It's crock pot season!

[Severine]

With today being the official start of Fall, it's time to get those crock pots out again (if you haven't been using yours all summer) and try some new stuff!

https://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

I just came across this blog the other day and I'm excited about it! I'm trying her Chicken Parm today and if it goes well, I can see myself using this site often when I want a no fuss, no muss meal. Hope somebody else finds it useful. :D

 

[Robyn]

I forget about my crockpot often but have actually done two recipes in the last couple of weeks there. First up Italian Beef. Just throw a chuck roast in, add Italian Dressing seasoning packet, ground garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and basil. Top with a couple cups of beef broth. Perfect on crusty rolls with a bit of provolone cheese.

Next up, homemade applesauce. I got lazy and just sliced the apples without peeling but you can peel first if you like. Add to crockpot with enough water to cover bottom of the pot. Add cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg or whatever other spices you like (I like cardamom!). Allow to cook until they mush up. Add sugar if you like but depending on the sweetness of the apples you may not need to.

 

[alta_gal83]

Am I the only crazy one who is convinced her crock pot is going to catch the entire house on fire while she's at work?

I'd love to use mine -- but I'm SO PARANOID!!!

Please convince me that it won't happen ....

 

[ski now work later]

Thanks for the link Sev, I'll have to check it out. Last winter I used my gift certificate from a local cooking shop to purchase a Kitchen Aid slow cooker -- what an amazing machine! I pulled it out this weekend and made corned beef and veggies. I purchased a nice piece of pre-seasoned organic corned beef from Trader Joe's (TJ's seasons and vacuum seals various meats and poultry and sell them at very reasonable prices), boiled it in the crock pot on low for about 6-7 hours, then added peeled, halved white potatoes, a coarsely chopped cabbage, and a handful or two of baby carrots. Then cooked on high for a couple of hours.

DH thought it was amazingly yummy. I have had a stomach bug all weekend, so I didn't eat a lot of it, but it tasted pretty good and was super easy. I really made it for him to enjoy as he is allergic to so many foods (wheat and dairy) that I need to keep yummy food around in plentiful quantity that he can eat. Fortunately he cooks for himself too, rather well I might add, so it's not a burden to me when I set my mind to feeding him.

 

[Sheena]

Am I the only crazy one who is convinced her crock pot is going to catch the entire house on fire while she's at work?

I'd love to use mine -- but I'm SO PARANOID!!!

Please convince me that it won't happen ....

I would love to convince you otherwise, but I too lie in the paranoid camp. The one time I DID start a crock pot meal and go to work, I came home to a burned food in the crockpot. I took forever to clean it up. It was a great recipe too - asian spice ribs. All I ended up with was a giant lump of charred meat.

 

[Sheena]

Ok, the above being said, I do love using my crock pot. A few weekends ago, I made pork roast with an orange marmalade sauce. Soooooooooo good.

 

[playoutside]

Ok, add me to the paranoid camp...but I do use it. I just take precautions.

• Set it on a non-flammable or heat resistant surface
• Make sure nothing combustible is nearby -- no paper towels hanging above it, no bags of bread or things on the counter, etc.
• Only cook on low if I'm leaving it for whole day

It's so convenient that I have to use the crockpot in the winter. So nice to come home to all that yummy smelling food nearly done.

 

[Severine]

Am I the only crazy one who is convinced her crock pot is going to catch the entire house on fire while she's at work?

I'd love to use mine -- but I'm SO PARANOID!!!

Please convince me that it won't happen ....

I used to worry about that a lot. That or that my dog would find a way to knock it over while I was away (she's a cocker spaniel... it would be quite the feat for her to get on the counter ). I was reminded that there are many things I leave plugged in all day that have not yet caught the house on fire. As long as you're careful about where you place it (which you should be anyway) it should be fine.

That said, there are some newer Rival crockpots that cook much hotter than their old ones did. I had one that burned everything even on low. I now have a cheaper one (I don't remember the brand but it came from Kmart) that works well. I only cook on low if I'm leaving the house though. And when I worked, I usually started it on my lunch break because leaving it going all day was too long for the recipes I used.

It really is a wonderful tool. I just picked up a pork roast and a pot roast today, so ours will be getting some more use over the next week or so. :D

 

[geargrrl]

My oven has a slow cook setting that works the same way. Just put everything in a DO and go....

Made pot roast with carrots, rutabagas and potatoes yesterday.

 

[ski diva]

I know a cookbook that could use some great recipes. (hint, hint)

 

[Robyn]

I know a cookbook that could use some great recipes. (hint, hint)

Uh, both of mine that I posted here are either published or so random I haven't a clue on amounts.

 

[Consuela]

Am I the only crazy one who is convinced her crock pot is going to catch the entire house on fire while she's at work?

I'd love to use mine -- but I'm SO PARANOID!!!

Please convince me that it won't happen ....

I'm like you... I also worry about the dryer, but not quite as much as the crock pot.

 

[itri]

I love my crockpot, but don't use it nearly as much as I would like! I found that crockpot blog a month or two ago, and there are a lot of recipes on there that look great. I have a recipe for a super yummy pulled pork that uses the crockpot (sorry, SD, straight out of Cook's Country). I need a good pot roast recipe. The last one I tried was not so good...

 

[SnowHot]

I don't use my crock pot as often as I should. Thanks for the nudge. Perhaps a nice roast is in order. Yum!

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Some nice recipes in that blog, Severine!
Thanks for posting it.
Bookmarked.
p.s. To those who worry---there's one on the market (I have it and don't remember brand) that you set for number of hours to cook (along with temp, either high or low), then it automatically "shifts down" to "warm" - it's big, though - 5 quarts

 

[Severine]

I have a pot roast going in mine today. Not a recipe from that blog, though. Instead, this one came from [ame="https://www.amazon.com/Biggest-Cooker-Recipes-Better-Gardens/dp/0696215462/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222263000&sr=8-1"]Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes[/ame]

 

[Shannon D]

As we speak, my crockpot is full of boneless pork ribs and Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce. Pulled pork sandwiches, yum.

 

[gardenmary]

I love my crockpot, but don't use it nearly as much as I would like! I found that crockpot blog a month or two ago, and there are a lot of recipes on there that look great. I have a recipe for a super yummy pulled pork that uses the crockpot (sorry, SD, straight out of Cook's Country). I need a good pot roast recipe. The last one I tried was not so good...

We discovered the Best Pot Roast Recipe Ever when we were skiing at Snowbasin last year and had rented a condo. We put it in before we left, and returned to a condo smelling like heaven! It's the one on the Lipton Onion Soup box - we use a 2-3 lb. chuck roast, the potatoes and carrots, and 2 envelopes of mix plus a little more water than it calls for. We have a Farberware slow cooker with a "Auto" setting, which means it cooks everything on Slow Cooker High for an hour then takes it down to Slow Cooker Low. Works fine for pot roast, but I discovered that to reheat pulled pork I need to use low only, and also a timer (a lamp timer, about $5) to turn it on later in the day.

Love that recipe link. That's going to be VERY helpful.

 

[Snowsong]

Has anyone used those crockpot liners? They line the crockpot, so all you do is take them out when you are done and you don't have the mess in the crockpot. I got some, but I was afraid to use them because they are like a plastic bag.

 

[itri]

You know, honestly? I know they've probably been tested a ton, but it would still worry me cooking inside a plastic bag like that. Look how long it took the powers that be to admit that BPA was a problem, and the plastics industry STILL denies it. I've never really had any problems cleaning my crockpot. If it's really a cooked-on mess, I let it soak overnight, and then just pop it in the dishwasher and it comes out clean.