Do you want to set in the morning and come home to a done meal? If so, the current crockpots are designed not to be able to do that. In order to meet government regulations, they cook hotter and are done in 4-6 hours rather than 8-10. Some automatically switch to keep warm temperature, which might help. A lot of people buy barely used old models at garage sales rather than the current kind.

If you have a warming drawer or oven which will achieve temperatures in the 140-180° range, you can use that instead of a crock pot. Otherwise, see if you can find one with a target temperature well below 200° and the automatic switch to warming only. Some come with actual temperature controls (numbers), but I don't know if that's an improvement.

The traditional crock pots don't have a temperature control--instead they work on wattage, low uses less, high uses more. This translates to temperature within the pot, but to know what that temperature is, you have to fill it with water and let it run until the water fully up to temperature then use a probe thermometer to learn what that temperature is. Around this point Dcarch will say something about a $20 temperature regulator, but you'd have to ask him about the details. :)

So, having said all that, I'll admit to being jaded. I haven't had good results with a post-higher-temperature crockpot, and I just use my good oven for low temp cooking.

Thank you plllog. I was hoping to throw the food in the crockpot before work and come home 10 hours later to it being done...but I guess you cant do this anymore then? 4-6 hours would be useless to me unless it was a weekend.

Would a warming drawer allow me to cook over a 10 hour time period?

You may find you need to do bulk cooking on the weekend when you can use the Crock-Pot for the designated time appropriate for each recipe, and divide the food for storage in the freezer to use for future meals. Don't be fooled, they still require watching so they don't go dry, or you accidently set it on HI, when it should have been LOW and come home to "burnt offerings". Especially if you are unfamiliar with cooking in them....

I can do some things overnight because I can switch the Crock-Pot on when I go to bed at 9:00 p.m. and take it out when I get up at 3:00 a.m. (6-hours later). Some recipes are more forgiving than others when it comes to amount of time. I like to pile a lot of boneless beef ribs (aka Country Ribs) in the Crock-Pot, or do a bone-in turkey breast, or a large pork roast or loin overnight. When done, you have to give yourself time to deal with all the cooked food, which has to be cooled quickly and properly before you package it and get it into the refrigerator/freezer. So do some planning ahead -- have the containers for storage ready, etc.

I think it would be handy to have at least a 1-quart and a 3-1/2-quart Crock-Pot, and possibly even a 5-quart, so you can do small and large batches. You can often find a combination deal around Christmas so you buy one and get a small one free.

I can do a package of boneless beef ribs in my small Crock-Pot (4-5 ribs), but I recently found a bargain on them that filled my large Crock-Pot and cooked them for 6-hours. I placed the finished meat onto a rimmed baking sheet to cool quickly, and then divided it into plastic bags, which got quick-frozen, then vacuum-sealed in a FoodSaver bag for freezer storage.

I did the same thing with a super-bargain of 5-pounds of pork riblettes for 99-cents a pound. After removing the bones and shredding the meat on rimmed baking sheets, I added a few more ingredients and cooked the shredded pork in the Crock-Pot again, to use for Carnitas and other Mexican entrees. It's all stored in 1-cup portion bags in the freezer.

A slow-cooker isn't always the least amount of cooking energy you can use, however. An oven cycles on and off for the cooking time, while a slow-cooker cooks continuously, so you may actually be using more TOTAL energy - depending on the size of the unit and the length of time.

One sample calculation:

Doug Cotes @ The Dollar Stretcher calculated to run his oven for an hour requires 600 watts of energy.

....5-quart slow-cooker on LOW = 180 watt hours - HIGH = 250 watt hours.

On HIGH 4-hours (4x250) = 1,000 watt hours

On LOW 8-hours (8x180) = 1,440 watt hours

Small slow cooker: LOW - 70 watts - X 8-hours = 560 watt hours.

-Grainlady

Um...yes, but there are a lot of caveats. Grainlady mentioned the pitfalls. The important thing is the temperature in the middle of the pot. For a ten hour cook, you don't want to set too high a temperature and have the burnt offering, but you do need sufficient temperature for the food to be fully cooked through and at a safe temperature (above 140° F) when you eat it. You can find recipes for long cook crockpot meals in old crockpot cookbooks, but then you have to convert them. Some older warming drawers run on the same kind of wattage control as crockpots, so that's an easier conversion. Using a cast iron or heavy steel pot would help with your timing because it takes awhile for those to heat up. Starting with fridge cold ingredients would help too.

There are experts on this on the web. I do low and slow, but I haven't done the walk away for ten hours bit. Warming drawers are also pretty reliable. I've heard a lot of stories about finding it on (empty) a week after using it, and haven't heard of them catching fire. The temperatures we're talking about aren't usually combustion level. The food could dry out and burn, but the appliance shouldn't.

Another possibility might be using a sous vide system. People are using big mason jars in a sous vide bath with an immersion regulator. Amazon has them for under $200. I have the Anova, but I haven't tried any of the jar things. There are a zillion web pages about turning a crockpot into a sous vide cooker, but not vice versa. Anova has some info on their website. Even sous vide, the texture of some meats can be off when left in the bath too long, but you could take something cheap and tough, which traditionally takes hours to cook anyway, and you might even have to start it before breakfast. You could basically do a braise in a bag.

This is all speculative, however, and would require more research.

Do you have a delayed start on your oven? If so get a heavy enamel cast iron pot and put your frozen meat and some raw veggies and a bit of broth in your pot when you leave. Put it in the oven and set it to start maybe at 1 in the afternoon at 350 degrees, and cook for 4 hours and then turn off>
You may have to vary the timing depending on what you are cooking but delayed start allows your meat to thaw a bit and then cook and then sit at a very hot temp for an hour and a half. When you get home, thicken the gra vy, adjust seasonings and maybe add some quick cooking vegetables and you will have dinner.

Simples. Get one of those plugs that has a timer on it, plug your crockpot into that and set it to come on 5 hours before you want your dinner.

You don't want any perishable ingredients (frozen or not) waiting to start cooking while sitting in the Danger Zone - temperatures between 40° and 140°F - for a long period of time -- in order to prevent bacteria growth. The same goes for food that is cooked.

--Some cooking instructions, especially for meat, start the recipe on HIGH, then turn it down to LOW after an hour, in order to assure there is sufficient heat to penetrate the food you are cooking as quickly as possible.

--Adding frozen meat to a slow-cooker in order to have it thaw, then cook, is a very bad idea. It's not a food-safe method for thawing meat: http://web.extension.illinois.edu/meatsafety/thawing.cfm

There are 3 Safe Ways To Defrost Meat:

• In the refrigerator
• In cold water
• In the microwave

In the case of thawing in cold water or with a microwave, it should be cooked immediately after it is thawed.

USDA Food Safety Sheet concerning cooking food in a slow-cooker.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/shared/PDF/Slow_Cookers_and_Food_Safety.pdf

Yet one more: http://www.extension.umn.edu/food/food-safety/preserving/safe-meals/slow-cooker-safety/

--You may need to pre-heat a slow-cooker on high to make sure there is sufficient heat ready to cook meat. If this isn't a practical step to accomplish, you need to bring the cooking liquid (if any) to a simmer and add it to the slow-cooker first, to help assure it is up to cooking temperature quickly.

--Choose recipes/dishes that are high in moisture/liquid the longer the recipes needs to cook.

--Check the owner's manual of your particular cooker for more information. Some suggest you cut meat and poultry into small portions, and don't suggest cooking large cuts of meat or whole chicken. The slow cooker may not heat the large piece of meat quickly enough to avoid a food-safety risk.

--Don’t overfill your slow cooker. Fill it no less than half full and no more than two-thirds full. This is why you may want different sizes of slow-cookers if you are going to depend on them as your primary source for food preparation.

--Follow everyday food-safety procedures: Start with clean equipment. Keep all perishables refrigerated until preparation time. Place leftovers in shallow containers so they will cool quickly, and then refrigerate within 2 hours.

