3 Dinner Recipes You Can Make While You’re Working
Adriane Davis
| 4 min read
Let’s be honest, if you work all day it can be hard to find the motivation to come home and cook an entire meal for you and your family. There has to be an easier way, right? Well if you’re anything like us, you love your crock pot and don’t know how people can cook without one. But if you are a crock pot fanatic, you may find it difficult to find a recipe that cooks for a full eight hours while you’re working.
We compiled a few of our favorite crock pot recipes that take up an entire work day and require minimal preparation, so your dinner can be hot and ready as soon as you get home.
Beezie’s Black Bean Soup (Vegetarian)
Adapted from allrecipes.com
2 cans of low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
7 ½ cups water
1 chopped carrot
1 chopped celery stalk
1 diced red onion
6 crushed cloves of garlic
2 diced bell peppers
2 minced jalapeño peppers
¼ dry lentils
1 can (28 ounce) low sodium peeled and diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoon red wine vinegar
½ cup uncooked brown rice
- Combine beans, water, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, bell pepper, lentil jalapeño and tomatoes. Add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, black pepper, red wine vinegar and salt to taste. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.
- Stir in rice and let cook on high for 30 minutes.
Nutritional information per serving (yields 10 servings) 231 calories, 1.2g fat, 295mg sodium, 667mg potassium, 43.4g carbohydrates, 12.6g protein, 4.1g sugar
Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Chili
Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything
1 can (28 ounce) low sodium diced tomatoes
1 can (14 ounce) low sodium diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 can (15 ounce) low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 ounce) chili beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 ounce) corn, drained
2 cups chicken broth
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons cumin
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2-3 teaspoons chili powder
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
Various toppings of your choice like cheese, sour cream, avocados or tortilla strips
- Add all of the ingredients (except for the toppings) to the slow cooker, be sure to layer the ingredients properly using these tips.
- Cook for 6-8 hours on low, be sure to add more time if you’re using frozen chicken.
- Remove the chicken and shred with a fork then add it back into the slow cooker and stir.
- Add the toppings of your choice and enjoy.
Nutritional information per serving (yields 8 servings) 280 calories, 3.2g fat, 544mg sodium, 670mg potassium, 46.7g carbohydrates, 10.6g fiber, 4.9g sugar, 13.3g protein
Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Adapted from Joyously Domestic
1 chuck roast (about 3 pounds)
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 carrot, sliced
2 potatoes, cubed
1 onion, sliced
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1 cup reduced sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
Seasoning mix:
2 tablespoons of low sodium steak seasoning
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
- Mix seasonings together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Coat both sides of the pot roast with the olive oil and sprinkle both sides with a third of the seasoning mix. Sear the pot roast over medium-high heat, then place the roast in the slow cooker.
- In a large bowl, drizzle olive oil over the vegetables and sprinkle on the rest of the seasoning mix. Sauté the vegetables in the same skillet used to sear the roast, for about five minutes, then transfer the vegetables to the slow cooker.
- Pour the beef broth on top of the vegetables and roast, cover with a lid and cook on low for nine hours.
Nutritional information per serving (yields 5 servings) 100 calories, 1.1g fat, 313mg sodium, 488mg potassium, 20g carbohydrates, 3.4g fiber, 3g sugar, 3.1g protein
TIP: If you find a slow cooker recipe that only has directions for 3-4 hours on high, use this chart from Savvy Expression to convert the time.
What are favorite day-long crock pot recipes? Share them with us in the comment section.
If you like this blog, check out some of our other recipes:
Photo credit: Breville USA
