(ARGH!!!! Someday I will understand technology--I wanted to post a picture here but got the message it is too large!! It is the same size all my pictures are--so imagine a stove top covered with a board and a microwave and grill on top of it and right next to it a crockpot!!)

I don’t know why but about a year ago I decided to ‘close’ my over/stove—well, maybe because I hated cleaning both?

Since then I have been using the George Foreman grill (on top of the microwave) that Chuck gave me years ago and just stayed on a shelf. I, also, use the microwave that Maria gave me for a birthday years ago but that I have always used from day one. Last, but not least there is the Crockpot that I bought for myself as a present for some reason or other.

All three have cut down my cooking time and certainly the cleaning time! I buy a box of slow cooking liners for the Crockpot which fit snuggly and when you are finished cooking you just take the liner out throwing it in the garbage after dumping the grease in a jar and wipe it out. The microwave is simple to clean with a quick swipe of a paper towel and as far as the grill just let it cool off and wipe it down with a sponge.

Regarding diets, it eliminates the trap of the baking cookies, cakes and then eating them plus grilling the protein gets rid of the dripping fat while the Crockpot is great for cooking batches of veggies in advance.