Take a look at www.crockpot365.blogspot.com.
I was looking for a crock pot recipe for the stone-ground grits that I bought fresh from a mill and had found were taking a very long time to cook. A Google search led me to the above blog and rekindled my respect for the slow cooker as an important part of my cooking tool collection.
In the late 90's, my mother was ill and in her last days, my work was calling me to travel over several regions of the state, and I was cooking for care-givers. I was stressed and spread ice-thin. I allotted myself seven minutes for supper (that was the long version). I had to find ways to ease the stress of responsibilities and the little time I had to meet them.
I turned to the crock pot as a time-saver cooking tool. Soon, I was able to put together meals that were a treat, easy to make, and no-fuss at the back end (or the front end for that matter). Dan, the head care-giver, even scheduled his shift when he knew I was cooking with the crock pot!
I developed a few recipes that became favorites when served with rice and steamed veggies, but the simplest was to take Boston Butt, trim off the excess fat and squeeze it into the slow cooker. Pour a jar of barbecue sauce over the butt. Add chopped onion, salt, pepper, cajun seasoning. Put it on high for 45 minutes or so to get it good and hot and then drop it to low and let it cook all day. It was so good, I imagined accolades of "Genius, genius!"
Back to the subject: the young woman who put together her blog with the self-challenge to use the crockpot daily for a year has put together an entertaining and helpful series of entries worth reading and returning to often. As she works her way through the varieties of uses for the crock pot she parlayed the experience into a book contract and television appearances. Well worth diving deep into her blog. Take the leap.
