This month I will be focusing on planning.
Planning your day, your week and your month. One of the ways you can meal plan for your busy month, put your slow cooker to work for you.
If you are one of my meal plan subscribers, take advantage of using some of our freezer meals. Thaw one of the pre-made freezer meals and place it right into the slow cooker. Then simply set it on low and head out to work.
Dinner will be done when you get home after a busy day!
Here are a few “rules” to remember when you are using your slow cooker:
1) Add dairy to your meal during the last 30 minutes. Dairy can curdle after hours in the slow cooker.
2) Make sure you are using the right size slow cooker for your recipe. It should be 1/2 – 3/4 full of whatever you are making. Anything less and the food may burn. If you fill it up too much, the food may not cook properly.
3) Use dried herbs in the dish. If it calls for additional fresh herbs, add them at the end of the cooking time to retain their flavor.
4) Use skinless chicken. Chicken skin will not brown when cooked in this manner. When using a whole chicken with the skin on, use the broiler after the dish has cooked to get the it nice and brown.
5) If the dish calls for the meat to be seared, do not skip this step. Seared meat has a different flavor than unseared meat, and it only takes a few additional minutes.
6) Do not use expensive cuts of meat. A slow cooker can be used to make less expensive cuts of meat tender and delicious.
and…..
7) DO NOT LIFT THE LID! Your slow cooker has taken a long time to get up to temperature. Every time you lift the lid it takes about 30 minutes to come back to the previous temperature. This means you need to add more time to your cooking.
