Often, the biggest obstacle standing between you and healthy meals each night is time. You went to the trouble of shopping the perimeter of the supermarket, you buy organic where possible, and avoid buying processed foods. Yet, you get home from work, open the fridge, and sigh at the thought of cooking.
It’s frustrating and we’re all struggling to balance work and home lives, so, when it comes to healthy cooking you should rely heavily on your slow cooker.
That’s right, drag it out from the back of the cupboard, dust it off, and keep it sitting on your kitchen counter so you can use it on a daily basis. You can use your slow cooker for just about anything.
Slow Cooker Tips
The biggest key to getting it right is planning ahead. Have everything prepared and ready the night before so all you need to do in the morning is throw it in the slow cooker and turn it on as you leave the house.
Planning will help you keep your grocery bill down, too, as you can shop according to your meal plan and only buy what you will need.
When there’s meat involved be sure to brown them first (use olive oil and medium-high heat) – you may want to dredge your meat in flour, too). You can them de-glaze your pan with balsamic vinegar and pour it and the drippings into your slow cooker. Talk about a flavor punch!
Make sure you have the right size slow cooker, if it’s too full it won’t cook properly. When it comes to stews, you need to brown your meat first before you add vegetables and your broth and before you can add it to your slow cooker; you need to bring the mix to a boil.
The same goes for soup. It makes it easier for the slow cooker to come up to heat. Whatever you do, don’t lift that lid until it’s fully cooked!
Slow Cooker Meal Ideas
Turkey Chili
It’s just like any other chili recipe, but instead of using ground beef, you’ll trade in ground turkey. Include black beans for good measure (and a powerful punch of fiber).
Quinoa Risotto
Do you love risotto but hate the fact that it isn’t healthy? Enter quinoa! This whole grain can save your life and it’s great in the slow cooker. Create the ultimate asparagus, chicken, and carrot risotto using it and watch your family fall in love.
Simply throw everything (apart from the asparagus) into the slow cooker and let it go (for around four hours). You can shred the chicken, toss the asparagus in, and let it simmer for another half an hour. Once it’s ready, you can pour over a half cup of broth and stir till it’s creamy.
Chicken Noodle Soup
The best part is you don’t need to deal with chopping or cutting raw chicken, you can put everything in the slow cooker all at once. The chicken can be shredded once it’s fully cooked. As it simmers away in the slow cooker all of the flavors come together to create a rich and delicious soup.
Lemon & Garlic Chicken
It doesn’t get much easier than creating this delicious classic.
Chicken Gyros
This Greek treat is a popular one, but it’s often overlooked because the lamb and beef version is not as healthy one as some would like it to be. However, when you sub chicken, you change the game completely! If you make your own tzatziki, too, then you have total control over just how healthy this meal is. You’re guaranteed deliciousness every time.
