Did you know that January is National Slow-Cooking Month? It is! And I know you guys love some slow cooker recipes, so I thought we’d all celebrate together before we let January get away from us.

If you’ve never used a slow cooker (is that possible?), there are three main reasons I love to use one:

1. Easy preparation and easy clean-up. You’re basically dumping ingredients into one pot and letting it sit there until it’s done. And the dirty dish count is, depending on the recipe, one. Okay, maybe two if you’re using a utensil. I suppose you could just stir your recipe with your hand if you really wanted to get crazy.

2. Meat gets really tender. Most recipes created in the slow cooker are meats (which can usually be found on sale!) that may be harder to keep tender when cooking on the stove or in the oven. Cook a roast in the slow cooker and you’ll have a pull-apart-with-a-fork dinner in a few hours.

3. Versatility. Slow cookers aren’t just for roasts and soups. You can cook desserts, potatoes, and pretty much anything else that you’d otherwise cook on the stove or oven.

The prices listed are an average price based on what’s on sale this week so you’ll have something to compare to your shopping list for your local grocery store.

Slow Cooked Beef Stroganoff – recipe

sirloin – $4.99 lb
mushrooms – $1.67
cream of mushroom soup – $1
onions – $2.49 (3 lb bag)

Slow Cooker Sweet & Sour Country Ribs – recipe

pork ribs – $2.99 lb
cider vinegar – $1
ketchup – $1

Loaded Baked Potatoes in the Slow Cooker – recipe Read More→