Hello, gnu. I like to cook, but I don't enjoy cleaning up. I decided that after saying money by doing home cooking for 45 years, I deserved to spend a little money on myself.

One way I do that is by using Reynolds' Slow Cooker liners. You can probably find them in the area of your supermarket where they keep the foil, the waxed paper and the oven bags. I consider them worth their weight in gold because they keep the slow cooker from developing a baked-on crust.

Just be aware that once in a great while, the bag might split if you are lifting it out of the cooker. (Officially, you are not supposed to do that.) However, sometimes I cook food ahead and want to refrigerate it. I take a steel bowl and carefully slip it under the bag of cooked food, scooping it out with support from below, rather than lifting it out in the usual way.

I did have a bag break on me once. Thank goodness, the hot food didn't land on my feet, or I would have been in terrible trouble.

I have been cooking with slow cookers for many years, and I consider them essential to a good life.

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DELICIOUS BEEF ARM ROAST - a leeneia original

Arm roast is a meaty but rather dense, dry cut. It's probably better for you than a steak, but it needs help. When arm roast goes on sale, select one that is nicely marbled.

1. Put a liner in your slow cooker.

1a. I like to put meat in the microwave and heat it on Defrost for a little bit. I figure it kills germs. I also like it that the slow cooker doesn't have to heat the meat up from the 37F typical of a refrigerator.

2. Make cuts in the arm roast on a grid with lines about 1.5 inches apart. Cut 3/4 of the way through the meat, not all the way.

3. Put the arm roast in the slow cooker, pressing the meat against the sides and bottom. You want the meat to make contact with the ceramic pot.

4. Put some cranberries (maybe 1/2 cup) in a little bowl. Mix in 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp molasses. (You can buy bagged cranberries in the fall and keep them frozen indefinitely.)

5. Strew the cranberry mixture on top of the meat.

6. Cover and cook on low all day.

When it's done, you can slice it and serve with noodles. The meat also makes nice sandwiches.

Option - refrigerate overnight and remove fat (there won't be much) when it solidifies.
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Now what do you do with the rest of the molasses?

gingerbread
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