It’s Slow Cooker Week!

All week long at the Tearoom I’ll be presenting my favourite slow cooker recipes!  If you have any of your own to share with us, I’d love to add them to the postings!  On Friday, in keeping with my meatless meals for the Fridays of Lent, the slow cooker recipes, will, of course, be meat free!

Pizza Potatoes

A while back I shared my Mom’s recipe for Pizza Potatoes, a family favourite when I was growing up.  Here’s the slow cooker version of it:

Ingredients:

8 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 large onion, chopped

4 oz. sliced pepperoni or ½ lb. ground beef, browned and drained

16 oz. tomato sauce

basil, garlic powder, oregano to taste

4 oz. grated mozzarella

Instructions:  Place the potatoes in the slow cooker and top with the pepperoni slices. Mix the onion and spices into the tomato sauce and pour over the potatoes and pepperoni. Top with the grated cheese and cook on high for about 4 hours until the potatoes are tender.

Shepherd’s Pie

This recipe is a good one for using up leftover mashed potatoes.  When I make “regular” shepherd’s pie I also use up the leftover vegetables I have on hand but I really find for this slow cooker version that the frozen ones work better (the others will turn mushy).

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon minced onions

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon paprika

2 cups frozen vegetables of your choice – my daughter prefers corn only but I enjoy using a mix of peas, carrots, corn, green beans, and lima beans or any combination of these as well

1 cup water

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3 cups mashed potatoes

Instructions:  Saute the onion and brown the ground meat with the spices. Spray your slow cooker with Pam and place the meat in it. Stir in the vegetables and water. Spread the potatoes over top of the meat and vegetable mixture and sprinkle the cheese on top. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.