I’ve Unlocked The Shabby Chic Slower Cooker Level And I’m Here to Make Weird Recipes With It
Several months ago I decided to buy an Instant Pot Pressure Cooker. I texted my best friend immediately to share the news that I was now the proud owner of a Baby Yoda Pressure Cooker to which she replied, “I have a great chicken tortilla soup recipe for you!” You see, the Baby Yoda print went with nothing in my French Countryside kitchen decor (nor in the clean, modern Farmhouse look I have in my upstate home) but the fact that my friend did not question the madness really made me realize that this is why this woman is my bestie.
Did I make use of of the Instant Pot?
Oddly, yes. I throw around oddly because I had a lot of misguided notions about slow cooking. I was thinking that mushy meats and potatoes would be the soup du jour when using it. But it’s actually pretty brilliant for pastas, soups, and a lot of other set it and forget it recipes.
2020 was the year I learned to cook better but it was also the year I learned to love to cook. I decided to upgrade my little Grogu Instant Cooker with the The Pioneer Woman Slow Cooker. Well, it isn’t really an upgrade more like an addition to my slow cooking family. This is probably ugly to some people but damn you, I like the shabby chic print. I may just go buy a gauzy muumuu blouse and float around the house saying that dinner is going to be flavorful a la Ree Drummond while dumping mustard, ketchup, pickle juice, and hot sauce into this slow cooker.
This is absolutely a basic slow cooker and my Instant Pot actually has way more options but I wanted something a little larger if I’m having dinner with friends or family. This just seems like it’ll fit bigger pieces of chicken and meat.
And yes, I WILL BE MAKING A WEIRD RECIPE OR TWO IN IT! I dare you to judge me right now. First on my list is that twisted, weird and likely high in sodium it’ll make you drink a gallon of water “Olive Garden Chicken Pasta” recipe everyone was making on Tiktok several months ago. I’m almost 100% sure the Surgeon General (and my best Italian friend, Val, would definitely put me in jail for it!) would not approve of this recipe but I’m slopping it together anyway.
So, here’s the game plan guys! Haul out your slow cooker (hopefully the one with the shabby chic print on it). Grab some boneless chicken breast and pour an entire 16 oz bottle of Olive Garden Italian Dressing over it (my heart is sobbing at the sodium here), now add in about a 1/4 of a cup of Parmesan cheese, just wait, it gets way more unhealthy…..A block of cream cheese is next.
I’m just sitting here shaking my head in horror. If my Italian mother ever seen me putting this together she’d go to church and prayer for my soul. No one is going to eat this but me (well, maybe not even me but my curiosity is getting the better of me and I need to see what this is all about for myself!) ! I just know my boyfriend won’t touch it but my other best friend, Jai, is coming over this weekend to chill with me and I think he’ll totally inhale it. So, I feel good about the energy I’m creating here with this fatty, sodium enriched, Italians will cry everywhere masterpiece.
You cook it for 5-6 hours on low or you can wack it up to high and leave it in for 4 hours.
Please, for the love of slow cooking, share recipes with me that aren’t as weird as this one.
What do you make in your slow cooker?