Does anyone else here use a slow cooker? I have one - a very small one at 1.5 quarts - but I love it, love it, love it! It really is a great way to save money, save time, and eat healthy. I can easily use the "cheap" cuts of meat, some fresh vegetables and come home to a stew. It doesn't take up that much energy or power, and you essentially can ignore it all day but come back to find a nice one-pot meal. I recently made a "buffalo wing" soup - and all I had to do was put in a can of cream of chicken, some chicken broth, celery, carrot, onions, a little bleu cheese, some hot sauce, and some chicken breast. All of those ingredients are very low-cost and I came back to a creamy, delicious meal that tasted just like buffalo wings! A perfect soup to have while watching football! And I had a whole serving left over (like I said, my slow cooker is VERY small at 1.5 quarts, which is enough for 2-3 servings) to take for lunch the next day. What do you all think? For those of you with a slow cooker, do you have any go-to, fool-proof, always-delicious recipes? And if you don't use a slow cooker, any reasons why you don't? I really feel like someone should've told me much earlier to spend the money (and it's not a lot!) on it before.
I haven't ever used one myself, though I'd like to...I'll ever to ask my mom if I can borrow her slow cooker (or crock pot as we call them). My mom sometimes uses one for veggies or meat and veggies (usually pot roast). I'm not sure what any of her recipes are though.
I recently broke my crock pot. It accidentally got knocked off the counter and the ceramic insert broke, so I'm shopping around for a new one. But if you look on Pinterest , you can find all kinds of crock pot recipes for everything from Chinese food to desserts. One lady has a blog where she shows how she used her crock pot for 365 days and came up with 365 recipes.
I've been using a slow cooker for years now, and I agree with all the advantages you've listed. Especially on days when I am out of the house for long periods of time, and can't be around to keep an eye on the cooker, this has proved very useful. Usually, use it for stews and soups.
I like it, I went on a kick a couple of years ago, trying out new recipes in it on a daily basis. It was a lot of trial and error with it, some things would come out fantastic, others would loose all their flavor for some reason and turn out really bland. I mainly like using it in the summer months when I don't want to heat my place up with an oven running for several hours to make a roast or pulled pork. I try and do sort of hybrid cooking with it too, rather than just use it exclusively. Like I might slow cook ribs in it, then throw them under the broiler or on the grill to get some char on them before I'm about to eat them.
I love cooking with a slow cooker. It great to come home to a home cooked meal. It also fills my home with a wonderful aroma. My favorite items to cook in the slow cooker are soups and chili. It so convenient and easy to clean up. It's perfect for people who are short on time.
I need to get back to using my crock pot more often. I have only ever made beef stew, but I would like to explore other recipes. I am not a big fan of cooking in general, so it would really free up some time for other things as well. Now that it is getting cooler, crock pot meals would be great!
I definitely use crockpots. In fact, I have 3 of them and it's not uncommon for me to have all of them going at the same time. I especially like using them for cooking things that I can have leftovers of and then put it in the freezer for meals later. It saves me time not only on that day that I'm cooking mostly hands-free, but also on another day in the future.
I absolutely love making stews and chili in my slow cooker. But I have never ventured out of that. I would love to try my hand at pulled pork, but it's a little hard because my slow cooker is 1.5 quarts. I've heard about the lady on the internet who started a blog, using her crock pot every single day. That seems a bit excessive, but I would love to really take the time to go through her site and try out a bunch of the recipes. I think that, if anything, I love my slow cooker because it's easy! I can literally throw in any vegetables or meat, then use my rice cooker to make some rice. And I can just put my slow cooker creation (which can resemble a stew or a curry) over my rice. Yum!
Yes. I could go without an oven for weeks because of my crock pot. I love it. I just did a big batch if chili this weekend. We use if for everything. It's so easy to throw everything in, and you come home to delicious meal. We usually have to make rice or some other sort of side but that's it. My favorite dish is slow cooked BBQ chicken.
I absolutely love my crock pot. There are tons of good recipes out there. Great ones on the crock in girls website too !!
I use my crock pot all of the time for all kinds of stuff. What I like to do is cut up the meat and veggies the night before and keep the crock pot in the fridge overnight. Then in the morning all I have to do is take it out and plug it in before I leave for work. When I come home I have a great home cooked meal. It is also good for making stock at home, which can save a ton of money over buying stock from the store. Another thing crock pots are great for is parties. Throw small meatballs into one with a wine sauce and let people serve themselves. I have also heard you can make a cheese dip in one, however I have never tried that myself.
I love my slow cooker so much! I use it to make breakfast quinoa all the time. I put it on low before I go to bed and it's done when I wake up. I also use it to make homemade chicken broth from old bones and vegetables. It's more flavorful than store broth and sodium free.
I tend to cook much more old school (knives, cutting boards, pots & pans), but a couple of years ago I had a craving for my absolute favorite dish - beef bourguignon. My only problem at the time was my laziness. It was cold out and I just didn't feel like doing all of the prep work, so I took all of the ingredients and put them in the shiny new Crockpot my wife and I had received as a wedding gift more than 8 years earlier. I was skeptical, but I was also hungry and willing to roll the dice, and I am glad I did. It was wonderful! I still believe my handmade version is better, but the slow cooker version was pretty darn tasty. Since then, I have adapted several of my more technically-difficult long-cooking recipes for the Crockpot, and I have had great success. Bottom line - if you don't own a Crockpot, go and get one! It is well worth the money.
Every now and then I will use my cooker to stew a whole chicken, which can be eaten over a period of days, Also putting in vegetables to complete a whole meal. The slow cookers are great. Put in the ingredients and let it roll.
I've heard many people using slow cookers for "breakfast oatmeal" - which is probably more delicious and healthier than instant oatmeal or sugary cereals. I am afraid of having the oatmeal (or quinoa) going for too long, even on low - and it will burn. Have you ever had this issue? What do you do to prevent it? Butter the sides of it - or do you find that it always comes out perfect? I would love, love, love to make hot breakfasts without doing any of the work, but am truly afraid of keeping it on overnight.
My slow cooker is my best friend! My favorite go-to easy recipe: half a jar of Stubb's BBQ sauce (any kind would work, but it's low sugar, so I use it), 1 can of diet coke and a tablespoon of Season All. Put it in with chicken and let it cook until the chicken is almost done. Take the chicken out, shred it, and cook it for another hour. Best BBQ chicken you will ever eat!
My mum occasionally uses it to make a delicious stew. They're really healthy and provide great, filling meals, I love them. It's great if you're expecting guests or are low on food and need to prepare before hand.
My mom uses it all the time to cook a roast. It is slow and takes all day but the meat is practically falling apart and it tastes so good.
