Dianna Grey - Weight Control with Slow Cooking: 40 Low Carb and Gluten-Free Recipes for Your Crockpot that are Budget-Friendly, Creative and Easy to Make

Weight Control with Slow Cooking:

40 Low Carb and Gluten-Free Recipes for Your Crockpot that are Budget-Friendly, Creative and Easy to Make

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You must do the thing you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt

C ooking in a slow cooker is one of the best ways to get the moistest meat, the tastiest vegetables and the healthiest meals. Its never too late to start eating healthy and making great choices. I have a hard time eating roasts and other meaty meals that have not been put in my slow cooker, simply because the taste is unbeatable!

When your goal is to cook an inexpensive, delicious and healthy meal, the slow cooker is a great choice! Start early if you have an idea but wont have time later to cook. In fact, if you leave your cooker on for eight hours while you are gone to work, you wont have to do anything! Essentially, your whole meal will take your prep time. And many slow cooked meals consist of quick preparation of cutting, slicing, dicing and adding to the cooker, where it will do all the work for you.

Choose healthy vegetables, good cuts of meat and dont forget you can bake breads in a slow cooker. Your desserts will come out fluffy and delectable when you use your crockpot.

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All normal people love meat ... You dont win friends with salad. Homer Simpson

I n this chapter, I will help you to:

• Choosing healthy alternatives to high-fat foods.
• Choose the right meats, vegetables and fruits for your meals.

Basics about Slow Cookers

• Size Always use the right size cooker for the recipe you are making. A large cooker will not cook your small meals as well as a mini cooker.
• Time is money. When you can save time cooking, its always the better option. Slow cooked meals end up tasting absolutely scrumptious and all youve had to do is spend a little time on preparation. The slow cooker does all the work while you are free to do whatever else you need or want to do.
• Slow cooking tenderizes meat.
• Slow cookers are usually not very expensive. Even a decent sized slow cooker will probably not cost more than about $30 to $40.
• Youll never get bored cooking with a slow cooker. This book contains breakfasts, dinners and desserts and there are many, many more to be found.

Basics about Eating Healthy

• Make the most of your grains. Switch to refined instead of whole grain. Whole wheat is a better option to white. Its also a good idea to read the ingredients of each product you use. Its good if you see words like bulgur, rolled oats, quinoa, wild rice and whole wheat.
• Use a fat-free or low-fat milk. One or two percent is better than whole milk.
• Use leaner cuts of meat to get the excellent protein that will not give off excess fat. This includes chicken breast, turkey breast and 90% or higher ground beef.
• You can use broth instead of water but water is always good for you, too.
• Eat fewer foods that have solid fats. This means to cut back on butter, shortening or margarine.

Tricks to Make Your Slow Cooking Even Better

Here are a few tricks you can use to make your meals better than you ever imagined.

• Plan well ahead of time. If you know what ingredients youre going to need and how long it will take to do your prep work, you will save even more time than you expect.
• Cut your meat into smaller pieces if you can, so that they will cook all the way through.
• Try not to add any frozen ingredients. Refrigerate and let thaw the ingredients you plan to add to your meal.
• The bigger your meal, the cheaper it will be. How can this be? Because if you make a large batch of food, you can store and freeze your meals and reheat them later.
• To make a delicious pie, press the pie crust to the bottom of the cooker. If your cooker is bigger than the pie crust, use two and press them together so that the crust is even.
• Cooking cheaper cut meats in your slow cooker will make them taste like the most expensive cuts, especially when you follow a recipe and use the right spices, herbs and vegetables.
• Use your low setting more often than high, if you can. The longer the meal cooks, the more flavorful it will be.
• You dont need to keep checking to see how your meal is coming along. In fact, you can often see through the clear lid for an idea. But dont keep lifting the lid. You add even more time to the cooking by letting out the heat.
• Your vegetables will take longer than the meat to cook so make sure they are on the bottom, closer to the heat.

Heres a quick reference list for cooking times:

When a meal usually takes

30 minutes to cook = 2 hours on high, 4 hours on low

30 to 1 hour = 3 hours on high, 6 hours on low

1 to 2 hours = 4 hours on high, 8 hours on low

2 to 4 hours = 6 hours on high, 12 hours on low

S ugar substitutes

In some recipes brown sugar is used. Though sometimes I tend to leave the recipe as it is, I also found ways on how to reduce the number of calories by substituting brown and regular sugar with healthier options. Here are some of them:

1. The easiest way is to substitute brown sugar with its healthier equivalent that has the same texture and flavor. Organic brown sugar will be your best option. Only around 15 calories per 1 tablespoon (4g)
2. Sucanat can also be used in baking and it doesnt require any size modifications. Just replace one cup of brown sugar with one cup of Sucanat.