--Check your local library for cookbooks on using Slow-Cookers (aka Crock-Pot). They will have critical information for safe food preparation in them.

-Grainlady

@Rockybird -- I'm sorry that your crockpot made your food taste like metal.

Agree with Grainlady -- go your library, download on kindle, etc some books on slow cooking. I happen to have America's Test Kitchen Healthy Slow Cooker Revolution and Slow Cooker Revolution 2 Easy Prep right now from the library (these are good books -- some recipes a little over the top with prep, but can be adapted to make easier). They recommend Kitchenaid 6-quart slow cooker with solid glass lid -- model ksc6223ss for ~ $100 (the seven quart had "recommended with reservations" in Revolution 2) and also the Hamilton Beach 4-quart for around $30 in the Healthy Cooker book. I think I got my daughter a Hamilton Beach because a) she was unsure if they would use it b) she didn't know if it would fit in her schedule and c) she will tell you she is not that accomplished in cooking. As an aside, the Revolution 2 recommended different high end models (go figure) but still had that little Hamilton 4-quart as a budget recommendation.

They've attempted and been successful with weekend cooking chicken. They tried cooking at night but their first attempt was boneless skinless chicken at eight hours and both found it dry (yep). The other thing I have noticed is that a lot of recipes are significantly shorter than the old school 8 - 10 hours so we've talked about possibly having things prepped to go in slow cooker before coming home from work and cooking during the evening (cool quickly/then refrigerate) I don't know about that option.

Second Grainlady's food safety guidelines.

I also agree with plllog about looking into other methods that may make your life easier. I've tentatively dipped my toe into the world of electric pressure cookers. Depending on
what you like to eat, they can be time savers. I told my daughter that
after I learn a bit more about it, I may recommend. I'm coming close to
that recommendation now.

Also, the one recipe that I know can go for 10 hours without degrading is pulled pork.

Good luck with your efforts. Lots of knowledge from previous posters!

Cathy in SWPA

I recommend looking on eBay for the vintage ceramic Rival crockpots with the glass lids. They're great, and eBay has a ton of them.

I just bought a small (3-cups of dry rice max) Zorijushi rice maker, another great (IMO) gadget. Get the rice going before you leave for work, it switches to warm when done, you can leave it on warm for up to 12 hours, get home from work, salute some veggies and chicken, couple of sprinkles of Tamari sauce (I prefer Tamari to soy), or salute some veggies and garlic, add black beans, cover with chicken or veggie stock, boil down (to cook the beans), add a splash of cider vinegar, and put over the rice.

Yum. Wish they made a ceramic rice maker, though! I use only the paddle that comes with the rice maker.

a piece of frozen meat in a cold cast iron pot in a cold oven will still be well within the safe zone after 4 or 5 hours. The meat that has not yet thawed keeps the thawed meat cold. You are essentially putting it into a closed container with an ice pack.

Thank you so much for the replies!!! They have been incredibly helpful! I think I will give up on the 10-12 hour cooking time and look at a 6 hour cooking time on weekends. If I can learn to safely freeze the food, that might work?

I think I will look into the kitchenaid slow cooker.

I am really paranoid of food poisoning. I have been in the ER several times over the last few years and even admitted twice with it due to intractable vomiting. :( So, I think I will not take a chance with the meat as for whatever reason I am susceptible (or have very bad luck) to food poisoning.

I wish I was into cooking. It would make my life so much easier. I put top of the line appliances into my kitchen (miele, gaggenau) hoping I would start, but I just cant get into it. I think part of it my work schedule. I just dont want to deal with it after working.

Another thought is look out for Jamie Oliver's book on 30 and 15 minute meals. Delicious.

I've owned a couple of 'modern' crock-pots...past tense. I much prefer the old-school Rival ones. I use one that my dad gave me and have one or two back-ups that I've found at rummage sales. You can sometimes find them in new/ slightly used condition and still in the original box.

I believe there are digitally controlled cookers that you can set the start and end times etc. Throw it all in 6am it will start at noon and be done 6pm for example.

