Crock pot

[KnottedYet]

I am, at this very moment, making vichisoisse in my crock pot. But it's bedtime and it's nowhere near done. Is it ok to leave a crock pot on overnight?

[Bicyclette]

I would think it would be ok - they get left on all day for cooking so all night shouldn't be any different, should it?? But I'm not a crockpot expert

[Kitsune06]

Depends on how much water is in it and how hot the crock pot is, I'd think. Mom left vension and squirrel stews in the crock pot overnight (pretty gamey and needed long, slow cooking) but she wasn't the picture of safety, either...

[KnottedYet]

all righty, I'm leaving the darn thing going overnight.

time to change the batteries in the smoke detectors.

[SouthernBelle]

That's what they are made for. To be left on while you aren't available.

[7rider]

I just bought one, and in the manual (yes, I actually read them) they said it's darn near impossible to overcook things in them, so I would think it would be (have been?) okay.
I assume by now it's a done deal...so how'd it turn out??

[Denise223]

Hi Everyone!

Just wondering if any of you have some delicious recipes for vegetarian recipes that I can make in a crock pot?

We love "rice & beans", but......that can get boring after awhile .

Here are a couple of websites that I like:

www.vegweb.com

http://vegetarian.allrecipes.com/

Thanks

Peace & Love,

Denise

[jsgeneroso]

Hi. Just a word about leaving crockpots on while asleep or away...keep the air moving! The aroma of the food tends to linger everywhere. It has in my apartment anyway.

[makbike]

Denise:

I recently purchased, The Busy Mom Slow Cooker Cookbook, by Jyl Steinback. It has 40 pages of meatless crock pot recipes and they look pretty darn tasty. All the recipes in her book are low-calorie and low-fat, for those watching their girlish figures

Hope this helps!

[Denise223]

Hi makbike!

Thanks for letting me know about The Busy Mom Slow Cooker Cookbook I'll have to check it out.
I have about 5 cookbooks (not veggie) from Rachel Ray (the "30 min recipes). I don't really care for them - lots of ingredients....and, I've never been able to finish any of them in 30 minutes..

Have a great day!

Denise

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

It's getting cold out, and I've hauled out my crockpots. Thought I'd use this old thread.
Last month I made tons of apple sauce and apple butter in my two crockpots and froze it all.

Today, I made a vegetable soup from various stuff i had around the house....

I had a whole big eggplant, which I peeled, chopped, and browned in a pan with a large chopped onion in a little olive oil. Browning onions and such first gives a flavor that can't simply be gotten by just slow cooking it alone. (Only takes a couple minutes and then you clean the teflon pan pretty quick.)
Anyway....
Threw the browned onion and eggplant into the big crockpot with 6 cups water, salt and pepper, and:
4 sliced carrots
2 cans drained pinto beans
2 small cans drained yams
some garlic
some pieces of sundried tomato cut into chunks
parsley
a couple pinches of roasting rub herbs.

Cooked it all on high for about 5 hours.
just before serving, I removed a few ladles of chunks of veggies to one side, then zapped most of the soup with my stick blender to make it thick and creamy, then put the chunks back in for texture and color.
We had a wonderful loaf of roasted garlic crusty bread that we dipped into the soup. It was yummy- DH went nuts over it. It also used up the eggplant, beans, yams, and carrots I had just sitting around here.
I love how the house smells when the crockpot is going all afternoon.

[kelownagirl]

Hey Lisa, I "crockpotted" for the first time this season too! Made chili because my little guy has been asking for it for ages. Browned the meat last night, threw everything into the pot and turned it on before I left for work this morning. It's SO nice to come home to dinner simmering. Yum.

[singletrackmind]

Ha, same here, but browned ground turkey, bell peppers, onion added and cooked the tomatoes and tomato paste in the skillet first, then dumped it in with the beans and stuff. Crock pot is good.....but it sure does heat up my countertop.

[bmccasland]

I am, at this very moment, making vichisoisse in my crock pot. But it's bedtime and it's nowhere near done. Is it ok to leave a crock pot on overnight?

So how was the breakfast vichisoisse? Inquiring minds want to know. Or are you going to wait for lunch with some nice crusty bread?

[kaybee]

Crock pot is good.....but it sure does heat up my countertop.

I noticed that too. If you have an outlet near the stove, and the cord will reach, put the crockpot on top of the stove, in the center. The heat won't hurt the stove top.

KB