Anyone else use a crock pot often?

tuscarora dave

tuscarora dave

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Being a single guy and usually working or just running non stop, I end up eating way too often in restaurants. This obviously can get very expensive. My latest idea was to start using a crock pot to crock up an army's worth of food to either freeze meal sized portions or simply have the same thing for lunch or dinner until it's gone. This has been a lot cheaper for me. I know I can just google crock pot recipes and get some good recipes but wanted to see how many others here use a crock pot to simplify things and reduce the costs of eating in their busy lives and see if you all that are crock pot users care to share your recipes.

Remember my whole reason for buying this 7 quart crock pot was to try to feed myself easier and for less money so if there are any frugal gourmets out there with recipes that don't involve the use of a crock pot, please feel free to share them in this thread as well.

I just threw in 5 quarts of spaghetti sauce @ 99 cents a can, 2 pounds ground steak @ $2.39 a pound, 2 6.5 ounce cans of mushrooms @ 79 cents each and maybe 50 cents worth of various spices (garlic, bay leaves, oregano, crushed red pepper, sugar and a dash of curry) totaling $11.81 I get my spaghetti pasta @ 79cents a bag which makes 2 meals each getting a pint of the sauce. so that's 5 bags of the pasta to use up all of the sauce equaling 10 meals @ a grand total of $15.76, the average cost of a single restaurant meal including a 20% tip. So by crocking this sauce I get 10 meals for the price of 1. Pretty darn good savings if you ask me.

Thanks for any input, TD
 
I use it at least twice weekly. One of my favorites is actually a WW recipe in one of my wife's cookbooks. (Lasagna)
*1 lbs ground beef or turkey
*1 cup mozzarella and 1 cup Ricotta (mix together)
* 28oz can Diced Tomatoes
* 16oz Tomato paste
6-8 pieces no bake lasagna
(onion/garlic and or other spices/vegatables for taste)

Start with browning ground beef in an pan over med heat (approx 6 minutes). Then add tomato paste/diced tomatoes/ spices to ground beef and let simmer for 5 minutes.

*during this time mix together mozzeralla/ricotta together in a bowl a set aside for later.

In a crock pot add 1/3 beef mixture. Follow this with 1/2 moz/ricotta cheese. Top with 3 lasagna noodles.
(repeat)
Top with remaining beef mixture. Add a dash of mozzeralla on top
Heat low for 4-5 hours on the crock pot.

Enjoy

What I like about this recipe is its flexibility. Do not like beef, then use ground turkey. I have added zucchini,onions/ broccoli and even subsituted dried spices instead of onions/garlic cloves. I have even used store bought marinara sauce in place of some diced tomatoes. I have even varied the mixture of diced tomatoes to tomato paste.

Hope you like it. My kids demand it at least once every two weeks. Prep work is about 20 minutes total and I usually have enough for some leftovers the next day after feeding a family of four.
 
A crock pot is good for beef stew, chicken, pot roast, chili, you name it. Just start throwing in your favorite meat and veggies and you're set. Only one thing to clean up afterwards too.
 
Am I the only one that originally thought of designing their own wax before reading the post ???
 
I don't know why I haven't thought of this before. I'm always starving when I get home after work so it's much easier for me to grab some pre-made frozen stuff out of the freezer and throw it in the microwave instead of cooking something up, but with a crock pot I could make my dinner in the morning before I leave to go to work and I'd have dinner ready for me when I come home! It's like having a wife!

I swear, AG is the best forum ever! Hahaha
 
Love the crockpot!

Just wish that I had a larger one. I saw a 15 quart at Bed & Bath but I'm not going to ever pay 200 bucks for a crockpot!

But I agree with the stew & chili comments. Crockpot rules at making stuff like that.

And I have one of those home vacuum machines and put a meals worth of crockpot stuff in them and throw them in the freezer. Nice to have a ready to heat home cooked meal ready to throw in the microwave.
 
killrwheels@autogeek said:
Am I the only one that originally thought of designing their own wax before reading the post ???
Click to expand...

