Don't you love cooking with a crock-pot? I do! So easy and so delicious. Years ago, most of the recipes that I had for a crock-pot called for cheeses and canned foods. I started searching for ways to make my crock-pot meals a little more "healthy". 😌 And really, not hard to do if you use your basic knowledge of food and nutrition and a little common sense. 😉
5 Healthy Tips About Food For Your Crock-Pot Meal
Before we get started, just a few things to remember when it comes to cooking healthy:
- Use fresh ingredients as much as possible. Fresh frozen is a good second option.
- Limit your creams, sauces and canned foods.
- Limit your fats.
- Use lean meats (some people braise the meat before putting it in the crock).
- Limit your sodium
Recently we became "empty nesters". That means I am no longer cooking for 3 and whoever(s) shows up at the door (at dinner time) or comes home from band practice with our daughter. (Side note, we LOVED those days and miss them.) I am also not revolving & planning around a busy school aged child's schedule. I am having to plan and cook smaller meals so we do not have left overs for days. 😄 After 4 days of the same thing, well we are tired of it. And lets be honest, do we want to "freeze" everything? I would just rather adjust and prepare accordingly. 😌 Freshly prepared food is always better. Which brings me to my most recent purchase. A 2 Quart Crockpot! You see, to get the most efficiency out of your crock-pot it needs to be at least 2/3's full when you use it to cook a meal. I have one huge crock-pot and one standard. I found I was using the standard more and more and still not filling 1/2 full. So for less than 10 bucks I decided to invest in this little jewel. You can prepare 2-4 servings, perfect for empty nesters and takes up very little space.
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| My Most Recent Crock-Pot, 2-4 Servings |
By the way, all the photos in this post are made with my cell phone and a little "spruce up" in Lightroom. So please excuse the "lack" of professional quality, not that I have ever made that a priority. 😄 Below is my Beef Tips & Rice Recipe:
Beef Tips & Rice
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Beef Tips Served Over Brown Basmati Rice
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You want to start with lean beef cubed. It can be from a roast, sirloin, flank steak or even tenderloin. I used "stew meat" I bought at Costo. They cut it up from one of the meats that I recommended and it is very lean. Some people like to braise it, but I don't. Using enough beef tips to fill up a 1 pint ziplock bag, I just add a couple of teaspoons of cornstarch in a bowl with it and mix it well. (Seems to make a nice gravy.) I also like to slice up my veggies and have them ready. 1/2 small - medium onion, 1/2 sweet bell pepper and 1/2 of a pint of mushrooms. Add the beef and the veggies to the crock-pot. Next you want to add 1/3 cup of red cooking wine (I am sure reg wine is fine if you have it), 1 teaspoon of Braggs Amino Acids (You can find this at most health food stores like Sprouts and sometimes Publix will have it in stock.), a tablespoon of olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon of minced garlic. Give it all a good mix.
If you notice, I did not add salt. I am on a low sodium diet and rarely add salt to anything. You could, but we find it plenty salty with the Amino Acids and red cooking wine.
Place your lid on the pot and to cook all day turn it on the low setting. To cook 1/2 of a day cook it on the high setting.
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| The Meat is Tender & Juicy and Using the Cornstarch, Makes It's Own Gravy |
Brown Basmati Rice
You will want to take 1 cup of brown rice, put it in a sieve and rinse it off before cooking. Bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil and add 1 beef bouillon cube (adds flavor) and the cup of rice (rinsed). Cover with a tight-fitting lid, reduce heat to low-simmer, and cook 40 minutes. Remove from heat (with lid on!) and steam for 10 minutes. (I purchase my brown basmati rice in bulk -small bulk- at Sprouts.)
When your rice is ready, plate it up! Add a salad or any green vegetable and you will have a wonderful, healthy meal. Comfort food (I think this qualifies) can be Healthy! One of those wonderful...
Little Things in Life
Hugs,
Missy
Opps! Almost forgot the recipe card!
Printable Link:
Take your package of sausages, cut lengthwise and cook in a large skillet. 
After the sausages have completed cooking, set them aside on paper towels to drain and to cool. This will also help to reduce the fat content of the soup. 
Take your package of sausages, cut lengthwise and cook in a large skillet. 
After the sausages have cooled enough to be handled, cut up into bite sized pieces. After the sausages have been cut up, you are now ready to combine all of the ingredients into the slow cooker. 
