Savory Slow Cooker Chuck Roast & Butternut Squash Combo Meal

This slow cooker chuck roast recipe is a new an exciting way to feel smart while remaining lazy. I am always trying to see how I can shave off some time in recipes, and this combo meal was one with the busy athlete in mind. The shopping list is short too. Chuck roast, squash, can of tomatoes, and then your spices. Super easy. Naming this recipe was the only thing hard about it, and sorry for making you read such a long recipe title. Combo meal, why did that pop into my head anyways?

Your chuck roast goes into your slow cooker first, and then you simply place your halved and seeded squash in like so. The squash will cook from the steam and will be perfectly ready to scoop out with a large fork. Be careful though as the squash will be hot! Also do try to pick a squash that you can see fitting inside your slow cooker. That is a 4-quart slow cooker pictured above, with about a 3 pound squash. You can always cut the squash halves if you are having difficulty fitting them in.

3 to 5 pound chuck roast2 to 3 pound butternut squash, halved and seededOne 8 ounce can of fire roasted tomatoes (diced or pureed)4 cloves of garlic, cut in half1 tsp cumin1 tsp paprika2 tsp onion powdert tsp black peppersea salt to tasteCut your squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.Use a knife to poke 8 scattered holes into your chuck roast, and then stick the garlic clove halves in.Mix all of your spices together and apply the rub evenly to the chuck roast.Place your chuck roast in your slow cooker and cover it with you can of fire roasted tomatoes.Place your squash halves in skin side down, cut side facing up, as in the picture above.Cook on low for 6 hours.Carefully use a large fork to scoop the squash out and mash it.Either slice or shred your beef with forks, serve and enjoy!

Tags: combo meals, featured, squash

Category: Beef

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White Acorn Squash Soup (Slow Cooker & One-Pot)

Colder days are clearly approaching, and for this means more soups. For me, nothing hits the spot on a cold day than a hot mug of soup to sip on. For this soup I chose a white acorn squash, which when cooked in the soup tastes very much like a yellow potato. These squashes are often cheap, and well worth the effort to peel them!

White acorn quash. It still has a slightly yellow tint, yet for the most part appears white. The inner flesh has a yellow color, as you’ll soon see. The easiest way to peel them is to cut them into slices along the grooves. I use a cut resistant glove when peeling the slices. This ensures a safe grip as well as protecting my knuckles from any peeler mishaps. This added safety and security speeds up my prep time.

The only manual labor in this recipe is the browning of your ground turkey or chicken. I then added the squash to the meat for flavor intensive purposes.

Deep rimmed enameled pan, a stock pot, or a slow cooker. 6 quart versions of each are ideal.1 pound of ground turkey or chicken.1 tbsp of coconut oil, grass-fed butter, or ghee.1 white acorn squash, peeled and diced into large or medium cubes.4 cups of chicken stock.4 to 6 cups of water.1 medium red onion, diced.2 cloves of garlic, minced.2 tsp of dried parsley.salt and black pepper to taste.Add your cooking fat of choice to your pot/pan and set heat to medium.Add your ground meat, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper and stir.Cook meat until browned yet not fully cooked, then add your squash.Add 1 cup of your chicken stock to deglaze the pot/pat and stir well.Add the rest of your chicken stock, water, and red onion.Bring your soup to a slight boil then reduce heat to medium low.Cover with a cracked lid and cook for up to an hour.Your soup is ready when your squash cubes are fork tender.Tip: If you like leafy greens, add them in to the pot during the last 20 minutes of cooking.Add your cooking fat of choice to your pot/pan and set heat to medium.Add your ground meat, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper and stir.Cook meat until browned yet not fully cooked, then add your squash.Add 1 cup of your chicken stock to deglaze the pot/pat and stir well.Transfer the contents of your pot/pan to your slow cooker.Add the rest of your chicken stock and water to your slow cooker.Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.Category: Chicken, One-Pot Meals, Soup, Turkey

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Use Your Slow Cooker To Make Beverages

Something extraordinary on your usual beverages will spice up the lineup of dishes. A twist of sweetness or alcohol will make a great difference. A milk shake with vanilla ice cream topping will beat every plain chocolate cake any day when it comes to taste and presentation. That is why mothers have included recipes for beverages in their recipe book. It can compensate for any tedious dish.

