Tuesday 15 January 2008

slowwww cookin' parts 2 & 3

I'm in love...the slow cooker i borrowed from my mom has been getting a tonne of use...more use than she ever gave it!!
Since borrowing it ( well since taking it-who are we kidding?) i have been having so much fun and saving a tonne of time cooking in the evenings. It is the easiest kitchen appliance we have to use and it takes no time at all to prep for dinner-either in the evening before bed or in the morning before i head out the door.
My second time using the slow cooker, i just dumped some cut up vegetables (carrots, potatoes and onions) in, then put in frozen chicken breasts, topped with salt, pepper and about a cup of chunky salsa, turned it on low and left for the day, We returned home to a great meal and i had time to veg on the sofa watching TV rather than making dinner...ahhh what a life...
This morning i did something similar but i cooked a whole roast. I was skeptical that it would fit in our slow cooker as it is an older model and seemed smaller than the ones i have seen in stores today BUT i was pleasantly surprised to discover that 6 diced potatoes, a cut up onion and a 4 pound roast all cooked nicely in there. All i did was add a little diet coke (it helps tenderize the meat) some onion soup mix and a tiny bit of water. The meat was so tender i was really pleased, as was hubby since not only did he enjoy a home cooked meat and potatoes dinner on a Monday night but he also gets roast beef sandwiches for the rest of the week at lunch time:) Sure beats caf food!!

14 comments:

  1. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet!!! Oh, I'm so happy you love the slow cooker as much as I do! I made a stew yesterday because I had two meetings to attend and knew I didn't have time to cook supper in the evening.

    I threw in 5 cut up potatoes, some cut up carrots, celery, green pepper, onion, tomatoes and some stewing meat (beef). I sprinkled on some salt and pepper, added a wee bit of water, and left it for the day.

    I'll e-mail you about my two meetings :) My day went as planned, with the exception of that jerk who ran me off the highway and into the ditch!

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  2. Oh, D! I was thinking that Gav can even use the slow cooker. Hubby's tried it and has had success with it. It's pretty easy and almost impossible to mess up. Clean up is great too (at least in my opinion)! There isn't too much to clean up because you don't have mixing bowls and all the extra stuff to wash.

    My friend told me that he's done meatballs in the slow cooker too. I've done ribs in there and they turned out really well.

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  3. i'm going to try chili in it next. I have all the ingrediants but wasn't sure about browning the meat before hand or just throwing it in there raw...what do you think C?

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  4. Oh nice! I started relying on the slowcooker my mom has over here in Hong Kong because our kitchen is freakishly tiny... gotta say - it's amazing how easy and great the food tastes. I totally agree with it - it's awesome.

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  5. p.s. I just read your comment, D... and for my chilis, I usually cook the meat first before throwing all the other ingredients together. You can always experiment. What's your opinion, C?

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  6. Anonymous7:30 pm

    OOH, I think i need to get one. I guess I need to find one with a timer though...as I am out of the house for 9 hours and I think that is as long as they can be left on...hmmm...

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  7. this one doesn't have a timer. i leave it on for 11-12 hours and it is fine. i turn it one around 6:30/7 and come home around 5/5:30. i turn it off as soon as i come home and the food is still hot for dinner at 6. i really like it and wouldn't care if i never used my stove/oven again!

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  9. Dina, you could brown the meat first, but I usually just put it in and let it all cook together. Let's see what Danielle says. Maybe she won't mind giving us her recipe! ;)

    I usually just put everything in there together and turn it on and leave.

    Fancy, you could leave things in the cooker for longer if you like (or if you have no other option). The longer the food is in the cooker, the more tender it gets.

    My aunt made a hearty vegetable soup in the cooker the other day. She had onions, carrots, chick peas, potato, and some other ingredients. It was so nice on a cool day. I find I eat a lot of soups in the winter

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  10. Anonymous4:32 pm

    OK I am totally gonna get one. It would probably be on from 8am to 5pm, then stay in the cooker until 6:30pm...sounds like that would work!

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  11. You girls are too organized! Great post Dina. I should dust off mine and use it again, especially this time of year when coming home to a hot meal is just soooo nice. And it's all home cooked, which is great. I find ironically now that I'm at home I end up picking up more of those ready made meals than ever before (mind you, 2 kids in the equation changes things up a bit). So you are already wayyy ahead of me in organizing your household, Dina.

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  12. Dina, I just thought I'd let you know that I tried some cabbage rolls in the slow cooker and they turned out AMAZINGLY well!!!

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  13. Today i made chili in it...we'll see how it comes out. Haven't tried it yet as it's for tomorrow's dinner. Will let you know.
    YUM Cabbage rolls- my favourite!!!

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  14. very good blog, congratulations
    regard from Catalonia Spain
    thank you

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