Save time and money with your crockpot!

Ten Tips For Saving Time In The Kitchen With Your Crockpot 

1. USE your crockpot. It's a slow cooker. Use this to your advantage by setting meals and desserts to cook ahead of time! This is the biggest time saver!
2. Cook once, eat twice. Make enough of your recipe to freeze for another dinner. Or, make some lunches for the week. This is a double winner! Saves time AND money!
3. Expand your recipe base. Having plenty of recipes available will help you use your crockpot more without boring your family with the same recipes over and over.
4. Start your meal earlier in the day so that dinner is ready when you are. Check out the "Fix it and Forget It" style cookbooks and recipes.
5. Learn how to properly use and care for your crockpot. Read the owner's manual. Know all it can do.
6. Due to the nature of a slow cooker, there is no need to stir the food unless it specifically says to in your recipe. In fact, taking the lid off to stir food causes the slow cooker to lose a significant amount of heat, extending the cooking time required. Therefore, it is best not to remove the lid for stirring.
7. Get a crockpot with a removable crock. This way, you can prepare items even the day before, put them in the fridge with the lid on and you'll be ready to go the next day. However, don't put the *cold* crockpot on high. Put some very warm water in it and let it warm up before getting it going to keep the crock from breaking.
8. Vegetables and potatoes take longer to cook. To save time with these, slice them thinner and place them on the bottom of the pot with everything else (meats, etc) on top. This will help everything cook more evenly.
9. Defrost meats & chicken before using them in the crockpot. You can cook with frozen meats, but it adds significantly to the cooking time. When recipes give you a cooking time, they are basing it on defrosted meats.
10. Spray the inside of the crock with non-stick cooking spray before adding your ingredients to save clean-up time! ;)