Beef Stew

If, like me, you bought a crockpot some years ago, used it for a while, then stuck it away, it's time to retrieve it. Your crockpot is the perfect appliance to put to work in the kitchen to save you money on your grocery budget. Clear a spot on your kitchen counter and let's put that crockpot to work!

But, first, consider the condition of your crockpot. If you have forgotten exactly when you bought your crockpot, or it has a pattern or color that's reminiscent of decades past, you should buy a new one. You will be saving money when you spend money because you'll have a more energy efficient model. Let's look at the other ways that using your crockpot will save you money:

Beef Stew

Small Appliance Equals Small Wattage

Certain dishes, like beef stew, pot roasts, and soups, are usually cooked for a pretty long period of time. If you're using your oven for, say 3 hours, that's about 10 kWh for that meal. Cooking the same pot roast in a crockpot for, say 6 hours, will take about 1.2 kWh. That's simply based on your oven wattage of roughly 2500 versus your crockpot wattage of roughly 200. It just makes sense using a smaller appliance for such a long cooking period. Check out your appliance wattage and energy consumption using any of the energy consumption calculators online and see if you don't agree.

Budget Cuts Of Meat Are Perfect

It's time to try some of those budget cuts of meat again. This time, when you cook them in your crockpot instead of the oven, the meat will fall right off the bone and you can cut it with a fork. The sinew and tissue breaks down nicely when cooked with a low, slow method of the crockpot. Cooking the meat with some liquid added also adds to the tender results. An expensive, tender cut of meat won't cook as well in your crockpot. If you've been avoiding the less expensive cuts of meat, now is the time to try again. No more disasters, because they're not going in the oven.

No More Drive Thru Fast Food

Your family is rushing home from work and school, and there's nothing for dinner. You make a quick stop at the drive-thru, plunk down a huge pile of money and think "there's got to be a better plan." Well, there is. You work too hard for that money to throw it away on bad food. How about instead, you plan a meal, prepare it ahead of time and throw it in the crockpot in the morning? Now, you have time for the evening routine, without worrying about that anguished cry, "what's for dinner?" The fast food joints can get along just fine without your money.

Stop Stressing Your Air Conditioner

When the weather turns hot and steamy, you don't need to add any more heat to your house by cooking a meal. With the air conditioner running, it seems foolish to start heating your oven or stove top. Unfortunately, I can't live on salads all summer long. There comes a time when my family and I want a hot meal, even in the summer. Having the crockpot cooking away on the counter top doesn't heat up the kitchen, and we get a hearty meal, without stressing out our air conditioner.

Cook With Leftovers In Mind

Cooking once and eating twice is my motto. With a large crockpot full of chili, roast beef, or spaghetti, I have lunches for the next few days. Also, with large portions, I can put a couple servings in the freezer for nights when we need a meal in a hurry. Avoiding a quick stop at the grocery store always saves money; you'd be surprised how many items you buy on impulse. This simple method of cooking large portions can save any family a lot of money each month on the grocery budget.

Isn't it time you put your crockpot to work for you? When you see the money savings start to add up, you'll be glad you did. Grab a few crockpot recipes, make out your shopping list, and start saving money today with this one, simple kitchen appliance.

Crockpot Cooking and Your Family Budget - Surprising Ways This Appliance Saves You Money

Visit HillbillyHousewife.com at http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/ to find helpful information for cooking delicious meals on a budget. You can start saving both time and money today with the Hillbilly Housewife's informative new guide, CROCKPOT COOKING MADE SIMPLE. Click on the following link to get your copy now and start enjoying tasty family-pleasing meals today: http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/ebooks/crockpotcooking.htm

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As I embark on my new journey to learn all about internet marketing I am amazed at what I have found. There are countless websites which share a common theme - preserving family history, stories, memories and recipes. It's exciting to find there are so many others out there who also value the importance of capturing as much of their family heritage as possible.

The recipes we gather from our mothers and grandmothers are more than just a list of ingredient and instructions as to how to put them together. These family recipes are a direct link to our past. They are also an integral part of our memories as we associate them with certain occasions or holidays.

I remember asking my grandmother to write down some of her best recipes. This was years ago around 1987. To this day when I read one of her recipes written in her own handwriting it makes me smile. I can hear her sweet voice saying the words she wrote. As in her recipe for Lemon Sponge Pie: "This is a very old recipe and has a most delicate flavor." What a treasure that is!

