Love the Kitchen Gadgets--Crock Pot Episode

For my birthday, my mom & dad bought me a new crock pot--not just any crock pot. It's the new crock pot with the lid that seals onto the base so there are no spills when transporting. It's amazing. I love my crockpot. AND, I never, ever use a crockpot without having crockpot liners (which you'll see in the pictures below). It saves a lot of time. There's no soaking, scrubbing, or figuring out "now what?" They go in, leftovers can be pulled out, the liner pitched along with anything you're not keeping, and the pot itself wiped clean with a sudsy washcloth. Life is good with liners.

Anyway, I feel crockpots (and their liners too, of course) are necessities for all working women who like to provide home cooked meals for their families. They are so EASY. The meal can be assembled in the morning before work and left on low all day. OR the meal can be made the night before, refridgerated, and taken out and put on the low setting all day. It's so easy, breezy. Then, you come home to decadent smells and dinner is served. Well, it can be served, or a salad, bread, or other easy sides can be whipped up quick, fast, and in a hurry.

Long story short, I'm passionate about the crockpot and the ease it brings to my life. More crockpot recipes will follow, but this is the first I will share with you. It sounded so good, and is so diet friendly...but it doesn't taste like diet food.

My mom gave me this recipe many moons ago. We call it "pork chops in a pot." The version of the recipe I was given is for the oven, but I converted it to a crockpot recipe so that we could still have it on weeknights. Otherwise, it takes about an hour and a half to bake, and I don't like reserving my favorites for weekends only. Weekends are far too unpredictable. There's no telling where we'll go or how much notice we'll have... Anyway, here's my easy crockpot method of that family favorite.

The base of the crockpot layering is pork chops (if the word "loin" is used in meat, it's a lean cut. The sign for these at the meat market did say such). Then on top of the pork chops are a few strips of bacon. It gives a nice flavor.

Next on the list are carrots. I use baby carrots and slice them into little circles. A handful will work. After the carrots come potatoes. I use the little, freckled, yellow potatoes (technical terms are used fluently here...:) ) and slice them.

After the fresh veggies come the french style green beans. This was a double recipe, so two cans were used. Top it with minced onion, salt, and pepper. Cook on low throughout the work day.
Here's the whole thing assembled in the new crockpot with the lid on and my original recipe.
Here's a single serving of the finished product that was headed for the freezer.
Having cooked it all day, the meat becomes quite tender. It tends to fall apart. The leftovers make excellent pulled pork the next day with a side of veggies. It's good the first time, and the transformation of leftovers helps the budget to go a long way. It saves a lot of time too!

Lingering thought of the day: I can't wait for the pretty weather to come so this cute little man can play outside everyday. He LOVES the outside!