good eats

2 delicious crock pot recipes that you will love!

the first, a pork roast, is one krista posted.

 i found it just in time to serve for our valentine party!

it was super easy and so delicious--perfect for guests or for sunday dinner with the fam.

brown sugar and balsamic pork loin 

originally posted here

Ingredients:

1 (2 pound) boneless pork tenderloin (or regular pork loin)

1 teaspoon ground sage

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 cup water

Glaze--the glaze makes this dish!

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions:

Combine sage, salt, pepper and garlic. Rub over roast. Place in slow cooker with 1/2 cup water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. About 1 hour before roast is done, combine ingredients for glaze in small sauce pan. Heat and stir until mixture thickens. Brush roast with glaze 2 or 3 times during the last hour of cooking. Serve with remaining glaze on the side.

we served this with mashed potatoes

and delicious green salad and rolls.

this next recipe i made the other night.

besides being super easy to make, 

what i love most about this dish is how healthy and low in calories it is.

i found it to be delicious, but the presentation wasn't as pretty, served up,

so i will mainly make this one for me & my family only.

i found this on pinterest linked to the little kitchen.

~image via the little kitchen~

 Whole Chicken in a Slow Cooker 

Ingredients: 

Rub Ingredients---this rub makes the dish!
4 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 1/2 to 4 1/2 lbs roasting or fryer chicken
1 cup chopped onion, approx 1 medium to large onion
4-5 carrots, scrubbed, no need to peel, chopped in halves or thirds
4 celery stalks, cut in thirds
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 lemon quartered--i didn't have a lemon, so i stuffed the chicken bum with a quartered orange and it added such a sweet citrus taste!

Directions:

Combine rub ingredients in a small bowl.
Remove chicken from packaging and remove neck and pouch with organs. Discard or reserve for later use in another recipe. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels.
Rub garlic all over outside of the chicken. Put garlic inside the chicken. Rub the rub all over the outside and inside the chicken. Add quartered lemon to the inside of the chicken.  i put on latex gloves for this part....didn't want my hands smelling so garlic-y all day.
Place onions, carrots and celery inside the slow cooker. Place chicken on top of the vegetables. i placed the chicken in first and then the veggies. Cover slow cooker and cook chicken on low for 4-8 hours. (When I used a 4 lb chicken, it took about 6 hours. The time will depend on the size of the chicken and your slow cooker.) Cook until the internal temperature of the leg is at 160 degrees F or use a pop-up thermometer as the original recipe calls for.
Remove chicken and place in a 9x13 glass baking dish. Place baking dish in the oven under the broiler for about 4-5 minutes. Allow chicken to rest after removing it from the broiler for 5-10 minutes.

my chicken just fell off the bone.  i may have let it roast in the crock pot too long, so i couldn't take it out in one piece and place under the broiler--but the chicken was so incredibly moist and flavorful!  i absolutely loved it!
 my finished chicken and veggies were not as pretty as the picture by the little kitchen posted above--but i will still make it again as it tasted so good!

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours 10 min