January is All It’s CROCKED Up to Be!

More and more these days you hear people saying that they are too busy to cook a healthy meal or that cooking takes up too much time. Typically, when we are in a rush, our food choices aren’t always the best. Planning meals ahead can help improve health while saving time and money.

Doesn’t that sound amazing?

Well, January is more than new beginnings and cold winter nights – it’s National Slow Cooking Month!

January is all about eating warm foods. Unfortunately, we don’t always have the time to make something warm and hearty when we really want it. The slow cooker (also known as the crock-pot) is a portable food heating appliance patented in 1939 by Irving Naxon. Slow cookers were increasingly popular in the 1970s and 80s as working women sought ways to balance the demands of their jobs and families. Just like in today’s world, the slow cooker offers healthier and homier alternatives to fast food or microwave dinners.

Slow Cooker Benefits

Schedules can get crazy, and a slow-cooker allows you to toss your favorite ingredients in, set the temperature, and leave it alone to cook. More benefits include:

Uses less electricity than an oven and can be used year-round.

Simple to use and easy to teach others how to use.

Compact enough to fit right on your counter top, without being in the way!

Easily tenderizes less-expensive cuts of meat for a delicious meal.

Allow for one-step preparation; putting all the ingredients in the slow cooker saves time and reduces cleanup.

Slow cookers have the ability to make any meal, including soups and stews, sloppy joes, pulled pork, pasta dishes, flavorful chicken recipes and even desserts. Allowing all of your ingredients to cook together slowly not only makes the meal time friendly, but allows for flavor enhancement and a more tender texture of any meat and/or vegetables in the recipe.

Here is one of my favorite slow cooker meals:

Slow cooker Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken breast, boneless and skinless

1 white onion, diced

2 red bell peppers, diced

1 large zucchini, diced

2 yellow squash, diced

4 celery stalks, diced

1 seedless jalapeño

12oz can of crushed tomatoes

12oz can of tomato puree

1 ½ cup chicken broth

¼ cup + 2tsp chili powder

1 ½ tsp salt

dash of pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp cumin

2 tbsp garlic powder

Directions:

Lightly grease the crock of your slow cooker with vegetable oil.
Put chicken breasts into the bottom of the slow cooker crock; add all other ingredients on top and stir to combine.
Cook on Low for 6 hours (or on High for 3 hours).
Remove chicken breasts from the crock to a cutting board. Shred chicken into strands with a pair of forks and return it to the mixture in the crock.
Continue cooking on Low for 30 minutes more.

If you haven’t prepared a meal with this kitchen staple, now is your time to start! It might be hard to believe that slow cookers can provide you and your family with a variety of balanced meals, given that all ingredients are cooking together, but the possibilities are endless.

Your Turn to Take Action: What’s your favorite recipe to cook using a crock-pot? Let me know in the comments below!