Easy Crockpot Ham

Our Thanksgiving was spent on the road, in the truck...but together, which is the most important thing! There is much that we have to be thankful for. I'm also thankful for the ability to cook for us in the truck. It is usually a challenge, but I have found ways to modify recipes and adjust cooking times to match the resources I have available. And of course, Thanksgiving was no different. We used pre-packaged Bob Evans mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese, picked up at WalMart (which I highly recommend, by the way! Very tasty and they keep well for a few weeks - something that is important when you visit a grocery store only once a month!).

Thanksgiving dinner

In an effort to have something special for the holiday, I decided to cook a quarter ham in the crockpot. Well, technically it's a 7-in-1 cooker, but it has a slow cooker function. Anyway, after a bit of research, and borrowing brown sugar from my mother (quite conveniently, we were sent to California about a week before Thanksgiving!), I decided to give it a go. The result...super amazingness. It was wonderful served hot on Thanksgiving, and it was great cold as sandwiches for the next week. It stayed moist and tender...in short, the perfect, easy ham!

Quick note: make sure it is a sliced, fully cooked ham that simply needs to be warmed up. If it is an uncooked ham, a quick Google search should reveal easy cooking methods.

Ingredients:
1 quarter ham
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar

Spoon about a quarter of the applesauce on the bottom of the crockpot and sprinkle a little brown sugar on top. Add the ham, rind side up, and allow any juices in the package to run into the crockpot. Spoon the rest of the applesauce over the top of the ham and add the rest of the brown sugar. Let the crockpot cook for about 3 hours, periodically spooning more sauce over the top of the ham to keep it moist. When fully warm, separate the slices and make sure each slice gets dipped in the sauce as you serve it, to keep it moist. Enjoy!

Broiled Pork Chops

Pork chops are one of my favorite meals - they are delicious, packed with protein, and usually relatively cheap. They are also versatile, taking on the flavors around them as they cook.

This variation was made very easily in my toaster oven on the broil setting. They literally cooked completely in 12 minutes and were juicy and tender. I let the toaster warm up while I put Zatarains garlic butter rice in my 7-in-1 cooker on rice setting, and we had a satisfying meal ready in about half an hour total prep and cook time.

I used garlic powder and Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning. You can use pork rub, cajun seasoning, dry ranch dressing mix - whatever stirs your imagination and gets your taste buds drooling.

Pork chop with garlic butter rice

Ingredients:
2-4 pork chops
Olive oil
Garlic, seasoning as desired

Turn your oven or toaster to broil setting and let it heat up as you prep the chops and start whatever side dish you desire. Rub the pork chops with olive oil on both sides and sprinkle the top with seasonings. Place on a foil lined sheet or pan and put it inside the oven. Thin chops take 6 minutes on each side, thicker chops need more time. When the top is golden brown, flip the chops over and sprinkle the other side with seasonings as well. When both sides are lightly browned and chops are cooked through, pull them out and let them rest about 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Salsa Taco Chicken

Another easy recipe for the road - or anyone with a crockpot who likes easy, no fuss meals! This recipe is very similar to the Shredded BBQ Chicken. It can be easily modified by using mild or spicy salsa and taco mix, and adding whatever toppings you like to the finished product. I highly recommend wrapping it in tortillas and adding cheddar cheese, sour cream, and taco veggies!

Ingredients:
1 jar salsa, any flavor
1 packet taco seasoning
2-4 chicken breasts

Pour about a quarter of the salsa jar into the crockpot and sprinkle a quarter of the taco seasoning. Lay the chicken breasts on top. Cover with salsa and taco seasoning, adding salsa and seasoning between layers if layering is necessary. For 2 chicken breasts, half of the jar of salsa and half of the taco seasoning is sufficient; for 4 breasts, use all of it.

On a crockpot, use the low setting for 2 hours or the high setting for 45 minutes. On our Farberware 7-in-1, the chicken setting pressure cooks the chicken in 25 minutes. Once thoroughly cooked, use a fork or spatula to shred or chunk the chicken. Stir it in the salsa seasoning mix and let simmer another few minutes to absorb more of the sauce. Taco night, here we come!

