Slow Cooker in Summer? You Bet!
Even though schools are starting up in the St. Vrain Valley School District – the warm weather is here to stay — for a few more weeks anyway – and with these slow cooker recipes, you hardly have to turn on the stove! And while slow cooking in the summer may seem like an oxymoron, it’s the perfect way to plan and prep a meal that’s easy and satisfying when juggling the summer-to-school transition!
Sandwiches and Brownies
Martha Stewart’s collection of summer slow cooker meals starts with a melt-in-your mouth Pulled Pork and Pickled Veggie sandwich between two halves of a crusty roll. You don’t really have to pull this pork after cooking it for eight hours because it falls apart. And the pickled cabbage is the perfect topping. Martha’s slow cooker vegetarian Greek Stuffed Peppers with cannellini beans, feta, couscous, scallions, garlic and oregano, make the perfectly irresistible weeknight meal, and if that doesn’t push your buttons, one of her 10 other slow cooker recipes might, including two for ribs and more substantive classics. (And don’t miss her slow cooker Triple Chocolate Brownies for dessert!)
You may not make it through this description of Barbecued Chicken Mac ‘n’ Cheese without developing hunger pangs or saliva mouth because, well, we don’t need to explain, do we? From Better Homes and Gardens, this slow cooker recipe takes tender chicken thighs and a sweet-tangy BBQ sauce with salty bacon and no-boil pasta. The only thing you really have to do before serving is chop up some red or green onion, fry the bacon, add it to the serving dish.
International Samplings
For a little Indian flair, Real Simple’s recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Curry only takes four hours and hardly any prep time. Using fresh ginger, curry powder, coconut milk and coriander seeds – plus chicken legs – the recipe adds cilantro to steamed basmati rice – the most prep you’ll have to do! 
Blogger Karen at 365 Days of Crockpot makes a living coming up with recipes for the instant pot and slow cooker. Her two-week summer plan (for either appliance) will ease you from August to September with Asian, Mexican, pasta, seafood, beef and comfort foods. Check out her version of a low country boil, Smoked Sausage Country Boil, with green beans, red potatoes, corn, sausage and plenty of seasoning!
For 15 more recipes – including several for breakfast and brunch, click through Southern Living’s collection of summer casseroles for the slow cooker.
Dessert – Slow Cooker Style
It’s Palisade peach time and if you score a pound of the sweet treats from the Colorado mountain town, make this slow cooker Peach Cobbler from Southern Living or their Apple and Pear Crisp. And if your fruit preferences run more toward berries, you might just love a slow cooker berry crumble from Taste of Home.
Cooking in Colliers Hill
In the master-planned community of Colliers Hill, families are getting back into the school groove and turning to easy ways plan, prep and serve a meal, too. The brand new kitchens are perfect for home chefs – no matter the menu – in homes from Meritage Homes, Richmond American Homes, and Century Communities. Why not explore the amenities and tour the model homes here and find the ranch-style or two-story design that’s right for you — priced from the high $300s.
