One Pot Wonders: A Recipe for Savings

Sunday Supper Crock Pot
Use one old favorite to reinvent another. Slow cooking tenderizes notoriously leaden meatloaf and a bed of pub fries puts otherwise discarded drippings to noble use.

2 russet potatoes, cut into thick wedges
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 egg
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 ½ pounds ground chuck
¼ cup grated onion
3/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs
½ cup tomato juice
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar

1. In the slow cooker combine egg, celery salt, ground beef, onion, breadcrumbs and tomato juice and mix with hands. Turn mixture out onto counter and form into a round loaf. Rinse out the cooker insert use it to toss potato wedges with oil, salt and thyme. Return insert to slow cooker and arrange potatoes in an even layer.

2. In a rinsed measuring cup, stir together ketchup, Worcestershire and brown sugar with a measuring spoon. Spoon sauce evenly over loaf; cover crock and cook on high for 1 hour. Switch temperature to low and cook for about 6 hours, or until the loaf’s center reaches 160 degrees.

Left to clean: One slow cooker insert, one grater, one liquid cup measure, one dry cup measure, two measuring spoons, one cutting board and one knife.

Tip: Get your hands dirty. A cook’s hands are their best, cheapest and easiest to clean tools!

Bonus Tip: Soak it up. Don’t waste elbow grease scrubbing cooked-on crust. Fill dirty pots with hot, sudsy water and walk away. Problem dissolved!