Long simmering crock pot recipes

[indysteel]

The rule in my house is that every recipe must yield at least two meals. It's virtually the same amount of prep work and yields plenty of food for packed lunches and "I can't think right now" dinners.

I have the same rule, although if I'm lucky, I can also get a lunch or two out of most of what I make. My husband is a champ at eating a random assortment of leftovers for lunch and I can count on him to get every little bit out of the meals I make. Like Becky, I'm more apt to use the crockpot over the weekend for a meal that will yield leftovers for the week. I also try to make one meat entree and one vegetarian entree each week, as I really don't like eating meat at every meal. We also eat a side salad with most dinners. That means that we typically eat a bit less of everything else.

[withm]

I have the same problem with 12-hour days - too long for most of my favorite crock pot recipes. So now I usually prep all the ingredients while I'm fixing dinner. Then just before I go to bed, put everything into the crock pot and let it cook overnight. When I get up, I'll decant into a smaller casserole dish and put it in the fridge. Just heat it up at dinnertime.

[maillotpois]

My crock pot has settings where it will turn itself off after 5 hours or 8 hours, either low or high temp settings. It was a totally cheap crock pot, too.

I did a quick search. This one is nicer than mine, but it has the same feature: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Hamilton...e-0000760cc1f0

[indysteel]

My crock pot has settings where it will turn itself off after 5 hours or 8 hours, either low or high temp settings. It was a totally cheap crock pot, too.

I did a quick search. This one is nicer than mine, but it has the same feature: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Hamilton...e-0000760cc1f0

When you say "turn itself off," do you mean that it goes from hi/low to "warm"? Mine goes to a warming feature when the alloted time or temp is passed/reached, but I've never used that feature for more than a half hour or so. I'm too paranoid about food staying at or above a certain temp to totally trust it.

I like withm's suggestion of cooking overnight though. I might have to try that myself.

[TrekDianna]

I have a couple of slow cooker cookbooks that I like. This one..Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook is used a lot.

[luvmyguys]

Alternatively, you can set a crock pot out and let it *start* cooking mid-day, so that it's ready before you get home. I don't have a timer on mine, but I use a cheap plug-in timer for those occasions when I need it (which isn't too often, I grant you).

My favorite crock-pot cook book is Slow Cooker Revolution by America's Test Kitchen. No inundation with cream of yuck soup, which is my primary complaint with most crock pot recipes. One down side is that there is a decent amount of prep with many of the recipes, including end prep once the food is done cooking. The other primary down side is that some of the recipes have exotic ingredients that I have trouble finding (and I live too far away from a Whole Foods Market - or as it is known at our house, "Whole Paycheck Market").

[Irulan]

Alternatively, you can set a crock pot out and let it *start* cooking mid-day, so that it's ready before you get home. I don't have a timer on mine, but I use a cheap plug-in timer for those occasions when I need it (which isn't too often, I grant you).

So everything sits out, in the crockpot, at room temperature, on the counter for 4-5 hours before it turns itself on? I don't think I'd do that if there's any meat product in the pot.