Ahh. Finally, it’s feeling like autumn here in Florida. And that means cooler (but not completely cool) weather, longer walks in the park, more sight-seeing, fall crafts and comfort food! This past Saturday we headed down to St. Augustine and enjoyed glorious weather. If you’ve never been, Castillo de San Marco in St. Augustine is a nice place to watch the boats and people watch. Not to mention, there are some fabulous restaurants in Old Town St. Augustine.
I could sit and stare out at the water all day long, especially if it means I don’t have to cook :) Sunday is a lazy day around here, and no one feels like being in the kitchen meal prepping for hours. I rather spend that time gardening, going to the park with the dogs, or Netflix. Or watching boats.
Luckily for me, Campbell’s just came out with their Slow Cooker Sauces. With only 5 minutes of prep time, I can cook a real meal in the little bit of time I have on the weekends, and it will help me make time for crafts and DIY projects around the house weeknights.
I’ll be honest, I’ve had a crockpot for a few years but I haven’t used it often. The meals I’ve tried to make are either too watery or not flavorful enough. Over the next five weeks, I will be highlighting crockpot meals created with Campbell’s Slow Cooker Sauces. Campbell’s Sauces are a great way to help you cook a real meal, even if you have little time on your Monday through Friday hectic schedule, especially if you have kids. The moments spent with family are so precious. With the days getting shorter, why not stretch the diminishing autumn daylight hours with a little bit of help?
Campbell’s Sauces come in 6 different varieties: Tavern Style Pot Roast, Apple Bourbon Pulled Pork, Beef Stew, Southern BBQ, Sweet Korean BBQ, Hawaiian Pork. This weekend we tried the Beef Stew, and I was pleasantly surprised. At first, I was a little skeptical because the sauce was a little on the thick side. I almost added beef stock to the crockpot, but I’m glad I didn’t because during the last hour, the meat released lots of flavorful juices that made the meal.
I like that the Campbell Slow Cooker Sauces tell you exactly which cut of meat and exactly how much meat you should buy. They also tell you how to layer the food in there. Did you know to put the veggies first, below the meat? I didn’t. No wonder my carrots were always hard in previous attempts to crockpot.
Per the instructions, we just had to add veggies, in addition to the meat and the sauce, to the crockpot. We chose red potatoes, baby carrots and chopped celery as our veggies and set it to cook on high for 6 hours while I cleaned and did yard work. I made white rice to go with the beef stew, and it was the perfect yummy starch to complement it. In the end, I added a bit of salt to the dish, but the sauce really did provide all the flavors that I’ve come to expect from beef stew.
With how easy this was, and the minimal ingredients needed, I think I’ll be using these sauces at least once a week. Did you know that Campbell Slow Cooker Sauces are not only great for every day meals but they are awesome for game day gathering with friends? Meals with Campbell’s Sauces are so easy to make. Just 5 minutes of prep time is all it takes. Take the Game Day Great, Every Day Easy Challenge and experience it for yourself.
What would you do with extra time in your day?