Time Saving Family Meals with Crockpot

Time saving family meals can always be tricky and good fool-proof recipes can be hard to find! Now if you have been following me for a while now you would know I LOVE a good one pot meal! I really love to utilise any easy cooking methods that allow you to have more time to do the billion other things we need to get done as mothers! I was lucky enough to be sent the new Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi Cooker to try out! My poor 6 year old slow cooker has seen better days so I was very excited to now have the original crockpot to use.

The Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi Cooker is a 12 in 1 multi-cooker. It has 4 different ways of cooking; pressure cook, brown/saute, slow cook and the keep warm function.It also includes a 4 week recipe plan which makes it much easier to learn to use this amazing machine. Whilst most recipes require all different types of cooking such as steaming, boiling rice and pasta, browning meats (which all require so much time and ALOT of utensils and washing up), when using the Crockpot Express, it is doing everything for you in the one pot! It really is so time efficient and easy, it is also dishwasher safe which makes cleaning up super easy!

I knew as a slow cooker-lover that the Crockpot was going to make dinner even easier for me!

Here are some of the amazing recipes that are in the Crockpot meal plan that are perfect for the family!

Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
4 servings

Ingredients:

• Crock-Pot® Express Crock Multi-Cooker
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 500g chorizo, sliced
• 500g chicken thighs, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 red capsicum, seeds removed, diced
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup peas
• ½ cups long grain rice
• 2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
• ½ tsp extra fine sugar
• 450g prawns, peeled, deveined
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Press Brown/Saute, and then press Start/Stop. Add oil and preheat for 2 minutes. Add chorizo and chicken and brown in cooking pot for 3-4 minutes. Remove from cooking pot.
2. Add garlic, onion and capsicum. Sauté for 4-5 minutes or until tender.
3. Press Start/Stop and add remaining ingredients to the cooking pot. Secure the lid ensuring the steam release valve is in the seal (closed) position. Press Rice/Risotto, set the pressure to LOW, and set to 10 minutes. Press Start/Stop.
4. Once the unit has finished cooking, allow the unit to have a natural pressure release time of 5 minutes.

Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes
4 Servings

Ingredients:

• 4 x 200g fillets salmon, skin on
• 1 lemon, finely sliced
• 1 bunch fresh basil
• 1 bunch fresh dill
• 4 tbsp butter room temperature
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 Cup Water

Method:

Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 Minutes
4 servings

Ingredients:

• Crock-Pot® Express Crock Multi-Cooker
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 500g minced beef
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 red capsicum, diced
• 1 tbsp chilli powder, or to taste
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp chilli seeds
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 3 tbsp tomato puree
• 2 x 400g tins of red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• ½ tsp salt
• 250ml beef stock

Method:

1. Press ‘Brown/Saute’ function. Adjust the time to 8 minutes. Press Start/Stop and allow to preheat.
2. Add the vegetable oil to the cooking pot along with the minced beef and brown, stirring regularly.
3. Remove the beef to a separate bowl.
4. Add the onions and garlic to the pot, adding a little more vegetable oil if needed. Sauté for approx. 3-4 minutes until softened.
5. Stir in the remaining ingredients, fit secure the lid ensuring the steam release valve is in the seal (closed) position. Press Beans/Chilli.
6. Add a cook time of 10 minutes then press Start/Stop.
7. Once the unit has finished cooking, allow a natural release time of 5-10 minutes.
8. Adjust the seasoning.
9. Serve with some steamed rice, tortilla chips, guacamole, fiery salsa and sour cream.

I hope you enjoyed this ‘Time Saving Family Meals’ segment! Please tag me in your recipe recreations! Do you have a Crockpot? What are your thoughts on it?

*This post was sponsored by Crock-Pot but all opinions expressed are entirely my own.