The basic How To is like this:
Pick your protein, pick a potato or root vegetable that is kind of hearty, and then pick a more delicate vegetable.
1) Season your meat with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and/or any other spices you really like.
Place the meat into the center of a length of foil or parchment paper. Fold it over and crimp the sides to seal the packet.
Place it into the bottom of a DRY crockpot.
The meat is going to simmer in it's own juices within the foil or parchment paper. There is no need to add a ton of liquid, although if you want a squirt of bbq sauce or lemon -- that is just fine.
:-)
2) wash and poke your potatoes with a fork. Nestle them in around the foil packets, or you can wrap them individually with foil/parchment paper. It's really up to you.
they will cook without being wrapped just fine -- but some people get weirded out by "flavors co-mingling..."
3) at the very top, add in a packet of more delicate veggies, like squash, asparagus, or broccoli. These will not take as long to cook -- you can add them in during the last 2 hours of cooking on low, or 1 hour or so on high.
4) Cover the crockpot, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for about 4-5 hours.
I hope this is helpful to you! I really do believe that cooking should be fun and that it is okay to goof around in the kitchen.
I'm not a huge rule follower when it comes to reading instruction manuals, etc.
that's why I love my crockpots so much!
If you like the ingredients going into the pot and the flavor profile, you will like the end result.
:-)
here are a few examples of what I have done in the past:
