First introduced in 1971, the Crock-Pot revolutionized the way we cook meals. The word Crock-Pot is actually trademarked by Rival Industries, but is used in every day conversations instead of the term slow cooker. Many recipes for the crock-pot require little preparation. The slow cooker can then safely be left to run unattended, making it a convenient cooking method.



Crock-pot meals can not only save you time in the kitchen, but they can also save you money as well. The reasons are as follows:

1. It keeps you out of the fast food line. If you had not loading up the crock-pot with the ingredients this morning you'd likely be in the drive through line at the local fast food restaurant this afternoon after work, grabbing a meal for your family for the help www.chef-123.com. The average fast food meal for a family of four rings up over $20.

2. Stretches your dollar. Most crock-pot recipes and meals can truly stretch your food dollar. Because you can put a whole chicken in the crock-pot to cook then cut it up for several meals, you can stretch your budget with the use your leftovers.

3. Cuts your grocery budget. You can save money at the butcher since the slow cooking process is especially useful to tenderize cheaper cuts of meat.

4. Saves on your energy bill. Instead of running a larger appliance like the stove you are running one small energy conservative appliance, the crock-pot, saving on your energy costs.

The convenience of the slow cooker not only saves you time, but will also save you money. Don't you think it's time to take it out of your closet (or wherever you have it packed away collecting dust) and make a Crock-Pot meal today?

After owning and operating a Cajun Seafood Restaurant and winning the best crawfish in Houston, I have noticed that many people and restaurants don't know how to cook crawfish the proper way. That is why I wrote the three top mistakes people make when boiling up crawfish. Here we go

1) Not purging, cleaning and throwing away the dead crawfish

The quickest way to ruin a crawfish boil is to not clean or throw away the dead crawfish. No matter how well you season and cook the crawfish, you will never get rid of the gritty, sandy taste if you do not purge and clean them. While you are cleaning the crawfish, they must be sorted, pulling out the dead ones. If you cook the dead crawfish, the tail meat will be extra chewy or will just fall apart and has a very sour rotten taste.

2) Sprinkling the seasoning on the outside of the crawfish

Real boiled crawfish has the great Cajun flavored cooked all the way through to the meat. Sprinkling crawfish boil on the outside does not compare to cooking the crawfish correctly for the help www.150-venison-recipes.com. When one sprinkles the seasoning on the out top on the shells, obviously the flavor will not be in the meat. The flavor you will taste is from the seasoning rubbing on to your fingers.

3) Not using enough seasoning and ingredients

Yes, for certain items less is more, but not necessarily for crawfish. Some people believe that just using crawfish boil is enough but if you want authentic New Orleans flavor you need to spice it up. Although every Cajun has their own secret spices, some of the spices I like to use include sugar, salt, bay leaves, margarine, butter, grilled garlic, cayenne, celery, Cajun seasoning, Crawfish Boil powder and liquid'ou get the idea.