Slow Cooking in the Real World

Crock-Pot plugged in the garage, on the dryer

We're doing a tiny bit of remodeling right now. Nothing fancy---- we're (and by we, I mean not me) tearing up the linoleum that came with the house and having tile installed in the kitchen.

This was my anniversary present to Adam. I promised that if he got me tile, I'd never again complain about the flooring.

I'm such a giver.

the last of the nasty linoleum

Because our kitchen has pretty much been rendered useless (the refrigerator is plugged in the dining room, and the stove/oven combo and dishwasher are under a sheet behind the couch) I've been needing to utilize my own advice and use the MANY MANY MANY slow cookers we own to get dinner on the table.

Crock-Pot loaded with baked potatoes
in an otherwise unusable kitchen

and it's been kind of fun.

The kids wanted a baked potato bar the first night. No problem. Then they wanted brown sugar chicken. Not an issue---I already had it frozen in a ziplock, so I thawed it in the fridge overnight then squeezed the contents into the slow cooker in the morning. Tonight, we're having baked sweet potatoes and foil-packet tilapia (the fish won't go on until later this afternoon).

and so far, so good. 

the coffee pot is also a necessity

I get a lot of emails, and some of my favorites are from readers who use their cookers in non-traditional ways. Last night I got an email from a construction worker who leaves a crockpot plugged in the trailer so he doesn't have to rely on fastfood or soggy sandwiches for lunch and dinner.

I like hearing from people who travel with their crockpots and plug it in the hotel room while they are out sight-seeing for the day.

I have great kids, but after a long day of vacationing, sometimes they aren't up to "restaurant manners"--- and it's nice to come back to a pot full of Korean Ribs or BBQ Beef and Bean sandwiches.

My friend Mir brings her crockpot camping. They have a pop-up trailer and she likes knowing dinner is taken care of before leaving camp for the day to play in the water. The crockpot also came in handy when an unexpected rain storm left barbecuing outside impossible.

We recently got back from a roadtrip to Oregon, and stopped at a few pioneer museums that were built along the Oregon Trail. Talk about hardships! A bit of rain, a torn up kitchen? That's nothing.

We are so lucky to be living in the time we are living----roughing it just really isn't roughing it anymore.

What about you? Do you have any odd or different uses for the slow cooker?

Have a wonderfully great day.