When I was a child, my mother would take me to the library on Saturdays. I would borrow as many books as I could carry, and by Sunday I would have read half of them. If she left us at the library for awhile while she shopped, I would happily park myself at the microfiche machine for hours scanning through old copies of the local newspaper. I loved the library then and I still do.
My favorite part of our local library is the cookbook aisle. There are plenty of books on cupcakes, healthy eating, international fare, meals in minutes, and two whole shelves devoted to crock pot cooking. I find that last one disappointing. I know lots of people, especially working moms, love, love, love their crock pots. I suppose I am the exception. I don't want to smell something cooking ALL DAY LONG. I have no appetite for it come dinner because I feel like I've already consumed it through osmosis.
Most slow cooker recipes require the dumping in of various canned, bottled, and packaged ingredients. I am not a fan of that. All those canned goods just cause whatever you make to be overly salty, and do you feel good after eating it? You know you don't. Crock pot cooking is easy, and it is great if you don't have the time or energy to cook a hot meal at the end of the day. It just isn't always that healthy and sometimes does not even taste that great.
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| My own crock pot and my rarely used crock pot cookbook. |
That being said, there are a few recipes that I do make with my crock pot, mostly for my husband's benefit. I made up a recipe for sort of a Tex-Mex pot roast that he really enjoys. The last time I made it, I used a beef round rump roast, but I have used a chuck roast in the past with delicious results. I season the roast with a fajita seasoning blend. Toss it in the crock pot with a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes, or any other brand of chopped tomatoes and chilies. I add to that a chopped onion, a diced jalepeno, a good handful or more of chopped red and green bell peppers, and two cloves of garlic minced. I season with Mexican oregano, cumin, coriander, and chili powder. How much you ask? I don't know. A good pinch of all but the chili powder which you can add something like 2 teaspoons to a tablespoon of that without it being overpowering. Next, to make sure it stays nice and moist, I add about a cup of low sodium beef broth, or some beef base dissolved in water. Set it and forget it on low for several hours. Before serving, shred the beef with two forks and remove any fatty bits. Nobody wants to eat that. Taste it and adjust the seasonings if necessary. You can serve the roast with soft tortillas, or wedges of corn bread, slices of avocado, and a salad.
