Great recipies! I did something quite similar to what lillyjane did. I wanted something like Beef-n-Noodles and didn't find anything I really liked on Allrecipies.com. I had some cut up cross-rib and round steak I made into stew meat size chunks. I seasoned and browned the meat then tossed into crockpot. Then I added 2 cans of cream of celery, about 1 cup water and an envelope of brown gravy mix and about 1 T worchestershire. I added a green bell pepper cut into strips and about 2 cloves of minced garlic. Cooked on low for about 5 hours. Mixed all with cooked macaroni and it was polished off quick! I would have used egg noodles, but only had regular mac. The outcome was very tender meat and all was very creamy and simply YUM! Yesterday I did a crockpot of Red Beans and Rice (rice cooked on the side) and it was good. Soak 1 c. dried beans overnight, drain and rinse beans. Add to crock. Chop up green bell pepper, celery and onion (the Holy Trinity) and toss in. Add garlic, creole seasoning and pepper. If desired also add Crushed Red Pepper or Cayenne. Toss in a ham-hock if you have one. I usually do but all I had was bacon ends. If you have access to Andouille Sausage, slice into rounds and saute just a bit and add that as well. You can also saute the "Holy Trinity" with the sausage if you want or skip it (it's gonna cook all day). I didn't have any Andouille so substituted with chopped Turkey-Ham (this also gave the smoked flavor I missed not having the Ham-hock! Plus it's healthier!). Add about 3-4 c. water...just so beans are covered. Add a bay leaf. Cook on high 5-6 hours or cook on low for 10-11. Serve over rice and garnish with green onion. Note: If it isn't thick enough for you at the end, take a spoon and mash some of the beans up on the side of the pot and let it cook on high with the lid off for about 1 more hour. If it's STILL not as think as you want then you can go ahead and do cornstarch/water and mix in.

LindaC, it's all in what you're comfortable with. Remember, I'm the person who has had a couple of house fires and so I don't ever light a fire in the fireplace and I refuse to burn candles. It's my own particular phobia... I do have an old Presto pressure cooker which I don't use a lot but I really like it for certain thins. Elery uses it to make beans, I'd prefer to just dump mine in the crockpot in the morning. I do use it to make chop suey for Ashley, even slightly tough round comes out fork tender. I don't like taditional chili in the crockpot, the ground beef "overcooks". I am a huge consumer of vegetables, though, and sometimes make a vegetarian chili that's delicious. Plus, like Chase, it gets used as a "warming" device for office potlucks, to keep soup warm and even to make oatmeal because I'm not a morning person and would never make oatmeal before I go to work, and I detest the instant stuff. Annie

slowlane, I make brownie mix from the King Arthur Flour recipe on their website, as well as this whole grain pancake "mix". I just use regular whole wheat flour. They also have recipes for biscuit mix and a quick mix that can be used to make muffins. Homemade Whole-Grain Pancake Mix These pancakes are just shy of 90% whole-grain; and they're absolutely delicious, featuring the sweet-nutty taste of oats and wheat. This recipe comes courtesy of Susan Reid and Susan Miller, two of the authors of King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking. Thanks, ladies! 4 cups King Arthur white whole wheat flour 1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 3 1/2 cups old-fashioned or rolled oats 3 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons baking powder 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon baking soda 1 cup vegetable oil Pancakes 1 cup homemade mix 1 cup buttermilk, or a combination of plain yogurt and milk; or 3/4 cup liquid whey 1 large egg 1) To make the mix: Grind the oats in a food processor until they're chopped fine, but not a powder. 2) Put the flour, oats, and all other dry ingredients into a mixer with a paddle. Mix on slow speed, and drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running. 3) Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks at room temperature, or indefinitely in the refrigerator or freezer. To make pancakes: Whisk together 1 cup of mix, 1 cup of buttermilk (or a combination of half plain yogurt and half milk; or 3/4 cup liquid whey), and 1 large egg. Don't worry if it seems thin at first: the oats will soak up the milk, and the mix will thicken a bit as it stands. 5) Let the batter stand for at least 20 minutes before cooking. Heat a lightly greased griddle to 350�F (if you've got a griddle with a temperature setting; if not, medium-hot will do). 7) Drop the batter onto it in 1/4-cupfuls (a jumbo cookie scoop works well here) to make a 4" diameter pancake. If you have English muffin rings, use them; they make a perfectly round, evenly thick pancake. 8) When the edges look dry and bubbles come to the surface without breaking (after about 2 minutes, if your griddle is the correct temperature), turn the pancake over to finish cooking on the second side, which will take about 2 minutes. 9) Serve pancakes immediately, or stack and hold in a warm oven. Yield: a batch using 1 cup of the mix will make about 5 to 8 pancakes, depending on size. Recipe summary Hands-on time: 20 mins. Baking time: 4 mins. to 8 mins. Total time: 60 mins. Yield: 10 cups dry mix; enough for 50 to 80 pancakes Tips from our bakers ◦If you're not in the habit of having buttermilk around, reconsider: you can freeze leftover buttermilk, in 1-cup portions, for future batches of pancakes. And if you don't have buttermilk, but do have buttermilk powder, add 1/4 cup buttermilk powder to the dry mix along with 1 large egg and 1 cup water or milk. ◦These pancakes hold in a low oven for half an hour without getting tough or rubbery, and they're more than willing to act as a vehicle for any kind of fruit addition. A partial list of combinations that have made successful appearances so far: peach, raspberry, banana-walnut, cheddar-apple, blueberry, and cranberry-apricot. ◦Do you enjoy making your own Greek-style, thick yogurt by draining plain yogurt through a strainer? If so, don't discard the drained-off whey; it's a great stand-in for buttermilk in this recipe. Since it's thinner than buttermilk, you'll want to use 3/4 cup whey in place of the 1 cup buttermilk called for. ◦Variation: Add 1 tablespoon orange juice to the dry mix along with the buttermilk. We've found that the acidity and sweetness of the orange juice helps mellow the tannic taste some people perceive in whole wheat flour; while the pancakes won't have any orange flavor, they may taste slightly milder to you, if you're not a fan of whole wheat flour (but still want to get more whole grains into your diet). I agree about the soup base/bouillion/etc in most of the dry soup "recipes", the sodium level is astonishing. I think some people here found a lower sodium alternative "base" but I don't much like any of them, they taste fake to me. Good luck. Annie

Juliann, I haven't tried freezing the barbequed chicken because we eat it all up each time I make it :) I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. Depending on when I need my meal is how I choose Low or High power to cook the chicken. I use Low for about 4-5 hours (like before going to church in the A.M. to have an early afternoon meal) or on High for 8-10 hours to cook all day while I am busy with the kiddos. The crockpot is very forgiving just check it to see if it's done, if not continue cooking. If it is done earlier than you are it can stay there safely until you are ready. As to how much barbeque sauce, just pour it on to coat the pieces you have, no need to measure.