because I can't cook worth a flip.

I have a little $10 crockpot on a timer and put in the oatmeal, water, a little salt, raisins, cinnamon... it goes off about an hour before I get up and it's ready to eat. A little brown sugar, butter, milk. YUM!

I know you're looking for dinner ideas but if you like REAL oatmeal, you can't beat it.

For dinner, I like to do a pasta sauce w/veggies, meat (usually ground turkey), spices, etc. and it's SO GOOD!

I love oatmeal, and any recipe suggestions are most welcome!

Bill works evenings now, and I don't like to eat dinner at 2 am, so I find myself not eating as well as I should. Crockpot meals seemed like a good way to fix the problem, so I am recipe shopping!

Put several chicken breasts (I use bonelsss, skinless) in, cover with a jar of salsa. Add corn if you want. Cook on low for 8 hours, serve over rice. Easiest thing in the world to cook. I have used fresh salsa instead of jarred salsa, so it is your choice.

Thanks for posting it. And thanks, Lucinda, for this thread. I'm bookmarking, also.

I've used a recipe from cooks.com

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1912,142163-235205,00.html

CROCK POT LONDON BROIL
1 london broil
1 pkg. ranch salad dressing mix
1 pkg. Italian salad dressing mix
1 pkg. brown gravy mix
1-1/2 cups water
Mix all the dry ingredients with the 1-1/2 cups water. Place roast in crock-pot. Pour the mixture over roast and cook on low overnight.

We put it over noodles or rice. My family loves it. I did find I need to cut the meat into chunks and then it falls apart.

I hope it's OK if I copied and pasted a recipe since I cited the source.

but I am considering getting a small pressure cooker.

Are the results essentially the same?

produce great results quickly. Everything was always really tender.

Although I understand the appeal and use crockpots on occasion I prefer pressure cooking. I think they give better flavor and texture to meats and enhanced flavors to soups and stews. Pressure cookers actually infuse flavor where crock pots just simmer. I also get a little skeeved out about uncooked meat going into crockpots and not being brought to safe temp for hours. I know millions of people use them safely every day and aren't dying in droves...it's just a peeve of mine. The advantage to pressure cookers too is that you can do beans, grains and make a mean risotto in no time at all.

I would need a relatively small one.

Any suggestions?

I use an electric one. Presto and Fagor are some pretty reliable brands though. Try to find one with stainless though because aluminum and tomato based sauces don't do well together '

Here's a pretty one from Amazon and Tfal is a good brand in general

http://www.amazon.com/Delicioso-YS2H3964-Stainless-Dishwasher-4-2-Quart/dp/B004J6GO6U/ref=sr_1_15?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1351291024&sr=1-15

Here's the one I'm going to get when the one I have now dies...

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP-LUX50-Programmable-Generation/dp/B006E7I7MG/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1351291386&sr=1-4&keywords=instapot+pressure+cooker

They make them with great safety features now, so I know I am silly for being afraid, and I'd really like to get one.

safer than they used to be, but, like you, I have some residual fears from my childhood.

pressure cookers really are much safer than they were before. Mine is about ten years old, mybe even fifteen and I am probably due for another.

They really make ALL THE DIFFERENCE if you're making ribs.

It's one of the only electric ones out there with a stainless insert. It also functions as a slow cooker and a rice cooker so you have multi functions and can get rid of some of those other pots or put them away for holiday cooking.

There are so many advantages to pressure cooking. It's quick and you can throw in frozen poultry and not have to worry about poisoning yourself. It was great to be able to come home from work, whip some frozen chicken breasts out of the freezer, throw them in the pot with some picante sauce and have dinner in 15 minutes.

I wish I still cooked on a regular basis.

It was a gift...from QVC...Cooks Essentials 4 quart (note: not an advertisement but if you want to snoop, on QVC.com
it is item K34606).

Small but works just fine for our house. I've had it for a year now. The one thing I make most
in it is soup...I just call it Dump Soup...it gets everything laying around the frig. Sometimes toss in already
cooked meats or brown turkey or beef in it first...then add canned tomatoes, frozen and/or fresh
veggies, onion, garlic, canned beans, black pepper, red pepper flakes, bay leaves...whatever! Seal it
up and let it get to pressure and stay for maybe only 10 minutes, with a natural cool down.

Super easy...It actually takes more time to round up and/or prep the stuff than it does to actually cook.

FYI...I then take this soup, put it in WIDE mouthed Mason Jars and freeze it. Then I take those to work (it
also works as a freezer block). I have a way of letting them slowly thaw and then heat them (without the
lid or rim of course; just cover with paper, plastic or whatever). Cautions about doing this are, don't over fill
the jar, WIDE mouth only (to allow for expansion), use caution with temperature changes during thawing
and cooking...and lastly, DO NOT drop your food bag!

I also don't have freezer space that would accomodate jars, but I can put things like soup in freezer bags and freeze.

I'm still looking around, but liking the Presto 6 quart (less than $50 at Amazon).

