Overnight steel cut oatmeal with apples and nuts

Recipes from Cooking Light

http://www.cookinglight.com/food/top-rated-recipes/slow-cooker-favorites-00400000038588/

Don't worry about leaving it in longer.

I'm PP - that should read:

*meat, which does NOT appeal to me

Funny, I just tried the honey garlic chicken 18:36 suggested too. It came out pretty well and I think would be fine cooking a bit longer on low (or on warm if your pot will do that).

I agree a lot of crock pot recipes seem to have a lot of not-so healthy ingredients, but the year of slow cooking site has some good ones. I'm still not crazy about most crockpot food (mostly bc most recipes are really heavy on meat, which does apeal to me) but it is super convenient.

I have tons. My kids' favorite is actually embarrassingly easy.

BBQ

Put pork or beef roast into the crock pot.
Pour I can of regular Coke Cola over the roast
Cover and cook all day

When you get home from work, take the roast out of the crockpot and throw away the juices. Shred the roast with a fork. Return it to the crock pot. Pour a container of BBQ sauce over the top and stir. Give it about 15 minutes to heat up.

Serve on buns with cole slaw.

Quick. Easy. And really yummy!

Some things in general not to worry about with a crockpot:

1. Leaving it on for nine instead of eight hours. Set the pot for eight or nine hours and let it go to warm mode. The kinds of things that work well in a crockpot will be just fine with another hour. For super long things, I cook them on the low setting.

2. Browning food. In. Perfect world it helps a little, but most of the time I never brown or precook a thing and it all comes out fine.

I just cooked a whole chicken this evening for that long..just the chicken in the pot with some onions and random seasons..makes its own juice...extremely tender.

This is PP, potato soup is great in there too. Put the peeled/cut potatoes in the night before, covered with water and let them cook low while at work. You use the immersion blender in the crockpot at the end and it makes a ton, enough for leftovers. This is not the full recipe, but you could google for something.

Taco soup

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/02/original-taco-soup-crockpot-recipe.html

My crockpot has a "warm" setting so after it's done cooking for 6-8 hours it'll keep the food warm until we're ready to eat. My favorites to make are Boilermaker Chili and Cilantro Lime Chicken. You can find both recipes on All Recipes (although the chili requires some browning beforehand).

Chili
Beef stew
Pot roast
There are some Mexican casseroles that work

I made this one - http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2011/09/honey-garlic-chicken-slow-cooker-recipe.html?m=1 - today, big hit with my 7-year-old. I made a double recipe and put it on low the whole time.

I will cook it for whatever then it basically turns to buffet mode which keeps it warm.

I make..

Beef stew
Pioneer woman's chicken cacciatore (I skip the brown the chicken part put everything in and it is fine)
Beef and barley soup

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head but I know I have a pork tenderloin recipe and another chicken recipe I make.

Also I make the crockpot on Sunday and just keep it in the fridge till I need it.

I think bean chili would hold up pretty well. That would be kid friendly with sour cream and cheese!

I tend to use it to cook big hunks of meat. Often on weekends and then just reheat during the week. Beef tongue, pork shoulder, brisket.

Sometimes I start something when I get home from work and put it away when I go to bed. I also will do something that is 7-8 hours overnight.

I hear the crock pot will make the life of working parents (or any parent) much easier. I own one (a gift) but have never used it. Every recipie I have come across either 1) is based on unhealthy ingredients like Cambell's Cream of XXX Soup (which makes chicken taste yummy but has too much sodium for me); 2) has to be cooked/browned on the stove first before I can put it into the crockpot and if I have to dirty another pot I'd rather just cook it on the stove to begin with; or 3) -- the biggest problem for me -- is that the cook times are only 6, 7, or maybe 8 hours and we are gone from the house longer than that on any given day. Won't it just be a crock pot of mush if I let it cook hours longer than what the recipie calls for? Anyway, looking for good, healthy ideas to make dinners easier via the crock pot. Thanks!