Hi Lisa,
I love the convenience of my slow cooker, but I generally only use it for soups and stews in the winter. Do you have any year-round uses for the “set & forget” gadget?
Slow-Cooker Skeptic
Hi Slow-Cooker Skeptic,
Don’t sell your slow cooker short. Here are five unexpected (and amazing!) uses for everyone’s favorite countertop cooker. P.S. If you don’t have a slow cooker,
check out this Amazon's Choice pick — it comes in red and has a locking Cook & Carry lid.
Cook an Entire Spaghetti Squash
The big yellow gourd makes an excellent pasta swap, but hacking into a rock-hard spaghetti squash to prepare it for baking is a serious pain in the wrist. (Literally.) There's an easier way! Just take that whole squash — the
entire thing — and put it in the slow cooker. Add half a cup of water, cover, and let it cook on high for 2 1/2 hours. Once it's soft, you can easily slice into it, scoop out the seeds, and scrape out the strands for consumption. Game changer!
Click for video proof, and
get more info here.
Make Pie... Minus the Carb-Heavy Crust
I love pie as much as the next person… but sometimes I like to skip the excess calories and carbs from the crust. Fill your slow cooker with the ingredients for a yummy pie filling, and let time do all the work for you! Craving peach cobbler? Throw
this dish in the cooker! Is it apple pie you're after?
Click 'n slow cook. And if you're more of a cake fan,
I still have you covered…
Make Hot Overnight Oatmeal
One of the biggest obstacles to making breakfast in the morning? Time. I never feel like I have enough, whether it's because I have too much to do or because sleep is great and I want as much of it as possible. Slow-cooker oatmeal to the rescue! If you love hot cereal but not the time it takes to prepare each morning,
this big pot of make-ahead fruity oats is for you. It's delicious and super satisfying.... Feed the entire family, or reheat it throughout the week!
Steam a Cabbage
I love saving carbs by sinking my teeth into foods wrapped in giant cooked cabbage leaves... They're nature's tortillas! But removing those yummy leaves from a head of cabbage can be quite the task. You either need to cook the entire thing in a pot of boiling water first or attempt to peel the stiff leaves from a raw head of cabbage, yielding countless torn and useless leaves. Not anymore! Just place half a head of cabbage in your slow cooker along with 1 cup of water. Cover and cook on high for 1 1/2 hours, or until soft. Once cool, you can easily peel off the pliable leaves, and wrap 'em around whatever you want:
stuffed cabbage rolls,
low-carb burgers, and more...
Cook Up Super-Sized Mac 'n Cheese
At the end of a long day, many of us head home with the internal cheer of "What do we want? Cheesy pasta! When do we want it? Now!" And on days when you set up a pot of slow-cooker mac 'n cheese before work, you get what you want. It's almost like someone else cooked dinner for you, only that someone is
you from the past.
Our go-to slow-cooker cheesy mac gets a boost of flavor, fiber, and volume from cauliflower, but feel free to swap that out for your veggies of choice. (Bonus recipe:
Cheeseburger Mac Attack, anyone?)
Get your slow cooker on!
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