My vintage crock pot

• Crock pot cooking is simple, healthy and a time saver.

• Crock pots are great for busy families and especially for new mothers,  just add all the ingredients in the morning, turn it on, and leave the cooking to happen while you get on with your day.

• There are many easy crock pot recipes including soups, stews and desserts.

• Crock pots use a small amount of electricity so its a money saver too.

• They come in several sizes from small crock pots that cook enough food for one or two people to medium sized crock pots are often best for families of four or five, and the largest crock pots can serve ten people or more.

• Very little clean up required. Now that's a bonus.

An electric crock pot or slow cooker usually consists of a removable porcelain bowl which sits inside an outer container that has electric heating elements and some control buttons and switches.  My vintage one has only two settings, low and high, but the more modern have digital programming and automatic settings. My crock pot is round but they also come in oval which is good for cooking whole meats like chicken.

A crock pot is one of the most convenient appliances in a kitchen.  If you don't have one then you are spending too much time in the kitchen.  Have a look at the great range of crock pot slow cookers and accessories like books and liners at AMAZON.   I am hoping I get a new oval crock pot for Christmas ( hint, hint, family) or at least a new crock pot cook book.

The base of every great soup is a good meat or vegetable stock.  Also use the best ingredients you can for your soups, and if you can make your own stock with fresh ingredients.

Cooking soups in the crock pot brings out the flavors of the ingredients you are using.  With the slow cooking the crock pot makes soup making easy as well as there are usually only one or two steps to making a great soup.

Vegetarian soups are becoming some of my favorite crock pot recipes lately with split peas, pumpkin or potato to thicken them.  I find these soups also improve in flavor the next day.  A vegetable soup make in the crock pot is also healthy and usually low fat.

Seasoning soups is easy with ingredients such as bay leaves, cinnamon, ginger, pepper and the addition of herbs like parsley, thyme, mint and other seasonal fresh herbs.  Thicken your soup with potato, arrowroot or cornflour or take some soup out and blend, then add back for a natural thickening.  I tend to the latter a lot with vegetable soups.

To reduce fat even more from your crock pot soups allow to cool and skim off any fat from the top.  When heating soups only heat what you need and not the whole pot, and freeze in individual or family size servings if possible.  When you freeze your soups this way they are ready in the future for use instead of a fast food meal when you are busy or when you need an entree to add to a meal.

Served with crusty bread,  a bowl of steaming soup is the perfect meal and making your soup in the crock pot makes the process easy for you as well.

If you haven't picked up your free copy of  Delicious Soup Recipes from the top of this page then do so today or check out some of my recipes here -> Crock Pot Meals Recipes.

I love to make soups in winter and fresh hot bread is just the ultimate accompaniment.  I can set and forget both of them, but I must admit the bread doesn't take as long to cook unless I set the Programmable Crock Pot for the time the bread will be ready.  I then have both cooked at the same time and ready to serve.  The smells coming out of that kitchen are just hard to explain, especially when its a week day and I return home to a house smelling like heaven.

It takes me back to the days when I was young and I would walk in the door from school to a warm house and  the comforting aromas of home cooking.  I have to thank my mother for that as she was always a good cook.  She cooked for 8 for many years so home cooking was the most economical way to go and there was not much take away at that time either. I think I have just admitted  I'm old here though.

The bread machine and the crock pot are two great appliances I wouldn't be without especially in winter so, if you have that breadmaker stored away, get it out or if you don't have one you can buy one at Amazon at a reasonable price right now.

I started cooking in my crock pot in the 1970s, yes I am that old I hear you thinking.  I put it away again but got it out when I found it again when I moved house.  I was working back then as I am now and I am still singing the praise of slow cooking.

In the last 2 years I have noticed in grocery stores the emergence of crock pot/slow cooker mixes.  You add your meat or chicken and one or two other ingredients with the packet mix and you have your crock pot dinner ready to cook.

I have used them once or twice when I was really busy but prefer to work from one of my own recipes as then I know exactly what  is in it that I am serving my family.  Their popularity though tells me that there is a market now that wasn't there or big enough before.

People have discovered the great taste that slow cooking brings to the dish and how simple it is to make.  Another benefit is the small amount of clean up required.  If you are working then you know you want to relax as much as you can when you come home and not be in the kitchen.

How nice it is to know that dinner is cooking itself while you are at work or away from home all day.  I am glad that others are now finding how convenient crock pot dinners are and how great they taste too.

If you haven't joined the crock pot revolution then now is the time!  Crock pot dinners will change the way you cook and how you spend your time when you are home from a hard day's work.

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Crock pot cooking is definitely healthier than Chinese take-out or pizza delivery.  You do all your cooking in one pot, cooking all your ingredients slowly and sealing in all the juices and nutrients in your food.  Healthy crock pot meals could include hearty beef stews, healthy vegetarian soup, and pot roast among others.  Your family will surely look forward to mealtimes with your crock pot meals.  It would seem like you spent the whole day cooking, but you didn't, only your crock pot did.

Crock pot cooking is also time saving.  You do not have to spend much time preparing your meals with your crock pot.  Cooking is often a challenge especially if you have to do it after you get home from work, tired and cranky.  Not anymore when all you have to do is to lift the lid off your crock pot and see how your meal has turned out.  You simply have to put together all your ingredients in your crock pot, set it to slow cook, and leave it to cook your food while you are away.

