The Crockpot is your Best Friend

If you have no time to cook, but you'd like dinner to be ready the moment you walk in the door, the crockpot is your best friend! The crockpot is wonderfully well-suited to preparing whole grains and legumes that require long, slow cooking. It's perfect for dishes like soups and stews, too. These taste great on a cool autumn afternoon! Here are some easy make-ahead meals for the crockpot that you can prepare the night before, let cook on low all day, and have ready for dinner the minute you walk in the door. Notice that all of these recipes follow a common pattern: the night before, you start the ingredient(s) that require long cooking (like beans or tough stew meat). Before you go to bed, you add the other ingredients and turn the crockpot to low. Your dinner cooks all night and the next day, and is ready when you are. Once you understand this pattern, you can adapt similar recipes to the basic method, making it easy to fix dinner ahead, with only minimal effort.
Baked Beans with Ham. About 6 or 7 pm the night before, put ingredients 1 C dry white beans and 3 C water in crockpot and turn to high. Before you go to bed, drain the beans, set to low, and add 3/4 C catsup, 1/4 C molasses, and 1 tsp dry mustard. In the morning, check and add water if necessary. Let cook on low all day.
Chili. About 6 or 7 pm the night before, put ingredients 1 C dry pinto or kidney beans and 3 C water in crockpot and turn to high. Before you go to bed, drain the beans, set to low, and add 1 large can stewed tomatoes, 1 lb cooked, crumbled hamburger, and chili powder, cumin, and garlic to taste.
Beef Barley Stew. The night before you want to serve the stew, put 1-2 lbs stew meat,1 can mixed vegetables,1/3 C dry barley, beef bouillon to taste, and 1 quart water in the crockpot on low. In the morning, add 1/2 T cornstarch that's been mixed with a little water. Let cook on low all day.