Dust That Crock Pot Off!

What's slow and steady and will fit right into your face-paced life? Would you believe cooking with that old crock pot?!

Going slower in terms of cooking can actually help you go faster in the long run. Make sense? Keep reading and it will. When you prepare a crock pot meal in the morning, the food will be ready when you get home. No more waiting for the oven to preheat or food to defrost in the microwave.

Fast and slow cooking entered American kitchens in a big way during the 1970s. Rival introduced the Crock Pot slow cooker in 1971 (the slow cooking appliance was originally called a beanery). Microwave ovens also became affordable during the 1970s. (They actually went on the market in 1952 for the price of $1,295). By the 1980s, most couples could count on receiving at least one crock pot as a wedding gift. While it's almost unthinkable to cook without a microwave today, many crock pots have been relegated to the closet shelf. It's time to revive the Rival!

Five reasons to dust of the crock pot and start slow cooking again.
1. Save money. Starting a meal in the crock pot in the morning can save you from the temptation of grabbing fast food during the evening family rush hour. Save those fast food bucks for a meal out at a nice restaurant on the weekend when you have time to sit and enjoy it.
2. Save money. This reason's so nice we said it twice. Crockery cooking can make less-expensive cuts of meat tender and delicious.
3. Save time. Cook when you have more energy and less stress. Have your food ready and waiting for you rather than the other way around. You’ll also save time on clean up. After the meal, you'll have just one pot to wash. If you have a crock pot with the removable crockery liner (and you really should), clean up is extra easy.
4. Eat healthy. It doesn’t take a nutritionist to know that a meal of meat and veggies with a green salad on the side is going to be better for your body than another frozen pizza.
5. Keep your kitchen cool and your food hot. You won't have to heat up the whole house just to roast a chicken or cook a pot of stew. The crock pot also frees the oven and stove for other foods when you're cooking a big meal.
To make the most of your rediscovered crock pot, try not peek at the food while it's cooking. Every time you lift the lid, you add 20 minutes to the cooking time.

To convert regular recipes for use in the crock pot, reduce the amount of liquid by one-third to one-half, unless you're making soup, rice or beans.
I hope this all makes sense. The best part about crock pot cooking is all the recipes you can make with the same crock pot. Just cut up the ingredients, throw them in the crock pot, wait 8 hours and a delicious meal is ready!

Michael K. Sasaki is the founder of RecipeMatcher ( http://www.recipematcher.com ), where you can find delicious crock pot recipes.