The slow cooker: a starving student’s best friend

The crock pot is not just for you grandma

When I got a slow cooker for Christmas last year, I was ecstatic, and so were my roommates. While you may think a slow cooker, crock pot as it is sometimes referred to, is something only your grandma would use, it’s actually a great investment for a busy student.

After coming home after a long day of working or studying, the last thing most of us want to do is cook. The beauty of the slow cooker is you can toss in any kind of meat, frozen or not, some vegetables, seasoning and a bit of water before you head to class. When you get home, you’ll have meal that is ready to eat, involving very little cooking whatsoever, and is probably much better for you than another late night trip to McDonalds. Most slow cookers cost about $50, but you can also find smaller models for $30 or less, so they’re good for your budget too.

You can find hundreds of slow cooker recipes online, but here’s a couple super easy recipes I found courtesy of the Manitoban:

Beef Roast:

–       1 beef roast

–       1 pack of dry onion soup

–       1 pack of gravy mix

–       1 cup of water

–       carrots and potatoes

Instructions: Put all the ingredients in the slow cookers, set on low, and cook for approximately eight hours.

Roasted Chicken

–       1 whole chicken, or however many boneless chicken breasts you like

–       ½ tsp of crushed black pepper

–       ½ of basil

–       ¼ cup of chopped red onion

–       2 celery stalks

–       1 cup of chicken stock, or water

Instructions: Put the chicken, stock or water, celery stalks, and onion in the slow cooker. Spread the spices over the chicken and vegetables. Set the slow cooker to Low and cook for approximately eight hours. You can make this with carrots and string beans as well.

No, I did not miss anything. These recipes are actually that easy, and delicious!