Loaded Slow-Cooker Potatoes

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• Baby potatoes, halved and quartered if large
• 3 Cups shredded cheddar
• 2 Cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 8 Slices bacon, cooked
• ¼ Cup sliced green onions (plus more for garnish)
• 1 Tbsp. paprika
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Sour cream, drizzling
• Directions

 Directions

1. Line a slow cooker with foil and spray with cooking spray. Add half the potatoes, 1 1/4 cups cheese, half the garlic, 1/3 of the cooked bacon, half the green onions, and half the paprika. Season with salt and pepper. Repeat.
2. Cover and cook on high until potatoes are tender, 5 to 6 hours. (The bigger your potatoes, the longer they'll need.) About 20 to 30 minutes before serving, top with remaining cheese and bacon (this is your moment to make the potatoes look pretty!).
3. Garnish with more green onions, drizzle with sour cream, and serve.

Slow-Cooker Sweet Potato Chili

Ingredients

• 28 ounce (796 ml) can diced tomatoes
• 23 ounce (680 ml) can tomato sauce
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 15 oz cans kidney beans, drained; or 3 cups cooked kidney beans (start with 1.5 c dry beans, soak overnight)
• 1 cup corn, frozen and thawed
• 1 lb ground beef sirloin (optional)
• 1 cup chicken broth

 Directions

1. If using cooked beans, soak 1.5 cups kidney beans overnight, rinse and pre-cook while preparing the rest of the chili.
2. Roast the corn until most pieces have a dark/charred corner, either in your slow cooker, if it has that function, or on the stove top. A dry pan or pot works best. Set aside corn and brown the meat (in slow cooker or on stove stop).
3. Combine all ingredients in the base of your slow cooker and stir to mix well. Cook on low for 8 hours

Burgundy Beef Stew

Ingredients

• Boneless beef chuck pot roast
• ½ Tsp salt
• ¼ Tsp ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp cooking oil (optional)
• 2 Tbsp quick-cooking tapioca
• 6 Medium carrots, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces
• One 9-oz package frozen cut green beans
• ½ of a 16-oz package frozen small whole onions (2 cups)
• 2 garlic, minced
• One 14-oz can reduced-sodium beef broth
• 1 Cup Burgundy wine (or Pinot Noir, depending on preference)
• 4 Slices bacon, crisp-cooked, drain, and crumbled

Directions

1. Trim fat from meat. Cut meat into 1-inch pieces. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper. If desired, in a large skillet cook meat, half at a time, in hot oil over medium heat until brown. Drain off fat.
2. Place meat in a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker. Sprinkle with tapioca. Stir in carrots, green beans, onions, and garlic. Pour broth and Burgundy over meat mixture in cooker.
3. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 10 to 12 hours or on high-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours. Sprinkle each serving with crumbled bacon. Makes 6 servings.