my little green crock pot
i have been using an electric crock pot (slow-cooker) since my gramma bought me one as a wedding gift many moons ago. it has been a wonderfully useful tool, especially on sundays when no one wants to wait to eat after church, but we don’t want to spend the money to eat out. it never occurred to me that my crock pot could be an instrument of environmental benefit until i began reading a related article on planet green, a branch of the discovery network online committed to helping people green their lifestyles. according to the article, a crock pot uses 220 watts of energy compared to the 3,000 watts used in an electric oven or stove top. in addition, because the idea of crock pot cooking is “fix it and forget it”, they lose less energy over the cooking period (as long as you don’t peak in on it during cooking!). for some great recipes and menu ideas, i recommend checking out “a year of slow-cooking“, a blog started for a work project that now has 365 (that’s right, one for every day of the year!) recipes for beginners and crock pot veterans like myself. i especially appreciate her seasonal menus and truly hassle free thanksgiving. don’t have a crock pot? try getting one from a reputable thrift store. they go in and out of vogue so quickly, there are usually plenty to be had there. this is also a good way to try out slow-cooking without a big expense, in case you decide it’s not really for you. perhaps i will drop my famous slow-cooked mashed potato recipe some close friday so that you can try it for thanksgiving…
my much loved (and used) slow-cooker from gramma judd
