Some call it a slow cooker, others a Crock-Pot, but I call it my best friend. My Crock-Pot and I are bound to each other like Jack and Rose – except I’ll actually never let go. It’s there for me, slowly cooking along while I’m in class in the afternoon, and welcomes me home with open arms and dinner ready when I’m done with my day. Bottom line, my slow cooker makes my life so much more easy, and delicious. Here’s how:
1. It does all the work for you
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You can simply throw everything into the pot before class, set the timer for a few hours, and it will be done by the time you get home. Most recipes require no extra pans or work. All you have to do is remember to plug it in. No, it’s not too good to be true. In fact, here’s a list of 23 meals you can make with just one pot.
2. It’s affordable
Photo by Megan Collins
I found my Bella 5-quart Crock-Pot for $10 at Macy’s on Black Friday, so it’s safe to say I was felling #blessed. I would be lying if I said I was more excited about this than anything else I’ve bought in my entire life. While those deals are only available once a year, this sexy culinary invention is still agreeable with a college student budget. Check out this baby selling for only $30, which is quite a steel… stainless steel.
#SpoonTip: Before you use your slow cooker for the first time, make sure you read the manual. It includes some important cleaning information so your first Crock-Pot meal doesn’t have any metallic aftertaste.
3. You can use it overnight
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Some people may not be slow cooker fans because its purpose of slow cooking isn’t instantly gratifying. Oh, but patient is a virtue, my friends. What some say is its downfall can also be one of its greatest perks. There’s nothing better than waking up to the sweet smell of apple pie oatmeal that has been cooking away in your Crock-Pot while you got your much-needed beauty sleep. It’s easy, smells great, and all you need to do is wake up to eat it. What isn’t instantly gratifying about that?
4. It makes your dorm smell better than any candle
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Do yourself a favor and throw away that Bath & Body Works peach cobbler scented candle, and make actual peach cobbler yourself in your crockpot. It’s better than buying a candle because 1. it smells real 2. it smells real because it is real and 3. since it is real, you can eat it. While you’re at it, dump any mulled wine scented candles and make the real deal.
5. Crock-Pot drinks are a thing
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It keeps getting better. Not only can you use your slow cooker to make food, but you can also use it to stir up some delicious drinks. They can be nonalcoholic like this simple lemonade recipe, or you can keep the party going for hours with these alcoholic slow cooker drinks.
6. You can be healthy
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Crock-Pots usually are associated with warm comfort food, but that doesn’t mean they’re exclusively for that purpose. There are so many recipes out there in the spooniverse that it’s hard not to be healthy. In fact, here are 27 healthy slow cooker recipes to get you started (that’s enough to almost last you the entire month of February). #turnipforwhat
7. It can cook as fast or as slow as you want it to
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Yes, the point of a slow cooker is to, well, slowly cook, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait hours upon hours for your chicken chili to be ready. You can set the Crock-Pot setting to ‘high’ and it will usually cut the cooking time in half. Just make sure the recipe specifies that you can do so (because nobody wants undercooked chicken, am I right?).