Fine Old Recipes

The virtues of low fat crock pot recipes are many. The crock pot, first introduced in the 1970s, has gone in and out of kitchen fashion several times over the years. The crock pot has some devotees for whom it has never gone out of style. This simple and handy appliance is worth a spot on your counter for a number of reasons.

Due to the way slow cookers work, almost all dishes are low fat. Crock pot recipes are also some of the easiest you’ll find. Among its other sterling characteristics is the fact that you can spend 10 minutes in the morning, filling it with healthy and simply prepared ingredients, and go on your way. Requiring zero attention, dinner is cooked and ready to eat when you come home.

If you’re cooking a roast or poultry, the crock pot method requires some chopped vegetables and a bit of water or broth as the base upon which you set the meat. So you’ve got the veggie aspect covered. Your dinner prep now involves little more than a loaf of bread and you’re all set. One of the finest virtues of this cooking technique is that no matter what your choice of food, low-fat crock pot recipes are the norm rather than the exception. Whatever fat is in the meat ends up in the broth, while the meat remains juicy.

Even if you choose to make gravy, your crock pot almost forces the definition of a low fat crock pot recipe upon you. You strain off the fat and have your gravy too!

Let’s say you’re cooking a whole chicken. Chop up an onion, a couple of potatoes and toss in some baby carrots. Place the chicken on top and let it cook. The fat from the chicken ends up in the broth, while the chicken is as tender as can be. Remove the chicken and set aside. Use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables. All that’s left is the broth. A fat separating measuring cup makes it a quick job of separating the fat from the broth.

If you want gravy (and who doesn’t?), just a couple of tablespoons, combined with an equal amount of flour is mixed with a whisk, right in the crock pot until you have a roux. Slowly add enough de-fatted broth to make a gravy of the preferred consistency. Voila! A low fat crock pot recipe, with gravy! You can follow the same basic technique with a chuck roast.

Those who wish to adhere to a low fat diet program can thus have their cake and eat it too. It doesn’t get any better than that.

So what do you do with the excess fat you’ve skimmed off?  You’ll surely be wanting some gravies for special dinners. Freeze the saved fat in ice cube trays. Once frozen, transfer the cubes to a freezer bag. When you want gravy, these flavorful fats are at your fingertips. When adults on restricted low fat diets, might pass on gravy over their meatloaf, voracious teens and other non dieting family members can enjoy the rich gravies you saved from your low fat crock pot recipes!

Budget-friendly Family Dinner Recipe Ideas

You have doubtless noticed that every time you go shopping, your bill is higher and the number of bags you leave with are fewer than just a month ago. The prices of staple items, such as sugar, bread, coffee and butter jump every week, to a new high. Last week, you might have said, “This is ridiculous!” This week, it’s just downright depressing. Nonetheless, you know that somehow, you’ve got to manage, but it’s getting harder.

Here are some inexpensive family dinner recipe ideas that will help you manage your food budget and not bore the family to tears. Even your kids will find these recipe ideas tasty and fun.

Back in the 1950s, casseroles were a favorite family dinner recipe idea. Mom was very clever in disguising a couple of cans of tuna, cream of mushroom soup, noodles, a package of frozen peas and a few crushed potato chips as a topping. This was the famous tuna casserole, simple to make and very inexpensive. This dish deserves a revival in today’s kitchen. Perhaps it’s the chips, browned in the oven as a crispy garnish, that made it so popular with kids. This casseroles is so versatile, in that you can substitute any meat, soup and veggie. Just leave the noodles and potato chips intact and you’ve got a generic, budget-friendly and ever popular family dinner recipe.

Now the price of many meats has hit that benchmark of ridiculous. Fortunately, chicken is still something you can toss in the shopping cart without having a heart attack over the price. It’s also a happy fact that chicken is also one of those family dinner recipe ideas you can work and rework in so many ways. Most kids like chicken too. A whole chicken can be stuffed with a rice filling or conventional stuffing and baked. Fried chicken is cheap and easy. With one chicken, you can make a huge pot of chicken soup. Leftover chicken becomes a taco, enchilada, chef’s salad, or tomorrow’s sandwich. Don’t forget that generic casserole we talked about.

Rice and pasta are still bargains, compared with a jar of peanut butter or a gallon of milk. These grains can form the basis of dozens of family dinner recipes that keep your food budget in line. Both provide good opportunities to use up leftover bits of meat and veggies, so you’ll not waste your food money on a frig ‘science project’. Whole grain pasta and brown or wild rice provide substantial amounts of fiber and extra nutrients, so keep that in mind. If your family isn’t big on whole grains or brown rice, try sneaking just a bit into the mix. This adds an extra layer of flavor and nutrition. They’ll never know and may even grow to like it. Chop up a few colorful vegetables to toss into this mix. With a couple of scrambled eggs and a bit of diced ham, you’ve got a filling and appealing family dinner of fried rice. A teaspoon or two of Chinese Five Spice turns it into something special.

Pasta is equally versatile. Just a bit of meat or fish with an assortment of veggies produces a family dinner recipe that can’t be beat. You can dress the pasta with olive oil, a dab or two of butter and seasonings. Try adding a creamed soup, like chicken or mushroom, for a delicious, hearty meal, perfect for a cold wintry night.

Soup and salad are the quintessential budget wise family dinner recipes. Home made soup (such as that batch of chicken soup you’ve now got in the freezer), is simple, nutritious and liked by kids and adults alike. Chowder, bean and vegetable soups are easy to make in quantity in a stockpot. Freeze family sized portions and you can have dinner on the table in 20 minutes. A dinner salad and a loaf of French bread are all you need for a balanced and inexpensive meal.

Busy schedules often require a quick, but nutritious meal in one dish. The Hoagie is just such a miracle. You may think that deli meats are too pricey, but when you consider that just a few slices of meat, combined with cheese, lettuce and a couple of slices of tomato is nutritionally sound, the Hoagie is actually an inexpensive meal. When you add some sliced olives, alfalfa sprouts, or jalapenos, that’s one hefty sandwich. Take your cue from the sandwich shops for additional veggies to put some oomph into your Hoagie. Chipotle sauce or Ranch add kid appeal.

When you feel you’re just plain out of family dinner recipe ideas, take out this list, look in the frig and do your own makeover version of any of these ideas. Problem solved!