There are a lot of days that it's very hard for me to get a meal on the table either because I lack the motivation or because we are busy. Lacking motivation stems from being tired at dinnertime; I have had an active day and by 5:00 p.m., I'm just plain worn out and am not in the mood to cook. Because of this, we end up eating fast food more often than we should or we eat a meal that tastes like there was no effort put into it.
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I have found a solution to this problem and that is the crock-pot! In
the morning when I am ambitious and creative, I prepare the basis of our meals by
adding meat, liquids, seasonings or other ingredients to the crock-pot. Then at dinnertime, all I have to do is prepare side dishes such as heat and
serve rolls and a green salad.
Sometimes I even prepare the side dishes early too
so that way I have hardly anything to do at mealtime when I'm lacking energy.
If you have two crock-pots, use them both at the same time with the main dish in one and a side dish in the other.
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Another benefit of the crock-pot is that it doesn't heat up the
kitchen. This can be valuable in the summer but don't limit it to summertime cooking.
It's an any-season appliance. You'll be pleased smelling the delicious aroma of
your food cooking all day long in the fall, winter and spring. You can even cook desserts
in them such as apple dumplings.
For those of you that work away from home, the crock-pot is safe enough
to leave turned on low all day. When you get home, most of your dinner is cooked
and ready to eat!
You can buy crock-pots at any retail store for around $30.00 for the
average size and more or less for a bigger or smaller one. But why spend $30.00
when they are abundant in thrift stores and yard sales? I purchased my second one
at a thrift store for $2.99! If you decide to purchase one at a thrift store or yard sale, be sure to plug it in and see if it heats up.
Here is one of my favorite crock-pot meals.
Pork Ribs and Kraut
Brown desired amount of pork spareribs in a frying pan over medium
heat; season with seasoning salt and place in crock-pot. Stir sauerkraut
juice into the pan you browned the ribs in and stir with a fork to loosen brown
bits. Add this juice to the crock-pot along with desired amount of sauerkraut. Set crock-pot to low
and cook 6-8 hours.
For a side dish to this meal, I make homemade rolls using the bread
machine to make dough, or I just serve plain old bread and butter. A crusty loaf of
French bread would be good too.
Chunky Applesauce
This would make a great side dish to the meal above. Peel and cut
desired amount of apples into 1/2 - 1 inch chunks. Place the chunks in your
crock-pot and add about 1/2 cup water. Set the crock-pot to low and cook 4-6
hours or until the apple chunks are very soft. Mash with a potato masher to desired consistency
and add sugar to taste if desired.
If you need crock-pot recipes, I have published an e-cookbook called 'The Slowcooker E-cookbook' that has 100 scrumptious recipes for your crockpot in easy-to-print format! You can find out how to get this e-cookbook for free here:
http://creativehomeezine.netfirms.com/ebooklets.htm
I hope this article brings you the inspiration to dust off your
crockpot!
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