Many slow cookers will switch to warm mode when done cooking, and can keep the food warm for hours before auto shut off.

Thank you everyone!!! plllog- I will bookmark this page so I can come back to it for freezing food. I am allergic to eggs, so cant eat them by themselves, but I can eat them cooked in most dishes (noodles, cakes, cookies). I am thinking if I get a kitchen aid slow cooker, I will freeze the meals on weekends following your suggestiona.

Islay Corbel - I'll look for that book on amazon. That will be very useful.

mxyplus and mimipadv - that will helpful for when I cant be home in time to shut it off. Thanks!

Ooh. Sorry to recommend an ick food. :) Do you eat fish? Fish fillets and seafood, like shrimp, cook very fast, if you buy them cleaned and ready to go, and like eggs, have to be done at the right temperature and go weird when overdone. You could learn as much from learning to get that right as from eggs. Give yourself permission to fail, and have something as a backup in mind, even if it's a frozen dinner or PBJ, and then go for it. Learn skin on and skin off, with sauce, fried, poached, etc. Once you have the basic techniques for that, you should be able to cook anything.

Could you use your oven in lieu of a slow cooker? If you don't want to leave your oven on while gone from the house for that long, you could do weekend cooking and freeze.

http://www.thekitchn.com/tips-slow-cooking-without-a-sl-109482

I have a Crockpot Digital Smart Pot 7qt Slow cooker and I can set it on high for 4 or 6 hrs or on low for 8 or 10 hrs. I have used the ten hours to cook a roast for pulled pork or to cook a chuck or arm beef roast. It comes out falling apart tender. At the end of ten hrs., it automatically turns itself to warm and quits cooking. I like to use it for cooking a turkey breast. I can't remember the time required for that and I'm not home now to check. I also use it when I'm short on oven space during the holidays for stuffing. You can purchase these cookers at Target, Wal-Mart, Amazon, etc. and they aren't very expensive. If you are a rice eater, the Zojirushi rice cooker does a fantastic job of cooking and keeping rice warm and moist for hours.

I second Pillog's suggestion of buying a Thermapen. They are a bit pricey, but make such a difference when cooking. I also find that if I don't plan ahead for meals, they usually don't happen.

I would do some research before I bought one of the older/vintage slow cooker models. I believe the university extension people recommend a water test to see if they get to a certain temperature in a certain time frame (food safety) and my older ones failed, so I replaced them.

Good luck with your cooking and do come back.

Just kill me, but I can't even contemplate leaving some cooking electric appliance on when I'm away for a whole day or even for a couple of hours. What is the timer goes wrong? What if something happens to me and I can't make it home on time?

Bulk cooking, portioning and freezing - safe and easy.

Here's a link to Freezer Cooking 101 on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DTHwhby5fA

First time will be difficult, but when you get the hang of it, it's easy as pie.

@wintercat_gw I believe some of the slow cookers have an automatic shut off as a safety feature? That said, your concern is one of the reasons I didn't buy one for my kids cause I know how they think:)

@ rockybird. "I wish I was into cooking." You may actually find you enjoy cooking, but right now have so many competing priorities that time is what you need. I love to cook with my family, with a whole day, with right ingredients on hand, with wine/music; other days, not so much:) Find ways to save time with purchased prepped ingredients, etc. It's fine.

Since you've had incidents of food poisoning, I strongly second/recommend Thermapen. Both my kids have been hospitalized with cyclical vomiting (Zofran anyone?) and it was one of the first items I bought for them as we began to purchase for items for independent living. That's kind of funny now that I write that.

Foodsaver is something to look into. Emily is just starting to cook, and for now is just flat-packing in ziplock bags. Having food in the freezer is a game-changer. Just put it in the fridge to thaw overnight for dinner the next day.

