My Best Friend, My Crock Pot

If you are busy, on a budget and/or learning (and loving) to cook and eat healthy, a crock pot (a.k.a. slow cooker) will solve all of your problems. Don't get me wrong, I love nothing more than cooking a delicious, complex meal to unwind from a long day at the office, but there are only 24 hours in a day, and sometimes that's not enough to get everything done. Having a crock pot truly allows you to multitask - toss in the ingredients in the morning, go about your day, come home to a delicious meal. End of story.

For those who aren't familiar, a crock pot is an electric pot that cooks food at a lower temperature over a longer period of time. As a result, proteins emerge at the end of the cook time more tender than ever, and vegetables taste even more delicious because they've had time to really absorb your seasonings.

Now that you know what a crock pot is, it's time for the first...

Here are the top 10 reasons why you should go out an buy a crock pot today if you don't already have one:

10) Because it's extremely low maintenance - once you fill it up with your ingredients and hit the "start" button, you're just several hours and zero effort away from a delicious meal.
9) To make it even lower maintenance, Reynolds now makes "slow cooker liners" that you can use to line your crock pot, thus minimizing clean-up to pretty much nothing.

8) The possibilities are endless - you can make anything in your crock pot from lamb stew to short ribs to coque au vin, and everything in between.
7) A meal prepared with a crock pot is generally inexpensive - just load up on a few cans of your favorite soup, 1.5 lbs chicken and assorted vegetables, and you've got yourself about 4 meals for around $15 (or less).
6) On that note, whatever you make in your crock pot will likely yield leftovers - great for bringing to work the next day or freezing for a later date.
5) It's electric! This means if you live in a tiny NYC apartment without items such as a stove, oven or microwave, you can still cook. All you need is an outlet.
4) You can't mess it up. All you do is buy your ingredients, put them all in the crock pot, and POOF, 6 to 8 hours later (if you're cooking on low temperature) dinner is served.
3) The carrots. If for no other reason, you have got to taste how amazing carrots are when cooked in a crock pot. There's just nothing like it.
2) You can purchase a crock pot very inexpensively. Check out this one I found on Target.com for $40 (and they come even cheaper than that).
1) Because I will be sharing many crock pot recipes with you through this blog. You don't want to be left out, do you?

After reading this list I hope you will elect to change your life for the better by purchasing a crock pot. I'm telling you, it will change your life, and it will make you feel like you are witnessing magic. Below is a super quick and easy starter recipe for whenever you decide to take the leap. In the meantime, please leave any crock pot related questions you might have in the "comments" section and I am happy to answer!


Cook the following in the crock pot on low for 7 hours:
- 2 cans condensed French Onion Soup + 1 can water
- 1 can low sodium chicken broth
- 1 lb chicken breast
 - Sliced carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms and sweet potatoes
After 7 hours, do the following:
- Mix a bit of cornstarch with 1 cup water until the water becomes slightly thick
- Stir into the crock pot to thicken up the broth
- Repeat until broth reaches desired thickness
- Enjoy!