I may have a slight obsession with slow cookers, but I don’t know a busy mother who doesn’t love hers. When I was first married, working full time with no children, I was gifted an old crockpot (similar but different to the one on the right). It no longer had the cute lid handle, but was a funky make-shift thing with a hardware store bolt attachment. It was avocado green, probably born in the 1970’s, and well used. But that thing became my best friend as I was working full time and going to school full time. Going out to eat was expensive and my husband and I were trying to pay off my student loans. We needed to trim the food budget, and home cooking was the answer.
Back in those days, there was no Pinterest or Facebook, so I found a slow cooker cookbook and began to create meals at home. I would get up earlier to get ready for work, and then quickly prep a meal to throw in the slow cooker. It was fabulous! Except for one time during my first pregnancy when I forgot to turn the slow cooker one. I blamed pregnancy brain for that one 😉
My first slow cooker was small, but perfect for two adults living and active double-job life, It wasn’t fancy, no bells and whistles, but it cooked a supper while I was running around working and going to school. You can find a cheap option at any Walmart of department store. There are tons of slow cooker recipes to be found on the web. I followed a blog at one point where the gal used her slow cooker 365 days a year. It was inspiring!
A programmable slow cooker is necessary if you are away form home during the day or cooking things overnight and don’t want to burn/scorch the crap out of. your food! These programmable slow cookers will cook your dish for the chosen time frame and then auto adjust the heat setting to simply ‘keep warm’ until you need it. This will avoid overly dry meat or nasty scorched bottoms. We learned the hard way that regular slow cookers don’t make that adjustment and I had to figure out quick what to do with dried out, nasty chicken breast.
Mini slow cookers are adorable and perfect for dips or fondues. When we host a large gathering, we have all three of our mini cookers going. They are perfect for game day snacks, dips, slow cooking small amounts of meat, side dishes, etc.
This slow cooker invention was a game changer for us! Why did it take so dang long for them to come up with a locking lid? Who knows, but I could kiss whoever did. We often take a crockpot full of soup or chili to various gatherings and keeping the contents from sloshing out is truly delightful! I have two large slow cookers with locking lids now. We bought one from Amazon and the other form our local grocery, H-E-B
My Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes:
These have all been made numerous times and are definite crowd pleasers!
