Easy Crockpot Turkey Sausage and Vegetables

Happy Crockpot Monday and MLK day! I apologize for my lack of postings in the past week. I do have new recipes for you, I just have not been able to type them up. This past weekend my grandmother passed away so I have been busy helping my family get all the details worked out for the service. Once things calm down I have an awesome granola recipe to post, dark chocolate cherry granola!, and a few others as well.

This week my crockpot meal was literally thrown together. I had just gotten back to my apartment after driving back to college, I lugged all my stuff in- there was a lot of it with groceries too- and I was hungry. Before I had lunch (which I will post about later) I quickly threw everything in the crockpot. I promise it is nothing fancy, but it gets the job done and with all the people coming and going recently it is big enough to feed a crowd.

You will need:

• 2 pack turkey sausage, can be chicken sausage or whatever you prefer
• 1 small sweet onion, diced
• 2 large carrots, sliced
• 1.5 pounds of green beans, slice the ends off
• pack of baby red potatoes, cubed
• 4-5 cups of water, or organic low sodium chicken broth for a little more flavor

First, wash all vegetables and scrub the potatoes. 

Then, cut up vegetables and potatoes and put them in crockpot. Using your hands toss the vegetables and potatoes to thoroughly mix everything together.

Next, cut up turkey sausage, or whatever kind of sausage you are using, into chunks and put it in crockpot.

Once all turkey sausage is cut and in crockpot again using your hands carefully mix vegetables and sausage together.

Finally, pour water or chicken broth by the cup into crockpot. Pour only enough liquid to cover the ingredients. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.

Use caution when opening and serving as the liquid will be extremely hot. I got enough for eight, yes eight, servings out of it. Serving amount will differ depending on how large your portions are.

Crockpot Tomato and Garlic Pork Chops

Happy Crockpot Monday! It's Monday which means it is time for another delicious, nutritious, and easy crockpot meal. Lately most of my crockpot meals have been chicken, so I decided to change it up and do pork chops this week. 

Typically I am not a fan of pork chops. More often than not whenever I eat them they are tough and I feel like I'm sawing through wood not meat. The first time I threw pork chops in the crockpot I was shocked. The meat was so tender and moist it literally fell apart. Since then I have been won over, but only in the crockpot or my mom's delicious pork roast (I'll save that for another day). 

This recipe is really simple and you might even have all the ingredients already in your pantry. I made enough for four servings but you can adjust the recipe as needed for more or less.

You will need:

• 4 Pork Chops
• 1 large sweet onion. diced
• 2 tablespoons of garlic, minced (If you really like a garlicky taste you can add 2 more tablespoons)
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• OPTIONAL: pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 14.5 ounce can organic diced tomatoes, if you can't get organic check the label to make sure there is no added sugar
• slightly less than 1 cup organic low sodium chicken broth

First, pour the chicken broth into crockpot. Then add pork chops in crockpot.

On top of the pork chops place a pinch of salt and pepper (don't have to include) and spread the diced onion, garlic, and thyme.

Finally top off with the diced tomatoes. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve over cooked rice or to spice things up serve over cooked spaghetti squash.

Nutrition per serving (over cooked rice)

Calories: 282 

Carbs: 34

Fat: 4 grams

Protein: 26 grams

Sodium: 267mg

Sugar: 8 grams

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls- Low Cal Low Sugar

Is there anything better than warm sticky cinnamon rolls oozing in delicious icing? And let's not forget the heavenly smell of cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls are a weakness for me, but truth be told I haven't eaten a cinnamon roll in almost five years. One of the biggest turn offs for me about cinnamon rolls is the amount of calories you consume for what five minutes (maybe) of deliciousness? 

Fun fact for you, the average Cinnabon cinnamon roll contains over 880 calories not including icing. With icing the grand total comes in at 1,060 calories! I think I may have gained a few pounds just thinking about the caloric content. Some of Cinnabon's cinnamon rolls that have other 'goodies' on them contain over 1,500 calories. That is a days allotment of calories! 

Armed with information about the lack of nutrition in cinnamon rolls I set out to create a cinnamon roll with a fraction of the calories of Cinnabon, but still tasted (and smelt) just as good. My cinnamon rolls have only 73 calories (without icing) or 90 calories (with icing) per roll and only 3 grams of sugar! You don't even have to feel guilty about going back for seconds!

You will need:

For the Dough

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• slightly less than 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons Promise butter (it's better for you than regular butter)
• 3/4 cup skim milk

For the Filling

• 2 tablespoons Promise butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• slightly less than 1/4 cup brown sugar

For the Icing

For a thicker and sweeter icing:

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon skim milk

For a thinner and more traditional icing:

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• slightly less than 1/4 cup skim milk

First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Then in a mixing bowl combine all ingredients for the dough ONLY. Mix together until a dough ball forms.

Sprinkle some flour on the surface of the counter so dough won't stick. Place dough on floured surface and using a
rolling pin, or your hands, roll dough out to a rectangle with 1/4 inch thickness. If the dough sticks to your hands lightly flour your hands.

After rolling out the dough mix together the ingredients for the filling. Be sure to melt the butter before adding in the cinnamon and brown sugar. Make sure the ingredients are completely mixed together.

Pour the filling over the dough. I poured all the filling in the middle of the dough and used a spoon to spread it around.

After spreading the filling evenly across the dough carefully begin to roll the dough with your hands. I found it easiest to roll the dough towards myself. It does not have to be a perfect circle, it will taste delicious regardless!

Once you have rolled the dough you can choose to cut the dough into sections, for mini cinnamon rolls, or leave it as a loaf to cook. I made indents in the dough first before cutting so I knew how many rolls I would get before I cut. I did find the cinnamon rolls bake more evenly if you cut it into mini cinnamon rolls instead of leaving it as one giant loaf of cinnamon roll.

You can use muffin tins to cook the cinnamon rolls or you can use a regular baking sheet, both work. I got 15 mini cinnamon rolls from my dough. For easy clean up line muffins tins with muffin liners or a baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil.

Bake for 14 minutes at 375 degrees. The rolls will be done baking when the tops become a golden brown color. Promptly remove from oven.

Either mix together the icing right away and pour over the hot cinnamon rolls to serve, or allow rolls to cool and place in an airtight container in refrigerator for optimal freshness. You can also make the icing ahead of time and keep that in fridge as well.

Nutrition Info Per Cinnamon Roll
Calories (without icing): 73
Calories (with icing): 90
Carbs: 13
Fat: 2 grams
Protein: 2 grams
Sodium: 89mg
Sugar: 3 grams