Easy Beef Stroganoff

For your slow cooker...

1 lb beef stew meat
1 package fresh, sliced mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup sour cream
1 package egg noodles


Season beef stew meat. Place in crock pot. Cook on low for about 8 hours. Add mushrooms either (1) with meat and cook for 8 hours, or (2) add when there is about an hour or so left in cook time. (*See cook's notes below).

About 30 minutes or so before serving, add 1 can cream of mushroom soup and 3/4 cup sour cream to beef/mushrooms in crock pot. Stir.

Boil noodles and DRAIN.
Add noodles to crock pot.
Simmer on low for about 15 mins.

Serve. Eat. Enjoy!


Cook's Note:
I added the mushroom after the meat had been cooking for about 6 hours. They cooked up rather quickly. When my mom made this, she added the mushrooms @ the beginning w/ the meat and let them cook for 8 hours. So I guess it works either way! - tlc

Easy Beans

So simple. So good. Eat as a dip or as the base for bean burritos or anything else Mexican.

• 1 can refried beans (I always get the vegetarian version)
• 1 brick cream cheese
• 1 can of diced green chilies, including liquid

Throw everything in a crock pot and heat through - stirring occasionally. This amount nicely fills one of those smaller, dip-type crockpots. Double or triple to fill a big one!

Cream Chicken Sandwiches

We call it cream chicken back home, but some of you may know it as shredded chicken. This is the easiest thing ever, and yet when I make it people just go crazy for it. I thought it would be a good addition for this weekend (or your summer cook-outs) along with my mom's pasta salad I posted below!


Step 1) Add one 50ounce can, fully cooked chicken to the crock pot (Tip: I use Sweet Sue Chicken from Sam's Club. It comes in a 50oz can and it is only about $7!!! If you have tried to buy canned chicken in regular grocery stores you know this is a deal for the amount of chicken you are getting! And the chicken itself is good!)

Step 2) Add 1 regular can cream of chicken

Step 3) Add 1 regular can cream of mushroom (Tip: you can replace this with cream of celery if you don't like cream of mushroom. It will make the chicken a bit runnier...but still yummy!)

Step 4) Season with salt and pepper to taste

Step 5) Stir together and turn crock pot on low until heated through

Couldn't be simpler! Serve with buns, cheddar cheese slices and ketchup - YUM! People will love it!

Chili

1 lb ground beef, browned
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cans dark red kidney beans (with liquid)
1 jar Tony Packo's Chili Recipe (available at The Anderson's and Kroger's)

Mix all together in crock pot. Cook on low for 6 - 8 hours.

Notes:
- This recipe can be doubled
- The Tony Packo's Chili Recipe is SPICY.

[Great chili condiments for this recipe: sour cream, shredded cheese, Fritos]

The French Dip - my favorite sandwich

This is the world's best sandwich. I always get it at restaurants (Easy Street has the best. Friday's was very good too but they took it off the menu like a bunch of jerks.) but now I may just have to make it myself. I'm not kidding you when I tell you I made this last night and it made me cry it was so good. It's a beautiful sandwich.

You'll need:

• 1 crock pot
• 1.5 - 2.5 pounds of beef sirloin roast
• 1 package of au jus mix (the dry stuff)
• 1 sm. can of beef broth (this makes a HUGE difference over using just water)
• provolone cheese
• hoagie buns

Stir the au jus mix in the beef broth. Then pour the mixture over the beef in the crock pot. Put the cover on and turn the pot on low for 6-8 hours. After this time, the beef just falls apart, but I like to shred it a bit for smaller pieces. Set oven to broil and put the cheese in the bun and broil for a couple minutes, just until the cheese melts and the bun gets slightly toasty. Spoon the beef into the bun. I like to put the juice from the pot into a bowl so I can dip the sandwich in it, hence French Dip. Oh, it's so good.