I definitely thought there may have been a detail slant somehow.

But on the recipe front, we use ours regularly for pot roast and pulled pork. I'm a purest when it comes to bbq (smoke), so when my wife suggested it, I scoffed, but it comes out pretty damn well with far less maintenance.

Chili will be our next attempt.
 
jreblackGT said:
A crock pot is good for beef stew, chicken, pot roast, chili, you name it. Just start throwing in your favorite meat and veggies and you're set. Only one thing to clean up afterwards too.
Click to expand...

If you use the crock pot liners (very similar to the oven cooking bags), it will reduce clean up even more.

I have never made spaghetti in a crock pot. It is easy to make on the stove....mix up the sauce and boil some water. Freeze whatever you do not eat or save for later.
 
We use ours for Chili, Roast, Soup, etc.

How do you make pulled pork BBQ??? I would like to try that...
 
Thanks for all the great replies and keep them coming please!!!

Yes Bacon I am single. Were you using sarcasm again?

I wonder if the boilermaker chilli would work without the beer. I know that the alcohol would cook off but the beer part just doesn't sit well with me.

Al, Spaghetti is easy to make on the stove top but with the crock pot on low I don't have to stir it near as often. I always end up with burnt sauce on the bottom of my saucepan when doing it over the stove because I forget to stir it or have the heat too high or both. I still boil the water and cook the pasta on the stove.
 
Dave, I would assume it would. We don't use the beer for anything other than cooking so I know where you coming from. Its more for the liquid and the flavor. You could most likely substitute water or beef stock or something.



I have a few other I will look up and post.
 
TroyScherer said:
Dave, I would assume it would. We don't use the beer for anything other than cooking so I know where you coming from. Its more for the liquid and the flavor. You could most likely substitute water or beef stock or something.



I have a few other I will look up and post.
Click to expand...
Thanks Troy.
 
Sarcastic noway. But on a serious note you might want to rethink your Avatar Picture..ya never know when a single detailing girl might join the forum.

:bestwishes:

Bacon
 
longdx said:
I use it at least twice weekly. One of my favorites is actually a WW recipe in one of my wife's cookbooks. (Lasagna)
*1 lbs ground beef or turkey
*1 cup mozzarella and 1 cup Ricotta (mix together)
* 28oz can Diced Tomatoes
* 16oz Tomato paste
6-8 pieces no bake lasagna
(onion/garlic and or other spices/vegatables for taste)

Start with browning ground beef in an pan over med heat (approx 6 minutes). Then add tomato paste/diced tomatoes/ spices to ground beef and let simmer for 5 minutes.

*during this time mix together mozzeralla/ricotta together in a bowl a set aside for later.

In a crock pot add 1/3 beef mixture. Follow this with 1/2 moz/ricotta cheese. Top with 3 lasagna noodles.
(repeat)
Top with remaining beef mixture. Add a dash of mozzeralla on top
Heat low for 4-5 hours on the crock pot.

Enjoy

What I like about this recipe is its flexibility. Do not like beef, then use ground turkey. I have added zucchini,onions/ broccoli and even subsituted dried spices instead of onions/garlic cloves. I have even used store bought marinara sauce in place of some diced tomatoes. I have even varied the mixture of diced tomatoes to tomato paste.

Hope you like it. My kids demand it at least once every two weeks. Prep work is about 20 minutes total and I usually have enough for some leftovers the next day after feeding a family of four.
Click to expand...

Holy cow, we just had crockpot lasagna tonight! It's slightly different than your recipe, but still very similar. Makes probably 6-8 good sized portions.

If you're using your crockpot pretty often, then a good thing to invest in are crockpot liners. Makes cleanup a breeze so you're not always scrubbing them after every use!
 
The cool thing about that picture is that while I was sleeping, my dog Jack got up there and laid back like that and my room mate got the photo before either of us woke up.

You don't think a girl would be impressed with how much I love my dog?
 
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