say 150 Baht for cauliflower. At 250 Baht, this is about $1.85 per person for 4 people. More accurate pricing when I make this.
Adapted from an internet recipe.