Are crock pots and slow cookers energy efficient?

i would love to get recipes for this. any suggestions?

Get a casserole dish: Square or round, doesn’t matter, but it has to be at least 3 inches deep. You can pretty much put any meat, any vegetable, and any sauce and cook it at 250 for two hours and everything is perfect. My favorite is to do a small roaster chicken, chopped carrots, potatoes, and onions. Fill the bottom inch with vegetable broth. Bake at 250 for two hours, everything tastes amazing and the chicken comes right off the bone.

My grandma cooked soup, and she had to cook the veggies seperatley, so it kind of blew the point… Ah well, I’ll try tomorrow!

You don’t have to cook anything separately to make soup…I like to put a couple cans of vegetable broth (great flavor) and throw in some chopped vegetables lik peppers, onions, celery, squash, and if you want some rice throw that in too but last after the vegetables have cooked for a while so that the rice doesn’t get overcooked…you can also add some black pepper, a little salt, and some dill. Dill tastes great in soup.

Does one dish meal count? I had a Kashi Chicken Pasta Pomodore so I added a couple large dollops of corn and blackbean salsa and more zuccini and pepper to it, that changed it up some and tasted great.

I made taco soup, it has meat veggies cheese (dairy) and Doritoes. I hope the doritoes count for the bread!

I just love one pot meals. It allows you to use exactly what you want without the added sodium and presertives you can’t pronounce. My all-time favorite is a yummy winter stew.

a crock pot can be your best friend, throw everythin in it in the morning and dinner is done when you get home.

Crock pot meals, what could be better then coming home at night and being greeted by the aroma of you dinner fully cooked and waiting for you!! Check foodnetwork.com for slow cooker recipes.

Cooked an Enchilada Casserole in the slow cooker today. Came out great and had easy clean up afterwards.

I made chicken enchiladas last week. Turned out pretty good. My next attempt will be pork tenderloin w/veggies in the crock pot.I just wish it was cold outside!

for those of us who don’t know how to cook at all, will those of you who do know how to cook please elaborate when you say “throw everything in it in the morning and dinner is done when you get home”, what does that mean? what exactly goes into the crock pot? what kind of vegetables? carrots, onions, red peppers, celery, zucchini? can you add fresh spinach leaves?
do you add broth/what kind? how much? do you add water? how much? is it just enough to cover the vegetables? these may seem like silly questions but i don’t know how to cook and could use all of the specifics. someone said dill is good in soups, what else besides salt/pepper?
and for the Enchilada Casserole too, yum! how do you make it please?!? thank you!

My cast iron skillet is a great meal pot… take cubed potatoes, onions, peppers, and leftover cooked chicken or other meats and saute together. Top with a sauce if desired. A salad on the side, and you have a full meal.

I made this about a week ago, but I did cook rice on the side.

2 lbs. pork filets or chops (I’m single, I just cooked 2)
1 cup chopped apple
1 cup chopped dried apricot
1 medium onion, chopped (called for in recipe, I left it out)
2 ribs celery, sliced in 1/2 inch pieces (again, I left it out)
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup dry sherry or dry white wine to taste, or more apple juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water

Combine all ingredients; cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours, or 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours on high (this is what I did). About 20-30 minutes before serving, pour liquid into a separate container to skim off excess fat. Stir in cornstarch mixture and return broth to slow cooker. Continue cooking on low until sauce is smooth and thickened.

I made a side of rice and this was fantastic.

I made spinach lasagna in the crock pot yesterday…..no boiling of noodles!

the filling was made of
15 oz ricotta
12 oz silken tofu
2 10 oz packages frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained of liquid)
garlic
lemon juice (~1 TB)

I made a cheese blend of:
1/2 cup mozarella
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
1/2 cup shredded gouda

In the crock pot:
Layer 1 cup of marinara
3 whole wheat noodles
1/3 of spinach mixture
1/3 of shredded cheese mixture

Repeat 3 times. Cook on low for 6-8 hours (my pot has a timer – quite handy when you work 7-5)

Delish!

I love the crock pot, the best is when you put frozen meat in the bottom like chicken, then throw frozen veggies on top and then a couple cans of condense soup and a little pepper, when it’s time for dinner it ready.

I LOVE all these tips— I try to cook but I struggle… When I’m cooking I need things written out like a 6 year old, and everyone’s recipes make it all seem so simple… I’m excited to try some one-pot meals!

As far as recipes go, I just put the leftovers in the crockpot with some spices and voila leftover surprise. So far it has worked out. ALLrecipes.com is a good site too.

I love to cook and with my schedule one dish meals are great. I love it when I find a new one-meal dish to try.

YEP! You can even re-use your veggie water if you need to cook things separately! Why not?