There are a lot of soups, chilis, etc. which are vegetable based. Emily tried for her first salvo in crockpot cooking chicken. Chicken and a jar of salsa, to be exact:) She has some food allergies/intolerances (which sympathetic and knowledgeable posters here have listened to me go on ad nauseam) so she ate it as is, then over rice, then over salad, while her boyfriend added beans and more sriracha. In any event, I sent her this recipe Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Bowls - Budget Bytes

This is the one she used Gimmesomeoven - 2-ingredient-slow-cooker-salsa-chicken-recipe/
That's my girl:)

Although I can't attest to the reliability of ratings, here is a link also that may help you to consider features of slow cookers. I have an old one, but bought Emily for her start in slow cooking the "best bang for your buck" one -- although I don't remember it being that cute damask pattern:) Review of Slow Cookers

Good luck!

Cathy in SWPA

As an aside (and a huge digression and ducking as the great cooks here throw rotten apples at me) but you may also want to look into businesses like Blue Apron. For some, it works.

Blue Apron has its place and takes away the task of shopping and buying bulk/more than you need.

You still need to cook, but the instruction cards surely make it easy.

I'm on Thermapen's mailing list. They often have "sales" when the Thermapen is marked down a bit. Keep and eye on the Cooking Forum and I'll post the next time they have a sale. I've bought Thermapen's for everyone in my family. I use mine for everything!

Will watch for your post!

You can buy 4 Thermopop digital thermometers for what one Thermapen costs. I have the Thermopop and really like it. It's not quite instant read but it is very fast.

Thermoworks Thermopop

edited to correct my math...it's been a loooong day...

I have had several other almost-instant read thermometers, but the Thermapen beats them hands down, in my book.

On a different note, I use Slow Cooker Liners to make clean up easier. At my local grocery, they are in the same area as the Ziploc bags.

@ci_lantro -- I specifically purchased the Thermopop for my 85-year old mom, and she really likes it (which is saying something:). She has with some some serious arthritis, and while opening and closing the Thermapen isn't difficult, I thought the "single stick" Thermopop might be better for her.

Cathy in SWPA

Thanks, Cathy. I know that I would buy another Thermopop if something happened to the one that I have. I think it is a great alternative to its uber-expensive cousin.

Here's Kenji's take:

Serious Eats Thermopop Review

I wanted a good fast read thermometer for grilling and for baking bread. Given that you need to remove the food from the grill and/ or oven to get a good read anyway, 3 or 4 seconds more just is not a Big Deal. To me.

And, the fact is, a C-Note thermometer just isn't in everyone's budget.

Another review:

http://thesweethome.com/reviews/the-best-instant-read-thermometer/

I've had several instant reads, but Thermapen beats them all, hands down. That said, I never use it with a slow cooker.

@ci_lantro -- I read that article too! I guess we're a multi-Thermapen/Pop family:) I was extremely happy when my daughter knew the internal temp that her chicken should be and used her Thermapen as a matter of course. Yep, I casually inquired. I did feel the need to reiterate disinfecting the probe before using again if not to temp -- you know, because that's my job:) My mom really likes the Thermopop. She had one of those clunkers, but finds this super easy to read, to use and to clean:)

@mimpadv -- Digression: heard some pros and cons about Blue Apron (high quality, good instructions, still need prep, package waste, etc.) Like you, I think it has its place/niche. The whole food safety colors my cooking because of past experiences, but I've had some near misses with the tenderness of pulled pork without using Thermapen. I always admire cooks who just "know." As an aside, I really use the Thermapen a lot to measure water temp when poaching chix.

Cathy in SWPA

I need the Thermapen for pork (loin, chops), especially because I'm preparing it med. rare-low med. now. I can usually go by feel with beef.

Blue Apron and its ilk isn't for me. I don't need food delivered for whatever reason, fortunately.

My single neighbor uses it.

Thanks guys! I will no doubt want the thermapen/thermapop. I never want to get food poisoning again. :(

I would like to try some simple cooking, but I'm going to be honest, I just dont have the desire when I get home from work. I have three small parrots and I try to give them one on one attn. when I get home too, and it doesnt leave much time for cooking.

