Crockpot Dulce de Leche Sauce

Okay so this is possibly the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! I was watching one of my favorite weekend shows, on the Food Network of course, and Katie Lee taught me how to make Dulce de Leche sauce in the crockpot. Yes, you heard me right. I said in the CROCKPOT! What?? Now I love my crockpot but who knew I could make a yummy, creamy caramel sauce in it? And did I mention that you just need one ingredient? This recipe still blows my mind! I made it today and will be trying it drizzled over some apple pie shortly. So far I’ve only tried it drizzled over my finger. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed licking it off my finger but I think it will be even better drizzled on ice cream, pie, or added to coffee. Let’s just get down to this easy recipe.  Here’s what you need:

 

Crockpot

mason jars – I used three 8 oz jars
condensed milk – I used two 14 oz cans
water

 

Easiest directions ever:

Equally pour the 2 cans of condensed milk in the three mason jars. Seal lid securely.

 

Place jars in crockpot and fill crockpot up to the lids, without covering.

 

Cook on low for 8-10 hours. I cooked mine 9 hours and it was the perfect caramel color. You can cook longer for a deeper caramel color. If you keep peeking at the color by removing the lid, like I did, then you probably need to cook a little longer.


Remove jars from crockpot with tongs. They will be very hot. Let cool for a bit on a dish towel. Remove lid, stir to combine, and then eat a big spoonful! Okay, maybe not a whole spoonful, but at least get a little sample to make sure it's delish.

 

Look how beautiful it turned out! I’m totally giving this to a couple of friends as Christmas gifts. Did I mention that I made this in the crockpot??? I'm still amazed!


This will keep in the fridge for up to 4 weeks. Just remove lid and heat in microwave or you and just scoop some out and microwave a little at a time.

 

Lemon Garlic Chicken Crock Pot Recipe

Who doesn’t love cooking in the crockpot?? I mean, come on people, it is so easy and everything comes out so moist and delicious. You have absolutely no excuse not to get one. Of course, now that I’ve rejoined the working world I enjoy mine more and more. Luckily I have lots of recipes already on my Pinterest so I pulled this one out the other night. BTW, two things you need to do….get a crockpot and join Pinterest! I have found so many great recipes there. It’s awesome.

As I was saying, I love a great crockpot recipe, but a super flavorful one and I am even happier. This one is really garlicky (which I love) and a little zesty too. But wait, that’s not all, it’s also really low fat. The site I found this on claims it’s only 3 Weight Watchers points per serving. Now that’s a bargain!



Ingredients:

 - 8 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I didn’t have breast so I used thighs instead. I seem to always buy those instead)
- 10 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced
- 2 yellow onions, chopped
- 2 cups fat free, low sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 cup lemon pepper seasoning (I cut this back by half, but do as you wish)
- 4 tbsp paprika (I also thought that was a lot so I cut it in half, but do whatever floats your boat)
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tsp lemon zest



Directions:

 Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Mix together the lemon pepper seasoning, paprika and salt. Coat the chicken with the spice mixture. Place the coated chicken in the crock pot and cover with the fat free chicken broth, garlic cloves, parsley and onions and lemon zest. 

Cook on low heat for about 3-4 hours (or until done).


I served with a little whole wheat pasta with garlic, olive oil and kale. A very delicious and healthy meal!

The Perfect Pork Roast (plus a bonus BBQ recipe)

This might look like a tan brick in the photo, but it was super tender and juicy once I cut it up....trust me!

See, I might have a full-time job again, but I can still find time to make great meals.....even if it is in a crockpot! I have always loved my crockpot and the love affair continues. This is honestly one of the best pork roasts you’ll ever put in your mouth. So flavorful and moist. Make it once and you’ll believe me and want to share the recipe with your friends, I did.

Now don’t let the ingredients scare you off. There is coffee and bourbon in the recipe. Yes, it sounds like a strange combination. I don’t drink either, but I put them in the crockpot because I’m afraid to leave anything out and chance losing the delicious flavor. This is such a great recipe and I don’t want to change one thing. I have always loved crockpot cooking and this is a great recipe made just for the crockpot. The best part is that it can be two recipes in one. You can have roast one night and then make BBQ with the left overs. You will also love the BBQ sandwiches. So juicy and tasty. However, if you love the roast too much you might not want to make the BBQ with the remaining at all. I made the roast tonight and my husband doesn’t want me to make BBQ, he wants to have it as roast a few more times. BTW, we’re still debating that point!

Okay, enough chit chat, let’s get started. Here’s what you need:

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork roast
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cups strong brewed coffee
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons bourbon whiskey (optional)
• 10 cloves garlic (yep, 10 cloves!)
• 3 cups beef broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

Season the roast with salt and pepper. Place the seasoned roast, coffee, Worcestershire sauce, bourbon whiskey, garlic, beef broth, water, onion, and red pepper flakes in a slow cooker set to LOW. Cook 6 to 8 hours. I cooked mine 8 hours on low and it was perfect. Since I have a job now, I got everything prepared the night before, put the crockpot, with everything in it, in the fridge overnight. How could the roast not be perfect with all that marinating time AND cooking it in the juices??

When roast is fully cooked, transfer to a large cutting board, and save some juice to use later as a nice au jus. Should pork technically have an au jus?? I don’t really know, but it was nice to spoon over the roast when serving. I also put a lot on the left over roast to keep it moist in the fridge.

Now here’s how you get two different meals with the work for one.  Shred the remaining roast into strands using two forks. You can either just heat all of this in the microwave or return meat to the crockpot. Stir in  barbeque sauce, and continue cooking on LOW for 1 to 3 hours. I guarantee you this will be the best BBQ sandwich you’ve ever tasted. It is so moist and delicious! Now I love me some Kraft BBQ sauce so I start with that and step it up a little.

Here’s what I do, it’s not an exact recipe though.

Pour about half the bottle in a bowl and add the following:

splash of lemon juice

about a tablespoon or Worcestershire sauce

squirt of yellow mustard

squirt of ketchup

a little granulated garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Or just use your favorite BBQ sauce as is!

Pour this sauce over pulled pork and stir together. You have just created the BEST BBQ sandwich you’ll ever taste! Yummy!!

If I win the battle to make BBQ this time, I'll post pictures of that soon. Let's just be honest...I WILL post pics of BBQ very soon. :-)

And the BBQ pic is posted! Better late than never!