Are crock pots made for morning people?

[cjsmith]

It is wonderful to come home after a long day at work and have dinner already made, bubbling merrily in the crock pot. Last night's magical pot even included today's lunch and at least one more in the fridge.

Comments

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

Possibly they are. I AM a morning person. But I am more likely to set dinner up in the crock the night before and refridgerate it, then put it on in the morning.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I am a morning person these days, and I find I don't have a lot of energy to make dinner once I've come home from work. Coming home to a yummy-smelling pot o' goodness is a treat.

Not that I want to spend huge amounts of time in the morning either. I'm with you on that one.

ISO crock pottery recipes

[justetthon.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean, CJ! Can you send your favorite crock pot recipes? Or do you just chuck stuff into the pot and let it just cook itself into goodness? Linda and I have just rediscovered the magic of crock pottery... I got one for my 15th year anniversary "gift" from Georgetown University, 5 years ago, and we've hardly used the thing until just recently.

ISO recipes, especially "dinner" type stuff that can double as lunches and more dinners....

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

Not only is having dinner ready when you walk in, but I bet the aroma was just wonderful. Very comforting. Did you smile as you opened the door?

Re: ISO crock pottery recipes

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Hi Ett! I'm in search of recipes too. Let's trade! This last one was a Marie Callender's Frozen Bag Of Crockpotness right out of the freezer aisle, so that doesn't count really. But here is a LiveJournal post with lots of recipes in the comments.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

This time the aroma was subtle. I was looking forward to food, though -- am I never NOT hungry when I get home? -- so I was smiling way before I opened the door!

beef/pork loin roast in crock pot

[justetthon.livejournal.com]

Marie Callender's frozen bag of crockpotness? ha. no, that doesn't exactly count. :-)
thanks for the link. I will take a look.

one thing we tried was pretty simple:
beef roast (substitute pork loin as well)
mixture of: (fluid probably up halfway the height of the meat at least)
low-salt cream of mushroom soup
low-salt garlic mushroom soup
some water
some low-salt beef broth (bought in the "box" at the store)
lots of red wine left over in our fridge (an absolute necessity!)
spices (tarragon, sage, pepper, rosemary, etc)
no extra salt at all in the pot
baby carrots
baby red potatoes
cabbage cut up pretty small

cook on low about 9 hours, or even on high about 5 hours.
mmm mmm good. We've been having it for dinners again this week.

Crock Pot recipes

[spindle-rose.livejournal.com]

Yes, Crock Pots are for morning people. I like to make oatmeal in mine overnight. That almost turns me into a morning person. :-)

Free menus: http://savingdinner.com/menus/free_menu_CCMM.pdf

to buy at a very reasonable price: http://savingdinner.com/5/crock_1.html if you are not a morning or night before person. Make a bunch of packets up on the weekend when you have energy, freeze them, and toss into the crock pot on your way out the door.

She also does a weekly subscription that sends you the grocery list and recipes with side ideas for a bunch of meals.

My absolute favorite--let me know if you want proportions. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced tomatoes with green chilis, taco seasoning. When you get home shred the chicken, make rice with the broth while you chop up a few easy taco toppings. Enjoy.

thanks for the link

[justetthon.livejournal.com]

I see you've (you all, before I discovered LJ) been down this road before about crockpot cookery. But, we can start up again... good recipes people know that work and are yummy. I tend to cook with a bit of that and a dash of that... nothing I've done to date in the crockpot is exactly measured... and it's worked out OK for me. What makes ours extra special, is we go out on our front porch and snip off some fresh rosemary, sage, and dill off our plants and throw that in... the home-spun touch. mmm mmm good. We don't have Marie Callender's out here. :-) I keep my tasting spoon nearby. I haven't left the thing unattended all day... I suppose that is completely safe to do. Anyone ever had any trouble leaving a crockpot plugged in (electrical trouble, not the cats getting into it)?

oatmeal, eh?

[justetthon.livejournal.com]

hhmmm. oatmeal in the crockpot overnight? How much/what do you put in there, and do you end up with a whole glob of oatmeal in the morning? interesting.

Re: thanks for the link

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Mmm, fresh herbs! Delish!

I've never had any kind of trouble leaving the crock pot all day, but mine's pretty new and I don't have loads of experience.

Re: Crock Pot recipes

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oo, thanks! My first learning hurdle is picking the right kind of meat. I tried chicken breasts for a gazillion hours once and MAN, it was like eating RUBBER. (Too bad, too, 'cause the flavor was otherwise scrumptious.)

So thighs, roasts, briskets, that kind of thing. The meats I've never really cooked before because they take too long!

Re: Crock Pot recipes

[justetthon.livejournal.com]

if you like pork, we find a nice fresh pork loin, that is NOT dressed with any kind of store coating or spices, or anything... just plain old pork loin, cooks up really nice and tender... and by virtue of cooking for HOURS, meets the "cook pork until it is done" mandate. Unlike beef, which can be eaten on the rare side, pork has to be thoroughly cooked to avoid pinworm and other nasty things. But,crock potted, it should do fine.