Place sliced onions on bottom of crock pot. Place roast in crock pot. Season with salt and pepper. Pour diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, vinegar, and spices over roast. Cook on high for 1 hour, and then low for 8 hours. Transfer meat to cutting board and cut into chunks. Meanwhile, whisk tomato paste into the gravy in the pot roast and add parmesan cheese to taste. Gravy will get thicker after a minute or two. Add meat back to gravy and serve.

Leftover Tip- If you have any meat leftover (which will be highly unlikely), shred it for sandwiches. Serve the shredded meat on hoagie rolls with chips and fresh veggies. Yum!

4 chicken breasts
2 cups marinara sauce
1/3 cup chopped tomatoes (you can use fresh or a can of diced tomatoes)
1/2 cup Italian Dressing

Slow Cooker Version: Place all ingredients in your slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for six hours. Serve over spaghetti or rice with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. This is delicious with a side of roasted green beans.

Oven Version: Throw frozen chicken breasts in. Pour sauce, tomatoes, & Italian dressing on top. Bake at 375 for 1 hour (or longer if they are large chicken breasts).

Make-Ahead Version: Throw all of the ingredients in a freezer bag and label with cooking directions. To prepare, just thaw and follow one of the versions above.

5 pounds of potatoes
1 block (8 oz) of low-fat cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup low fat sour cream
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup milk (or more if desired)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Peel potatoes and cut into small cubes. Throw the potatoes in a large pot filled with cold water. Cook for 25 minutes or until fork-tender. Drain the potatoes and put them back into the hot pot. Add cream cheese, butter, milk, and salt. Mash with a potato masher or use a hand mixer to whip the potatoes. Spoon mixture into a freezer-safe container and label.

Thanksgiving Day: Put potatoes in the fridge 1-2 days before to allow them to completely thaw. Spray slow cooker with cooking spray and put potatoes in the slow cooker. Brush the top of the potatoes with a tablespoon of butter and sprinkle with paprika. Cook on low for two to four hours.

If you would rather bake these, bake the potatoes at 350 degrees for thirty to forty minutes or until completely hot.

Lazy Gal’s Chicken & Noodle Soup

This is great for your pizzas, for making bagel & English muffin pizzas for the kids, or as a dipping sauce. Visit this entry for more details on streamlining that homemade pizza routine.

Easy Pizza Sauce

Place all of the ingredients in the slow cooker (This is ideal when making large batches). Cook on low for six to eight hours.

Slow Cooked Pork Chops

4 pork chops (I use a package of center-cut chops)
1 package onion soup mix
1 cup chicken broth

Place pork chops in the slow cooker. In a separate bowl, combine soup mix & chicken broth, stir. Pour over chops. Cook on low heat for six to eight hours.

Serve with chicken flavored rice & a roll of tube biscuits.

6 pork chops
½ tsp garlic powder
½ cup flour
1 can chicken broth
2 tablespoons flour
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

Season pork chops with garlic powder and then dredge in ½ cup of flour. In a skillet over medium heat, lightly brown chops in a small amount of oil. Place chops in slow cooker and pour chicken stock over the chops. Cover and cook on low for seven to eight hours. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. After the chops have cooked, transfer the chops to the oven to keep warm. In a small bowl, blend 2 tablespoons flour with the sour cream; mix into meat juices. Turn slow cooker to high for fifteen to thirty minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened. Serve sauce over pork chops.

Serve over egg noodles.

1 pound ground turkey
1 can chili beans, with liquid
1 can kidney beans, with liquid
1 can whole kernel corn, with liquid
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 package of taco seasoning mix

In a medium skillet, cook the ground beef until browned over medium heat. Drain & set aside. Place the ground beef, chili beans, kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce, water, diced tomatoes, & taco seasoning mix in a slow cooker. Mix to blend and cook on Low setting for eight hours.

Serve alone or can be topped with shredded cheese & sour cream.

Serve with tortilla chips.

Sticky Chicken

1 tbsp salt
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp dried oregano leaves
2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
1 – 3 or 4 lb roasting chicken
1 cup chopped onion (I omit this)

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients except chicken and onion. Rub herb mixture inside and outside of chicken. Place in food storage bag; seal bag. Refrigerate overnight. Remove chicken from bag; stuff with onion. Place in crockpot on low 6-8 hours; high 2-4 hours. Chicken juices should run clear and chicken reaches 180*. Let stand 15 minutes before carving.

Serve with mashed potatoes and corn.

Slow Cooker Ravioli

1 (25 ounce) bag beef or cheese ravioli
1 (26 ounce) jar pasta sauce
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Pour about half of the pasta sauce in the bottom of slow cooker. Add frozen ravioli. Pour additional pasta sauce, tomato sauce, and water over ravioli. Sprinkle cheese on top. Turn slow cooker on low and cook for four to five hours (until ravioli are tender).