Friday, January 11, 2008

My Sleek Red Accessory

Kitchen fabric, Braemore Tureen Garden in Crimson. My kitchen window treatment. Nope, it's not a red sports car......

You know, sometimes it's the small things in life that give us the most excitement! My old crockpot bit the dust recently (hairline crack almost all the way across). It was after all, about 10 years old, so it had seen better days. We got a giftcard for Christmas, so off to Walmart I went in search of a new crockpot. Found this sleek red baby & now it's at home with us. I love cooking meat in the crockpot. It's great for pork roasts & beef roasts. Put some seasoning in there & leave it for about 6 hours & you have a great meal. This one came with a bonus Little Dipper, which I already had (an old one, which I gave to my friend, Debbie), but this one is red. I love red!
Since I haven't shared this with you before, if you don't regularly cook pork or beef in the crockpot, you're missing out on a great (and easy) cooking experience. These seasoning packets from Grill Mates are wonderful! I get them at Walmart for about 58 cents a package. I don't use them the normal way (mix them with oil & water & make a marinade). I open a package of dry seasoning mix, dump it over the meat in the crockpot (frozen or thawed), cook for about 6-7 hours on low & it comes out like this. It shreds so well after I cut through it with a knife:
The meat falls apart & is fork tender. The seasoning really cooks into the meat & it is delicious. I don't usually add much water, but if you MUST add water, only add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup. I did notice that this new crockpot seems to cook hotter on Low, so I will have to adjust the added water. The meat will make it's own juices & you will have a delicious, tender pork or beef roast all ready to eat after about 6-7 hours on low. I promise, it's that easy! For years, I had been adding way too much water to my crockpot meat (covering it completely in liquid)...big mistake, it was almost dry when I took it out of all that liquid. But, I finally got the clue to not use a lot of water. And it's that simple & easy. It's so nice to put the meat in & leave it. I sometimes put it in frozen, but thawed is great too. Either way, it's done when you're ready for it!

Try it and let me know how it works for you! I do this all the time. My little red accessory will be working for me.

Stumble Upon Toolbar