Three Ingredients, Seven Hours

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I've been running around like a headless chicken (we all know about my fall to-do-list now) and we have house guests so I'm switching things up and posting the Sunday recipe today. Tomorrow, we all get an Oh, Kaye! as our friend Kaye Barley talks about her Bouchercon plans.


My friend Caroline, who is as cheap frugal as I, was telling me her secret for delicious low-cost meals: Put Into Crockpot at Low for Seven Hours. She takes inexpensive ingredients (or cuts of meat on sale) tosses them into the pot, and goes her merry way. I asked her her meal philosophy, and got the following pointers:


1. Keep the main dish to three ingredients and...

2. ...make sides that are quick to microwave (canned or frozen veggies) or easy to boil up (potatoes, noodles, rice.) Who wants to spend more than twenty minutes on prep time?

3. Serve on nice china with cloth napkins if possible. It doesn't cost any more to make the table look good.

4. Put the money you've saved into wine or dessert, depending on your proclivity.


HOT SPANISH THIGHS

Boneless, skinless thighs
Jar of hot salsa
Chopped onion

Put into crockpot at low for seven hours. Serve with Spanish rice and/or a can of refried beans. Olé!





BERRY GOOD PORK

Pork chops or a pork eye of round
Can of whole berry cranberry sauce
Package of onion soup mix

Put into crockpot in the listed order at low for seven hours.  Add flour to what's in the crockpot after removing meat, turn it up to high, and stir to thicken (depending on your crockpot, it may be quicker to transfer the liquids to a sauce pan for this part.) Serve over mashed potatoes, with green beans. That'll do.


BOEUF BOURGUIGNON FACILE

Package of beef stew meat (if you're really saving, get the chuck roast and cut it into cubes yourself)
Can of mushroom soup
Can of mushrooms (Caroline uses low sodium for both of these)

Put into crockpot at low for seven hours. Serve with mashed potatoes or egg noodles. Magnifique!


How about you, dear Readers? Do you have any three-ingredient recipes to share?