My grandmother, Elizabeth, was German-Hungarian. There were so many recipes she made with dumplings and noodles which came from her mother, Anna, who brought them over from the "old country." Sometimes when I make these recipes I imagine my great grandmother making the same recipe. The only difference is hers was cooked on coal/wood stove. I'm told the tastes of foods prepared this way had an extra special flavor.

When I eat these old fashioned favorites it takes me back to "dinner at grandmom's." What a treat it was to feast on the wonderful food she prepared for us! The recipes I have included are a typical meal my grandmother would make. Yum! How lucky we are to have these family recipes which connect us to our past and recall such treasured memories! Below are a few of our family favorite ethnic recipes as well as the Lemon Sponge Pie recipe. Enjoy!

Hungarian Goulash

Put 1 tablespoon oil in a pan. Finely slice 1 large onion and fry in oil until golden brown. Add 3 teaspoons paprika. Stir it around and add the meat. You can use about a pound of chicken, beef or veal. We always like breast and shank of veal. Add a piece of green pepper, a stalk of celery, a tomato (fresh or canned), 1 bay leaf and 2 cloves. Salt and pepper to taste. Steam the meat until it draws juice. Then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour on the meat. Add 1 or 2 cups of water and simmer until tender. This usually takes about 2 hours. Add 1 or 2 diced potatoes for the last 1/2 hour. I like to serve this with rice, noodles or bread dumplings. This is a simple but very delicious meal!

Bread Dumplings

Toast 2 slices of bread and cut into small cubes. Take 1 cup flour, 1 egg, pinch of salt and enough water to make a soft dough. Mix in a small bowl. When smooth, stir in the bread cubes and mix well. Have a pot of boiling water ready to which you have added a teaspoon of salt. Use a tablespoon to cut spoonfuls of dough and drop into the boiling water. Cook until the dumplings float and are done. Take them out of the water with a slotted spoon and drain. Pour a little melted butter over them (about 1/4 cup). Delicious served with goulash, beef stew or pot roast. Serves 4. This recipe may be doubled.

Lemon Sponge Pie

2 eggs, separated

1 lemon

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

Mix sugar, flour and egg yolks in a bowl. Mix in lemon juice squeezed form 1 lemon. Add soft butter and grated rind of the lemon. Add milk. Mix well. Beat egg whites. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Pour into an unbaked pie crust (recipe below). Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. This is a very old recipe and has a most delicate flavor.

Pie Crust: Take 1/4 cup butter, 2 tablespoons boiling water and a pinch of salt and beat with a wire whisk until it is the consistency of heavy cream. Add 1 cup flour. Mix with a fork until crumbly. If too soft add more flour. Form a ball and roll out making a round crust to fit into pie plate. Trim edges to make them even and flute by pressing between your fingers. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until pale brown.

Carrie J. Gamble is co-author, editor and publisher of Grandmother's Cookbook, a collection of recipes, treasured memories, wildflower watercolors and feelings from the heart. Details about the cookbook and more delicious recipes of Carrie's grandmother, Elizabeth Rose von Hohen, can be found on their website. You'll experience "living life the old fashioned way" with Grandmother's Cookbook. Visit the website and download FREE recipes and "A Family Love Letter" chapter at http://www.grandmotherscookbook.com Enjoy!

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One of the easiest methods of getting dinner on the table quickly is with one of the smaller appliances that cook the slowest. What is this wonder appliance? Your crock pot slow cooker of course. There is a multitude of interesting and delicious crock pot recipes available these days. Keep your family well fed and looking forward to coming to the dinner table. By using your crock pot to prepare your meals, you can start it all in the morning and have supper waiting when you come home.

Just about everyone has slow cooked a nice beef stew, in fact it's one of the most searched for crock pot recipes online. How about trying something different with your crock pot? If you and your family love Asian food, then there is a great Asian crock pot recipe out there to suit your taste and interest. We've included three Asian style crock pot recipes below. Give one a try this week and treat your family to a new favorite meal for dinner.

Chinese Pepper Steak

1-1/2 lbs boneless beef round steak

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 cup sauce

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tomato, chopped

2 red or green bell peppers, cut into strips

3 tbsp cornstarch

3 tbsp water

1 cup fresh bean sprouts

4 scallions, finely chopped

First, trim fat from steak and slice into thin strips. Mix together steak, garlic, salt, pepper, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and sugar in your crock pot. Cover and cook on low about 8 hours. 30 minutes before cooking time is done, set your crock pot on high. Add tomato and bell peppers. Dissolve cornstarch in water in small bowl; stir into steak mixture. Cover and cook for 30 minutes or until thickened. Stir in bean sprouts. Sprinkle with onions. Serve with rice.

