Oh, how I love my Crock Pot!

Life has been hectic lately - many days I fall asleep on the couch after I get us fed and Lily to bed.   Fortunately it's the best time of year to start using the Crock Pot (insert your preferred slow cooker brand here) to make all kinds of tasty, low-effort meals for the family!   On a cold November day when I've been going nuts at work and I have a hungry little girl to feed, it's so nice to come into the house and smell a delicious stew, soup, or chili that will be ready to eat in minutes.

The first key is slow cooker selection.   I have an actual Crock Pot brand, but there are probably 3-4 different name brand slow cookers on the market.   Prior to this model, we had a very basic Crock Pot that I'd used for around 6-7 years but the crock was getting scratched and more difficult to clean, so I picked my Crock Pot Smart-Pot up at Target on Black Friday two years ago.  I love it because it allows you to set the cooking time and then automatically switches to warming mode.   There are even fancier ones with fully programmable touch screens, but this one gets the job done for us.

I always try to prep my ingredients the night before.  Any cut up meats and veggies go into gallon zipper storage bags, I put spices in a little baggie, and then all I need to do in the morning is dump everything in, add water or broth and any canned goods, and turn on the power.   Even better, I can have Mark do it before he leaves for work if it's a recipe that won't handle 8-10 hours of cooking time.  I don't brown meats, onions, mushrooms, etc.  Having to haul out a pan and do that prep work (and washing the pan) starts to negate the awesome time-saving properties of the Crock Pot.    If ingredients are freezer-friendly, you can even prep everything and use the Food Saver so that all you have to do is pull the bag out of the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge overnight.  

I don't often use slow cooker liners, although if I'm cooking something that has sugar in the liquid I usually will to make cleanup easier.   I usually just fill the empty crock with warm soapy water and let it soak for an hour or two before washing it with a sponge and my trusty Bon Ami cleanser.

This week's family favorite slow cooked recipe is a simple beef stew:

2-3 cups of peeled, cubed russet or Yukon Gold potatoes
2 cups of peeled, chunked carrots (we like carrots!)
1 cup button mushrooms (optional, Lily and Mark don't like them so I usually skip them)
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1.5-2 lbs stew beef
2 cups beef broth or stock (I use low sodium)
5-6 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed from stems (you don't want stems in your stew!)
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Put vegetables in the bottom of the slow cooker with meat on top.  Add broth and seasonings.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours.  Enjoy with buttered biscuits or bread!