Last night I couldnt bear to eat another tv dinner, so I went to whole foods, but I ended up with too much food for one person. Unfortunately, I lived much of my childhood with my father. All of our meals were eaten out at restaurants. Since he worked so much, he would give me money to order take out at night and filled the freezer with tv dinners. Sometimes he would pick me up and take me out to dinner. To this day, he and my stepmo. eat every meal - breakfast, lunch, dinner - at restaurants. My mother, though, cooked for us a lot with the crockpot. I am so undomesticated, that I didnt even have enough silverware for when my mother visited. :(

I will definitely look into the blue apron! I do have a miele oven miele convection oven, and gaggenau induction cook top, so I really do need to be using them!

Be still my heart! I want your kitchen! You have a Ferrari in the garage and you are driving a skateboard. :-)))))

Do you have a fresh food delivery service there? The healthy alternative to TV dinners? They bring an insulated bag with your day's meals, early every morning. You just heat what needs heating according to directions.

I'm wondering if you started with something like that for weekdays, or just weekday dinners, so you could focus your shopping on ingredients rather than meals, if that would help you ease into cooking. That is, make a sharp line between making your own meals and not, but without having to go out.

The other thing you can do, as you start learning to cook, is figure out how to work around the time you give your birds. I'll say it, though it goes without saying, that you have to wash your hands especially carefully when you go back to food, but you could, for instance, given a plan ready to execute when you get home, do your mise-en-place, bird time, do your sauté, mixing, put in oven, bird time, eat dinner, bird time, coffee and sweet (fruit or dessert).

Another idea, similar to the above, would be to get a private chef in (or housekeeper who cooks), to make you a week's worth of dinners and take advantage of your kitchen, leaving you to cook one or two meals on the weekend.

I promise you, the more you cook, the easier it will be, and the more you'll want to cook because your food will be better than what you can buy going out. But if you're not there, it's okay to let someone else cook for you, at least sometimes.

To me, buying a slow cooker of any brand these days is comparable to buying a washboard to wash clothes. Why not get an electric roaster and have control over your cooking and temps? And have a multi-function unit on top of it. To me, it's the cliché "no-brainer". After using the roaster just a few times I threw out the slow cookers, including the supposedly great Crock-pot with glass lid that had the choice of not hot enough and boiling so you constantly had to switch it back and forth.

With any unit you can seldom fill it and leave it all day unattended if you want a good result. Things need to be stirred, or have moisture added/removed, rearranged or whatever. I'm no gourmet but the food that comes out of an unattended slow cooker is always TV dinner quality (at best) from everyone whose food I've tried.

If I had to be away all day and wanted something fast, I'd look toward a pressure cooker rather than slow cooker. JM2¢W

You make a good point. I have recently replaced my slow cooker for the Philips multi-cooker that does rice, slow cooking, roasting etc. It isn't a pressure cooker, but I'm scared of them ;)

True. The crockpot was invented for making cholent, Jewish bean stew that used to be put in the coals of the village baker's oven before the Sabbath started Friday night to cook overnight and be ready for midday dinner. The point was to replicate that in a modern, safe, electric appliance. :)

Thank you guys!!! I decided I am going to start with ground turkey! I just need to get another pan and also a casserole dish first as I only have one pan. I found some recipes online for pasta, casserole, and a mexican dish. It looks like the recipes are very quick...10-20 mins. Plus, I can freeze the ground turkey for 3-4 mos safely. I think this is a good start to cooking?

Sounds like a good start. If the Mexican or any other dish contains beans, please take note of the following:

"Raw kidney beans, and to a lesser extent some other beans (such as broad/fava beans), contain the toxin phytohaemagglutinin, which is destroyed by boiling, but not by the lower temperatures of a slow cooker, so dry beans must be boiled at 100 °C (212 °F) for 30 minutes prior to slow cooking,[7] or alternatively soaked in water overnight, discarding the water and then boiled for at least 10 minutes. Even a few beans can be toxic, and beans can be as much as five times more toxic if cooked at 80 °C (176 °F) than if eaten raw,[8] so adequate pre-boiling is vital. Cases of poisoning by slow-cooked beans have been published in the UK; poisoning has occurred in the USA but has not been formally reported."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_cooker#History

The first thing you have to do is learn how to cook. even if you buy pre-chopped or pre-prepped foods to "throw into the crockpot",

A lot of recipes require prepping and pre-cooking, so you really need to know cooking and food prep basics.

