Happy New Year all! One of my resolutions this year is to cook more--as in, make at least one new meal or baked good each week. It may sound easy, but when it comes down to it, it's difficult to fight the urge to pop in a frozen pizza after coming home tired from the gym on winter nights!
One of my Christmas gifts this year was an awesome red crock pot. I'm super excited to get cooking, but I'm not quite sure where to start! Does anyone have suggestions of blogs, favorite recipes, or a good slow cooker cookbook to recommend??
this looks sort of gross, but it is delicious, cheap, and easy. the goat cheese is key.
ReplyDeletehttp://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2008/05/city-kitchen-chronicles-bodega-beans.html
I know it's not crockpot relevant but it's one of like... three recipes I have.
Your Friend,
Rebekah
Hey, Resolution-twin!!
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine recently recommended this blog, specifically for crockpot cooking. (Okay, for some reason I cannot paste in this window? I will send it to you on facebook.) I do not own a crock pot, so I haven't spent much time there myself, but said friend was quite enthusiastic about it.
As far as cookbooks, I love love love love America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated America's New Best Recipes. The test a bunch of recipes and present the best, (so the food is always good) and they explain *why* that was the best, so you learn a lot in the process, which is helpful for us newbies. <--That was a very long sentence.
Lastly, I'm a really big fan of (trying) to cook things in batches and eat them throughout the week. Some of the best for this: lentil soup, chilli (make it with ground turkey and it's healthier!), black beans which I use in burritos or quesadillas or with rice and tomatoes.
second the recommendation for america's test kitchen cookbook- i love it. also, i have been wanting to cook more and decided i will just make whole recipes which usually feed 4-6-- that way we have leftovers so i only have to cook 3 days a week. (assuming we go out or have pizza once a week). this week i made a roast chicken (really, really easy if you buy the purdue one that's already in the bag) and i am making fried rice with chicken with the leftovers- a double batch so i can have some for lunch too- and i also have leftover shrimp and asparagus with pasta in a garlic wine sauce... ohh- and before christmas i made a huge pot of minestrone (from the america's test kitchen recipe) that we ate for three days with a good loaf of bread. chili is always excellent and freezes well in individual portions :) here's to cooking in 2010!
ReplyDeleteIt's red! It's adorable! Nom nom. I don't have a slow cooker due to kitchen space limitations, but I certainly want one. You will have to let me know what awesome recipes you whip up! :)
ReplyDeleteI bought a crockpot last year, and I love it. I'm a big soup/stew fan, so it's great to throw stuff in the morning, cook it on low for 8 hours, and have it ready when I get back home. Apparently, there's a whole hell of a lot of meals beyond the liquid variety you can make in a crockpot, but I haven't experimented that far yet... let me know any favorites you come up with!
ReplyDeleteI have that same Crockpot! I got mine last Christmas and I found a great blog where the writer cooked everything in a Crockpot for a year. I mean EVERYTHING. She's got great recipes, and most are gluten free. Check it out!
ReplyDeletehttp://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
PS- her year was 2008-2009, so she doesn't post as often anymore, but her archives are full of great ideas!
I haz crockpot. Ha.
ReplyDeleteLook what I found:
http://thoughtfuleating.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-haz-crockpot-turkey-and-wild-rice.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ThoughtfulEatingAFoodBlog+%28Thoughtful+Eating+~+A+Food+Blog%29
Thanks for all your suggestions everyone! I am off to a running start. Stay tuned for a post about my crock pot's inaugural run!
ReplyDelete