Crock pot recipes are ideal for meals on the sabbath, because you can get them ready on Friday afernoon, keep the crock in your fridge overnight, and then plug it in on Saturday. But I never used crock pot meals for the sabbath, because my crock is enormous, and I can’t fit it in my fridge.
I have discovered that you can get your crock pot recipe ready in a dutch oven, on Friday afternoon, and put it in the fridge. Then on Saturday, put the dutch oven in a 275 to 300 degree oven (test to see how your oven does; most crock pots cook at 200 for low and 300 for high) and let it cook for 4 or 5 hours, and the dish turns out just as if it was cooked in a crock pot.
When I put my dutch oven in the fridge, instead of using the lid to cover it that came with it, I put a dinner plate on top of the pot. It covers the pot just fine, and I can then stack other things on top of the dinner plate if I need to make room in the fridge.
Other dishes that are good, made ahead on Friday afternoon, and put in the oven to heat on Saturday, are:
broccoli casserole
cabbage au gratin
Grandma’s creamed onions
garlic mashed potatoes
lasagne
macaroni and cheese (make the sauce more thin than usual as the pasta will absorb liquid while it is in the fridge)
meatloaf
spaghetti with italian meatsauce, combined in a casserole dish
twice baked potatoes, before the second baking
Or any casserole prior to the baking stage, or anything that reheats well.
