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Because I believe slow cooking is key to getting and staying slim today I’m giving away a Hamilton Beach Set & Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker!
Before beginning my Weight Watchers friendly crock pot cooking challenge back in October 2013, I’d never really thought much about the link between losing weight and slow cooking. But the truth is, if you are trying to lose weight, your slow cooker can be your best friend.
For most of us, dinner is the meal that often derails our best intentions when it comes to weight loss.
After a long day of work, you arrive home tired and hungry. And the last thing you want to do is think about cooking dinner.
So you end up grabbing the quickest thing you can get your hands on. And it’s rarely, if ever, light and healthy!
But, with a crock pot instead of worrying all day about what to make for dinner, you know a healthy and delicious meal will be ready and waiting when you get home.
Or you can use your slow cooker on the weekends to make light and healthy meals to warm up during the week. The slow cooker/crockpot makes it easy to cook healthy, affordable meals without having to spend hours in the kitchen.
Have you heard the saying, “20 minutes in the kitchen can save you 3 hours on the treadmill (affiliate link)“?
Well, it’s true!
Why The Slow Cooker/CrockPot is an Essential Kitchen Tool for Weight Loss…
1. Makes meal planning easier. Many Weight Watchers crock pot recipes are complete one pot meals.
2. Requires planning which is critical to weight loss success. If we want to eat right and lose weight we need a plan. If we leave it to chance we’ll end up opting for high calorie convenience foods: take out, the drive-thru, fast food, the vending machine, etc.
3. Lends itself to big batch cooking and leftovers. Which can be re-purposed or portioned out for future meals.
4. Saves time in the kitchen. You can put your ingredients in the crock pot in the morning or afternoon and dinner will be ready when you want it. I love the convenience of investing a little time and then moving forward with my day, while dinner cooks, practically unattended. No pots boiling over, burned skillets and last minute rushing around to get dinner figured out.
5. Provides variety. You can make a lot more than pot roast, soup and chili in your slow cooker, as I’ve learned during the last six months. Appetizers, beverages, breakfasts, main dishes, side dishes and desserts are all possible with a slow cooker.
6. Makes cooking possible even for those with little kitchen know-how. Slow cooking is practical, realistic and very forgiving, perfect for novice cooks. Recipes tend to be straightforward with minimal ingredients and very few steps. Meals made in the slow cooker may not be the prettiest ever. But, they can be some of the tastiest.
7. Naturally Low Fat. Because crock pot cooking is a moist form of cooking it requires less fat, so you’ll save calories and points.
8. Perfect all year round. While most of us think of the slow cooker during the fall and winter, it’s the perfect summer kitchen device. I’ve received lots of comments from folks in hot climates who depend on their slow cooker all summer to avoid heating up the kitchen.
This Giveaway has ended!
The randomly selected winner is Phyllis Zumbolo. Congratulations! Please send an email to support@simple-nourished-living.com to claim your slow cooker.
Slow Cook Yourself Slim Slow Cooker Giveaway Details
TO ENTER
1. Leave a comment below answering the question, “How has the slow cooker helped you eat better and/or lose weight?”
A winner will be selected at random and announced next Sunday.
Good luck!
Hamilton Beach Set & Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker
Notes from The SweetHome review site on the Hamilton Beach Set & Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker: “It’s not fancy, but the intuitive interface, locking lid, and modest price have made it the best deal for your money three years running—and it’s the only slow cooker with a heat probe to monitor the doneness of roasts and other meats.”
It also was featured in this Slow Cooker Savvy Class I took recently.
I love slow cooker cooking. Like you said its so versatile with the recipes, and its easy. Most of the time you dump in your ingredients and forget it. Plus, most slow cooker meals call for less expensive cuts of meat so that also saves money! And the newer crock pots out there now, wow! You really can set it and forget it. When it turns to “warm” after the timer is off is genius!
I’m a single woman so I like to cook on the weekends and portion individual containers. I save meals in my freezer and a few in my fridge for grab and go lunches, or easy dinners.
I love using my slow cooker during the week! Before I started using my slow cooker, I would get home around 6 pm and immediately start cooking. Even our fastest meals were not ready until 7 , but most of our dinners were eaten between 7:30-8, which is not good for anyone- especially someone wanting to lose weight. Now, I can chop any ingredients up the night before, get up the next morning, throw everything in the slow cooker, and go to work. When we get home, its ready! Which means we now eat dinner between 6-6:30 and can even walk after dinner some evenings!
Just downloaded the ecookbook and trying my first recipe this morning!
Planning, Planning, Planning. Plans help keep you on the weight loss track. Therefore, when you have a fool proof (already cooked/in the slow cooker just waiting to be enjoyed) plan for the after work meals, you avoid the takeout/fast food “easy way out”.
The meal is ready when I get home from work so there’s no chance of snacking before supper.
Thank you so much for the inspiration!! I work a lot of hours and felt I never had time to prepare healthy meals. The crock pot has help so very much. Your recipes are amazing!!!
Using a slow cooker makes meals that are moist and so flavorful, with no oil. Plus it gets me thinking about meal planning. But best of all, dinner is ready for me when I get home!
I used to use my slow cooker occasionally to cook a pot roast or dry beans. I might take it to work for a pot luck to keep something warm. Since joining Weight Watchers AND finding your site with so many possibilities for dinner, I use it most nights of the week now! I think about dinner all day long and look forward to coming home to the wonderful aromas. My daughter and husband are as excited as I am for dinner as we no longer rushing to “throw something together”. My slow cooker is many many many years old and I am wondering when I am going to come home to a disappointment of a dead slow cooker and uncooked food. It would be great to have a programmable slow cooker so that I didn’t have to plan those meals that don’t need to cook all day long for the weekend any longer!
Crockpot cooking keeps you less likely to grab an unhealthy quick meal because it’s done when you get in. When your usually starving, ready to grab anything. Slow cooker liners make clean up even better. All in all its a win-win.
I’m a single working mom, so if I haven’t already planned what we are having for dinner tonight (and prepped it), I will usually have to resort to a quick fix–takeout, microwave dinner, prepared foods at the grocery store, etc. I know these meals contain “hidden calories” or not-so-healthy ingredients. However, when I use my slow-cooker and plan ahead, I don’t have to face this potentially diet-detrimental stumbling block.