Easy Slow Cooker Recipes - Prep Quick, Cook Slow, Serve Relaxed

”Why would I bake in a slow cooker if I have an oven?” If you have an oven just move on; this method is for folks who don’t, like students in a dorm, a person in a rented room, a vacationer in a really crummy cabin in the woods.

If you’re going to try this you’ll need a cooker that allows you to set the on and off times since many baked items, like this one, bake for only 3 hours or so. If you don’t have one of those you could use the same timer you currently use to turn lights on-and-off when you’re away from home.

And if you want a regular-sized loaf of bread, you’ll need a 6 or 7-qt cooker because you put the dough into a loaf pan and the pan goes into your cooker. (Maybe you just want buy a bread-maker if you don’t already have one. And if you do, why are you fooling around with this cockamamie recipe?)

2 cups warm skim milk
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp molasses
3/4 tsp salt
1 pkg. active dry yeast
3 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup bran
1/4 cup wheat germ

Preheat crock pot on high setting for 30 minutes.

Combine warm (not hot) milk, oil, honey, molasses, salt, yeast and half the flour. With your electric mixer, beat well for about 2 minutes. Add remaining flour; mix well. Place dough in well-greased baking pan; cover. Let stand 5 minutes, then place in the crock pot, cover and bake on high setting 3 hours.

This classic Italian specialty will only take about 5 minutes to prep so if it takes you 10 minutes to boil up some pasta when it’s done, don’t complain. And please don’t use boneless breasts; they’ll be too dry after a day in the slow cooker.

6 skin-on, bone-in chicken breast halves
1 28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
2 green bell pepper, seeded and cubed
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, finely diced
2 Tbs. minced garlic
1 tsp oregano, dried

Put the chicken in the slow cooker. Top with the rest of the ingredients. Cover, and cook on Low for 7 to 10 hours.
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2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and sliced
1 boneless pork loin roast (about 3 lb), trimmed
4 teaspoons Greek seasoning mix (like McCormick's)
4 plum tomatoes, chopped 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp low-sodium chicken broth
3/4 tsp each salt & black pepper
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 & 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup chopped black olives (optional)

Place fennel in the slow cooker bowl.

Rub pork with 1 tsp of the Greek seasoning and place it in the bowl on top of the fennel.

Scatter tomatoes around the pork. Pour 1/3 cup of the broth in bowl; top with 2 tsp Greek seasoning, 1/2 tsp of the salt and 1/4 tsp of the pepper.

Blend remaining 2 Tbsp broth, the cornstarch and Worcestershire. Set aside.

Cook for 3-4 hours on HIGH or 6-8 hours on LOW.

Remove pork to a serving platter; keep warm.

Strain liquid from slow cooker into a small saucepan and put the veggies around the pork.

Bring the liquid to a boil and whisk in cornstarch mixture, remaining Greek seasoning and 1/4 tsp each salt and black pepper; cook for about a minute then spoon it over the pork.