I'm sure there are adult education cooking classes nearby. Possibly even some that specialize in crockpot cooking. And there are plenty of demos online.

You may enjoy cooking more than you realize

Bon Apetit.

I was going to make the same suggestion as momj47. Take a beginner cooking class. They cover very simple dishes, roasted chicken, fish fillets, rice, veggies and some stir fries. I don't like food cooked in a crock pot personally. I cook everything from scratch and I enjoy cooking so on Sunday I have a cooking marathon of meals for the week. One of my favorite cookbooks is from Donna Hay. Most of the recipes have less than 10 ingredients and they take just about 30minutes to cook. I also love her magazine.

Good luck!

FWIW one thing that few people using slow cookers know and far fewer observe is you should be careful to fill it at least 1/2 full, but no more than 3/4 full. Under-filled you risk burning things and overfilled the slow cooker isn't powerful enough to bring it to safe temperature quickly enough nor can it maintain the temperature properly. A roaster oven doesn't suffer this problem nor do most of the multi-cooker options.

Yes, that sounds like a good way to start.

Do you know about safe handling of poultry? There's the potential of a lot of bad bacteria which you have to be careful about. Try to get all your utensils and everything ready to go first. Transfer the ground turkey to your pan carefully, so you don't get drips and spatter around the kitchen, and dispose of the packaging immediately. Wash your hands so you won't spread turkey ick. Make sure the turkey is completely cooked as you're browning it. It's really easy not to contaminate the kitchen, once you're in the habit.

Congrats on buying pans! It's a shame to have such a lovely kitchen and no pans! :D

There are so many very very simple things that will allow you to get a meal on the table 20 minutes after you get home.
If you don't want to do the long slow cook thing....there are a million things you can do with a piced of meat and a fry pan and 10 minutes, from chicken breast, to thighs, tpo fish filet to minute steak, hamburger....eggs etc.
do you know anyone who would walk you through a few meals....like a sautéed chicken breast a potato baked in the micro and some mixed greens sprinkled with balsamic and a little olive oil?
Things like hamburger browned in a pan, a can of pinto beans drained and a can of rotel....add some tortilla chips
A bag of shredded lettuce, some browned hamburger a can of rotel and shredded cheese on a tortilla.
Times when I have been super busy and had a husband and kids to feed, we lived on steaks, chops, fish filets and hot dogs.
And if you really don't want to cook there are lost of frozen ready to eat foods that are lots better than a TV dinner. Check out Trader Jo's
I know one woman who doesn't cook and she lives on fruit, yogurt, frozen cooked and shelled shrimp, rice cakes, bagged greens and bottled salad dressing and good artesan bread.

You guys are the best! Thank you for all the tips!! plllog - I will be careful with the turkey to avoid food poisoning. I havent bought any yet but I will try this weekend to get some. linda92-Great ideas! Thank you very much!!! Homepro001- I will look her recipes up. They sound perfect! wintercat_gw - thanks! I think I will stick with canned beans then! :)

Rockybird,

One other item to consider is a pressure cooker. It makes cooking of many items like beans a simple and fast task. They now sell electric pressure cookers. I have the Fissler which is a stove top based unit.

Good luck!

I would not stress very much at all about cooking. I use a crock pot quite often and am pleased with them. I have several, different sizes, have two big electric roasters, that are seldom used. One crock pot does have the automatic setting, but have seldom used it. I have pressure cookers too, big and small. Get a good cookbook on cooking simply and start from there. Fix what you like. A lot of things people post they cook, I would not probably like, but to each his own. Make it simple and it will be good. Ask your friends and family for their recipes that you like. Best of luck.

Sue who is running fast towards 81! and has been cooking most of that time :)