There are few kitchen appliances that I love more than my very trusty crockpot. It’s great in the winter for creating slow-cooked, hearty dishes like beef stew. It also happens to be wonderful in the summertime when you’d rather be spending time playing outdoors than at the stove. Here are some of my favorite, and easiest, crockpot meals.

Meatballs.
There’s nothing magical about my meatball recipe except maybe the fact that I use shredded (in the food processor) veggies like carrots and kale instead of breadcrumbs. Sometimes I go crazy and make “meatball surprise” which is just a turkey meatball with a little piece of mozzarella string cheese stuffed into the middle and my daughter thinks it’s the best thing ever. All you do to make them in the crockpot is line the bottom of it with your favorite tomato sauce, place the meatballs on top, spoon some sauce over the meatballs and cook on low for about 6 hours. Serve with pasta, rice or even over potatoes.

Salsa Chicken.
It doesn’t get any easier than this. All you need is four chicken breasts (you can double the recipe for lots of leftovers) and a jar (or two) of your favorite Mexican salsa. Put the chicken in the crockpot and dumb the salsa on top. I like to cook low and slow, 8 hours, so it gets really nice and shredded. The shredded chicken makes great tacos and is delicious served over rice or sautéed or veggies. You can make so many variations on this depending on the kind of salsa you get. Try a peach salsa, green sauce, or even enchilada sauce whatever you can find!

Soba noodles with pork.
This happens to be my husband’s favorite. You need one pork tenderloin cut into about 1-inch cubes. Season them with ginger, curry, and some tamari or soy sauce and then toss them into the slow cooker with some chicken broth–enough to cover the bottom with about an inch of broth. Cook on low for 8 hours and it will be so easy to shred. When it’s done cook some soba noodles and toss the shredded pork with the noodles and add some thinly sliced Napa cabbage. Now you’ve got an easy one-bowl dinner. Give it a try while you’re stirring it all up and add any more seasonings or tamari depending on your taste.

Jacqueline Banks is a certified Holistic Health Counselor. She works with women in all stages of motherhood, from mothers struggling with conception to those trying to get their groove back after pregnancy to ensure the best health and nutrition for both mom and baby.