Easy slow cooker recipes make even roasts & whole chickens simple & quick

These easy slow cooker recipes are just the thing for busy, busy folks like you. Don't open a box and dump it into water to create a dish that's almost as good as real food. Make beef and pork roasts, whole chickens,

hardy stews and soups and lots of other good foods that cook a long time but require hardly any prep time.Just a few minutes in the kitchen to place your ingredients in the slow cooker and you're off to work, school or wherever.

Arrive home at the end of the day and your dinner is waiting for you. (Ok, so maybe you have to add sour cream or something to complete the dish with some of these).

I hope your crockpot, or "slow-cooker" if you prefer, is up-to-date. It should be one that will "hold" for a couple hours after cook-time is past so you're not racing home to rescue dinner.

If you'd like a few tips on the use of this wonderful device, go to, that's right, my Slow Cooker Tips page!

TO PRINT A RECIPE: Click to it, highlight it, then click "File" -> "Print" -> "Selection" -> "Print".
(If that doesn't work give your computer a whack with something - like I do. It won't help you print but you might feel better.)

4-pound beef roast
½ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups beef broth
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ cup cider vinegar
8 gingersnap cookies

Peel and slice the onions thinly.

Sprinkle the beef roast with salt and pepper. Place the roast in the slow cooker.

Add the onion, broth, brown sugar, and vinegar. Cover and cook on high set ting for 8-10 hours.

Remove the roast from the slow cooker and crumble gingersnap cookies into the juices in the slow cooker. Stir slowly for about 10 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Slice the meat and ladle the sauce over slices.

Serve with thick-sliced pumpernickel bread for an authentic Bavarian meal.

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Chicken Minestrone with Pesto
Serves 6

Here’s a complete slow-cooker meal just waiting for a final touch before sitting down to dinner.

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes In juice, undrained
4 cups chicken broth
1 Ib boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut in 1-in. chunks
1 medium baking potato, diced
1/2 cup each chopped onion, carrot and celery
¼ tsp pepper
1 can (16 oz) cannellini beans, rinsed
1 medium zucchini (about 6 oz), diced
1 cup frozen cut green beans, thawed in fridge during the cooking time
1/3 cup prepared refrigerated basil pesto

Mix all ingredients except the cannellini beans, zucchini, green beans and pesto in a 4-qt or larger slow-cooker. Cover and cook on tow 7 to 9 hours until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender.

Stir in cannellini beans, zucchini and green beans. Cover and cook on high 15 minutes, or until zucchini is tender.

Spoon into bowls; top servings with pesto._________________________________________________________________

Black Beans and Kielbasa
Serves 6

Here’s another example of that imcomparable Polish/Latin school of cooking – you do know kielbasa is Polish sausage, don’t you? Do they know about black beans in Poland? Who cares, this is good stuff, easy, too.

2 15 oz cans black beans
1 14 oz can stewed tomatoes
1 cup frozen yellow corn kernels
2 tsp bottled minced garlic
1 tsp chill powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 lb turkey kielbasa or the real thing
Cooked rice
Shredded Cheddar cheese, optional garnish

Rinse and drain 1 can of the black beans, and pour the beans into the slow cooker. Add the second can of black beans including their liquid to the cooker. Add the tomatoes with their liquid and the frozen corn.