Crockpot Nights

Calling all busy occupied moms…have you discovered the trusty crockpot and it’s conveniences? If not, you will want to read this!

Fleeting memories of a steamy brown little crockpot in a kitchen with metal yellow chairs and vinyl pads brings me back to 1980, when my mom used this cooking method when she was working all day at our little family store. Even back in the 80’s women used their trusty crockpot. This metal contraption with a glass lid made life easy and still does years later after its invention.

Simply prep the food the morning of and even better the night before. Spoon all the ingredients into the cooker, plug it in, turn it on low and rely on it’s powers that seven to eight hours later, dinner is done! Voila!

What I love about crockpot nights is the freedom to do things past four thirty, the usual meal preparation time. With our meal simmering, delicious smells hover over the kitchen and waft pleasantly into the rest of the house. I can use this time in various ways, catch up on lingering laundry, go for a walk in our yard or write in my blog.

I have gotten into a routine of having crockpot meals once or twice a week and a lot on weekends. Lately I’ve discovered that cooking in a crockpot on a Saturday or Sunday is the perfect way to prepare supper, especially if I’m visiting family or friends. In the past, when I visited or went shopping, the dreaded curfew of four or four thirty in the afternoon hung over me and affected my visit. But a simmering meal working in my crockpot does the work for me!

This fine Sunday morning I prepped:

1 pound steak tips or nice underblade roast beef

1 packet of Lipton onion soup mix

2 cups of water

sliced onion quarters

6 carrots sliced

Add all ingredients in the pot. I put it in at 10:00 on a low setting and it would be done by 4 or 4:30. I roasted potatoes in the oven, but many times I add the potatoes to the mixture. To complement the meal, I served ciabatta rolls from the supermarket bakery. Those rolls you bake in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, creating a fresh baked crunchy edge and soft bread.

Other Great Crockpot Ideas

Other great easy crockpot meals are chicken and either cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken and added carrots, potatoes or green beans. A tender corned beef with carrots and potatoes and pickling spice is simply delicious and so easy to do in the crockpot. ( We don’t use cabbage because we really don’t like it, but if you do like it, that goes with corned beef too.)

I have made simple chili in the cooker, as well as baked beans. Any type of stews, such as beef stew cooks wonderfully in it.

Whatever you choose, make sure you have all the ingredients and the time to prep it. If mornings don’t work for you, prep everything the night before and place it in the fridge. In the morning simply take out, scoop into the cooker and you’ll come home to a delicious aroma and meal waiting for you! Enjoy!

All my Best,

Heart and Soul