I bought a crock pot awhile ago, thinking that I found the solution to my nightly dinner dilemma. Like so many other ?crock pot fanatics?, the bloom was off the rose as soon as I found myself with a bit more time and money to spend. So, my crock pot found it?s way into the deep, dark recesses of my pantry, never to be heard from again. Or so I thought. My budget is tighter than ever and time is at a premium, as well. Dinnertime is again centered on a warm and wonderful crock pot meal, much to the delight of my family.
Now, if you bought your crock pot more than, say, 6 years ago, look into getting a new one. They have improved so much that it?s worth the $35 or $40 you?ll be spending. The newer crock pots have better energy efficiency, plus features like warming cycles, latched tops, temperature settings, and all kinds of fun stuff. But one of the best features about using a crock pot is that they save you money and time. Seems like a good thing, but how do they figure that?
Money Saving: Certain dishes, like beef stew, pot roasts, and soups, are usually cooked for a pretty long period of time. If you?re using your oven for, say 3 hours, that?s about 10 kWh for that meal. Cooking the same pot roast in a crock pot for, say 6 hours, will take about 1.2 kWh. That?s simply based on your oven wattage of roughly 2500 versus your crock pot wattage of roughly 200. It just makes sense using a smaller appliance for such a long cooking period. Check out your appliance wattage and energy consumption using any of the energy consumption calculators online and see if you don?t agree.
Most crock pot recipes call for inexpensive cuts of meat. The low, slow cooking of a crock pot breaks down the sinew and connective tissue of less expensive cuts of meat. Crock pot recipes call for cooking in liquid which also tenderizes tougher cuts of meat, so you end up with meat that falls apart with a fork. A more tender cut doesn?t stand up as well to the long, slow cooking or the liquid. Opt for beef cuts like brisket, bottom round, rump roast, round steak, or even a good chuck roast. Pork shoulders and short ribs are good, too.
Are you spending money on fast food? How many times have you rushed through the convenience store, spending money you didn?t have on bad food? Here?s where your crock pot can save you money with a little planning. Get your meal planned, shop, and prepare everything ahead of time. Now, when everybody gets home after school and work, and all that evening chaos begins, at least you know you have dinner bubbling away in the crock pot. No more quick, and expensive, stops for fast food.
When you are air conditioning your house, the last thing you want to do is heat up your kitchen by having the oven on for a long time. During the summer, we do eat mostly cold meals, like salads, but summers can be pretty long here and my family starts to get a yearning for a nice, hot meal. Without adding a bunch of hot air to my house, I can throw a pot roast in my crock pot, and we?re all happy? and the air conditioner can do it?s normal work without stressing it out anymore than necessary.
Time Saving: If you are watching your pots boil, you are wasting time. Even stirring soups and sauces take time, especially if you?re making something that could stick to the bottom of the pot if left unattended. When you make a meal in one pot it truly does save time, but not if you have to watch it! Sure, you can put a pot roast in the oven and you won?t have to stand over it while it cooks, but now you?re not saving money. Don?t we want to save both money and time?
Getting my family to help with meal preparations is a big time saver in my book. If I can walk away for a few minutes while my children are scrubbing potatoes and plunking them in the crock pot, I?ve got those precious minutes to attend to another task. Getting kids involved putting a crock pot meal together is possible because there?s less danger of having someone get burned; you don?t turn on a crock pot until all the ingredients are in and you?re ready. There are many crock pot recipes available that have only a few basic ingredients, so even a cooking novice like my husband can jump right in there and cook a meal, too.
If you?ve been running to the grocery store several times a week to hurry up and get something for dinner, you?ve been wasting a lot of your very precious time. Wouldn?t it be nice to pick up the kids from swim lessons and be able to go right home without that frantic stop for food? I keep several of my favorite crock pot recipes in my purse, so all I have to do is make one planned stop at the grocery store, buy the ingredients I need for a couple meals, and my shopping is done for the week. I even have time now to clean all my vegetables when I get home so they?re all ready when I put my planned crock pot dinners together. Now, we?re really saving time!
Money and Time Saving: I?m a big believer in cooking larger portions so that we?re cooking once and eating twice. My crock pot is a 6 quart size oval, which is big enough to have leftovers for lunches, so we don?t have to spend money buying lunches at work or school. We also will cook double and put half in the freezer. This way, I?m cooking only two or three times a week, and we?re eating from the freezer the other days. For us, that?s a real time and money saver.
I challenge you to take another look at crock pot cooking. Clear off a spot on your counter, get yourself one of the new and improved models, grab a few recipes, and start cooking? and saving!
Get your family hooked on slowcooker cooking with some delicious new slowcooker recipes that are sure to please!
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