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Well…my passion is photography, certainly NOT cooking!  Luckily, I recently came across the Frugal Girls Website – – they publish all kinds of great crockpot recipes.  That’s my kind of cooking!  Dump everything into one pot, turn it on, go on with your day as usual, and come home to a fully-cooked meal!  I can be outside taking pictures, playing with my kids, or just sitting on the couch watching TV (eating bonbons as my husband often accuses me of)!

Now I have not I’ve tried all these recipes linked here, but I certainly intend to attempt each of them!  I have great aspirations of being a wife who keeps the house clean, does all the laundry, AND has a nice warm meal on the table for her husband when he gets home.  My poor husband drew the short stick when it comes to cooking.  NOT my thing at all.  But…we do have some great family photos that I took!  So there…

The featured image is a picture of my poor, beat up Rival Crockpot!  Please understand that it is not beat up because I’ve cooked in it a lot, but because it has been volunteered for many Chili Cook-offs at my children’s schools!  People are often looking for a large crock pot, and for some reason I purchased one many years ago.  Now I guess it’s time I used it to cook for my family.  So…the first 5 Frugal Girls recipes that I plan to try are listed below.  If you cook them before I do, please leave me a comment on my post and let me know how it went.  Let me know if your family enjoyed it, and if you changed/added any ingredients to make it even better!

Crockpot Orange Chicken Recipe
Author: The Frugal Girls
Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 3 hours 30 mins Total time: 3 hours 35 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, thawed
¾ cup Smuckers Sweet Orange Marmalade
¾ cup of Sweet Baby Ray’s Original BBQ Sauce {it’s SO good!}
2 tbsp. Soy Sauce

Instructions
Cook chicken in crockpot on HIGH for 3 hours {covered}
After 3 hours, drain juices from crockpot
At this point… you can either leave the chicken breasts whole, or remove, cut into cubes, and transfer back to crockpot.
Mix together bbq sauce, orange marmalade, and soy sauce.
Pour mixture over chicken, and cook on high for 30 more minutes {covered}

Easy Crockpot BBQ Coca-Cola Ribs Recipe!
Author: The Frugal Girls
Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 4 hours Total time: 4 hours 5 mins

Ingredients
Approx. 3 lbs. Pork Backribs
1 bottle Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce {18 oz.}
Coca-Cola {6 oz.} – use ½ of a 12 oz. can
? tsp. Salt
? tsp. Pepper

Instructions
Cut Rib rack in half
Sprinkle ribs with Salt and Pepper, then place in Crockpot.
Combine BBQ Sauce and Coke in bowl, mix well, then pour over ribs in Crockpot.
Cover Crockpot with lid.
Cook on HIGH for 4 hours, or LOW for 8 hours, or until done. ENJOY!!

Easy Crockpot Italian Chicken Recipe!
Author: The Frugal Girls
Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 3 hours 30 mins Total time: 3 hours 35 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, thawed
1 bottle Wish-Bone Italian Dressing, 16 oz.

Instructions
Place chicken in Crockpot and pour Italian Dressing over it.
Cook on HIGH for 3.5 hours {covered}, or until done.
That’s it! Seriously… it doesn’t get any easier, and it’s oh-so tasty!

Here's all I needed to fix this recipe!  And clean up was just as easy as cooking - I just lifted the crockpot liner out of the pot and threw it away.   Simple!!

Here’s all I needed to fix this recipe! And clean up was just as easy as cooking – I just lifted the crockpot liner out of the pot and threw it away. Simple!!

VERDICT:  Okay…easiest recipe ever!  I’m not even sure you would consider this cooking, but of course I will!  Any time I pull out a pot or pan (or turn on the microwave), I consider it cooking.  I covered the chicken breasts in Italian dressing and cooked on high for 3.5 hours.  I think next time, I will cut the time by 30 minutes.  I thought the chicken was pretty dry.  However, my husband choked his down (plus the rest of mine), and my kids gobbled it all up.  Of course, their chicken was covered in ketchup, so it did not seem dry to them at all.  We added some Knorr noodles and a bag salad to our plates with some yummy rolls!  And that’s it – – it took me about 3o minutes (or maybe less) to pull this dinner together.  YUM!

 

Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken Recipe!    

Author: The Frugal Girls
Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 3 hours 30 mins Total time: 3 hours 35 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, thawed
1 bottle Kikkoman Teriyaki Sauce {20½ oz.}
Green Onions, chopped

Optional: Sesame Seeds

Instructions
Cook chicken in Crockpot on HIGH for 3 hours {covered}
After 3 hours, drain juices from Crockpot
Remove chicken from Crockpot, and slice… then transfer back to Crockpot.
Pour Teriyaki sauce over chicken, and cook on high for 30 more minutes {covered}, or until done.
When ready to serve, garnish with Sesame Seeds and chopped Green Onions. ENJOY!!

Crockpot BBQ Coca-Cola Pork Chops!
Author: The Frugal Girls
Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 3 hours 30 mins Total time: 3 hours 35 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients
4 Boneless Pork Chops, thawed {approx. 2 lbs.}
½ Bottle Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce {9 oz.}
12 oz. Coca-Cola {1 can}

Instructions
Pour 6 oz. Coca-Cola {or ¾ cup} into bottom of Crockpot.
Place Pork Chops in Crockpot, and Cook on HIGH for 3 hours, or LOW for 6 hours, covered.
After 3 hours on HIGH or 6 hours on LOW, drain juices from crockpot.
Mix together BBQ Sauce and remaining 6 oz. of Coca-Cola in small bowl, and stir well.
Pour mixture over pork chops, and cook on HIGH for 30 more minutes, or until done.

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The Pork Chops were so easy to fix with so few ingredients! This is the “mess” I had when I was done cooking! Not bad, huh?

VERDICT:  YUM!!!  Okay…my first crockpot recipe was a totally success.  I followed the recipe exactly – – I did not add/change any ingredients.  I simply put the pork chops in the crockpot and did exactly what the instructions said to do.  I was so happy with this recipe, because not only was it simple, but my whole family enjoyed it – – even my kids!!!  I loved it too.  The pork chops were so yummy and moist – I could cut the meat with a fork.  So…success!  Not sure which recipe I’ll tackle next, but I will add my verdict as soon as we try it!    And next time, I’ll try to remember to take a picture of the finished product – – it’s always a bit chaotic in my kitchen at dinner time.  Taking a picture and trying to serve plates just wasn’t happening that night.

Good luck with your cooking!  And if you are like me, and don’t like to do dishes, be sure to get some Crockpot Liners!  Makes clean up fast and simple!!!