Do you have 15 minutes while your preschooler is playing with Play-Doh and your baby is content in his highchair? Can you find a little space among the sippy cups and art projects on your kitchen counter? Then you can start tonight’s supper while still in your pajamas, heading off the inevitable mealtime madness and freeing up your afternoon for time better spent playing with your kids.

Plan Ahead

I’m a busy mom of 4, and I’m Southern, so that means two things: I don’t have a lot of time to cook, and I feel obligated to provide the meat and two vegetables suppers I grew up on. What’s a busy mom to do? Use that slow cooker and a little planning, and you can have a low-labor meal at least once a week. Make sure you have some basics: meats, fresh vegetables, chicken, beef, or vegetable stock, and canned tomatoes, and you’ll be ready to let your slow cooker do the work for you.

Great for Main Dishes

I use my slow cooker mainly for main dishes:

· Chicken covered in prepared barbeque sauce (look for organic, low-sugar, or minimally processed varieties) that I let cook on low all day;

· Pork ribs with a little garlic powder, salt, pepper, onion salt, and chili powder that cook until they’re falling off the bone;

· Burrito filling: chicken breasts cooked on high and then shredded, covered in prepared salsa and mixed with black beans and cooked on low all afternoon;

· Pork shoulder or other cut cooked with vinegar, garlic, rosemary, and molasses for an ad hoc barbeque that cooks all day;

· Stew beef cooked on low all day, adding water as necessary, and then with sour cream added at the end for a quick beef stroganoff;

· Chili made with ground beef or chicken, canned tomatoes, canned beans, carrots, celery, chili powder, and whatever else your family likes;

· Pasta sauce made with ground beef, onion, minced garlic, canned tomatoes, and tomato paste for thickness.

Trial and Error

Be prepared to fix a few duds as you learn to love your slow cooker. Some meats cook too quickly, burning or getting tough, and some vegetables will overcook and get mushy, so adding them late in the cooking stage works best.

Enjoy Your Family, not Your Stove

Just don’t let your family know how easy it is to use a slow cooker to prepare meals. Let them think you slaved all day long to get a nutritious, comforting meal on the table for them. You’ll have to rattle around in the kitchen fixing pasta, rice, fresh vegetables, and other sides, but that will be quick. Since everyone falls apart at mealtime at my household, the faster I can get the food on the table, the better. Let your slow cooker do the work, but take the credit for yourself.