Anyone have good, healthy, 18-mth-old-tested crock pot recipes?

Kelly - posted on 02/24/2009

3 cups of dried white navy beans, soaked and simmered until tender, following package directions

1 1/2 c ketchup

1 1/2 c water

1/4 c molasses

1 large onion chopped

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon salt

6 slices of uncooked salt pork or bacon, diced

1 c brown sugar

Preparation:

Place all ingredients in slow cooker; cover and cook for 8 to 10 hours on low. Stir a few times, if possible.

I've made this a few times and my son loves it. I leave out the pork and it turns out great. I leave the sugar because I know that my 'boys' like it that way. I also let it cook for longer.....it seems to just all melt together :)

Bethany - posted on 02/23/2009

I find these the best:



Sausage and Sweet Potato Casserole: Serves 2 adults, 2 children

8 Sausages

1 medium yellow onion - chopped

2 cloves garlic - minced

4 cooking apples - peeled, cored and sliced

2 large Sweet Potatoes - peeled and cut into chunks

1 (16oz) tin cannellini beans - drained

18 fl.oz apple juice

6fl. oz chicken stock



Saute onions, garlic and apples in your crockpot, add the sausages and cook until you are happy with the color (if I'm in a rush it's two minutes!). Add all the other ingrediants. Either bring to the boil and simmer on the stove if you need it within 1 hour. If you have time, I usually put into the oven at 275F for about 4 hours.



Beef Stew (I'm not sure if this is just an English thing, I'm also not sure if the ingrediants are the same in American! if they aren't let me know and I'll try to explain! I grew up on this recipe, and my 18 month old loves it):

Serves 2 adults, 2 children



Ingredients

• olive oil

• a knob of butter

• 1 onion, peeled and chopped

• a handful of fresh/dried sage leaves

• 800g/1¾lb stewing steak or beef skirt, cut into 5cm/2 inch pieces

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• flour, to dust

• 2 parsnips, peeled and quartered

• 4 carrots, peeled and halved

• ½ a butternut squash, halved, deseeded and roughly diced

• optional: a handful of Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and halved

• 500g/1lb 2oz small potatoes

• 2 tablespoons tomato purée

• ½ a bottle of red wine (if you don't want to use this add more stock)

• 285ml/½ pint beef or vegetable stock

• a handful of rosemary, leaves picked

• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped



Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Put a little oil and your knob of butter into your crockpot. Add your onion and all the sage leaves and fry for 3 or 4 minutes. Toss the meat in a little seasoned flour, then add it to the pan with all the vegetables, the tomato purée, wine and stock, and gently stir together. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper and just a little salt. Bring to the boil, place a lid on top, then cook in the preheated oven until the meat is tender. Sometimes this takes 3 hours, sometimes 4 – it depends on what cut of meat you’re using and how fresh it is. The only way to test is to mash up a piece of meat and if it falls apart easily it’s ready. Once it’s cooked, you can turn the oven down to about 225°F and just hold it there until you’re ready to eat.



I tend to serve both recipes with crusty bread, or rice.



For both of these recipes, I like that they are slow cooked. My nutritionist friend tells me that although beef and pork is normally more difficult to digest, the process of slow cooking it makes it tender, and breaks down a lot of the meat, so that it is easier on the body. I hope this is what you were looking for, if you want different things, let me know, I use my crockpot every other day!