Brisket is one of our favorites on the smoker. We cheat a bit and take advantage of the oven some, but the meat always turns out tender and tasty. We generally cook our meat on a Friday night, for a Saturday dinner, so that's how I am writing up my instructions. 1. The night before (thursday night) you plan to smoke the brisket, season with a dry rub and wrap meat in a plastic bag. We've actually used a cajun or greek seasoning rub before...both are good...as well a a bbq rub. Refrigertate until about 1 hour before placing on smoker. 2. Friday night: smoke meat at a temp of 225-250 for about 2 hours. Place meat in an aluminum pan, cover pan with foil and place back on the smoker/grill for another 2-3 hours. (We start around 5pm, place in pan aroun 7:30). Around 10:30-11pm, I will preheat the oven to 200 degrees, pull the aluminum pan with meat off the smoker and place in the oven. (pan should still be covered with foil). 3. Allow the meat to cook in the oven all night, and part of the next day. We generally remove it from the oven around noon (Saturday), sometimes as late as 1pm. 4. Remove the meat from the pan and wrap it in foil. Now comes the unusual part: Take the foil wrapped brisket and wrap it in layers of newspaper until you feel very little heat coming through. Line the bottom of an ice chest (cooler) with crumpled newspaper. Put the wrapped brisket on top and pack the chest with more paper. 5. When it's time to serve dinner, remove the meat from the cooler and carve. It will still be hot...remember, newspaper is a great insulator!! Brisket cooks best with low temps and long hours. This method gives the meat the smokey flavor but eliminates the need to attend the grill for such a long time...and it's EASY!!!! IT's a method that has never failed us...the meat is tender and juicy. And the best part is that it's done...I have Saturday to do what ever else I need to do...clean, prepare side dishes, etc. v.

~*~Sister's Beans~*~ 1 lb ground beef ¾ lb bacon (cut into small pcs) 1 cup chopped onion 2 cans baked beans (15oz size) 1 can kidney beans drained (1lb) 1 can lima beans drained (1lb) 1 cup catsup or bbq sauce ¼ cup brown sugar 1 Tbsp liquid smoke 3 Tbsp white vinegar 1 tsp salt Dash of pepper Brown ground beef in skillet, drain off fat and put beef in crockpot. Brown bacon, put pcs in crockpot. Brown onions in remaining bacon grease. Drain, and put in crockpot. Add rest of ingredients and stir together well. Cover and cook on low for 4-9 hours. serves 6 ~*~Chicken Tortilla Soup~*~ 4 boneless chicken breast 2 -15oz.cans Black beans,Undrained 2 -15oz.cans Mexican stewed tomatoes, or Rotel tomatoes 1c. salsa 1-4oz. can chopped green chilies 1-14 1/2 oz. can tomato sauce tortilla chips 2c. grated cheese Combine all ingr. except chips & cheese In slower cooker.Cover.Cook on low 8 hours. Just before serving remove chicken & slice into bite-sized pieces. Stir into soup.To serve put handful of chips In each soup bowl.Ladle soup over chips.Top with chesse. ~~^~~Meatball Stew~~^~~ 3 medium potatoes -- peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 (16-ounce) package fresh baby carrots -- quartered 1 large onion -- chopped 3 celery ribs -- sliced 1 (12-ounce) package frozen cooked meatballs 1 (10-3/4-ounce) can condensed tomato soup -- undiluted 1 (10-1/2-ounce) can beef gravy 1 cup water or wine 1 envelope onion soup 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules Place the potatoes, carrots, onion, celery and meatballs in a 5-qt. slow cooker. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Pour over meatball mixture. Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or until vegetables are crisp-tender. 6 servings ~*~Chicken Surprise~*~ 1 (10+3/4-ounce) can cream of chicken soup 2 (12-ounce) jars chicken gravy 6 frozen chicken breasts, more or less as desired Biscuits, rice or noodles, for serving (optional) Mix the soup and gravy in a slow cooker. Add the chicken. Cover and cook for 6 to 8 hours on low setting. Serve over biscuits, rice or noodles.

