What do you think about crock pot cooking? Have you tried it? Do you have recipes to share? I've been crock pot cooking since my children were little and I ran an at home daycare I named "A Mother's Touch" for tax time purposes. With my own three to raise and at least 4 or 5 others in our home Monday-Friday's I had to find some short cuts wherever they could be found. And my crock pot and I became really good friends. My kids are all grown up now and I am retired from home daycare, only coming out of retirement for my grandkids now days. I haven't retired my crock pot though. I still have the original one I started off with which is round and not a good fit for half a ham or turkey breast...so Santa brought me a nice oval shaped one a few Christmas's ago and on some days you might come visit me and find a nice roast and gravy cooking in my round crock pot and a shank or butt portion of ham or a turkey breast cooking in my oval one. Or maybe the round one might contain dried navy beans and a leftover ham bone while my oval one is cooking cheesy potato soup. I've come a long way from my first days of cooking with a crock pot and so have others who have kept experimenting until we came up with recipes that tasted just like home made. Some things do well in the crock pot...other things to me are worse than opening up a can of peas. On those days I don't feel like standing over the stove or don't have the time to...I put everything in my crockpot and up to eight hours later, the main part of our meal is ready to eat. What I also like about crock pots is not having all those other pots and mixing bowls, etc. to wash. Here's my crock pot cheesy potato soup. And here's the recipe I used. http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/cheesy-potato-slow-cooker-soup/072f8520-6564-4954-bd30-d7d4d11efa15 I did tweak this recipe by adding bacan bits to it. I fried bacon slices and crumbled some and mixed them into the soup and then sprinkled more on top. You could also use ham bits if preferred This soup does not use milk in the recipe (for those who have trouble digesting milk products). I also tweaked it by spicing it up with some cajun seasoning, here in Cajun Land everything we cook has that touch of spice.
We got an electric pressure cooker about 10 years ago. Our crockpot has been collecting dust ever since. Our pressure cooker has a slow cooker mode but we've never used it that way.
Yes I use crock pots/slow cookers all the time, have done on and off since the '80s, we cooked a whole chicken here yesterday and use it for veg chilli and lots of other dishes.
Here's another easy and delicious crockpot recipe. 3 Envelope Roast Ingredients: 3 pound beef roast such as chuck roast 1 envelope of dry Italian salad dressing mix 1 envelope of dry ranch salad dressing mix 1 envelope of dry brown gravy mix 2 cups water Instructions : Put the water in a measuring cup that is larger then the amount of water you are using. Now add and mix all three envelopes of dry salad dressings to the water. Mix until blended completely. Brown the roast (if desired). Add the meat to your cooker. Pour the water, salad dressing mixture over the roast. In the slow cooker cook it on high for about 4 hours on low about 8 hours.
For me the proof in how good something is no matter your cooking method...is in how much others enjoy it. So I'm sharing a picture of my crock pot ham and one of my Honey with his plate of my crock pot ham and sides. That smile says it all. Oops!... sorry that is the wrong smile picture, my Honey does not have his dentures in with this pic.
Do you ever bake sweets in yours? My first crock pot came with a baking container that fits into the crockpot...I think I used it only a couple of times but still have it. The other day I came upon a recipe for some crockpot dessert that I am going to try out when I get back home from my visit with my granddaughter. Here's the recipe. My husband works part time at a small family Grocery store right down the street from our home and he is always bringing home free ripening bananas. This should be a good recipe to try with them. http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/slow-cooker-banana-bread/5b618fe4-7887-4223-b016-b3afdab1be33
I have to be honest that I do not know what a crock pot is. After searching in the internet, now I'm sure that I haven't seen one yet. People here prefer to cook in the fastest way.I remember when we have an occasion and my mother would be cooking food after dinner, she would sometimes cook outside (yes, right on the side of the road) using firewood. That is the fastest way to cook, she said. So she could sleep before midnight and in the morning all the dishes are already cooked because of the firewood. With slow cooking,I've seen a commercial of a restaurant in the province that they cook their beef in a slow cooker that takes 10 hours to be tender in a perfect condition. But I still have to sample that tender beef.
I just made a stew in the slow cooker a few days ago.. I must admit I don't use it often enough.. About once every other week and we both enjoy whatever I cook in it.. c Chicken with carrots, onions, herbs and spices,and lots of plain water makes a wonderful chicken soup..
They are electrically heated casseroles @Corie Henson like this one, they will cook poor cuts of meat slowly till they melt in your mouth.
No @Babs Hunt I have never tried cooking sweets, I have lost my sweet tooth, but Lisa would no doubt be interested
To alot of people who work out of the home, crock pots are one of the fastest ways of cooking...they just throw everything in the pot, set the timing and when they get home supper is done. The other fastest way is picking up fast food (they don't call it fast food for nothing)...although sometimes that picking up takes as long as it would take to cook a simple meal at home.