| The great thing about using a slow cooker is that you | | | | cooking on the lowest setting gives me the best |
| can prepare your meal in about 15 minutes and not | | | | results. A common problem with slow cookers is that |
| have to worry about it anymore. When I rise in the | | | | they cook too hot and if you use the high setting, you |
| morning, it seems that this is the time of day when I | | | | have a good chance of overcooking your meal. I have |
| feel the most energized. This makes it an ideal time to | | | | never overcooked any food by using the low setting. |
| add all of the ingredients into my slow cooker and | | | | Programmable crock pots are also an excellent idea |
| head off to work. | | | | because they make it literally impossible to cook |
| Who wants to work all day and then come home and | | | | something incorrectly because you can set and forget. |
| spend an hour or two preparing dinner? Not me! | | | | Many slow cooker recipes call for vegetables and if |
| Though slow cookers will save you a lot of time, there | | | | you are going to use fresh ones, you will want to plave |
| are a few tips I can give you that can help you use | | | | these under the meat as they will take longer too |
| your slow cooker more effectively. | | | | cook. Canned vegetables cook fast and should be |
| The first thing that you can do to save time is prepare | | | | placed over the meat. Also, it is a good idea to thaw |
| your foods the night before and refrigerate them. This | | | | out the meat before placing it in the crock pot. Some |
| will save you time in the morning because you only | | | | people will put a frozen roast in a slow cooker but I |
| need to place your ingredients in the slow cooker and | | | | have found that my roasts have cooked better when |
| you are done! Some foods such as rice and pasta | | | | they are thawed out first. |
| you will not be able to prepare ahead of time but most | | | | I hope that these small suggestions will help you utilize |
| foods can be. Just do as much as you can. After all, | | | | your slow cooker better and save you time. You will |
| you have enough to do in the morning with getting | | | | find that as you use your slow cooker more and gain |
| ready for work, breakfast, the kids and so on. | | | | experience, you will develop your own habits and find |
| Being that the majority of popular slow cookers only | | | | other ways to save time. |
| have two settings of low and high, I have found that | | | | |