Muffin Pancakes

If you haven't heard yet, making pancakes from muffin mix is one of the best ideas of this decade. The texture comes out still very muffiny, and the flavor variations are ENDLESS. And they are super easy and cheap! The downfall? Each packet of muffin mix makes only 4 pancakes  (or 5 if you make small pancakes). Double, triple, quadruple, whatever you feel is necessary.

I did make these in our semi one morning, using an electric skillet. They were delicious, but waiting for them to cook feels like forever when you're hungry. The heat on the skillet needs to be low enough to cook them through as the sides turn golden brown - if the heat is too high, they burn before they are fully cooked.

Blueberry muffin pancakes

Ingredients:
1 packet muffin mix, any flavor
1 egg or 2 tsp oil
Enough water to bring the mixture to pancake batter consistency

Mix all ingredients while the skillet warms up. Pour by the ladlefull, spread out if too thick, and watch carefully. When the underside is golden brown, flip. Cook slowly to ensure they are thoroughly cooked without burning. Add butter or toppings as desired and enjoy!

Shredded BBQ Chicken

I'm all about simple recipes, and this one may be the easiest I've posted yet. Though it is easy, it is delicious! Whether at home in a crockpot or on the road in our Farberware 7-in-1, the smell of cooking will have you drooling by the time it's ready.

You ready for this?

Ingredients:
1 small bottle Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce
3 chicken breasts or 6-8 chicken tenders, raw boneless
Any other seasonings desired

Squirt sauce around the bottom of the pot until it is nearly covered. Lay raw chicken on top. If you need to layer chicken, squirt sauce between layers. Squirt more sauce on top to nearly cover the chicken. I usually use about 3/4 of the bottle altogether.

That's really it, folks. Use the low setting on the crockpot for a couple hours, the high setting or the chicken setting on the 7-in-1 for 30 minutes. Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked, shred the chicken (still inside the pot), stir in the sauce, and let simmer another 15 minutes. It will absorb a lot of sauce!

Serve over rice or with pasta. It's a little sloppy for sandwiches but a piece of bread to sop up the sauce always helps!

Pork Chops and Potatoes

For my first time cooking on the road, I decided to make a very simple recipe - just 4 ingredients! It turned out perfect. The potatoes were tender, the meat was falling apart, and I was drooling after 2.5 hours of driving while smelling it cooking!

I used my trainer's Roadpro Lunchbox cooker, but it can easily be made in a crockpot, or even in the oven at home. This serves 2, so feel free to double as needed.


Ingredients:
2 pork chops
3-4 small red potatoes
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 package garlic and herb dry salad dressing mix
Splash water

Scoop a third of the can of soup onto the bottom of a meatloaf sized foil baking pan, splash a little water, and sprinkle some of the dry soup mix. Place pork chops on top and repeat the soup and dry mix. Clean potatoes (I leave skins on) and chop into bite-sized pieces, and place on top. Add the rest of the soup and dry mix and another splash of water.

In a lunchbox cooker, 2.5 hours (checking every hour) was perfect. For crockpot or oven cooking, check every half hour. When potatoes are tender, sauce is thick and bubbly, and pork chops are cooked through, stir and serve.

Banana Orange Muffins

In the chaos of moving and getting ready for the new chapter of our lives that is about to begin... I needed a quick break, a spot of creativity, a glimpse of stability. I also needed to use some of what is still in my cupboards! Thus was born... Banana Orange Muffins.

You already know it's going to be quick and easy and tasty...and it's even husband-approved! For the guy who eats all things chocolate and rarely ventures into the world of fruit and healthy-looking snacks, that's a win.

If you want to make it healthier, you could always substitute egg whites for the egg, and applesauce for the oil, and a gluten-free cake mix if you're into that. For fall flavoring, add cinnamon or use a spice cake mix. Or use a chocolate cake mix, or a strawberry cake mix...seriously the options are almost endless! Feel free to modify!

Ingredients:
2-3 very, very ripe bananas
1 egg
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp each of vanilla extract and orange extract
1 vanilla cake mix

Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare muffin tins (or a bread pan, if you prefer). Peel the bananas and place in a medium mixing bowl. Mash with a fork, then mix in the egg, oil, and extracts. Add the dry cake mix and stir or beat until thoroughly mixed. Pour into prepared tins and bake for about 18-22 minutes, testing with a toothpick when done. Makes 12 muffins or one loaf of bread.