(Weight Watchers Friendly Crock Pot Cooking Day 152)
Today, instead of a recipe, I've got a crock pot cooking tip - 4 Slow cooker seasonings that can take the heat and help boost the flavor of your crock pot recipes!
Do you ever read great tips and ideas....
Only to promptly forget where you saw them???
And then lose hours trying to find them again???
I'm embarrassed to admit that it happens to me A LOT.
So, I've decided to begin documenting anything that's relevant that I might want to refer to again here on the pages of Simple Nourished Living. With any luck all I'll need to do is search here and find what I'm looking for!
Like this little piece on slow cooker seasonings that caught my eye as I was skimming the latest issue of Weight Watchers Magazine (January/February 2014).
Evidently certain spices and seasonings stand up to long hours of slow cooking better than others. So, by using more of them in your crock pot recipes you can boost flavor without resorting to high calorie/points ingredients.
4 Slow Cooker Seasonings that Can Withstand Long Hours in the Crock Pot include:
Anchovies: provide deep rich flavor with barely a trace of fishy taste. Anchovies will work well in Italian sauces like bolognese sauce, and beef or pork stews! (I love what anchovies do for Caesar salad and pasta puttanesca and plan on trying them in a meat-based stew very soon.)
Garlic: turns sweet and mellow after long slow cooking and will work well in chicken cacciatore or italian soups like minestrone. (I love roasted garlic and vow to add more garlic to my slow cooker recipes where it makes sense.)
Mustard: performs well with most any meat including pot roast, lamb or beef stews. (I am a huge fan of the strong dijon mustard I got hooked on in France so will be adding it to more slow cooker dishes)
Strong Spices: lose their harsh bitter flavor when cooked over time. Think about doubling the amount of most spices (except chiles and black pepper) when making crock pot dishes
Do you have any secret slow cooker seasonings that work well for you? I'd love to have you share them with us here!
*PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT Weight Watchers Zero Points fruits and vegetables using the WW Recipe Builder.
If you liked this post about slow cooker seasonings you might also like:
How to Make Crock Pot Recipes with Short Cooking Times Work for You
How to Chose a Slow Cooker
Crock Pot Cooking for Weight Loss
*PointsPlus® for slow cooker seasonings calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc.
Today's food for thought…
"The mind is everything. What you think you become."
~ Buddha
I'm a big believer in the mind-body connection, probably because of all my years practicing yoga. I've come to believe that the right attitude and a positive mindset are essential to losing weight and then keeping it off. I try really hard to keep what I'm thinking, saying and doing all in alignment. For example, when I'm indulging in rich, dark, delicious chocolate, I focus on savoring it without letting those old, destructive, "It's gonna make you fat" voices in to ruin the experience and potentially become self-fulfilling.
And weight loss tip…
"Never eat in front of the TV."
~ Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think
This is a big one. All the studies show that we end up eating more when we do it in front of the television. So, I've worked hard to (mostly) break myself of this habit. And when I feel compelled to eat while watching television, I'm careful to portion it out into a dish. I've learned the hard way that watching tv while munching on Cheeze-Its right out of the box only results in devouring the whole box with little recollection of the experience. Talk about a mindless way to pack on the pounds!
Do you have a favorite motivational quote and/or weight loss tip? I'd love for you to leave it for me in the comments!!
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Linda
Thanks for the tips on the seasonings for the crock pot. I 'd love it if you linked this to What'd You Do This Weekend. It goes live at midnight.
Have a great week,
Linda