My Love Affair

I am in a happy, loving, committed relationship with a wonderful partner. My partner is loving, kind, fun to be with and knows at least 50% of the people in our small city. So I have to be careful who I share this with – I am having an affair.

Yup, I have fallen for another. My new love is tender and warm. So easy to be with and always willing to cook a healthy meal. She is quiet, low maintenance and cleans up easily.

I have fallen in love (again) with my Crock Pot! Call it a Crock Pot, call it a Slow Cooker – just don’t call me late for dinner.

Isn't she a beauty?
Isn’t she a beauty?

According to my brief research on google, this handy kitchen gadget was originally known as the Naxon Beanery in the 1950’s. Around 1972 Rival Manufacturing acquired Naxon and the Crock Pot was born! This slow cooking electric pot with a tight lid cooks food at a low temperature for hours.

You have to admit, it is a cool concept to toss some food into a pot at 7AM and come home to a hot, healthy, yummy meal after work.

At this very moment, I am cooking lentil stew which will be served over couscous. It took me about 5 minutes to cut up the vegetables, open the can of tomatoes and rinse the lentils. It doesn’t get easier than this!

Last week I made a delicious (if I do say so myself) sauce which I served over zucchini spaghetti. That sauce cooked for 2 days and I never had to turn on the stove.

Over the years I have used my Crock Pot intermittently, often forgetting about it for a year at a time. The cookbooks I used to use had multiple steps and made you saute lots of ingredients before tossing it in the Crock Pot. It defeats the purpose if you have to cook on the stove top before cooking in the Crock Pot.

gas-stove-1776648_1920Excuse my language but what a crock!

I just borrowed 2 older cookbooks from my sister (Child #1) and the majority of the recipes have 2-3 steps. The directions typically state 1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. 2. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Sometimes you might have to add 1 or 2 ingredients in during the last 30 minutes of cooking.

This is the perfect time of year to dust off your Crock Pot and start preparing easy, healthy meals for your loved ones. It is an incredible feeling to walk into the house after a long day at work and smell dinner cooking. I smelled my yummy sauce cooking before I even opened the front door the other day.

What's for dinner?
What’s for dinner?

Everyone knows the Crock Pot is great for soups, stews, dips, casseroles and beans. But did you know it can also handle desserts like “Peanut Butter and Hot Fudge Pudding Cake”, “Apple Peanut Crumble” and “Cherry Delight”? Personally I can’t wait to whip up some hot drinks such as “Hot Cider” and “Mulled Wine”.

I bet you have a Crock Pot tucked away in your kitchen or basement just waiting to be rediscovered! Go find it and whip up something fantastic for dinner (or dessert)! Let me know what you make!

Choose Health with your Crock Pot!

Lake Girl

Love my Crock Pot
Love my Crock Pot

 

 

2 thoughts on “My Love Affair”

  1. I use mine once a week. Got the instapot as my sister present for Christmas. Yes it is 3 in 1. Trying yogurt tonight.

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