In praise of the crockpot( with recipe) #restanddigest

Its winter and right now our homemade applesauce ( lovely spices no sugar) is doing its magic in the crock pot. My son either deeply inhaled when the crock pot was in his favor ( black beans and rice, paprikash, applesauce,) or sniffed disdainfully on things not his favorite ( my bone broth , pulled pork) He loved that I cooked because in his childhood in foster care  food made with love was never around or food was institutional , bland or criminally non existent or withheld. At 19 he would still let me make his lunches, telling me coyly" they just taste better when you do it".

When kiddo came home to us , years of stress from foster care and abuse had his gut jacked up . In his case file folks often claimed he faked feeling ill as an avoidance technique. If you knew Mike that was a crock of crap, he never avoided anything even if it meant going dead weight for 3 group home staff to carry him off. We knew he was not faking and took him to a specialist, years of stress coupled with being fed bleach had wore some starting ulcers into kiddo. I am proud to say in one year we healed them all .

Part of that was using the concept of parasympathetic nervous system function to rest and digest, In fight or flight or daily stress we wolf down food , and our body simply does not digest it well. Digestion is not part of fight or flight. Its not just my kiddo we all are guilty of it time to time and for some of us its chronic and reeking havoc on our health. Folks often read this as weight but I am talking health. Not matter what size we have more and more folks with GERD, heartburn, IBS, etc . Digestive breakdown because we wire our brains to believe traffic is just as stressful as running from a lion. Rest and digest means that , taking our body to a place of no stress to eat, digest and process without cortisol pumping through.We slowed down kiddos eating ,ate together and discussed issues not at the table.

That is great Rachel , you may say but what in the heck does this all have to do with crock pots?  Well its about us all slowing the heck down and chilling the heck out. It s about engaging our sense to relax, enjoy food, each other and process it better. To not walk way from the table bloated, busting or burning. Crock pots are the original slow food movement. In the 70's as most families transitioned in to two income households , the crock pot became a way to have dinner without being home all day to prepare it . We have evolved from just soups and stews into a whole way to cook with them.

Now it is trendy to use an instant pot or pressure cooker, I have shied away . I know there are a time and place for them on certain foods but they miss the point. Time to develop flavors , a warm rich aroma when you open the front door. Smells, sights they help get us into rest and digest . Instead of hurry hurry lets make the time to let the crock do its magic. Dinners bubbling away have the family help you make the salad, spend 5 extra minutes sitting and chatting , and eat slow because you are not pissed and stressed that you had to run home and cook .  You do not even have to buy a cook book, pintrest alone not to mention recipe sites can have a crock meal for your every mood.


so for kiddo  sharing his favorite crock pot meal of mine  Grandma Marys Chicken paprikash

4 chicken thighs skin removed ( frozen)
4 drumsticks skin removed ( frozen)
1 hungarain pepper( wax pepper medium ) small( 3 tps)
3 tsps ghee or 3 tsps duck fat ( duck fat preferred)
1 small yellow onion minced
salt pepper to taste
3 tsps parika smoked
3 parsnips rough cut
2 turnips rough cut
2 cups poultry bone broth or chicken stock
2 tsp tomato paste
1/2 cup water plus 2 tsp


for reserve
2 tsps flour
sour cream for topping 

In the morning heat ghee or fat and saute minced onion in a deep pan
once sauteed add in paprika and 2 tsp of water mix low 2 minutes for a light paste
In crock pot place chopped root vegartables, tomato paste, pepper
add stock and water to paprika paste , whisk to mix one minute low flame
Pour over chicken
cook 5 hours on high and 1 hour on warm or 7 hours on low 1 hour on warm.
Before serving take some of the sauce and mix in flour , whisk in to thicken slightly
serve veggies, sauce and chicken with dollop of sour cream
enjoy