Irving Naxon

Thank God for Irving Naxon and the Naxon Utilities Corporation of Chicago! Why are we thankful for Naxon? Why because he invented what would later be rebranded as the Crock Pot, of course!

Any busy adult knows that sometimes making room for preparing dinner (or lunch, or any meal for that matter!) in your schedule can be more difficult than forcing yourself to only watch one episode of new Netflix releases! Slow cookers (or as they are more commonly known by their brand name, Crock Pots) can take so much of the time and hassle out of making a delicious, home-cooked meal. I know that my health and my bank account would both suffer if it weren’t for my Crock Pot, since I’d be eating way more meals outside of the house!

Even with a slow cooker, though, sometimes the idea of prepping food to toss into the Crock Pot in the morning can be daunting. Here are a few amazingly easy Crock Pot recipes to make, with little to no prep time!

The line of Crock Pots at me and my husband's graduation party in June 2016. Yes, in this photo you can at least count 6 Crock Pots! There were definitely more Crock Pots than photographed, too!

Mage's Meatballs:

Who doesn’t love those transport-you-back-to-your-high-school-grad-party Crock Pot meatballs? As a kid, I thought it was some kind of alchemical magic that made them so juicy and delicious, but as an adult I was happy to learn that it really is just grape jelly and BBQ sauce! This is quite possibly one of the quickest Crock Pot delights!

Ingredients for a 2-4 person meal:

½ bag of frozen meatballs (usually sold as a 32 oz bag, so about 25 of the meatballs should be half)

9 oz Grape Jelly

9 oz BBQ Sauce

(Double these amounts to make a full Crock Pot for parties or family gatherings!)

Stir the sauces up for a few minutes in the Crock Pot.

Add the meatballs, making sure they are all coated with the sauce.

Cook on high for 3 hours.

You can also add your own little variations to the recipe – changing out grape jelly for a spicy raspberry or strawberry jelly is sure to add a little kick to this favorite! You can serve the meatballs over rice or noodles with a side of fridge-to-table veggies, and your deliciously inexpensive dinner only takes up about 10 minutes of prep time!

The last Mother's Day celebrated at my house, I made two Crock Pots full of Medieval Stew (among other things, of course)! And there were no leftovers, either!

Medieval Stew:

Do you dream of a hard piece of bread sopping up a good stew? It may just be the LARPer in me (Live Action Role Player – but that’s a totally different article!), but the novelty of eating foods that have been around since Medieval times and before adds a little more fun to my nightly meals. My LARPer husband doesn’t mind, either! Whether or not you fantasize about being a cast member of The Hobbit, you too can enjoy an easy and hearty Crock Pot Stew!

Ingredients for a meal for 2 to 4 people:

1-2 lbs roast meat of choice (I personally prefer beef!)

Sliced Potatoes (2 cans, or 6 - 8 medium sized potatoes)

Baby Carrots (4 cups, or to preferred liking)

2 spoons Minced or 1 Chopped Onion

2 spoons of Minced Garlic

Any other preferred vegetables to liking

If the goal of the stew is to be a delicious time saver, you have a few different options. Start out by putting your roast into the Crock Pot first. It will be most tender if it is not frozen, but frozen works, too!

Next, add your potatoes – cans of sliced potatoes are pretty inexpensive, and will save you the time if you can’t chop your own.

Baby carrots that come pre-peeled and washed are your best time saving bet, but you can peel your own if so preferred!

For the onions, a shaker of minced and dried onions will keep your prep time down. If freshness is your preference, chopping up some large yellow onions will do the trick.

Add at least two spoons of pre-minced garlic, and if your heart desires, any other veggies you can think of!

If your meat is frozen, cook for 6 hours on high. If not frozen, 4 hours on high will do it. If you’re an I-hate-mornings-and-just-want-to-roll-out-of-bed person (like me!), you can cook the frozen version on low for 16-20 hours, or the non-frozen version on low for 8-18 hours. Overnight Crock Potting is one of my favorites!

With quickly concocted Crock Pot Recipes, you free up more time to do important things. Important things like binge watching Stranger Things (this is not a paid advertisement for Netflix, I swear!