Monday, January 30, 2012

SLOWLY CROCK-ING IT

I very recently acquired two kitchen buddies, and today, I am going to introduce you to the first of two:


Tadaaaa!  It's a three-crock slow cooker by GE.  A long-time-online-turned-to-be-in-person-friend visited me about two weeks ago and gave us this wonderful and useful present.  Coincidentally, about a week previous to that, Vince and I were on the mall contemplating of buying a crock pot/slow cooker, but postponed our purchase as we wanted to get something else first, i.e., my other kitchen buddy (which I will talk about in a separate post).  So, you can just imagine how hyped up I was to have received this gift!  Soon after I ripped the wrapper and took the appliance out of the box, I started reading its manual and Vince searched the Internet for recipes.


We saw a lot of recipes, and we thought we'd try Beef Bourguignon first.  However, we couldn't find fresh thyme at Wal-Mart, so we opted to do Cornbread Casserole instead.  The recipe for the casserole called for a variety of ingredients including yellow cornmeal, cream of corn, milk, taco sauce, ground beef, eggs, green chili, and cheese.  I wasn't familiar with this dish (never tried it before), so I wasn't really sure what to expect as an outcome.



In fernez, the recipe is very simple and easy to follow, so I was able to whip it up in a jiffy.  It started cooking in the slow cooker at around 12:30 p.m., and according to the recipe, it should be done in six to seven hours.  Just in time for dinner after we get home from the gym!  The element of surprise and virtue of patience altogether made me more and more excited to find out how the dish would turn out.


I was anxious to go home after working out, but Vince and I stopped by the mall first to buy my other kitchen buddy (which I will introduce in a separate post).  As soon as we got home around past 8:00 p.m., I checked the casserole, and lo and behold, it was steaming and smelling good!  The dish is, in fact, a meat pie,  like shepherd's pie or cottage pie.  "Aaaaahhhh... ganito pala 'to," was my reaction when I took my first bite.  Hehe! (*Aaaaahhhh... so this is what it is*)

For me, the main benefit one can get from a slow cooker is it being a "walk-away kitchen appliance."  All you have to do is prepare the ingredients (some recipes require pre-heating/cooking) and when all is set, you just leave them to cook in the slow cooker.  You can go to work, take a bath, sleep, or do whatever you need to do, and after several hours, you have a wonderful meal that's waiting for you.   Other models and brands have timer functions which can set the cooker to automatically turn off or in warm mode, pretty much the same as what a rice cooker does.

Anyway, Vince finally found thyme at a different grocery store, so you all know what that meant ;)

Oh, and stay tuned to know about my other kitchen buddy ☻

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29 comments:

  1. This is great! I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with your new toy. Hehe. :)

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  2. Wow, your friend's so generous! I'm curious with your slow-cooker, looking forward for more posts about your experiments with it. :)

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  3. My first time hearing about that slow cooker... Kasi hindi ako mahilig sa kusina... Hehehe

    Hindi ba nakakatakot iwanan yan ng mag-isa? Hehehe

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  4. Wow, that's a great kitchen buddy KM! I suddenly feel that I like to have one. Mahal ba yan? Hehehe. Pero gaya ni Rovie, ang concern ko lang eh, hindi ba yan delikado iwanan as in iwanan talaga na operational while there's nobody home? Pero time saving nga sya if you just do your cooking while attending to other household chores.

    Last question, di ba malakas sa kuryente yan? :) (interesado)

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  5. alam, mo KM, u'll love it...mayroon akong ganyan, makes my life easy especially weekends.

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  6. ahmmm, sarap nyan after gym eh lafang mode naman, kakagutom kaya mag thread mill... :)

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  7. That is an awesome gift! Looking forward to more dishes here on your blog cooked using this gift!

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  8. Ang saya naman. Kitang-kita na naeenjoy ang bagong toy!

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  9. Isang ikot ulit dito sis...

    Ano nang bagong recipe mo? hehehe

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  10. astig..ngayon ko lang nkita yan ah.. enjoy crock-ing ate km.. :D

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  11. I am sure masarap ang pagkain na niluto dyan. At ang galING PALA ha! Para sa mga multitaskers eto tulad mo, KM.

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  12. what a wonderful gift! i've been wanting one but my mom's resisting.:p perfect for people on the go.

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  13. How sweet that friend of yours to give this thing to you... It is indeed a very helpful especially when you are so busy. Mine is up and its here Sahm’s Dining Diary

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  14. woohoo! crockpot...loved it Sis KM, it is easy to use and cook easily. Visiting from Food Trip Friday, hope that you can return the visit too.

    http://www.adventurousjessy.com/2012/02/who-wants-potato-salad-anyone.html

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  15. oh, this is how a slow cooker cook:)
    pwede nga sa mga ofis gurls:)

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  16. Slow cooker is a must, I guess, for busy people like me. :-) Fire and forget, ika nga :-) Wonderful present indeed!

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  17. wow, sarap naman niyan... i think magpapabili na din ako niyan kay hubby hihihi

    happy FTF!

    http://thelayugan.blogspot.com/2012/02/grilled-vegetable-in-tomato-sauce.html

    hope you can stop by too, thanks!

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  18. Enjoy talaga kapag namimili ng new things for the kitchen ate KM. Weakness din yan ng mga girls, like me :)

    Anyway, visit ko pala to for Food Friday. Here's my entry: Chic Foodie

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  19. Looking forward of lots of dishes using your new kitchen toy^_^Nice present you got!

    http://ties-bonding.blogspot.com/2012/02/our-noche-buena.html

    Happy FTF!

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  20. oh, lucky lucky you!!! have thought of getting myself one of those... :)

    thank you so much for sharing over at Food Friday, Ms. KM

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  21. wow! you're one lucky girl and you're friend...so generous! congrats and i know you'll be whipping up a lot of yummy dishes with your new kitchen buddies. visiting from YS!

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  22. Visiting back from Yummy Sunday Sis KM, hope that you can return the visit too.

    http://www.adventurousjessy.com/2012/02/my-9th-birthday-celebration.html

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  23. Wow! With that I can start a congee station business! Wonderful kitchen appliance.

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  24. wow, that's really nice to have...can't wait for more of your cooking experiments using that crock pot. magastos siguro iyan sa kuryente?! :) visiting late from FTF, hope to see you around. thanks and have a great week. :)

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  25. really love your new kitchen toy! :) visiting again but this time from YS, see you around, have a great weekend. :)

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  26. i love it,parang di pa yan uso dito sa manila.have a nice day sis KM

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  27. Wow, can I cook with you?

    My Yellow Memories, hope you'd come by and leave a comment. Thank you!

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  28. What a nice gift. It is great to make friends online.
    Feel free to link up your color photos every Saturday at Color Carnival
    http://www.mariasspace.com/search/label/color%20carnival

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