Quick Cooking
One of the best tools for quick cooking is actually the slow cooker or “crock pot”. You can spend 10 minutes preparing ingredients, place them in the slow cooker, and let it do the work all day long while at work or other busy activities. When you get home, your favorite slow cooker recipe will be cooked and ready to serve.
All types of foods can be prepared and cooked in a slow cooker. For example, chicken, pork, beef, all types of vegetables and even fruits will cook up great in a slow cooker. There are hundreds of slow cooker recipe sites to meet any nutritional need.
Slow cooker recipes rely on the low cooking heat they produce to slowly cook the foods. Steam rises as the food cooks, and then circulates back within the pot to cook the food. One basic rule of using the slow cooker is DO NOT LIFT THE LID UNTIL DONE!!! (when the steam escapes the temperature in the slow cooker drops and then has to be built up again – normally over a period of 20 minutes, or longer).
Some basic tips:
* For all day cooking, use LOW setting. I rarely use the HIGH setting with today’s slow cookers.
* Do not peek.
* Make sure there is enough liquid in the pot to prevent scorching. Yes, the lid will hold in steam, but some foods absorb liquid. Chicken breasts do NOT release a lot of their own juices and will dry out.
Below, I have a few of my tried and true recipes. Most of these can be seasoned in many different ways, so use your imagination.
Here are some great websites for recipes
