This past weekend, stopping in at Rite Aid to pick up shaving cream and shampoo, I noticed a small table of kitchen appliances on clearance sale, among which sat a $12 crock pot. Having recently read that perhaps slow cooking was healthier cooking, and with a $20 bill burning a hole in my pocket, I decided to go for the impulse buy.

Several days later, I can definitively say it was the right choice. I’ve churned out a couple of excellent slow-cooked meals that were tasty, healthful, easy to prepare, and conducive to leftovers (key for someone who eats as frequently as I do). Despite skimming the booklet supplied with the crock, I in the end jettisoned prescribed recipes in favor of a fast-and-loose instinctive cooking approach. The two resultant winners:

Ridiculously Easy Pot Roast

6 medium potatoes
1 large onion
10 carrots
3lb lean beef bottom round
1/2 cup water
salt, pepper

Slice the onion, peel the carrots, and toss everything in the crock pot on low heat for 10 hours. Voila.

Even Easier Chicken Casserole

3 large chicken breasts
Bear Creek Chicken Noodle Soup Mix (or similar)
3 cups water

Toss everything in the crock pot (nota bene: remove soup mix from package first) on low heat for five hours. Voila again.

Honestly, I think I just might be the next Fannie Farmer.