Yep.
I juts finished reading a wonderful book, "Cooking Green: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint in the Kitchen" by Kathy Heyhoe and it is stuffed full of excellent tips to reduce your energy expenditure while cooking.
That's where I learned that the most energy efficient way to cook is via your crockpot! Seriously. It's way more efficient than your oven {which is anaologus to a Hummer!} and even more so than your burner. That gives me great excuse to use my crockpot even more!
I'll be sharing some more of Kathy's tips for cooking green over the next few weeks, but since today Smockity Frocks is having a crockpot carnival, I thought it best to tell you this tip today :)
In addition to crockpots being a green way to cook, they also are a great time saver. At a minimum, we use our crockpot twice each week (Wednesdays and Fridays) because it enables us to have a warm, yummy, healthy dinner after arriving home late in the afternoon.
So, what do we make in our crockpot? I'll let you take a gander at a few our our favorites....
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We also make virtually all our soups in the crockpot -- so easy and so yummy!
Oh my goodness, they all look delicious! I don't know where to start :)
ReplyDeleteOh my! These all look DELICIOUS! Thank you so much for linking up!
ReplyDeleteWow, you've definitely inspired me to use my crockpot this week.
ReplyDeleteHere is one of my favorite Crockpot recipes, I found it in a magazine and tweaked it just a little.
ReplyDeleteCROCKPOT COQ AU VIN
8 OZ. SLICED BACON DICED
4 CHICKEN BREASTS
16 OZ. MUSHROOMS
1 CUP FROZEN WHITE ONION THAWED
6 CLOVES OF GARLIC
½ CUP WHITE WINE
2 TSP. DRIED ROSEMARY
½ TSP SALT
¼ CUP WATER
2 TBSP CORNSTARCH
1. IN 12 INCH SKILLET, COOK BACON- WITH SLOTTED SPOON TRANSFER BACON TO CROCK POT
2. POUR OFF ALL BUT 1 TBSP FAT
3. ADD CHICKEN TO SKILLET AND BROWN, POUR OFF FAT
4. ADD TO CROCKPOT: MUSHROOMS, ONIONS AND GARLIC
5. TOP WITH CHICKEN
6. TO SKILLET ADD WINE, ROSEMARY AND SALT- HEAT TO BOILING AND POUR OVER SKILLET
7. COVER AND COOK ON LOW 6 HOURS
8. TRANSFER CHICKEN AND VEGETABLES TO PLATTER TO KEEP WARM
9. POUR SAUCE INTO SAUCEPAN. IN CUP BLEND WATER AND CORNSTARCH, STIR INTO SAUCE.
10. HEAT UNTIL SAUCE THICKENS AND BOILS, STIRRING CONSTANTLY.BOIL 1 MINUTE
11. POUR OVER CHICKEN
Thanks for the recipe -- yummy!
ReplyDeleteCrock Pot Zesty Chicken
ReplyDeleteThanks for your yummy suggestions. I don't use my crock pot enough.
WOW...I had no idea how energy friendly and green my crock was! Now even more reasons to use it! Fantastic. :)
ReplyDeleteOkay, you just showed me (a Philly-grown girl) how to make a cheesesteak in my crockpot. Let's be friends.
ReplyDeleteLove it, thanks for all the recipes!!
I love my Sticky Chicken in the crockpot, I make it at least 2 times a month.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to my post about it:
http://www.newlyweds-blog.com/2008/09/26/sticky-chicken-in-crock-pot/
A solar oven is more efficient! ;P
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info though!
! Harper --
ReplyDeleteOh how I wish I lived somewhere where I could use a solar oven. We hardly see the sun from Oct - April... so conventional cooking has to do it for me.
Isn't it funny how we tend to use the crockpot more in the winter, with hearty stews and soups and whatnot, when we really should be using it in the summer to keep the kitchen cool?!? :>) Ah, well.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention in my comment on the eggs that I'm sorry I was a bit slow getting around with my link comments... I love how easy they are!