Hello Savvy Slow Cookers!

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

If I can make a meal in 20 minutes or less, I’m one happy mama. Have me walkin’ in the door at the end of the day to a house filled with delectable dinner aromas and I’ve just about died and gone to heaven. Now, other than having the kids or hubby slaving over the stove to surprise me, there aren’t too many nights that this scenario’s gonna play out without the trusty ol' crockpot. Aka ye good ol' slow cooker.

They say it’s all in the simple things, and when it comes to little pleasures, dinner in the crockpot is definitely up there. Now that we’re coming into the cooler, crisper days of autumn, that’s another reason to take 5 or 10 minutes and plan ahead so that you save that ‘what’s for dinner’ crunch when you arrive home at the end of the day.

What I like to do is think ahead the night before … I take a look at what veggies and meats are in the house and then see if there’s a chance to pull together a slow cooker meal (or several!) that week. Because if there’s one thing that the slow cooker does require, it’s a brief session of planning ahead. But forget long and involved steps and ingredient lists: My favorite recipes are the ones that take less than 15 minutes to get prepped and into the pot. Otherwise it feels like too much work—and then I figure I might as well save it for the weekend, not the workweek.

It wasn’t that long ago that I decided to step it up and get a larger, more modern crockpot too. You see, that very first slow cooker stowed in our cupboard was a wedding gift. I don’t know if it was just less powerful or if it slowly lost its oomph over time, but it sure was taking a looooong time to cook things. It gave a whole new meaning to slow cooking, believe me.

I think that’s why I not only found myself less enamored with slow cooking in general for a couple years, but I really wasn’t enjoying the sight of that old-fashioned tan, brown and orange flowered delight on my kitchen counter anymore. Being a very visual person, I needed that ‘good feeling’ when I looked at that appliance on my countertop. ‘Cause if you do any amount of serious slow cooking, that baby is gonna be another member of the family. After that '80s favorite was retired I was just thrilled with how well the attractive, new stainless slow cooker works (and looks!).

I’m looking forward to sharing slow cooker favorites with you—I’ve been writing the Kiddie Chow column here at CDKitchen and am now moving forward to focus on crockpot specialties. I especially look forward to hearing more about what you’d like to learn, know and experience with your slow cooker … please send me an email, connect with me on Facebook or twitter and let’s talk slow cookin'!

Now that the end of summer has passed, perhaps you still have some farmstands that are selling green peppers at a steal of a price … or perhaps there’s a market near you that bags ‘em up and sells them in groups of 5 or 6 for just a dollar or two. If that’s the case then you’re sittin’ pretty for a ready-made meal idea. This recipe stretches just one pound of ground beef into a filling main dish meal for four people. If your family likes a meatier filling, increase the beef to 1 ½ or 2 pounds and it’ll provide even more protein per serving.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 4 large green bell peppers

***Filling***

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 cup rice, uncooked
• 1 slice bread, cut into 1/4-inch diced pieces
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup milk

***Sauce***

• 1 can (11.5 ounce size) tomato juice
• 1 can (28 ounce size) tomato puree
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon oregano