Since I have not been able to see Barbie the movie yet, I have put together the next best thing for you: easy recipes for your slow cooker!
When I was pregnant with my first child, I spent a lot of time researching and curating easy and healthy recipes. I was terrified that I would never have time to eat healthy or cook again if I didn’t prep accordingly. I was not wrong. This means that since now I have two children and a full time job, I don’t have a lot of time to research and curate new recipes. However, every once in a while, the stars align and I get lucky with some of my random Pinterest searches. It is overwhelming how much information is out there and if you search beef round slow cooker anywhere, you will likely get thousands of recipes all called the best slow cooker beef ever!
Let me do the work for you and tell you that these two recipes are super easy and delicious. I have yet to get my children to eat anything out of a slow cooker but one day they will! And they will love these two recipes because my husband does. They are great if you have company or bring a slow cooker when you travel locally. As usual, I adjusted to meet my taste and ingredients available.
Balsamic chicken thighs
This recipe is not only delicious and easy but also healthy! The initial recipe called for chicken breasts but that is not what I had, so I can’t vouch for how it turns out using breasts.
Ingredients:
- 2 Costco brand packages of boneless, skinless, chicken thighs, which is about 8 thighs or 3.5 lbs bone in, skin-on-chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, 2 garlic cloves, minced
Directions:
- Whisk together the garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and salt in the base of your slow cooker
- Toss to coat, cover, and cook 5-6 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. I usually do the low cooking.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker (if you used chicken with skin on, remove now as well).
- You can strain the juices and serve with the chicken.
Side ideas: roasted sweet potatoes, zucchini and yellow squash medley (see my previous post on seasonal ingredient recipes), brown rice
Round roast with gravy
This recipe is delicious and the perfect meal for when you need some comfort food. It is not the healthiest cut of meat but I recommend removing any large pieces of fat before cooking. I had round roast but recipe mentions you can also use rump roast. Everything in moderation!
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs round roast or 3 lbs rump roast
- 1 envelope onion soup mix
- 1 envelope brown gravy mix
- 1/2 cup of flour
- 2 cups of water
Directions:
- Whisk all the ingredients except the meat together.
- Place roast in the slow cooker and pour mixture over it.
- Cook for 8 hours on slow.
- Shred beef and mix in the gravy.
Side dishes: whole grain pasta (our choice), mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, brown rice
Pro tip: freeze any left overs for an easy meal another day or re-purpose the meat with a different side dish a day or two later
Let me know in the comments if you have any recipes you want to share with these cuts of meat.