a.  You're too tired to cook?

   b.  There's no time to cook an entire meal before going
        out for various family activities? or

   c.  You didn't make any other plan this morning?

Get out that crockpot!  That wedding gift or Christmas present
that you never have used. 

Crockpots can cook all day long at a low temperature so foods 
never burn and at the same time they use very little energy.
Even the toughest cuts of meat come out tender when cooked in
the crockpot.

It takes just a few minutes in the morning to get started.  When
you come home in the evening all you have left to do is add a
salad or vegetable dish and some bread and dinner's ready!

Crockpot recipes can be very simple.  One of my family's
favorites is to just put a pork roast in the crockpot, spread
a tablespoon or two of barbecue sauce on top and cook on low
all day.  It always  comes out fork-tender and delicious!
If you don't care for barbecue sauce, 1 can of cream of mushroom
soup poured over the roast is very good also. And this same
method works for pork chops too.

Chicken drumsticks are often on sale in bulk at very low prices.
I put a few of these in the crockpot and again, pour a little
barbecue sauce over or cream of mushroom soup and cook on low
all day.  Serve over rice.  A little bit of leftover spaghetti
sauce would also be great.

Sometimes I just cook enough drumsticks for one meal, but most
times I like to cook as many as I can get in the pot and freeze 
meal-size portions for another time.

Did you know that you can bake potatoes right in your crockpot?
Just wash potatoes and prick with a fork.  Wrap them in foil and
cook on low all day.  You don't even add any liquid.

A whole chicken can be baked in your crockpot.  Wash it inside
and out and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in crockpot and 
cook all day on low. 

If you plan to make a main dish for supper that calls for cooked
chicken, such as chicken spaghetti or tetrazinni, just put cut- 
up chicken in the crockpot, add a little water and a bay leaf.
As always, cook all day on low.  When you take it out,  the
chicken will just fall off the bone.  All you have left to do is 
chop the chicken and assemble your casserole.

To make cleanup easy, I always line my crockpot with foil. If
your crockpot has a removeable liner, just turn the liner over
and shape the foil around the liner.  Take the foil off, return
the liner to the crockpot and place the shaped foil inside.

Now you have no excuse not to use that crockpot!  So get it out
and surprise your family tonight with a delicious dinner that
tastes as if you worked on it all day!

 
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