All that is left to do when you come home is to bring out some side dishes and then plate everything up for dinner. Surely that is more healthy than buying take away and easier on the wallet too and that is why healthy crock pot cooking is popular again.

Roadpro have a TRAVEL CROCK POT that plugs into a 12v socket.  This has a 1.5 quart removable stoneware crock, stretch cord and a glass lid.  It sells for under $30.  This is a good option because you probably would have a 12 v socket spare in your truck or RV or  you can plug it into your cigarette lighter/accessory outlet in the car.

There are also crock pots that use gas cylinders.  Coleman Road Trip Propane Slow Cooker has a lot of mixed reviews on the net so the jury is out at the moment on it being a good slow cooker but for heating it would be perfect.  It uses a 1lb disposable propane bottle and has a large 6 quart size crock and what I like about it is that it has a locking lid for when traveling.  The cost is around $78.

If you are out on a sporting event for the day and want to heat your food or keep it hot rather than cook it then the portable crock pot is perfect.  You can use it for hot dogs, dips, chili or any food you have cooked beforehand.

Summary: The advantage as I see it of the Coleman Road Trip Slow Cooker is that it is larger so you can cook for a crowd, when you don't have a 12v outlet, and that you use it also as a regular cooker. I think the Roadpro Travel Crock Pot though would get my vote for overall use for slow cooking results, the price is really good and I think I would prefer to plug it in than use the gas cylinders.

If you have used these crock pots please let me know how you have used them and how well did the food cook.

When most people think of crock pot cooking they think of cooking stews only, and they do cook well by slow cooking, but in winter I also cook most of my puddings, cakes and other desserts in the crock pot.  Last winter I also started cooking breakfasts also.  If you are a busy person, then why not get out that crock pot this winter and if you haven't already got one you can buy one at a great price on eBay or Amazon.  Check out the eBay auction on this site for current listings.

We are all cooking on a budget these days and the slow cooker helps you save money as you can use less expensive cuts of meat, use less electricity, cook in bulk and have more home made meals instead of dining out. Cooking in winter is always more pleasant than the hot steamy days of summer so this winter why not try some nutritious and easy crock pot meals.  Cooking on a budget has never been easier.

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Well, the first reason would be that you can, in one session, cook enough meals to have for every say Monday for the next month ie if your recipe serves 4.

Think of the time saved in the kitchen, the washing up you saved yourself and the luxury of having a meal already cooked when you come home for the day.

All you need are the recipes, the ingredients, your crock pot and some freezer containers to make this work.

You will find a lot more recipes as well that cater for cooking for one person as more people don't have the money now to eat out as often as they used to.

Crock pot meals are easy to make and just because you are only cooking for yourself doesn't mean you have to miss out on some good recipes and the other benefits you get from cooking in the crock pot.  It is especially helpful for busy people who just don't have the time to prepare their meals when they come home from work.  The joy of coming home to your home with the great smell of a cooked dinner waiting for you is priceless.

Why not try the crock pot this week and cook one meal and see what an advantage that can be to yourself for the next week.

The crock pot gives off so much less heat so if you want to keep your kitchen cooler in summer then get out that crock pot you put away last winter.  If you can cook it in the oven or on a cook top you probably can cook it in the crock pot too.  Besides casseroles and soups you can cook roasts and desserts and even cakes and make great crock pot meals.

There are other benefits too like cutting down on electricity not only from cooking but on the air conditioner trying to keep your house cool.  You can plan ahead and start your dinner cooking early in the morning when its cooler and have it ready for the evening.

There are also so many great recipes now for the crock pot including  my own of course.  You can get the vegetarian recipes here on the site by clicking on the image in the top right hand corner or you can get my books on Kindle.  Click on the link here for my Kindle Author Page to see them.

The last reason for using the crock pot in summer is the easy clean up.  Don't spend your precious time cleaning pots and pans when you can have only one pot to clean up.  You have too many more enjoyable things to do in summer than clean.

Get your crock pot out again and start keeping your kitchen cool and enjoy your crock pot meals!

Crock pot dinners

One of the advantages of the crock pot is that it is very efficient when it comes to the use of energy. You can guarantee that cooking for a crowd can be done cheaply and you wont heat your kitchen up either in summer.  All you need to do is to load it with all the raw ingredients of your crock pot dinner, set and forget. This allows you to save a lot of money and to eat healthier food than buying out.

If you also have other things to do within the day (of course you have) then you can simply leave the crock pot and let it cook on its own.  If you have a large family, you can cook a hearty meal for them without having to overstress yourself in the kitchen.  You can get all your washing or ironing done while it cooks (OK that's not a great example but a reality).  Many crock pots are large enough to cook for 6- 8 people and you stretch that number by serving extra vegetables or pasta so you can cook for a crowd of 10 if needed.

Because you are cooking in one pot this saves washing up and using lots of pans on your cooker. You can even get the kids to cook a meal knowing they cant burn themselves or the house down.  Crock pot dinners for a large family are just so easy on the cook and on the budget as well.  Happy cooking in your crock pot in the future.