Chicken Chow Mein

1 tbsp oil

1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

4 carrots, thinly sliced

4 green onions, sliced

3 stalks celery, sliced

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

1 tbsp granulated sugar

1/3 cup light soy sauce

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 clove garlic, crushed

8 oz bean sprouts

8 oz water chestnuts, sliced

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup water

Brown the chicken in skillet. Put chicken pieces in crock pot and then add all ingredients except cornstarch and water. Stir and cover; cook on low for 8 - 10 hours. Set crock pot to high and combine cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl; stir until dissolved. Stir into the crock pot liquids. Keeping cover slightly ajar to allow steam to escape, cook until thickened, about 15 to 30 minutes. Serve over rice or with chow mein noodles.

Szechuan Pork

1-1/2 lbs boneless pork chops

1 - 8 oz can bamboo shoots, drained

1 - 8 oz can water chestnuts, drained

6 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup Szechuan hot bean sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce

2-1/2 tbsp minced fresh ginger

2 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry

4 tsp sesame oil

4 tsp sugar

8 cloves garlic, minced

Trim chops of excess fat and brown on both sides in a skillet on the stovetop. Place chops in the bottom of the crock pot and cover with bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and green onions. Combine remaining ingredients together in a bowl and pour over vegetables. Cook on low for 8 hours or until chops are tender and cooked through. Serve hot with cooked rice.

Get out of the kitchen fast with easy crock pot recipes that your family will love from 'Family Crock Pot Recipes' http://familycrockpotrecipes.com

Find quick and easy family recipes and meal planning articles at 'Quick and Easy Family Recipes' http://quickandeasyfamilyrecipes.com

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As I embark on my new journey to learn all about internet marketing I am amazed at what I have found. There are countless websites which share a common theme - preserving family history, stories, memories and recipes. It's exciting to find there are so many others out there who also value the importance of capturing as much of their family heritage as possible.

The recipes we gather from our mothers and grandmothers are more than just a list of ingredient and instructions as to how to put them together. These family recipes are a direct link to our past. They are also an integral part of our memories as we associate them with certain occasions or holidays.

I remember asking my grandmother to write down some of her best recipes. This was years ago around 1987. To this day when I read one of her recipes written in her own handwriting it makes me smile. I can hear her sweet voice saying the words she wrote. As in her recipe for Lemon Sponge Pie: "This is a very old recipe and has a most delicate flavor." What a treasure that is!

My grandmother, Elizabeth, was German-Hungarian. There were so many recipes she made with dumplings and noodles which came from her mother, Anna, who brought them over from the "old country." Sometimes when I make these recipes I imagine my great grandmother making the same recipe. The only difference is hers was cooked on coal/wood stove. I'm told the tastes of foods prepared this way had an extra special flavor.

When I eat these old fashioned favorites it takes me back to "dinner at grandmom's." What a treat it was to feast on the wonderful food she prepared for us! The recipes I have included are a typical meal my grandmother would make. Yum! How lucky we are to have these family recipes which connect us to our past and recall such treasured memories! Below are a few of our family favorite ethnic recipes as well as the Lemon Sponge Pie recipe. Enjoy!

Hungarian Goulash

Put 1 tablespoon oil in a pan. Finely slice 1 large onion and fry in oil until golden brown. Add 3 teaspoons paprika. Stir it around and add the meat. You can use about a pound of chicken, beef or veal. We always like breast and shank of veal. Add a piece of green pepper, a stalk of celery, a tomato (fresh or canned), 1 bay leaf and 2 cloves. Salt and pepper to taste. Steam the meat until it draws juice. Then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour on the meat. Add 1 or 2 cups of water and simmer until tender. This usually takes about 2 hours. Add 1 or 2 diced potatoes for the last 1/2 hour. I like to serve this with rice, noodles or bread dumplings. This is a simple but very delicious meal!

Bread Dumplings

Toast 2 slices of bread and cut into small cubes. Take 1 cup flour, 1 egg, pinch of salt and enough water to make a soft dough. Mix in a small bowl. When smooth, stir in the bread cubes and mix well. Have a pot of boiling water ready to which you have added a teaspoon of salt. Use a tablespoon to cut spoonfuls of dough and drop into the boiling water. Cook until the dumplings float and are done. Take them out of the water with a slotted spoon and drain. Pour a little melted butter over them (about 1/4 cup). Delicious served with goulash, beef stew or pot roast. Serves 4. This recipe may be doubled.