Hi handy jemdandy, Even with a regular crockpot (which one wouldn't consider using as suggested), what with the heating unit being somewhat below the pot, and the pot having a thick wall and all, and being fairly high to the rim ... one'd have to turn the thing on quite a long time before need in order to achieve the warmth that you suggest ... ... or so it seems to me. With my old crock, that didn't work on "low" and on "high" took about 48 hours all told to soften the veggies ... one'd have to turn it on a day (or two?) ahead, I think, to achieve anything like that level of warmth at the point of contact. just thinkin. additional thinkin ... guys don't sit, do they? Oh, right - as I've said for years - civilized guys sit down to pee. Or, as a former parishioner lady, who had a husband and a couple of boys, said years ago ... it they weren't going to sit to pee - they cleaned the bathroom. She (a fairly heavy smoker, died about three years ago - that's right: lung cancer). ole joyful

Wow, lots of great information for you RNMom! I love that you're taking the time exploring what's out there to see what will work with your kids and to help -- cause that's what moms do best:) My daughter has been with her husband for about two years; if I were to guess what was one of the biggest "adulting" (don't you just love these words?) constants was What's for Dinner? Oh, and we have to carve out time to buy it? In Boston? Oh, and what do you mean we don't have that (fill in the blank) in the cupboard? Oh, and you mean that meat really isn't good on the seventh day? Oh, zucchini actually turns into mush if kept too long? You get the idea. She actually has a blog and wrote about her "meal prep staples." I'll snip her ideas here as it's a younger voice and may resonate with your kids a bit (not that we oldies (ME!) don't) Both she and her husband are professionals, Boston (driving is lunacy and serious TIME!!!!!!), long hours, both have food issues (LOW FODMAP , dairy allergy), he long distance runs, she runs, yoga, etc. etc. I guess what I'm saying is it will work, it evolves, and keeps progressing. I'm going to share that Saving Dinner website with her and some of these other ideas. Here is what she's worked out for now: "Shop on Friday // Don't be afraid of ordering: My first tip is that my husband and I have switched to 1) shopping on Friday night (if we don't have any other obligations) or 2) using Insta-cart for grocery delivery. I've actually always LOVED grocery shopping, but I've come to terms in the past couple of months that some weeks, it just isn't an efficient use of my time (I have a lot of other things I'd much rather be working on than battling my way through Whole Foods). .... Must-haves: I also wanted to share my absolute meal-prep must-haves each week that reduce my cooking time. This doesn't include my pantry staples that we always have on hand such as flours, sugars, spices, almond milks, etc. but I always keep these items in my freezer/fridge and can easily make a quick meal at any point during the week. Keeping these items in the fridge makes for an efficient meal-prep! Frozen sweet potatoes (I pick these up at Whole Foods) Frozen peas, spinach, and carrots Baby potatoes Organic broccoli or brussel sprouts Shredded broccoli slaw & shredded carrots Pre-cut peppers from the chop shop at Whole Foods Organic eggs One protein for the week (we usually do either organic chicken, organic pork, or salmon), a lot of times we will freeze and de-thaw when needed One sauce (typically tahini or hummus) In-season fruit - we always pick up bananas and clementines, but have been subbing in strawberries in recent weeks Organic brown rice Spend a couple hours to set yourself up: In all honesty, my meal prep for the week is NEVER more than a couple of hours, and I find that allocating this time pays dividends during the week. In those couple of hours I roast veggies (usually sweet potatoes, broccoli, and brussel sprouts), make a quick broccoli slaw, prep a quick sauce (tahini or hummus), throw rice in the rice-maker, and roast or cook the protein for the week. I never look forward to prepping food by any means, but I find that if I put on a good podcast and zone out, I'm actually really efficient and have food ready to go for the week. My husband also loves to cook, so between the two of us we divide and conquer. If you're feeling really crazy, plan for a mid-week meal: One area that I really struggle in is planning far enough ahead so that when I shop for groceries on Friday, I'm picking up ingredients for a mid-week dinner. One tip that's helped me out is to buy some frozen meats on Thrive. That way, the only additional items I need to pick up are veggies/starches. Her last sentence:)" Is this always a perfect formula for every week? Of course not. There's a lot of weeks where I'm not prepared, or not super excited by the food I'm eating. But that's ok - it's all a learning process!" Maybe some of that will resonate with your kids, RNMom. I know that money, time, enjoyment are all individual variables to take into consideration. BTW, I have no idea what Thrive is LOL! The other thing that I know that they do is some batch cooking on weekends, she eats tons of salads and does sheet pan meals. Maybe some of those ideas will help. Good luck! CathyinSWPA One last thing: When we were in Boston, my SIL and I made a Blue Apron meal together. While it was delicious, it really took a bit of time (I feel fairly adept in the kitchen), a lot of clean up for the amount of food it made for some active adults. It just wasn't a good fit for them, but may work for yours.