Year of the Kitchen: Cook At Home

Clever ways to save money by cooking at home!

Meal Prep: Plan and prep weekly meals on Sundays.

Budget-Friendly Staples: Focus on low-cost ingredients like rice, beans, pasta, potatoes, and fruits or vegetables in season.

Leftovers: Cook batch meals so you can eat leftovers.

DIY: Make pizza dough, soup stock, sauces, and muffins from scratch.

Shop Smart: Buy in bulk, use discounts when you can, and always use older items FIRST before they expire.

---

Sam’s Pizza Dough

• 500g 00 pizza flour
• 300g water
• 5g yeast
• 6g salt
• 14g olive oil – I used a Tuscan Herb flavored oil for more flavor

Using a stand mixer add the 3 dry ingredients and whisk just to mix them together. Add water and olive oil and mix with the bread hook until dough is mixed well and pulls away from the side of the bowl…this should take just a few minutes. If you don’t have a stand mixer you can do this all by hand 😊

Remove the dough ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rest for 2-3 hours. After it rises, separate into 2 dough balls and cover both and allow to rest, covered, for another 2 hours.

After the final rise you can make a pizza and/or seal the dough in a container/ Ziplock in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. (If you are using a dough from the fridge, remove it from its container and let it rise, covered, until room temperature before cooking).

Your oven needs to be very hot – 550 degrees is a good oven temperature (higher if you have a home pizza oven). It only takes 7-8 minutes to cook. I recommend a baking steel to make the crust crispier.

---

Jodi’s Slow Cooker Lasagna

• 1 (24 oz) can marinara sauce – with meat (cooked & mixed together. Use either your fave jar OR make from scratch!)
• 1 (12 oz) oven-ready lasagna noodles
• 1 (8oz) package whipped cream cheese
• 1 (8 oz) bag shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 (8 oz) bag shredded mozzarella cheese

To begin – the red sauce doesn’t even have to be hot. That’s why this recipe is great for leftover red sauce!

Spray bottom of slow cooker with a little cooking spray. Spoon 1 thin layer or meat/sauce mixture on bottom. Then spread a thin layer of cream cheese on uncooked lasagna noodle. (break them if you need to make them fit your slow cooker)

Next, sprinkle some of the shredded cheese. Top that cheesy layer with a little of the meat mixture. Then you repeat – starting with spreading the whipped cream cheese on the uncooked long noddle. Do shredded cheese again, then red sauce. Top that layer of sauce with a little more shredded cheese. THEN you are ready to cover it tightly in the slow cooker. Put it on low, and cook for 3 – 3 ½ hours. DO NOT open it to check on it. (that cuts slow cooking time down by 30 minutes.) It should be perfect and ready after 3 – 3 ½ hours. SO good!!!!

***No need to go heavy on any of the layers. But use the amounts YOU like. There is no hard measurement for the cheeses…..that’s your call.

Oh, and be sure to PLUG your slow cooker in! 😉

---

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Sliders

• 1 package chicken breasts
• 1 16 oz bottle of buffalo wing sauce (any brand you like)
• Butter
• Slider Buns

Put cleaned chicken breasts in slow cooker.  Place a pat of butter on top of each breast.  Pour the sauce on the chicken – enough to mostly cover it.  Cook on Low for 7-8 hours (or High for 4 hours) Remove the lid from the slow cooker and shred the chicken until it’s all saucy!  Serve on buns with Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing.

**optional – you can add a block of cream cheese when shredding the chicken to make it creamy.

**also optional – you can add a packet of dry ranch dressing to the chicken before pouring the buffalo sauce.  Gives it a bit more zest.

---

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

• 1 14.5 oz can Chicken Broth
• 1 small can Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can mild green enchilada
• 1 can sweet corn
• 1 cup of cooked rotisserie chicken – shredded or pulled

Open and pour all cans into a big slow cooker.  Don’t drain any of the veggies.  The juice goes IN the soup.  Stir it well enough to sort of separate the creamed soup.   Put the chicken in and stir.   Cover, and heat of LOW for 4 hours, OR you can do it on HIGH for 2 hours.

Serve with taco type toppings:   sour cream, cheese, avocado, tortilla strips. TOO easy!! So good.

