I'm one of those folks who bought a crockpot, thinking it was the answer to my dinnertime chaos, put it in my pantry and promptly forgot about it. Until my grocery budget and work schedule got stretched to the limit. Now, my crockpot is front and center on my kitchen counter top and instrumental several times a week in feeding my family a good, home-cooked meal. Where is your crockpot?
Before you put your crockpot to work, take a good look at it. Does it have a pattern or color that's reminiscent of the 70's, 80's, or 90's? If looking at your crockpot makes you all nostalgic, it's best to buy a new one. You will be glad to spend the $30 to $50 when you see all the new energy efficient models available. There are also some really great, new features like temperature settings, warming cycles, and secure leak-proof lids. Although, when it comes to features, the best one is how much time you'll save! That's great to know, but how exactly will a crockpot save you time? Let's take a look:
Walk Away From The Pot
If you are watching pots on the stove top boil, you are wasting time. Even stirring soups and sauces take time, especially if you're making something that could stick to the bottom of the pot if left unattended. When you make a meal in one pot it truly does save time, but not if you have to watch it! Make that spaghetti sauce or chili in a crockpot and walk away. Now you can do something other than stir that pot.
Delegate Cooking Chores
Getting my family to help with meal preparations is a big time saver in my book. If I can walk away for a few minutes while my children are scrubbing potatoes and plunking them in the crockpot, I've got those precious minutes to attend to another task. Getting kids involved putting a crockpot meal together is possible because there's less danger of having someone get burned; you don't turn on a crockpot until all the ingredients are in and you're ready. There are many crockpot recipes available that have only a few basic ingredients, so even a cooking novice like my husband can jump right in there and cook a meal, too.
Planning Ahead
If you've been running to the grocery store several times a week to hurry up and get something for dinner, you've been wasting a lot of your very precious time. Wouldn't it be nice to pick up the kids from swim lessons and be able to go right home without that frantic stop for food? I keep several of my favorite crockpot recipes in my purse, so all I have to do is make one planned stop at the grocery store, buy the ingredients I need for a couple meals, and my shopping is done for the week. I even have time now to clean all my vegetables when I get home so they're all ready when I put my planned crockpot dinners together. Now, we're really saving time!
Cook Once Eat Twice
I'm a big believer in cooking larger portions so that we're cooking once and eating twice. My crockpot is a 6 quart size oval, which is big enough to have leftovers for lunches, so we don't have to spend time shopping for lunches or, worse yet, going out to lunch. When you cook double and put half in the freezer you can cut your cooking down to only two or three times a week. Pulling a meal out from the freezer is a real time saver.
Look at your poor crockpot just waiting for you to come to your senses again. I know you can do it, once you look at all the time you'll save. Get your kitchen counter cleared off, set up your crockpot, and make out your grocery list. Now, won't you enjoy saving all that time so you can spend it on something you like to do?
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