Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
This will probably come as a complete shock to you, but moms LOVE their Crock-Pots. In fact, I could be wrong, but some of you may love your slow cookers even more than your husbands. And I get it. This wondrous modern invention helps you feed your whole family day after day. It's a major work and time-saver.
But I have a confession -- a terrible, dark, dirty secret I've been hiding all this time. I never use my Crock-Pot.
Well, hardly ever use it, anyway. I pull out my slow cooker maybe a couple times a year. I know if I could just work it into my daily life it would totally save me, but I just ... CAN'T. Here's why.
1. The Crock-Pot requires advance planning. And that stresses me out. I would have to plan dinners days in advance and buy all the necessary ingredients on the weekend to pull it off. I'm kinda more of a shoot-from-the-hip kind of gal when it comes to dinner. Besides, how do I know what I'll feel like eating eight hours from now? I don't!
2. You have to prep everything in the morning. I cannot! This is a thing that is not happening. EVER. And it's not like you can just leave stuff cooking overnight and during the work/school day. That's how bricks are made.
3. I hate cleaning my Crock-Pot. Even though I've actually written a post on how to clean your freakin' Crock-Pot. I have the information, and yet I still loathe the task.
4. I hate how much room the slow cooker takes up on my counter. I have a dinky little kitchen. And that Crock-Pot is a total space hog. Where am I supposed to keep my iPod speakers and my Crate & Barrel catalogs if the Crock-Pot is sitting there?
5. Crock-Pot food is not my favorite. I'm not into stews, macaroni and cheese, casseroles, etc. I am never, not ever, in the mood for soup. I don't know why this is. Don't get me wrong; I can understand why other people like these foods. I really do. It's me, not you. I'm the weirdo.
More from The Stir: 8 Yummy Overnight Slow Cooker Breakfasts Kids Can Serve Themselves
6. Crock-Pot foods don't smell as yummy as oven-roasted foods. I'm sorry, they just don't. You can't brown or roast in a slow cooker like you can in the oven.
7. Crock-Pots make too much food. I've got just one little mouth to feed besides my own, and we don't want to eat the same slow-cooked meal for an entire week. If I had a larger family, I would probably love the slow cooker, but for small families like mine it just doesn't make sense.
8. I keep forgetting I even have a Crock-Pot. I keep mine tucked away in a cabinet, while the shiny pans are all hanging out in the open where I can see them. Out of sight, out of mind!
My ONE Crock-Pot exception, though, is breakfast. I made overnight bread pudding the other day, and we adored it. This winter I'm going to experiment with steel-cut oatmeal. Breakfast! I think that's the one meal that could actually convince me to use that slow cooker more often.
Just to be clear: I am not and will never judge the many wonderful moms out there who are all about their Crock-Pots. What's not to like? (Other than the eight things I just listed, I mean.) All I'm asking is this: I don't hate you because you love your slow cooker. So please don't hate me because I don't love mine.
How often do you use your Crock-Pot?
Image © iStock/Lauri Patterson
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
