Thursday, January 08, 2009

My Slow Cooker Saved My Life



Okay, so maybe not exactly.  But it will help me to keep my sanity.  My MIL graciously got me the Hamilton Beach digital, programmable, 6-quart slow cooker with the meat probe.  This is truly the most useful kitchen appliance I own.

I first used it to roast an entire chicken and then a rump roast.  Amazing!  These are jobs that my old slow cooker definitely could not do!  Since then, I have been crafting so many wonderful recipes.  I do almost all of my cooking in the morning now, leaving with more time for homeschooling, writing and of course to wage war in my never-ending battle with clutter.

I have been reading dozens of cookbooks and blogs and I am having much fun adapting recipes for my family.  The biggest challenges with recipe-finding have been:

1.  Finding recipes for large (5-quart or 6-quart) slow cookers
2. Finding recipes that avoid ready-made components with certain ingredients we are trying to minimize (corn syrup, MSG, artificial flavors and colorings).
 I am going to be featuring some recipes here that I have adapted from other sources.

Tonight's recipe, for instance, was Cherry Pork Chops made with canned cherries and sugar instead of canned cherry pie filling.  I served it with Sweet Potatoes, Cranberry Rice (made with the rice cooker) and Oatmeal Apple Bread (made with the bread machine).  My family was very pleased so I am happy.

I will post the recipe next time.

2 comments:

Connie said...

Yum!! Doesn't fit my current diet situation, but sounds yummy.

I made Salsa Pork in the crockpot tonight. Easiest recipe I know. Put your porkchops in the crockpot, cover genererously with salsa. Cook all day, make up some rice or pasta...and serve. Fixed that for hubby while I ate my Vegetarian Sloppy Joe supplement. I hope he realizes that's real love!!

Connie
conniescapers.blogspot.com

Encourager Mom- Victoria Carrington said...

I have some salsa and will be trying your recipe soon. It must be tough to cook it and not eat it! Good for you!