Just the thought of it slicing and dicing.  Uugh.  I know.  I've got my days too.

So, I got out my old stand by.  My Pampered Chef steamer.  I love that thing!  It makes the yummiest vegetables.  And, everything takes like 5 minutes.  So, I filled it with some broccoli, cauliflower and carrots (no water) and tossed it in the microwave.  Five minutes later, here's what I had.
 

Then I melted one stick of butter in a skillet, added 1/2 chopped red onion and some frozen pierogies.  I happened to have some of my own pierogies in the freezer, but Mrs. T's are pretty good too.  I left the heat on medium, covered them up and let them cook until they were browned, flipping occasionally.  Then I tossed in some fresh basil and a sprinkle of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper and viola.  The entire meal took no more than 15 minutes, start to finish. 

My husband wanted to add the note that a little kielbasa may be a nice addition to the meal.  :)  He's always looking out for you meat eaters.

The first slow cooker was developed in 1970 by Naxon Utilities Corporation, which was later bought by Rival.  The Naxon All-Purpose Cooker, as it was called, was renamed Crock-Pot in 1971.  Since that time, a number of companies have made enhancements to this device and we have come to know it by its trademarked name, regardless of the manufacturer. 

There are several things to consider when chosing the right crock pot.  I think this hometopics.net article does a good job of hightlighting those considerations, so I won't reiterate.   

I've had my crock pot for several years...before some of the newer features came out.  I have a large oval Rival cooker with a removable cooking chamber for easy cleaning.  My cooker has three settings, low, high and warm.  I chose the oval cooker because I wanted to be able to fit in larger cuts of meat (roasts and chicken) and wasn't able to accomodate those in my round, smaller cooker.  If I was purchasing a cooker now, I would get one that had the feature of automatically turning itself to warm after the cooking time expired.  Just seems like something that would come in handy. 

One word about used cookers.  You may have a friend or relative who has a slow cooker and would like to re gift it.  Before you use the cooker, be sure to test the cooking temperature.  Slow cookers are designed to cook the food slow enough that you can leave it unattended, but still allow the food to reach a safe cooking temperature.  To test your cooker to be sure it heats correctly, fill you device with 8 cups of water from the tap (room temperature water). Set it to heat on low.  Leave the cooker alone (do not lift the lid) for 8 hours.  After that time, test the water temp with a food thermometer.  Be sure to take the temperature quickly after lifting the lid as water cools down very fast.  A delay on your part will cause you to get inaccurate results.  The temperature should be at 185 F.  If the temp is below that, it could mean that your cooker doesn't heat the food adequately to avoid safety issues.  If the results are above 185 F, the cooker heats hotter than most and you will want to adjust your cooking times accordingly.  If you'll notice, most recipes give you a pretty large window for cooking times (say 6-8 hours on low).  That's because the cookers don't all heat the same.  Once you make a recipe or two, you'll get the hand of how your cooker operates and can adjust your cooking times accordingly. 

Have fun!  If you learn to use your cooker, you'll find it indispensible. 

Be well.   Namasté.