We just today got a big ol' 6qt for $20. I can fit a whole chicken AND vegies in there

I love mine. Hope you enjoy experimenting with yours!

sometimes I use mine in the morning just to warm up a muffin. I plug it in first thing and by the time i'm ready for coffee and the muffin, the muffin is warmed through.

I lift the muffin off the surface, though, with a little wadded up foil.

I use the small crockpot for this purpose.


Cher

Thanks for the idea!

they say not to use frozen meat in the CP but i do all the time since my cooking time while at work is always at least 9 hours.

I got a good recipe the other day i used for enchiladas

Green Chili Burritos

3-4 LB roast (pork or beef, chicken will work too)
1 onion chopped
1 4oz can of green chiles ( i use medium Hatch)
1 jar green chili salsa
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin

Whole wheat tortillas & reduced fat cheese

throw it all in the CP except the last two and cook on low all day, shred the meat with a couple forks and roll with cheese in the tortillas. I took another step and covered it with Hatch enchilada sauce and more cheese, then baked for 20-30 minutes until bubbly.



i have had great luck with a new chicken marinades from "Olde Cape Cod" no MSGs, no HFCS and fairly low cal. I do either Sweet and Sour, Lemon or Teriyaki and set up the rice cooker so all hubby has to do is add water and plug it in. since we do brown rice it takes about 45 minutes so it gets a head start and it's close when i get home and can steam some veggies or nuke some frozen veggies or make a salad. fast and easy week night dinner

chili is great in a CP too, or any kind of beans. and the perennial favorite

'yankee pot roast'

brown a chuck roast
throw in a chopped onion, some red taters, some baby carrots and a bunch of 'shrooms. add a bit of liquid (a couple TBSP is all you need) of your choice (broth, re-hydrated bouillion, wine or beer) i love to throw some of my kitchen window basil on top, but i've used garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, tarragon or all the above, but a couple of Bay leaves are critical. easy peasy.

and the pot roast left overs are just beef stew with a bit more beef broth and some thickening

salt, pepper and onion powder - to create a neutral beefy base to add Chinese or Mexican elements to later...but I think the slow cooking with the chili and salsa from the beginning would be great.

in the crock pot. She always called it "Irish Pot Roast" instead of Yankee Pot Roast. Probably because we are all from the South and she didn't want anyone to be afraid to eat any of that "Yankee business" LOL.

who was Irish to the bone!! from MA with a last name Quinlan

I got to try this!!!!

I wash them and poke holes in them, wrap in foil. Cook on low all day. Don't add any liquid.

When you come home, you have a crockpot full of baked potatoes, ready to put your favorite toppings on.

During the winter, we like to top with chili and cheese.

It is a great "go-to" cheap meal.

Sounds good.

great idea. I would have never thought about doing potatoes like that!
I'm going to do this tomorrow
Thanks

great idea. I would have never thought about cooking potatoes in the crockpot like that!
I'm going to do this tomorrow
Thanks

I have http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x60833

Which works just as well or better with pork!

1 whole chicken
2 bulbs worth of garlic cloves
however many hot peppers as you like( I usually toss in at least half a dozen serranos)
Stuff the chicken with garlic and peppers, put in crockpot and cook for about 6 hours.
Meat is so tender it falls off the bones. Serve with rice or noodles.
you can spread the cloves on toasted Italian bread

It is SUPER. Thanks for sharing your recipes, and WELCOME TO DU.

the thighs in my crock pot (sprayed with Pam) and add a can of diced tomatoes with onions, celery and peppers (already in the can) and the olive used to brown the chicken. I add a quarter cup of red wine and cook on high for 4 hours. I serve it with brown rice and a vegetable. Usually I make enough for 2 meals for the two of us. Hubby loves it.

Oh, and I leave the bone in and the skin on, for flavor. I take the skin off of mine before I eat it but hubby doesn't.

I realize this goes against the whole idea of the crock pot which is to just put all the ingredients in the pot without too much fuss. But this does taste good.

1 Boston Butt 4-6 pounds
1 can of coke or ginger ale (no HFCS if you can)
2 onions
garlic cloves
2 bottles of your favorite BBQ sauce. (No HFCS if you can.) Or about 4 cups homemade.
Salt
Pepper

Optional--cider vinegar, Frank's Hot Sauce.

cut the onions thick and layer on the bottom of the pot. crush the garlic, put with the onions.

Rinse the butt in cool water, pat dry. Salt and pepper it. Put in crockpot, pour soda over, and do HIGH for 1 hour, followed by LOW for another 7 to 9 hours. Overnight is good.

Lift the hot butt out into a collander in the sink. discard the onions, fat, etc, from the crockpot and rinse it out....put it back. When the Butt is cool enough to handle, use a fork/your hands, to shred meat and return to crockpot. Stir in one full bottle of BBQ sauce...add next bottle to your taste. Add vinegar and/or hot sauce as needed.

Let the sauced meat heat up in crockpot for at least 1/2hour, and taste it. This freezes well, holds well, etc.

Serve on little, soft, white rolls. Costco sells an excellent product. They also sell a damn fine Boston Butt. (you can make one, freeze one from the 2 pak they sell.)