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

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Got lettuce? Most people would be surprised to learn that lettuce is an excellent food for maintaining healthy bones.

America's favorite leafy green vegetable is an excellent source of vitamin K. This vitamin activates an enzyme that is needed to "glue" new bone in place on a protein called osteocalcin. When vitamin K levels are adequate, osteocalcin circulates in a form that sticks to bone. When vitamin K levels are low, osteocalcin does not stay in place in bone and there is increased risk of fractures.

A ten-year study of women aged 38 to 74 found that the amount of lettuce a woman needs to eat to keep bones strong is not a lot-one serving a day is enough to lower women's risk of hip fractures by forty five percent. Two servings a day or more has no additional effect, and it's only fair to note that not every bone seems to be strengthened by vitamin K. It does not reduce the risk of broken wrists and forearms, only fractures of the hip and spine. Women who take estrogen replacement therapy do not get an additional benefit from eating lots of foods that are rich in vitamin K (lettuce, both iceberg and romaine, broccoli, and oil and vinegar salad dressings).

The lettuces are also a great source of beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene, and zeaxanthin. Maximum amounts of beta-carotene are found in meals that combine romaine and one or more servings of were beef stew, cantaloupe, carrots, spinach, tomato, vegetable juices, mixed meat dishes (casseroles), winter squash, or Cheddar cheese. (It is not necessary to eat all of these foods at one time, just a serving of one or two of the foods on the list.)

Maximum amounts of lutein are found in meals that combine either iceberg or romaine with broccoli, carrots, celery, eggs, greens, oranges or orange juice, or tomatoes. Maximum amounts of lycopene are found in any meal including tomato, especially tomatoes cooked in a little bit of oil, or ketchup, tomato juice, tomato soup, ketchup, and watermelon, combined with one or more servings of apricots, grapefruit, lasagna, persimmons, or pizza. Zeaxanthin is provided mostly by carrots, corn, corn bread, eggs, oranges and orange juice, peaches, and spinach. Lettuce helps fill in the nutrient gaps for all four of these important nutrients.

Why should you care? Lutein protects against colon cancer in both men and women. If you develop colon cancer, the more lutein you consume, the more likely the tumor is to be located where the surgeon can remove it without removing a long section of your colon. If you smoke, lutein is even more important for your colon health than if you don't. And getting lutein is as simple as salad, plus a serving a day of any of the either other foods listed above, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, oranges and orange juice, celery, greens, or eggs.

The most important thing to remember about lettuce is that it doesn't really keep. Although no one really knows the effect of storage on other nutrients, clinical research at INRAN in Rome has found that bloodstream levels of vitamin C and other antioxidants increase sharply after eating freshly picked lettuce. They do not go up after eating salad greens that have been stored in gas-filled bags for a week or more, the way it is sold in bagged salads. At the very least, never eat lettuce that is limp or brown along the edges. Browning is a sure sign the antioxidant content of the lettuce has been depleted.

Read about Fruit, Vegetables & Breast Cancer. Robert Rister is the author or co-author of nine books on natural health.

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