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Ro3bert

Assistant Cook
Joined
Jul 12, 2017
Messages
9
Location
New Fairfield, CT
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I've looking around for a cooking forum lately.

Well, let's begin sorta at the beginning, as with many other people my first "cooking experience" was watching/helping my mother making cookies of cake. I enjoyed mixing and finger cleaning the bowl after the dough was put onto cookie sheets or into cake pans. I don't remember the first time I made cookies but it must have been when I was young.

The next time I remember cooking was when I took a cooking class in High School. I wouldn't have taken it except it was related to a military course I also was involved with the California High School Cadet Corps, sort of a National Guard version of the military's ROTC without any chance of a military career attached.

After that cooking was an intermittent thing. Even after I married cooking was something I only did outside on a grill or occasionally over an open fire when camping.

It wasn't until I remarried and moved to the east coast that I started cooking again but that was still only occasionally. I found that I enjoyed making meals from recipes and incidentally was considered a good cook. The only thing that bothered me was the prep time and a less than stellar ability to get things done at the same time.

Well, I'm thoroughly retired now but am nearly a full time caregiver for my wife (fibromyalgia and dementia). I've really wanted to be able to prepare good nutritious meals for us but again the time spent on prep became the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room.

For some reason two or three years ago I thought it might be easier cooking with a Slow Cooker so stopped by my local Bed Bath and Beyond and arbitrarily picked up a Hamilton-Beach 6 qt with lots of bells and whistles, took it home and promptly took it up to the attic and hid it.

Last week after looking at some Slow Cooker recipes I went up and resurrected it. I'd seen a potato leek soup that appealed to both myself and my wife so I went ahead and cooked it up. In the end I wasn't overly happy with the flavor, seemed to be lacking in leek flavor as I "remembered it" but my wife was very happy with it, thought the flavor was great. I'm still not enamored with it but it is eatable.

I haven't given up on preparing more meals in it. The next I may try is a stew of some sort.

So here I am ready to interact with others on this forum though my contributions may be spotty as I am a member of a number of other forums including some health forums.

Meanwhile caio.
 
tsF04dS.gif
8WQFnLt.gif


I've looking around for a cooking forum lately.

Well, let's begin sorta at the beginning, as with many other people my first "cooking experience" was watching/helping my mother making cookies of cake. I enjoyed mixing and finger cleaning the bowl after the dough was put onto cookie sheets or into cake pans. I don't remember the first time I made cookies but it must have been when I was young.

The next time I remember cooking was when I took a cooking class in High School. I wouldn't have taken it except it was related to a military course I also was involved with the California High School Cadet Corps, sort of a National Guard version of the military's ROTC without any chance of a military career attached.

After that cooking was an intermittent thing. Even after I married cooking was something I only did outside on a grill or occasionally over an open fire when camping.

It wasn't until I remarried and moved to the east coast that I started cooking again but that was still only occasionally. I found that I enjoyed making meals from recipes and incidentally was considered a good cook. The only thing that bothered me was the prep time and a less than stellar ability to get things done at the same time.

Well, I'm thoroughly retired now but am nearly a full time caregiver for my wife (fibromyalgia and dementia). I've really wanted to be able to prepare good nutritious meals for us but again the time spent on prep became the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room.

For some reason two or three years ago I thought it might be easier cooking with a Slow Cooker so stopped by my local Bed Bath and Beyond and arbitrarily picked up a Hamilton-Beach 6 qt with lots of bells and whistles, took it home and promptly took it up to the attic and hid it.

Last week after looking at some Slow Cooker recipes I went up and resurrected it. I'd seen a potato leek soup that appealed to both myself and my wife so I went ahead and cooked it up. In the end I wasn't overly happy with the flavor, seemed to be lacking in leek flavor as I "remembered it" but my wife was very happy with it, thought the flavor was great. I'm still not enamored with it but it is eatable.

I haven't given up on preparing more meals in it. The next I may try is a stew of some sort.

So here I am ready to interact with others on this forum though my contributions may be spotty as I am a member of a number of other forums including some health forums.

Meanwhile caio.

Welcome to DC! Did your recipe call for bacon?
 
Welcome to DC. I am also a full-time caregiver to my Mom. She's had a hip replacement in 2015 and an aneurysm in June of last year. You'll meet lots of nice people here.
 
Hi Ro3bert.

We're glad to have you and I'm certain you will receive many useful tips to broaden your skills.

As per the crock-pot, I have been a good friend of said appliance since I bought my first one in 1974. It's been a long and fruitful relationship.

In 1994 I moved to a home in Kentucky that was built in 1880 and DID NOT have air-conditioning. The region in which I lived was quite hot and steamy in the summertime months, so heating up a kitchen for anything was less than exciting.

So, one June, I decided to conduct an experiment. I set to cook every evening meal for the month in our crock-pot...and outside on the screened-in porch. Still leery to heat up the house for even the slightest purpose.

I was amazed to discover that it was more than easy to achieve my goal and my husband and I enjoyed many nutritious and tasty meals for that month. Piece 'o cake.

One of the joys of using a crock-pot is that the prep work can be done, such as chopping veggies, etc., ahead of time, then dumping everything into the handy-dandy cooker.

That hot June was a (cool) breeze when it came to our evening meals.
 
Welcome, Robert. I am also a co-primary caregiver for my Mom (dementia, stroke, non-ambulatory). She has a hard time using a fork, so I make lot of things she can eat with her fingers. I use the pressure cooker. I also cook things she used to make. I am not cooking as complex foods as I would like. Mom's tastes have really changed. No tomato based dishes (except pizza). You learn as you go.
 
Welcome, Ro3bert. The more you poke around here, the more you'll find that many of us are either caregivers or old enough for Medicare. ;) I hope we can help you find recipes that involve little work, or that use your slow cooker efficiently.

BTW, your avatar made me think of Ian Anderson. Tull fan, perhaps?
 
Welcome, Robert. You have your hands full. I am amazed at the number of people that shared with you since you posted who are full-time care givers. I have nothing but admiration for all of you.

Crock pot cooking is not hard, and the basics include just meat and seasoning. Veggies can be added with the meat if desired, and done that way, do not tend to overcook. That is the magic of that pot. An old standby for me was to pop a handful of chopped onions in the bottom of the pot, put a whole chicken in, then pour a can of diced seasoned tomatoes over the bird. After 8-10 hours you have a bird and some sauce that pairs well with pasta if desired. Not a lot of sauce though. Add more tomatoes if you want more sauce.

The meats in the pot do not have to be covered with fluids. If it concerns you, the trick to keeping the heat in with the food is to cover the top of the food with a sheet of aluminum foil. Then put the lid on the pot. This keeps the heat and the moisture contained. I cooked baked beans yesterday in my pot and used that trick. The results made me happy.

Happy cooking.
 
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