I have given up on most crock pot meals for the mushy factor as well. I agree with the meat/protein prep idea. It definitely is a useful appliance, but not the way most people expect, I think. I will say that chili works great in the crockpot and other similar stews, but in the summer, it's hard to get excited about a piping hot bowl of chili! :) I'm wondering if maybe instead of using a crock pot over night if you might not get more use out of a rice cooker? Rice cookers can be used for lots of other stuff besides just making fluffy rice. You can steam veggies and proteins in them, along with your rice or other grains. It's a great way to make just two hearty servings of a meal so you have one for your meal that night and one left over without a lot of excess waste. And it works quickly. In about 5-7 minutes of prep and about 30 minutes of cook time, your meal is ready and with very little interaction from you! When I go out of town, I make up little sets of meals for my husband and he just plunks them into our cheap GE rice cooker and lets it fly. He's not a real experienced cook, so this is easy for any stage of expertise. Maybe this will work better for you and give you less mushy and more satisfying one person meals?

I agree - lots of stews & meats (even in small portions) are good. Corn chowder, all kinds of chili, bbq pork - all wonderful and you can freeze the rest in baggies to defrost easily in one portion. I usually just eat one of these with a fresh salad or side of frozen (well... microwaved, previously frozen) peas or green beans when in a hurry.

Things I make in my slow cooker: broth, chili, beans, some soups (minestrone is consistently good; so is butternut squash), "baked" potatoes, carmelizing onions (it's impossible to burn them), granola (leave the top off), and tomato sauce (with variable success--it's still better on the stovetop).

Things I don't make in the slow-cooker: entire meals. If I had a larger family and we were going to eat it that night, this would be a good strategy, but like you I've had bad luck with reheats of things like enchiladas, lasagne, etc. I have made those things, but usually when I know it's all going to get eaten promptly.

I love my slow cooker. I use it for stroganaff (not incl the starch, just the sauce), mushroom pork chops, stews, pasta sauces (the ragu was awesome), soups and dips (but my con queso is not healthy by any means as I use velveeta)....

I use the medium sized regularly, only take out my large size if I'm going to do a big piece of meat.

Wanted to mention for my pasta sauce, I don't follow recipes from a slow cooker cookbook, I use a regular recipe but do reference slow cooker recipes to gauge cooking time.

In the case of ragu, this would often be slow cooked on the stove so I'm just doing it in the cooker instead.

If you're looking to boost your nutrional intake and cut on running the oven/stove during the summer - I think a better bet would be on a toaster oven or a rice cooker (like reddylee said.) I use my slow cooker for stock, beans, and large portions... but even when I venture out to recipes, they usually lean towards the heavy 'comfort food' variety.

When I was cooking for myself in college and wanted to eat healthier - I would try to use a few hours (whenever I could find time!) to prep my groceries, snacks and easy meals into easy, portable single servings. And like Lia_Bia I relied on frozen vegetables for a quick healthy side...

Good luck!

I, too, have a small crockpot and am not sure how to translate the larger crockpot recipes into the smaller one. That's why I bought a cookbook called "Not Your Mother's Slowcooker Recipes for Two". It has some good recipes and overall I'm glad I purchased it. Here it is on Google books so you can decide whether it's worth purchasing or not. http://books.google.com/books?id=mn0hs0OelH4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Even with my husband and me eating, there's still leftovers even though it's supposed to be "two portions" with most of those recipes.

i got a crockpot too and barely use it because its so massive. Ive been looking at the rice cooker/steamer solution too, it seems like a great way to cook for 1-2 people without a lot of leftovers. Still havent purchased one yet, working on finding the right one.

A word for a non-crockpot fan.

It is not clear that slow cookers have any energy advantage over a low oven. Ovens are better insulated, cycle on/off and may use less energy than a countertop slow cooker.

If you have a selection of pots you can get the size that is right for the task - pop it in a 225F oven and do a great job of stews, rice, beans... whatever the task at hand that would have gone to the slow cooker.

