How To Use A Slow Cooker: 7 Tips and 7 Recipes

Posted by Matt on January 20th, 2010 at 10:00am

Slow cookers are great because they allow you to get that all-day flavor without actually spending all day in the kitchen. When to healthy eating, slow cookers are ideal. Most slow cooker dishes get their flavor from the liquid in the dish. So long as you choose healthy flavorings, healthy easy recipes for a slow cooker will come out nutritious and tasty. Slow cooking helps to draw out the natural sugars and flavors of the ingredients, meaning you do not have to add sugar, lots of salt or fat to have a tasty low-calorie meal. To help you maximize your slow cooker, here are 7 super easy tips plus 7 terrific slow cooker recipes from the blogosphere.

Easy Slow Cooker Tips:

Slow Cooker Temperatures: Most slow cookers have two main temperature settings: high and low. Expect about an hour per pound of meat cooking time on the high setting and about an hour and 45 minutes per pound on the low setting.

Extended Time: For even longer cooking times, get a slow cooker with a warming function. The warming function will keep the food warm past the cooking time if you are away from your kitchen for long periods of time.

Liquid: A slow cooker should only be about halfway filled for best results.

Cleaning: Use a plastic liner that can be easily removed from the slow cooker for easy cleaning.

Prep Work: Defrost meat and veggies before you put them into the slow cooker. Although not necessary, browning meat will add extra flavor to the slow cooker recipe.

Cooking Process: Lift the lid as little as possible. Each time the lid comes off, heat escapes and the dish takes even longer to make. However, you do want to stir occasionally because ingredients at the bottom tend to cook faster. Add softer veggies and spices towards the end of cooking. Softer ingredients become mushy when cooked too long and spices become dull if added too early

Healthy Easy Recipes For A Slow Cooker:

Slow Cooker Onion Soup from A Veggie Venture: This recipe is thick with flavor, a soup you will not soon forget.

Cannellini Bean and Kale Soup with Ham and Sherry Vinegar from Kalyn’s Kitchen: The kale in this recipe adds heaps of nutrients, including vitamins K, A and C, to this unbelievably soup recipe.

Hungarian Beef Goulash from Cooking Tip of the Day: This traditional dish cooks up with hardly any effort thanks to the slow cooker. Use lean beef and low-sodium broth to keep the fat and salt content down.

Sweet Mustard Roast from A Year of Slow Cooking: With only 5 ingredients, this delicious healthy slow cooker recipe could not be any easier.

Santa Fe Chicken from Kellie’s Healthy Recipes: See, you don’t need lots of cheese and re-fried beans for a Mexican-style recipe to be tasty. The slow-cooked chicken and the spices form a delicious combination.

Slow Cooker Italian Chicken Meal from The Finer Things In Life: With only about 5 minutes of prep work, this healthy slow cooker recipe is the perfect dinner dish.

Kendy’s Yummy-in-the-Tummy Chili from Little Bits: Turkey and beans provide lots of lean protein. the recipe uses canned goods, cutting down on the prep work involved.

Tags: chicken recipes, healthy eating, Healthy Recipes, home cooking, what to eat

Under Uncategorized Tags: chicken recipes, healthy eating, Healthy Recipes, home cooking, what to eat