Slow Cooking

Easy. Delicious. Nutritious.

If you endeavor to eat the majority of your meals at home as I do, you know how challenging it can be at times. Especially after a long day. The thought of making a meal and then doing the dishes that follow doesn’t sound like fun, but you also don’t want to eat out - a common predicament.

Slow cooking has recently saved me. I’ve had a crockpot for a while and would use it occasionally, but as of late it’s my go-to kitchen appliance. And for good reason.

Not only does cooking your meat slow and low result in the most juicy, tender, delicious meat, but “they”(😉) also say the nutrients in the food remain more stable cooking at a low heat.

Biggest bonus for me? It slowly cooks away all the grisly parts of the meat. I have always eaten meat, but have always been picky. Biting into chicken on the bone or a big piece of fat in a steak is my least favorite thing. There is nothing worse than a tough piece of meat.

Slow cooking your meat solves all of the above by slowly melting all the fat and connective tissue into a broth - which is perfect! You can use the broth that you have left over from your slow cooked meat to enjoy at a later time and avoid gross weird bites. 😆

Most importantly, you come home to a house that smells delightful with a meal that is just a few short steps away from being ready. And not just any meal, a slow cooked nutrient dense meal, cooked by you at home. Especially perfect for cozy winter nights.

The quality of your meat is important. It’s difficult to find a variety of good quality meat, for this reason, we choose to use a delivery service and have had great service from Mariposa Ranch in Mariposa, Ca. We also got to visit a regenerative farm in San Diego this past year, Perennial Pastures Ranch. I love what these folks are doing. If you’re in the area they offer ranch tours and other lovely events to bring the people closer to their food. It’s fantastic. We should see what it takes to grow and sustain our food, process and prep it for eating. We are so far removed these days. Their ranch is gorgeous. You can learn more about regenerative farming here.

The delivery service is great, we get a variety of meats that we normally wouldn’t choose (or have the option to choose) - another thing that inspired my slow cooking. Alongside fajita strips, filets, ground beef, we get things like a rump roast, chuck roast, London broil, brisket, and short ribs. Some of these larger cuts can be difficult to enjoy if not prepared properly. Tough, lots of fat. But if you slow cook them, they are beyond delicious - they fall apart, so tender and yummy.

Try a variety of meats when slow cooking, not just beef. Pork, chicken, lamb are all great options. Slow cooking a whole chicken is delicious. This recipe looks great.

Lastly, it’s so easy to be creative with flavors. You can literally add whatever you like to the pot, similar to the soups I enjoy making, the crock pot offers the same freedom and creativity. Things I love to add for flavor:

• peppers, onions, carrots, leeks, fennel, celery root, potatoes

• dried peppers like chipotle and adobo

• dry herbs like bay leaf, cinnamon sticks, oregano, rosemary, etc.

• seasoning: salt, pepper always and then depending on what I’m making, herbs to flavor.

  • super easy hack - use a pack of Siete seasoning.

One of my fave slow cooked meal that was SO good: Taquitos/Rolled Tacos