Cheap and Easy Dinner

I enjoy cooking. I know, I'm a dying breed. I actually find it somewhat fun and relaxing. Don't get me wrong - there are days when I come home from work and I'm so lazy tired I can't be bothered to make something decent to eat (don't knock frozen pizza or Pasta Roni). But when you want a dinner that doesn't have an entire day's worth of calories and one that cooks itself, a slow cooker is a great thing to have in the kitchen. Literally, you just drop your ingredients in there in the morning, turn it on, and by the time you come home it's ready to go. I bought mine at Rite Aid for $20. Aside from the time saving aspect of the slow cooker, it's great because you can buy cheap meat (usually tough cuts like chuck) and have it come out as tender as an expensive cut.

Last night, we made a really easy stew that's a variation on a recipe from my friend, Melody. Just put some stewing meat in the slow cooker, a jar of Mexican salsa, cut up some potatoes and carrots (or whatever vegetables you want) and turn on the cooker. That's it. We made some quick white rice to serve with it. All in all, morning prep was probably 5 min. and making the rice at night took about 15 min.

Trust me, it was good.