Lemon Sponge Pie

2 eggs, separated

1 lemon

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

Mix sugar, flour and egg yolks in a bowl. Mix in lemon juice squeezed form 1 lemon. Add soft butter and grated rind of the lemon. Add milk. Mix well. Beat egg whites. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Pour into an unbaked pie crust (recipe below). Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. This is a very old recipe and has a most delicate flavor.

Pie Crust: Take 1/4 cup butter, 2 tablespoons boiling water and a pinch of salt and beat with a wire whisk until it is the consistency of heavy cream. Add 1 cup flour. Mix with a fork until crumbly. If too soft add more flour. Form a ball and roll out making a round crust to fit into pie plate. Trim edges to make them even and flute by pressing between your fingers. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until pale brown.

Carrie J. Gamble is co-author, editor and publisher of Grandmother's Cookbook, a collection of recipes, treasured memories, wildflower watercolors and feelings from the heart. Details about the cookbook and more delicious recipes of Carrie's grandmother, Elizabeth Rose von Hohen, can be found on their website. You'll experience "living life the old fashioned way" with Grandmother's Cookbook. Visit the website and download FREE recipes and "A Family Love Letter" chapter at http://www.grandmotherscookbook.com Enjoy!

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Family traditions are one of the most important things that can be transmitted to your children. In turn, guide their children and soon the family can not even remember where he was born - but everyone respects the traditions.

This cohesion within the family, not only to reach the birth parents, but also those who join the family by marriage. This allows families working in coordination with each other. If you think you have no tradition of family -request that the adult children of your family - most of us are surprised by the response. Even if you do not know what they are, usually, your children can remember things that make a family tradition. strengthen these customs and traditions of the family, and your heart warm.

In our family - we have a tradition of black-pot - it goes like this:

As far as anyone can remember - was always the same place. My grandmother thought thatthere, and his mother, and her mother before her. They were treated like a piece of art value. Although many houses as he passed underneath, he was always on top of the refrigerator of the oldest matriarch.

The Iron Pot Black was launched size - seemed to weigh a ton. It 's always been a groan of one who was to take his perch. the time when each family member of a small child, we learned what it means when it was appropriate on the stove.

There were only two reasons to start that big pot. Or someone is married or buried. The boys used to joke that it was the same - but the mothers never found it very funny. This meant that there was a pot family reunion. Uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews - all people who almost never seen, appeared at the end of the day. And the stew is ready. A long list of family time, house of beef> Stew, biscuits, real butter and jam - that's how we met the family.

When the stew to cook, we said that if there was a wedding or a funeral, but no words. The grandmother pulled the old record player and we heard an Elvis Presley increases. When my grandmother sang "Nearer My God to Thee" We knew that family member of a home to be with Jesus walked. Every song was a first marriage. There was no problem to know what was the grandmotherHe said the "old school" where you say what you mean. As a grandmother and another out of his place as guardian of the matriarch and pot the black, took the news the same person. When the jar was placed in service, playing the same record, singing the song when in the mood for the home.

When people started in the afternoon, arriving in half, the stew was done - were the cookies from the oven at the same time, theSwing door began. Braces rarely seen by aunts and uncles came first, then the cousins "conversations about who was the highest, get the best grades, and everything we could think of killing time. Soon Grand mother was in the door and shouted:" Soup "- we are all lined up in the dining room. Sure, there were not enough chairs, but there were many dishes. grandmother employees, coverage of a cookie in the bottom of each bowl, and with manyBeef stew. Only a buffet with bowls and swallowing. All the while the men were on one side of the room as to make an important decision. Talk, which requires the blessing - it was really an academic debate - is the oldest man, who was praying. It 'was a very ancient tradition and probably because some old come, even if you do not feel - they hoped to lead the prayer.

During the prayer was the first time someone has said, byAccording to what has been collected. Those who led, was responsible for bringing to the attention of the Lord that we were all there. This was the confirmation of our family. Common prayer, the family tradition that we had and we all know how important it was. Nobody - from youngest to oldest - except about the prayer. We kept my head down and eyes closed, this is what we have learned and should be - until it's time to say "Amen" was, which was repeated by all awesomein the room.

After the prayer was over, we got the food company - said he sent - or at meetings of the alien among us. One who is always ready, our family was saved - it was time to learn our tradition. However, this party was, they went home to the Lord, or should be somebody to marry.

Soon, black-pot was washed, the fridge and put it back on top. Againservice in advance.

Sometimes we forget the importance of tradition and we are all family members. They are the backbone of our childhood memories, is a wonderful thing, traditions and customs, to transmit to our children.

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