It seems only fitting that I write about food on Thanksgiving. So, first of all, Happy Thanksgiving! Although I’ve previously written about some of my dairy dabbling such as making yogurt and cheese, I don’t think I’ve mentioned that I do a lot of other cooking, too.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts, appetizers, snacks… You name it, I cook it. I tire of cooking the same meals, so I like to try out new recipes. I’ll search for new things to try on Pinterest, Allrecipes, or other websites. 

Recently, I’ve decided I need to get better acquainted with slow-cooker meals. Why? Because when you have a teenager, a toddler, a farm, and you’re eight months pregnant, you want to make easy dinners. Of course, I think making easy dinners is a good idea anyway, even if you don’t have the above excuses.

I have a crock pot and an Instant Pot. Either one is great. I am a big fan of the Instant Pot, which my husband bought for me at the beginning of the year. However, I only first used the slow-cooker option on it two weeks ago. Before, I had only used it for pressure cooking, especially rice. 

About the only thing I used to slow-cook was roast. That’s going to be a thing of the past, because now that I’ve gotten into slow-cooker recipes, I’m hooked. I like the ease, variety, and convenience of these meals. 

Another good thing about cooking this way is that it’s an easy way to cook up some of the chicken wings, thighs, and legs I have from when we butchered our flock this summer. 

Here are some meals I’ve made in the last three weeks in either my crock pot or Instant Pot: chicken alfredo, chicken fajitas, beef and broccoli, mac and cheese, honey and garlic chicken thighs, buffalo ranch wings, French toast, sweet potato casserole, loaded potato soup, chicken and dumplings, and turkey chili.  

This link on delish.com has 72 slow-cooker recipes, and I’ve already tried several of them. But, obviously, there is no shortage of slow-cooker or Instant Pot recipes online. 

My most recent slow-cooker meal was the turkey chili. I made it in my Instant Pot, and my family thought it came out great. I usually end up adding a lot more spices/seasonings than the original recipes call for, as I’m sure many cooks do. Another meal I would recommend is the beef and broccoli. It was delicious, and the beef came out really tender. 

I’m always up for trying recipe recommendations, so feel free to share any of your favorite slow-cooker recipes with me. Hope all of you have a blessed Thanksgiving!