Slow cookin'

Growing up, my parents never used a slow cooker to make dinner.  This is, I think, a little surprising because they both worked.  It seems like for working parents who may not really want to cook every night or who don't necessarily have the energy to, the slow cooker is a gift sent from above. 

For those of you who have never used a slow cooker, let me explain the basic principles of how it works.  You put a piece of meat in the cooker.  You turn it on, cook the hell out of it, and 10 hours later, you have a delicious dinner waiting for you.

Wait, you must be thinking to yourself, there must be more to it than that!  Well, yes, of course it isn't quite that simple, but it's pretty darn close.  The meal you see below literally involves three items: a packet of Italian seasoning, apple cider vinegar, and a hunk of meat. 

Now there are a lot of more interesting meals you can create in a slow cooker, from soups to dips to anything in between.  And they don't all have to involve cooking the living daylights out of your food.  Or even the use of meat, as the astute readers of my blog might enjoy the irony of having me discuss my dilemma of eating meat one day and then the next, I'm making a 3 pound roast. You'll see I use the slow cooker quite often, usually around the middle of the week when I know I'm going to be tired and just want to have something ready when I get home.

Last night's meal was Italian Beef sandwiches, a specialty of Grandma Marty.  You literally put a 3 pound roast in the slow cooker, pour the seasoning and vinegar on top, and cook it for 10 (or more) hours.  When you get home, this is what you'll find, a pot full of deliciousness:

Anything that cooks this long falls apart the second you touch it, so it shreds beautifully to make a sandwich.  Throw a few banana peppers on top (if you like, I actually don't), and you're good to go:

To try to redeem this meal a little, I made a large bowl of fruit to go with it!

This is one of the easiest meals to make if you are having a group of friends over because it's easy, makes a ton, and tastes delicious.  

By the way, for those of you wondering, you'll notice I use a slow cooker bag.  These are, I believe, a true testament to American inventiveness and wastefulness.  They are, as the name implies, simply plastic bags that you put in your slow cooker so that when you're done, cleaning literally involves picking up the bag and throwing it away.  Genius.  I don't use these for everything I make, but for things like this, I throw caution to the wind.