I Love My Crock-Pot

I first heard about crock pots about 35 years ago when I was first married. They were becoming very popular then, as women (mostly, women, I believe) were drawn to a cooking gizmo that promised a delicious slow cooked meal after returning home for the day. I grew up with a Mom who didn't do too much "home" cooking. We ate a lot of canned/frozen foods and I was pretty much a cooking novice when I left home. I'll never forget my thoughts when Bob's Mom showed me a few hints in the months before we got married. As she demonstrated how to cut up an onion, I thought "Wow, this is a lot work". Whenever my Mom used onions, they were the frozen, chopped,kind (yes, you could get them that way and they are still available) and having to cut them up into tiny pieces, with eyes tearing was a new task for me. Of course, hundreds of onions later, I now know the "real" work of my cooking career was just beginning.

Through the years I've become a decent cook, believing that variety is the spice of life. I've learned to make lots of different dishes, but I've grown away from anything fancy. When the kids were young, I cooked mostly from scratch, but as the years have gone by, I started to cheat, most notably using jar spaghetti sauce. Actually, I get pretty tired planning the meals week in and week out. We grill lots in the summer and that is always pretty easy. Still, I do reserve some love for the slow cooked meals I make in the crock. Soups are among my favorite. I never get tired of coming home to my meal cooked and the house smelling so very good.

Yesterday I was looking through an old crock-pot cookbook and found an easy recipe I have never tried. Today I layered sliced potatoes, carrots, peas, browned ground turkey & onion in my 4 quart pot. I then mixed a can of tomato soup with 1 can water and poured it over the meat. And, after 8 hours on low, voila'...a tasty one pot meal. Tonight we enjoyed it with some warm, crusty bread. My beloved crock-pot is this cook's best friend (and my non cooking husband's too)!