Noth­ing com­pletes the win­ter expe­ri­ence more than the scent of a hearty meal waft­ing from the kitchen. And what­ev­er high-inten­si­ty win­ter sport you choose this snowy sea­son, make sure to back it up with a fill­ing meal from the depths of your crock-pot. Whether it’s ski­ing, climb­ing El Cap­i­tan, or snow­shoe­ing your way up a moun­tain, use any one of these 5 recipes col­lect­ed from crock-pot cooks around the web to warm up your winter.

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Loaded Hash Browns
Recipe Pro­vid­ed by Bet­ter Homes and Gardens

Cook Time: 4 ½ (high) – 9 (low) hours

Noth­ing starts a day bet­ter than some Loaded Hash Browns and a big cup of cof­fee. The best part—start this recipe right before bed­time and you’ll wake up to an easy-to-serve break­fast of champions.

Ingre­di­ents

• 8 ounces uncooked bulk turkey sausage
• 8 ounces uncooked ground turkey breast
• ½ cup chopped onion (1 medium)
• 5 cups frozen diced hash brown potatoes
• 1 cup shred­ded reduced-fat Mex­i­can blend cheese (4 ounces)
• 1 ¼ cups chopped red sweet pep­per (1 large)
• 1 4‑ounce can (drained weight) sliced mush­rooms, drained
• 1 medi­um fresh poblano pep­per, seed­ed and chopped
• 1  10.75-ounce can con­densed fies­ta nacho cheese soup
• ¼ cup of water
• Shred­ded reduced-fat Mex­i­can blend cheese (option­al)
• Thin­ly sliced fresh jalapeño pep­per (option­al)
• Sal­sa and/or light sour cream (option­al)
• Dis­pos­able slow cook­er liner

Direc­tions

1. In a large skil­let cook sausage, turkey, and onion over medi­um until sausage is brown. Drain off fat.
2. Using slow cook­er lin­er, line a 5–6 quart slow cook­er. Com­bine sausage mix­ture, hash browns, 1 cup of cheese, sweet pep­per, poblano pepper.
3. In a medi­um bowl com­bine soup and water. Pour over hash brown mix­ture in the slow cook­er and stir.
4. Cov­er and cook on low heat for 8–9 hours or on high heat for 4–4 ½ hours.
5. Stir before serv­ing, add option­al top­pings, enjoy.

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Warm Spinach Dip
Recipe Pro­vid­ed by Crock-Pot Ladies.com

Cook Time: 3 Hours

Be the win­ner of your next win­ter gath­er­ing by fol­low­ing this easy recipe for Warm Spinach Dip. And with enough spinach to give Pop­eye a run for his mon­ey, this is a great addi­tion to any high-inten­si­ty win­ter work­out you might have planned.

Ingre­di­ents

• 8 ounces fresh baby spinach, chopped
• 8 ounces shred­ded moz­zarel­la cheese
• 1 cup grat­ed parme­san cheese
• 1 8‑ounce pack­age cream cheese, cut into cubes
• ½ yel­low onion, chopped
• 1 table­spoon minced garlic
• ¼ tea­spoon cayenne pepper
• ½ tea­spoon of sea salt
• ½ tea­spoon of fresh­ly cracked black pepper

Direc­tions

1. Com­bine all ingre­di­ents in a large bowl and toss to com­bine. The mix­ture is going to be dry because of all the fresh spinach, almost like a salad.
2. Put the mix­ture into a 3–4 quart crock-pot.
3. Cov­er and cook on low for 1 ½ hour.
4. Open the lid and give every­thing a stir.
5. Cov­er again and cook an addi­tion­al 1 to 2 hours till every­thing is creamy and the spinach has cooked down.

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Lasagna Soup
Recipe Pro­vid­ed by Fam­i­ly Fresh Meals.com

Cook Time: 6 Hours

Before you go on your epic snow­shoe adven­ture, start this crock-pot Lasagna Soup recipe and come home to a deli­cious meal that deliv­ers a big punch. Per­fect for din­ner and left­overs, dou­ble the recipe for dou­ble the fun.

