The crockpot has got to be the single most important diet invention ever. Especially for the working gal who only has a passing interest in “cooking.” You can make anything in there. Oh yes, you can. Lasagna, enchiladas, meatballs, barbecue chicken…every.thing.

Type in “crockpot” on the SparkRecipes website and you get 200 recipes, many of them saying they’re “the easiest recipe ever!” Now that’s what I like to hear. Since the site is affiliated with SparkPeople, most of the recipes are going to be rather healthy.

People, this is easier than cruising to the drive-through. Dinner arrives just in time, while pizza can be expected to arrive 30-45 minutes after you’re already starving. You place your chosen meat, packet of seasoning and can of cream-of-something soup in there and it cooks for you while you’re busy at work.

And I don’t know about you, but sometimes I miss the smells that came from my mother’s kitchen. But when I walk into my house after a day of work, a simmering crockpot emits a smell that could rival a restaurant. That onion soup-drenched roast smells almost as good as mom’s.