My slow cooker lets me eat great food while social distancing

Being at home a lot more probably means you're cooking a lot more. Instead of grabbing a bagel form your local coffee shop on your commute morning commute to work or grabbing a bit to eat from the deli down the street from your office, you're working from home and need to make meals. Maybe that stresses you out — especially if you don't like or don't know how to cook — but cooking can be straightforward and smooth with a slow cooker.

I have been working from home for about four years, and there's no way I would have survived all this time without my trusty slow cooker. Regardless of what I want to make, the slow cooker can do it and make it simple!

Set it and forget it

The best thing about using a slow cooker while you're stuck working from home is that most recipes require very little work. You likely will have a bit of prep work — such as chopping vegetables or seasoning meat — but lots of slow cooker meals just require you to throw everything into the pot and turn it on.

I can't tell you how many times this has saved me the stress of wondering how I'm going to cook lunch or dinner while I'm supposed to be working. I can take 15 minutes before I start work in the morning, chop all the vegetables and do all the prep work I need, and then for the rest of the day, I can work without having to touch anything besides maybe the occasional stirring of the pot.

It gives you peace of mind knowing that dinner will be ready for you when you're done work, all you have to do is plate it up and serve.

Tons of recipes out there

Obviously, a slow cooker is excellent for making soups, stews, and chilis, but don't think that's all you can make in this fantastic cooking apparatus.

There are millions of recipes all of the internet for all sorts of dishes that are perfect in a slow cooker. I have done, fajitas, roast chicken, curries, and even cinnamon buns! The sky is truly the limit when it comes to slow cooking. If you don't know where to start, look at what you have in your cupboard or fridge and search for slow cooker recipes with that stuff in it!

One of my personal favorite recipes is for Red Lentil and Vegetable Soup — give it a try if you want.

Batch cooking saves you money

Batch cooking is a great way to save money, and even the smallest slow cookers are usually big enough to get about 3-4 meals worth of food from one recipe. If you get a big enough slow cooker, you can easily double or triple your favorite recipes to get a huge yield that you can feed the entire family with and still to have leftovers for days to come.

While there are some fancy slow cookers that have automatic settings and built-in timers, a basic slow cooker is pretty inexpensive. It's a worthwhile investment if you want to make multiple meals for yourself or feed your entire family in a more cost-efficient way.

Hamilton Beach 6-Quart Slow Cooker

Whether you're making roast chickens, homemade chili, or a big batch of soup, a good slow cooker can save you money and keep you eating tasty food for days at a time!

$20 at Walmart

What are you cooking up while you're cooped up at home?

Let us know what you're cooking up as you spend more time at home in the comments down below.

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