Ingre­di­ents

• 1 pound ground beef
• 3 cups of beef broth
• 4–5 cloves of gar­lic, minced
• 1 table­spoon dried parsley
• 1 table­spoon dried basil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 1 6‑ounce can of toma­to paste
• 1 cup V8 (or any veg­etable drink)
• 2 cups uncooked shell pasta
• 1/4 tea­spoon pepper
• 1/4 tea­spoon salt
• 1 cup of water
• Option­al top­ping- shred­ded cheese

Direc­tions

1. Mix togeth­er the can of toma­toes and toma­to paste in the crockpot.
2. Next add broth, beef, gar­lic, pars­ley, basil, onion, V8, salt, and pepper.
3. Cov­er and cook on low for 7–8 hours or on high for 4–5 hours.
4. When 30 min­utes are left of cook time, add in the 1 cup of water and noo­dles. Stir to com­bine. Put the lid back on and con­tin­ue cook­ing for 30 minutes.
5. Serve and enjoy.

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Corned Beef and Cabbage
Recipe Pro­vid­ed by Food Network.com

Cook Time: 9 Hours

Just the name alone makes you want to drool. That’s because this clas­sic Corned Beef and Cab­bage recipe is a savory con­coc­tion that even the most loathing cab­bage haters have to enjoy. Ask your butch­er about the corned beef you want and make some new friends with this recipe.

Ingre­di­ents

• One 4‑pound piece corned beef brisket, rinsed
• 1 1/2 pounds small red­skin pota­toes, halved
• 4 car­rots, cut into 2‑inch pieces
• 1 large onion, cut into 1/2‑inch wedges
• 2 stalks cel­ery, peeled and cut into 2‑inch pieces
• 1/2 small head green cab­bage, core intact and cut into thick wedges
• 12 ounces stout beer
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup pre­pared horseradish
• 2 table­spoons whole-grain mustard
• 3 table­spoons unsalt­ed butter
• Kosher salt and fresh­ly ground black pepper
• 2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup loose­ly packed pars­ley leaves, chopped
• 2 table­spoons pick­ling spice

Direc­tions

1. Lay­er pota­toes, car­rots, onions, cel­ery and thyme in a 6‑quart slow cook­er. Add in the brisket, beer, and pick­ling spice. Add enough water to just cov­er the brisket. Cov­er and cook on low until ingre­di­ents are ten­der (about 8 hours).
2. Arrange the cab­bage over the brisket, not wor­ry­ing about over­crowd­ing, and cook until soft or wilt­ed (45 min­utes to an hour+).
3. Whisk togeth­er sour cream, horse­rad­ish, and mus­tard in a small bowl.
4. Remove the cab­bage and toss with 1 table­spoon of but­ter and pep­per to taste. Remove the meat and let rest. Strain the remain­ing veg­eta­bles (save some of the broth for serving).
5. Eat!

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All-Day Apple Butter
Recipe Pro­vid­ed by All Recipes.com

Cook Time: 12 Hours

Some­thing about Apple But­ter and rock climb­ing seems to be a good match. Maybe it’s because this easy to pack and deli­cious spread deliv­ers every­thing you could want as you post up next to the crag. Eat some right away and freeze the rest for a winter’s share of deli­cious apple butter.

Ingre­di­ents

• 5 ½ pounds apples, peeled, cored and fine­ly chopped
• 4 cups white sugar
• 2 tea­spoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ tea­spoon ground cloves
• ¼ tea­spoon salt

Direc­tions

1. Place the apples in a slow cook­er. In a medi­um bowl, mix the sug­ar, cin­na­mon, cloves, and salt. Pour the mix­ture over the apples in the slow cook­er and mix well.
2. Cov­er and cook on high 1 hour.
3. Reduce heat to low and cook 9 to 11 hours, stir­ring occa­sion­al­ly, until the mix­ture is thick­ened and dark brown.
4. Uncov­er and con­tin­ue cook­ing on low 1 hour. Stir with a whisk, if desired, to increase smoothness.
5. Spoon the mix­ture into ster­ile con­tain­ers, cov­er and refrig­er­ate or freeze.