One of the best time saving ideas for your kitchen is often relegated for church socials or some other food related event. I am talking about your crock pot. You know, that big round thing you plug in that is taking up space in your cabinet. In a lot of kitchens, it only collects dust. This makes it the most overlooked and under utilized appliance in the home cook’s arsenal.
For time and budget conscious cooks, the crock pot could very well become their secret weapon. It is one of the easiest ways to cook in any kitchen. You can call it easy cooking. You can say there are easy recipes for dinner. Better yet, you can claim healthy easy recipes. Crock pot cooking is ideal for almost every easy cooking recipe. Don’t let it sit on your shelf. Get it out. Use it. Let’s look at some good reasons to dig out your crock pot and use it.
1) Easy dinner recipes. – There is nothing complicated about crock pot cooking. Most crock pot recipes are very simple. The mantra of crock pot cooking is quick and easy recipes. All the ingredients go in one pot at one time. It doesn’t get much easier than that. You end up with easy recipes for dinner that taste great.
2) Tender meals – Meat is well done yet tender enough to cut with a fork. Vegetables are soft enough but never seem overcooked. It is a great way to enjoy your food.
3) Budget consciousness – Most crock pot cooking doesn’t use a lot of ingredients. It is basically easy cooking. Easy and limited ingredients make for cost effective meals. Plan your buying. Get your meat on sale and away you go! It makes for easy cooking and it can be easy on the wallet.
4) Novel cooking ideas – You can make everything from macaroni and cheese to apple pie in a crock pot. Don’t limit yourself to what is traditional. Be brave. Experiment. Have fun.
5) Great cooking for kids – How easy is it to simply scoop the food out of one pot?! All you cooked in was one pot. All you serve from is one pot. All you have to clean up is one pot.
6) Cooking with kids – Since it’s all in one pot and there is no heat applied, it is a safe and fun way to let your kids learn their way around the kitchen. This is a great way to build precious memories.
7) It’s a time saver – Not only is it easy cooking to put together, it’s awesome when you get home from work. All you have to do is set the table. The meal is ready when you walk through the door. How much time will that save you?
8) Easy clean up – You go from your quick and easy recipe to your quick and easy trip to the dinner table to your quick and easy cleanup. As mentioned earlier, there is only one pot. In our house, we sometimes use paper plates and plastic silverware. That leaves only one thing to wash – the crock pot. It’s easy cleanup.
9) Healthy easy recipes – Crock pots essentially steam your food. With all the ingredients in one pot, you maximize the nutrients. With the lid on the pot, there is no escape. A great mix of healthy foods makes for great healthy easy recipes.
If you are wondering what to cook, explore the crock pot world. In fact, you can almost write your own cooking book if you are bold enough to experiment. Certainly it can rewrite your afternoon schedule. It’s cost efficient. It’s time efficient. It offers easy cooking. It works well with kids. What’s not to like. Dust it off and rediscover your crock pot.