Usually, blenders are the protagonists when it comes to making beverages. But did you know that you can make beverages out of slow cooker? Weird, isn't it?

This is true. The kitchen regulars have found a way to use the slow cooker to make beverages. It is because some beverages need heating that slow cooker can provide. They need the heat because they have solid main ingredients that will give a large impact to the taste and that should be bit-by-bit dissolved to blend in with the beverage.

A great example for this is spiced beverages. They are full of spices that have particles which cannot be fully reached by the blender. That is why the households have resorted to slow cooking to be able to maximize the spices. A low temperature heating and the long period of cooking could liquefy even the tiniest of particles in a pinch of spice.

Apple ciders are probably a known beverage wherein a slow cooker can be utilized. This unsweetened, purely apple, non-alcoholic drink is good for casual gatherings when there should be a substitute for tea. A sip of apple cider will satisfy those tea-craving tongues. Just throw in the ingredients in the slow cooker, wait for 4 hours and there you have your warm apple cider.

You can also make punches with the slow cooker. Of course, do not put the alcoholic ingredient yet as it is going to corrupt the flavor exchange happening in the slow cooking. Just cook the ingredients first and then add the alcoholic ingredients before serving.

And why have I not mentioned about natural hot chocolate? The mouthwatering sweet beverage can be made in a slow cooker. You can use cocoa powder for it. Every solid bit of the cocoa powder will be melted by the slow cooker's low temperature heat and long cooking, giving the best chocolate taste ever. Serve with marshmallows and/or bread and you will double the hot chocolate experience.

Still, there are lots of beverage recipes out there that you can make with a slow cooker. Experiment and experiment, try different kinds of matching ingredients until all the formulas collide. You can come up with your own slow-cooked beverage!

I am a writer for everything under the food; bread, bread maker, slow cooking, slow cooker etc. Food it, I food it!

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Other Recipes For Your Slow Cooker

Because of its power to cook in low temperatures and long periods of time, tenderize hard meat, slow cooker is a famous tool for pot roasts and stews. However, slow cooker is not limited to these dishes; it can be used in a lot of recipes other than pot roasts and stews. The typical kitchen does just know what capabilities the slow cooker can do and how it can be fully maximized. It is an all-in-one kitchen appliance that will make your investment worth it.

These other recipes you can use vary. Probably the most famous is the barbecue due to its closeness to roasting. We all know that you can barbecue every meat out there, from chicken meat to the 'fiber-ful' contents of steak. You can use the slow cooker to tenderize meats that are impossible for the griller to soften and then you can do the grilling afterwards. You can put in the seasoning while in the slow cooker so that the meat will be flavored therefore no more marinating.

Even better, you can use the slow cooker for barbecue without using the griller. You just have to put some barbecue ingredients in. It will taste better than the original barbecue cooked in grill and will be softer for your teeth to grind.

Surprisingly, you can also bake different types of breads off slow cookers. You just do the mixing and the kneading out of the pot. And you just need a rack for the mold so that you can put in hot water for heating. It will really taste the same as baked in a bread machine but your bread machine here is the slow cooker. Though there might be some imperfections, you can just use a bread maker for ensured results. Slow cookers can also bake cakes. You will also need a rack for the heating.

You can cook pasta dishes in the slow cooker. The macaroni or the pasta should be cooked first before putting them in the pot. Do the mixing in the pot and pour over the sauce afterwards. Cover the pot and cook in low temperature for 8 hours. The heat of the pot will create the main flavor of the pasta by extracting gravy from each ingredient and then spreading it amongst the content. That way, the people who are going to eat the dish will not taste some plain spots on the pasta.

There are still many dishes out there that you can cook with the slow cooker. Be sure to experiment and never give up. You will come up with your own home-made recipe one day!

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