Stuffed Summer Squash

*** THIS IS NOT A CROCK POT RECIPE ***

I decided to do a bit of experimentation on the family today that used the bounty that is beginning to come from the gardens this time of year ... So I dcided to go with a zucchini version of stuffed peppers

The kids pronounced it a success ... Except for the oldest daughter, but she's not a big zucchini fan to begin with.

From Oh Crock!!!!!

ingredients
1 HUGE zucchini
1 large yellow summer squash (looks like a yellow zucchini)
3 cups hashed brown potatoes
1 1/2 lbs ground beef/hamburger
2 cups mixed shredded cheese (I prefer a pizza mix since it's meant to get melty)
2 cup broccoli

instructions
Set deep water on stove to boil on back burner & preheat oven to 350•F
1. first size your pans making sure it is large enough to hold both squashes at the same time - if you don't have an oven-safe skillet large enough, use a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Brown the hamburger until no longer pink. Removed from pan and drain, do not wipe pan but you can take out the drippings if you want.
3. Add a little oil to the pan and add the hashed browns, cook for 5 minutes each side.
4. Slice the top 1/3 off the length of the zucchini and squash. Scoop out the insides leaving about 1/4 inch on inside of shell - kind of like a dugout canoe.
5. Chop up the insides that you scooped out (removing any large seeds) about the same size as the hashed brown bits.
6. In large bowl mix together the insides, the hashed browns, and the hamburger (chop smaller if need be)
7. Chop the broccoli and add to the mix, sprinkle in 2/3 of cheese mix. Blend thoroughly with your hands or spoon.
8. place boats in boiling water but turn off the heat and let sit 10 minutes ... You may have to do this twice flipping it if the squash is longer than your pan.
9. Pat inside of canoes dry and season to taste.
10. Pack meat mixture into canoes heaping it up a little. Place them carefully back in the skillet or on the pan they will be baked on.
11. Top with the remaining cheese (I put the extra filling into a loaf pan and baked it right along with the skilleted canoes)
12. Bake for 1/2 hr.
Let stand for a bit after removing from oven so cheese can set up. Slice into serving sized portions ...

YUM!!!
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Things I'd change:

Add some chopped onion in with the hashed browns or hamburger depending on how you like them ...

Use smaller zucchini and cut off the ends, then hollow it out all the way down - Then stuff it with filling ... When cooked, slice into rings ...

Use some bread crumbs or cracker crumbs in meat mix to help absorb some of the moisture which comes off the squash boats as they cook ...

Use sausage instead of hamburger to change taste (not breakfast kind, something with some bite) but will have to rinse out as much of the fat as possible ... Although it herbed stuffing mix is used, then the slickness would not need to come from the meat.

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This definitely going to get made again

The recipe leaves plenty of room for variation as you can see.

And it was easier than it sounds like above ... If you do more than one thing at a time (like cooking hashed browns &soaking canoes at the same time) you will really save time.

Pork Chops & Au Gratin Potatoes

Yesterday I decided to go with a family favorite - just in the crock instead of using the oven or stove top ....

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Process:

First I started with frozen pork chops which I bought in a family pack while the prices were still low (just over $1/pound) and then split up, bagged, and froze for later use .... if I had my Food Saver vacuum sealer up & running, they would last up to 2 yrs in the freezer!

Anyhow - I only had to let them sit out long enough to be able to separate the chops from each other to make them fit into the crock a bit better.  for a family of 6 I had 5 chops (at the time I bagged things up, my oldest was away from home) so one had to be 'sawed' in half for the two youngest who wouldn't eat a full chop anyhow.
I then added 1/2 cup water just to keep things from drying out ... I also added my basic spices too (Garlic Garni/salt/pepper) ... and put it on low ... this was about 10am

I also got my potatoes going as well .... I used two boxes of just the store brand variety (hey, every penny counts these days)

following the basic stove top measurements (yes I used the box), I put just the potatoes and water in the second crock for 1 hr on high .... after 1 hr I lowered the temp to low and then added the milk & butter as per direction, making sure the butter was cut into thin-ish slabs so it would melt evenly & quickly - once melted, then I added in the sauce mix being careful that there weren't going to be lumps later.  Add one thoroughly drained can of whole kernal corn

I then left everything alone for 5 hrs (about 3pm) when I stirred the potatoes - leave the chops be.  then every hour there after I stirred the potatoes ... by 5pm they were ready to eat, but the sauce was a bit thin I thought. 

We didn't actually get around to eating until 6pm when I got tired of waiting for hubby to get back from the dr's office ... dr was running behind ...

Okay so how did it turn out???

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NUMMIES: UCKIES: =====================

Pork was fork tender, flavor had cooked all the way thru the meat - it didn't need any sort of catsup or sauce to give it good flavor.  The potato slices held their shape well. 

My daughter liked it so much she wanted to take the potatoes to school in her lunch and she loved being able to get every bit of meat off the bone unlike when they are stove or oven cooked - she just poked the meat and the bone fell right off!

The Pork wound up drowning in moisture by the time we ate - this made it tough to get the meat out of the pot in a single piece.  No matter what I did, tongs/fork/spatula, the meat would fall apart as soon as it was touched (but it still tasted good) .... the sauce of the potatoes was thinner than if cooked on the stove - nor did it have the nummy crunchy edges that you get if cooked in the oven.

Suggestions for next time:

use less water in both the pork chops & potatoes ...

for the pork: instead wrap them individually in foil and then cook them up -- if they are wrapped tight enough, I would think one could fill the empty space inside the crock with water and cook them that way.  One would have to be careful opening the packets though because of the juices which would be trapped inside.

for the potatoes: I have heard you can saute onions in butter in the crock over night, these would taste very good in the potatoes and would eliminate the need to cut up the butter later.  One onion for the same amount of butter as called for in the recipe should suffice.  I would also add a bit of spice to it - they were sorely lacking in it.

this is definitely a meal I'd do again with just a few changes.