I have never been this way before in my life. I have always been a do it yourself kind of a gal. Even when I was working two or three jobs at the same time while raising my three teenagers; I RARELY ever did this. So why now? Why do I turn to this so often now?
I am falling back in love with my crockpot!
I know most people now-a-days have an Instant Pot pressure cooker small appliance; but since I don't have the money saved for one, I have reverted back to my ol' stand-by crockpot. I love how the food cooking throughout the day fills the house with deliciousness. And how these are the traditional one pot meals. Or how about how you can stick it all in there, leave the house and come home to dinner all done. Or perhaps it's the way you can practically throw any meat in there with a can of cream of whatever you have on hand and create a creamy and dreamy meal.
Nothing says comfort food like a slow cooked dinner with the meat falling off the bone and a savory sauce.
(Pictured above) Some country-style pork ribs getting ready for the low knob to be turned on.
I've used my crockpot more this past autumn and winter than I ever have. Three or four times per week. It's not that I'm lazy in the kitchen (far from that), I just appreciate the ease of using it, creating new meals and experimenting (now) with keto-friendly dinners; and my crockpot allows me that convenience.
Using my crockpot always reminds me, and takes me back, to when I was a little girl and my mom was working a night shift part-time. She'd wrestle the crockpot out of the lower kitchen cupboard, dump in chicken, some cream of mushroom or chicken soups, some seasonings and vegetables and turn it on low. It was my job when I got home from school to dump in the rice or pasta she had measured out and left on the kitchen counter for me. This made me feel so important; as if I was a chef and dinner was of my doing and creation.
Or other times when we'd go to my maternal grandma's for Sunday dinner and Gramma would have a whole chicken, a few Cornish hens or whatever she had in her freezer that would fit into the crockpot and she'd start adding vegetables from the pantry. She'd toss in some homemade broths; add in a whatever she could find... and let me tell you- IT ALWAYS CAME OUT DELICIOUS! We rarely had repeat meals at Gramma's house.
Two meals I made in my crockpot in the last few months including Beef & Broccoli and Smoked Kielbasa with sauerkraut and potatoes.
I had never made lamb before in my life and was leery of how to cook it; so I grabbed my crockpot and gave it a try. It turned out perfect!
I seasoned it up with my special BBQ mix of herbs, garlic, onion and other seasonings and let it cook on low for about 4 hours with a cup of beef broth as the liquid. It was so tender the next day we had lamb wraps with cucumber slices, Feta cheese and a dill sauce for lunch. This is a definite recipe I will repeat once I find another good sale on lamb at the local butcher's shop.
