There are lots of ways I have squandered opportunities in this life and I am sure they will all show up in a blog post at some point, like this one today. One of the many things that mystified my mother about me was my lack of interest in learning how to cook. Other shocking (to her) lack of interest: dolls, organized religion, med school, and country music.
But back to the cooking - I guess she was mystified because women of her era were expected to aspire to being great cooks and providing sumptuous meals for their families. Understandable in her case, as she had learned from her own mother. Both were excellent at home cooking, southern style - see my blog post on her chicken fried steak. She was mystified that I was passing up on this fabulous opportunity to Learn From The Master. But I just never was interested, and I don't know why. Faulty wiring, I guess.
So the joke is on me as I end up later in life as a wife and mother, a SAHM, with one of my responsibilities being to provide sustenance for my family. (I know what you are thinking, so let me just add here I was happy to do it, considering it an even trade for not having to work outside the home.)
It was learn to cook or starve. I could read and follow directions, so how hard could it be? I put on my Work Smarter, Not Harder, hat so that I could be in and out of the kitchen in the minimum amount of time but still have something worth eating to show for it. Thus began my 25+ year love affair with the Crock Pot.
The one I have now looks pretty much like this one - stainless, natch - which I was kind of sorry to see available online for $9 because I paid three times that for mine new at Wally World. But since I burn through these babies pretty regularly, I will tuck that info away for next time.
- Buy a beef roast. Inexpensive is okay. Just the right size to fit in your crock pot in a single layer without having to cut it up or fold it over. The roast goes in the bottom, straight out of the plastic wrap. No need to braise or anything unless you just want to. Don't forget to take that yucky plastic thing off the bottom of the roast before you put it in the pot.
- Add a small bag of baby carrots and
- 3-4 potatoes, quartered.
- Top with one can of French Onion Soup, undiluted - do not add any water.
That's it! Cook all day, meaning 6-8 hours. Croclk Pots very widely on how many knobs and controls they have. Some are just a simple Lo, Hi, and Off. Others have a variety of cook times. If you are able, start it on Hi and turn it down to Lo after about 2 hours. If you aren't around to turn it down, just start it on Lo and cook all day. It'll be fine.
Don't worry about it not having enough liquid. The can of soup by itself is more than enough. More liquid will be produced as it cooks.
Do Not Remove Lid during cooking process. This is not like cooking on top of the stove and lifting the lid to stir and sniff every now and then. You'll just have to be patient.
Here's the real beauty of this gadget, at least at my house. There is usually something leftover from the pot roast meal above, so it gets recycled into the next day's meal, which is Beef Vegetable Soup. Just cut up the leftovers into bite-size portions. Augment with whatever vegetables you fancy. Leftovers are fine.
I usually go with lots of colors as things just taste better if they are pretty colors. So you have your orange and brown from the carrots plus some white from the potatoes. Add green (frozen green beans are a good choice and are brighter green than canned but canned or fresh are ok. Sometimes I use okra, other canned greens, whatever is available), yellow (frozen corn), and red (can of Rotel or similar tomatoes). Add enough liquid to make it soup-like, covering the contents. Water is fine -fill up the tomato can a couple of times. Add some beef bouillon and other seasoning if you like. And that's it! Cook on low all day as there isn't anything here that needs hard-core cooking. They got that yesterday during the Pot Roast process. And when you come in and your house smells great due to something fabulous cooking all day, you will thank me and Mr./Mrs. Rival.
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Have you tried the multi purpose cook pot? It can be a pressure cooker or slow cooker.
No, I haven't. I'm a little skittish about pressure cooking. Thoughts?