---

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili 

• 3-4 chicken breast
• 2 cans white corn
• 1 can white beans
• 1 can cream of chicken
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 can rotel
• 1 lb Velveeta
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 package white chicken chili seasoning
• 1 bag frozen seasoning mix (onions, bell peppers and celery)
• 1 tsp garlic powder

Sauté frozen seasoning mix (onions, bell peppers and celery.) Combine all ingredients in crockpot. Cook low 6-8 hours or on high 4-6 hours.

---

Jodi’s Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas

(You can make it a soup too!)

• 1 pk boneless chicken breasts
• 1 can of red enchilada sauce

Place the chicken breasts in the slow cooker, (season them IF you want) then pour 1 can of enchilada sauce on top.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours….OR high for 3-4 hours. Once you are ready to make EITHER chicken enchilada soup OR chicken enchiladas…..just shred the chicken. It will shred easily. Juicy and yummy!

Soup:
Put the sauce and chicken in a pot on the stove. Add some chicken broth, beef broth (optional) corn, black beans and a scoop of salsa. Simmer for about 20 minutes. You can add or omit anything you want to this soup. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream and tortilla strips on top.

Enchiladas:
After the chicken is shredded, put some of the mixture in a tortilla along with some shredded cheese. Roll up, then place the tortilla seam side down in a casserole dish. Repeat until dish is full. Top with either more enchilada sauce, queso, or shredded cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 (or until bubbly). MY 13 year old made this last time we came home to this chicken ready to shred in our slow cooker. Good stuff!!

---

Jodi’s Simple Slow Cooked Roast

• 1 Chuck Roast
• 1 pack of Onion Soup Mix (I used Lipton)
• 2 cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup

Sprinkle the roast with the dry soup mix, rub it in on both sides.

Place the roast in the slow cooker. Then spoon the mushroom soup into the slow cooker on and on the sides of roast. Cover, and cook for 6-7 hours on low. The juices with mix with the soup and make a GREAT gravy!

You CAN add fresh carrots and potatoes. We serve it with rice since there’s so much good gravy.

---

Sam’s Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches

• 3lb beef shoulder roast
• 2 cups beef broth
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 1 Tbs vegetable or canola oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 heaping Tbs garlic, minced
• Garlic sauce (Cajun, Kinders, etc)
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• Creole seasoning (Tony’s)
• Garlic and Onion powder

Rub the roast with garlic sauce-liberally, then cover all sides with Creole seasoning, garlic powder and onion powder. (No measurements on those 3 spices…just make sure your roast is good and covered…even the sides). Brown the roast on all sides in a cast iron set to medium-high. When it’s browned add the roast to a slow cooker.

Lower the skillet heat to medium-low and sauté the onions and pepper until they are wilted and covered in the pan seasonings and drippings from the roast. You can add a bit of water to help with the sauteing if needed. Add the garlic and sauté another minute or so. Add the flour and mix it into the veggies until it’s fully incorporated. Add broth and Worcestershire sauce and simmer until it thickens a bit, but not too thick.

Add the broth mixture to the slow cooker on top of the roast. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
After 8 hours you can shred the roast and serve or return the shredded roast to the slow cooker and gravy for a little longer before serving.

**You can season this broth and veggie mixture, but be careful with the salt because the broth has a lot. You can also use low-sodium broth if you’d like.

---

Sam’s Honey Garlic Slow Cooker Ribs

• 1 (2½–3 lb) rack of pork ribs, halved
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 cup honey
• ½ cup soy sauce
• 10 cloves garlic, minced

Season ribs evenly with salt, pepper, paprika, and chili powder. Rub in on all sides. Add honey, soy sauce, and garlic to a large slow cooker.

Transfer the ribs to slow cooker and turn them over in sauce until coated. Position the ribs so they are standing up, with the meatier side down, and so the meat side is against the walls of the slow cooker, with the bone sides facing in.

Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 7 – 8 hours. Check after the allotted time, you want to make sure the meat is cooked through and tender.

Remove the ribs and transfer to cutting board. Cut between the bones to separate into individual ribs.

Serve with additional sauce from the slow cooker, as needed.

---

Jodi’s Slow Cooker Korean BBQ Pork