ok I want to try this whole slow cooker thing since I HAVE ONE that I never use and am thinking hubby and son might actually like it!

however, I get intimidated with lists of a million ingredients... ideas on something i can make with 5 or less ingredients?

I am going to check my recipe book for you and see if I can find something - maybe not 5, but close

I need to use my slow cooker more-

here are 2 easy quick suggestions-

make a rotisserie style chicken-

Take 1 whole chicken
sprinkle with seasoning inside and out
(can use Lawry's Seasoned Salt, or get fancy with a combo of onion/garlic powders, salt and pepper and put a cut up lemon and onion inside the chicken cavity)

now ball up about 8 balls of tin foil to the size of golf balls and place in the bottom of the crock pot.
rest the chicken, breast side down on the tin foil balls, and set your crock pot for 6-8 hours on low.

I swear this is the easiest chicken EVER- it falls off the bone and tastes delish!!!!
(The tin foil balls keep it from cooking in its fat, you'll see...)

here is the other one

crock pot chicken taco filling

take 2 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
place in crock pot with 1 packet of taco seasoning mix and 1 can of chicken broth

cook on low 4-6 hours

shred the chicken with a fork and serve with all the fixings for tacos, burritos, etc

to make BEEF taco meat, you can place an inexpensive beef roast in the crock pot with a jar of ANY salsa, cook on low for 6-8 hours, and shred the meat at the end.

I have a cookbook called Slow Cooker Recipes with 5 Ingredients (or less!)

Or at least the title is something like that. Although I once I found a recipe with 6 ingredients so the title is a lie!

Anyways, if you tell me something specific you're looking for, I can probably find a recipe for it.

I am so excited. I just got a vegetarian slow cooker cookbook....Once I get a chance to try some, I will let you guys know

OH OH i so want the vegitarian recipees! what is the book?

also - MsMD310 - i love the idea for the taco meat recipee! i can easily do that with 'fake' meat and i bet it would be YUMMY!!!

also thinking of trying pasta, why not? put like all the lasagna ingrediants in a slow cooker and see what happens LOL ok really thinking about buying stuffed shells and sauce and going that route... my cousins wife used to do this and it was pretty good! and eady... allll about the easy LOL

mmmm!!! I just tried my first recipe from my cookbook. It was awesome! It was a ziti casserole. Not 5 ingredients or less, but really really good. In a skillet, You sautee 1 minced onion until it softens, and then add two cloves of minced garlic until the garlic becomes fragrant. Then add that and a large can on crushed tomatoes, 1/2 cup of dry red wine, 1 cup of hot water, and 12 ounces of vegetarian burger crumbles. Stir it up, and cook on low for 3.5 hours. Then add 8 ounces of ziti (precooked) and cook another 20-30 minutes. Garnish with some chopped parsley and basil and sprinkle with Parmesan. It was a huge hit tonight. Not the easiest recipe from the book, but I wanted to make something pretty special tonight because we were having company (btw, they loved it and didn't even notice that it was vegetarian).

PS. Kat, the book is called "Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker"...Enjoy!

turkey burger, beef and or veal

sautee with onion

ketchup, brown sugar, worchester sauce

put in crock pot.................homemade sloppy joes

keep in crock pot on warm and it tastes better as the day goes by......mmm

1 bag of saurkraut
1 package of smoked turkey links.............cut into small pieces
1/2 cup brown sugar
pepper to taste
salt if you have too

water to the top of the crock pot

let this cook all day at times you may have to add a little more water it gives a great sweet sour taste and the

for making pasta recipes in the slow cooker-
cook the veggie/meat/sauce ingredients foirst, then add the noodles for the final 30-60 minutes.

if you put the pasta in with everything else from the start, it dissolves to mush!

I STILL don't have a crock pot (I know! What, am I TRYING to make my life more difficult?). But I made this the other day in a dutch oven, since I was home and could make sure I didn't inadverdently burn the house down. It was really good...

Slow-cooked braised pork

1 1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder (or country-style boneless ribs)
2 Tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 large, sweet onion, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes (or about two large fresh tomatoes, chopped)
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed dutch oven over medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer. Add the pork and brown, turning to brown all sides. Transfer the pork to a plate and set aside.

Add chopped onions to the skillet and saute, scraping the pan to get up any browned bits of pork. Cook 4 minutes, or until onion is translucent.

Return the pork to the pot. Add the tomatoes and their juices, old bay, brown sugar, and enough water to cover most of the meat. Cook -- on the stove top on low or in the oven at 300 degrees -- until you can pull the pork apart easily with a fork.

I'm not a crock pot expert, so I don't know how long you'd have to cook it in a crock pot or how much you'd need to adjust the level of liquid, but as soon as I get one I'll let you know!

Everyone, check out Chris' post at Ordering Disorder for a great Chicken Salsa crockpot recipe that sounds so easy and good, it just may be the thing that gets me into the store to buy an actual crockpot!

Link: Crockpot Chicken Salsa

A nice thing about the crock pot is you can use less expensive cuts of meat - slow cooked they taste much better. I use mine 1-2 times a week - espeically int he cold winters of upstate NY.
I am at the shop but I will make a point to post a few of my fav recipes. Here is a quickie:

make a box of pork or herb stove topstuffing. take raw pork chop, put serving of stuffing on top, wrap in foil. place all the wrapped portions in the crock pot & turn it on!

Whip up a mcCormcik pork gravy mix, steam some veggies (and rice too if you feel the need) and dinner is served! Easy clean up of the CP too.

FYI a friend told me this recently - Want Easy clean up - you can now buy crock pot cooking bags like roasting bags - put the bag in, add ingredients and when you are done throw bag away and quick easy clean of the crock. A bit over the edge for me for a daily use - but I guess if I had something overly sticky I might try them. I find if you stick the crock in the sink with some soapy water for 15-30 minutes almost anything cleans up pretty easy.