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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 am 67 years old, live alone and I still work everyday. When I get home in the evening, the last thing I want to do is cook supper. So I opt for snacking, fast food, or frozen dinners. Believe me, this is no the way to lose or manage one’s weight. It was a life saver when I came across “Simple & Nourished Living — Slim Cooking with Slow Cookers”. Thank You Martha, this was the push I needed.
Meal planning ahead of time, buying just the groceries I will need for the week, and getting the meal going first thing in the morning in the slow cooker has been key in my weight loss efforts. It keeps me from running though the drive-through after work when I just feel too tired to cook. Plus, the aroma that greets you when you walk though the door is heavenly! Your slow cooker recipes have been a great resource.
As a Mom, I realize my kids and husband are going to eat what I give them. I feel that I can help them live a healthier lifestyle by the foods I prepare for them. Using a slow cooker helps me prepare better meals by planning ahead. Also, I know dinner is going to be ready when I get home from work, and I avoid the temptation of picking up dinner from a drive through. This helps me as well as my family maintain a healthy weight and as a bonus, I find that we eat more meals together as a family. We actually sit down at the table and enjoy a meal together as opposed to eating on the run.
Slow cookers are the best to make healthy food. You can used fresh ingredients. set it and go to work . I have lost 25lb since following the food guide and recipes. This site is the most helpful. My daughter in Law has started to follow as well she borrows my cooker so we have to share. I sure could used another one
It makes meal planning and prep so much easier. I tend to otherwise wait until meal time and then I don’t want to start cooking. With the slow cooker, I can put it together in the morning and forget about it. I tend to eat healthier meal this way.
As a mom and grad student, the ability to start dinner in the morning and have it ready after class is a life saver!
It makes meal planning so much easier & less time consuming!
I love crockpot meals. Before after coming home from a long day at work it would be take out which was rarely healthy choices. Now I will put a meal in the crockpot before leaving in the morning so dinner is done when I get home. Much healthier food choices which is helping with the weight loss.
Because when you come home tired you will eat the easy food that is not always good for you but if you have healthy food ready wow
We are, as are many people these days, raising our granddaughter. She has the additional stressors/challenges of Type I Diabetes and Asthma. At our age, it is an adventure, for sure. Because I don’t have the energy I did in my ‘Mom’ years, it is critical that I plan ahead with healthy meals. If I don’t, by dinner time, it is just too easy to do pizza, fast food, deli fried chicken, or any of the always available grab and go options. The slow cooker makes it possible for me to plan something in the morning, when my will power is still functioning, that will serve all our hearth needs – my granddaughter, for her diabetes concerns, me for my lifetime battle with my weight (which is doubly a struggle with the worry of my granddaughter’s long term health on my mind), and my husband’s general struggle with his waistline, lol. I am a bariatric surgery success story with a 200 lb. loss, and have maintained my weight for 10 years, but I can still gain 10 pounds in a week if I don’t keep my focus on healthy eating. The slow cooker makes that possible, even when things are crazy, which is often with a teenager in the house!