I could go on about the advantages of using the oven - I won't - but will say a slow cooker is not welcome in my kitchen.

Like trufflesauce, I bought the very handy "Not Your Mother's Slowcooker Recipes for Two" for use with my 1.5 quart slow cooker. Mostly, I use it to cook chicken breasts, small batches of beans, cheesy grits with hot peppers, or oatmeal. I agree with other comments about the versatility of a rice cooker, so I recently traded my larger slow cooker and rice cooker for a programmable, electric multi-cooker that is a slow cooker, rice cooker, and pressure cooker (Love!).

Do yourself a favor and buy an electric pressure cooker! That is the ultimate instant dinner machine!

I also not a huge slow cooker fan but I recently made something very simple that you totally work for 1 person. No matter what the size of the slow cooker place some chicken breasts in the cooker and season with salt, pepper and chili powder and then place water in the cooker and cook on low. Once you get home take the chicken out and slightly shred it. Grab an onion and sauté it. Once browned add the shredded chicken. Once browned to your liking use the chicken either in tacos, enchiladas or alone with a salad/potato.

Mushy food from a crock pot typically means either there's too much liquid in the meal or it was cooked to long.

I'd recommend removing about 1/4 the liquid from the dish (if possible) and reducing the cooking time by about an hour.

If you're cooking rice (or barley or the like) in the crock pot with a protein (or something) on top; and the stuff on the top is dry, reduce the amount of rice instead of reducing the amount of liquid.

Remember to never fill your crock pot more than half to 2/3 full.

If your glass lid rattles (from steam trying to escape) then take the lid off for 15 minutes (or so). Stir as necessary and lower the heat setting.

Hope this helps.

Ever since our little one arrived, we use the crock pot a lot-probably once or twice a week. I've found that the quality of the recipe has a whole lot to do with the quality of the results. Here are a few places to look for good recipes:

1. Slow Cooker Revolution. It's here on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Cooker-Revolution-Editors-Americas-Kitchen/dp/1933615699/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1308146633&sr=8-1

I've made about 6-7 recipes from this cookbook, and each have turned out really good. In addition to good recipes, there are great techniques in there, like putting chicken in on top of the rest of the food, in a foil packet to keep it from cooking too quickly and turning into mush-that technique is used in their cassoulet recipe. I just made about 2 gallons of their everyday pasta sauce, which I portioned out into plastic bags and froze for later use. Last week, I did a brisket with a dry spice rub. Makes fantastic sandwiches.

2. Pork Tinga, from Rick Bayless, and linked to from Kitchn in a prior article.

recipe is here: http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=234

Really good filling for tacos, or as a stand-alone with a side dish.

3. Slow cooker 365

Recipes are a little hit or miss, but some reading will get you an idea of what works and what doesn't. It's here:

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

Basically, you need to be somewhat careful in your recipe selection, and make sure that you're not expecting the slow-cooker to be something it isn't. Add herbs at the end, or they'll be cooked into mush. Be careful not to put in more liquid than the recipe calls for.

I really can't recommend slow cooker revolution enough. It's like our slow cooker bible.

I have had nothing but success with my slow cooker. If you're getting mushy food, you are probably just cooking for too long. Root veggies, beans, and tough cuts of meat hold up the best. You should be able to scale any slow cooker recipe to smaller portions. The trick is to adjust the amount of liquid. I generally improvise the recipes I use in mine. Initially I had some unexpected results because I thought the liquid would evaporate like it would using a dutch oven in an oven. My cooker is well sealed, apparently, since the liquid level will not change, even after 12 hours of cooking.

I have a small crock pot and a rice cooker. I make roasts in the crock pot and split the meat out into small portions for lunches and dinner. My problem is forgetting things in the freezer and having to toss them when I dig them out two months later.

@phoxx: Perhaps energy advantages are questionable, but there is at least one definite advantage to a crock pot: It would be dangerous to leave a gas oven on all day when I'm at work, but not so much with a crock pot. And I can't program my oven to "keep warm" automatically until I get home. Also, the slow cooker does not heat up my kitchen and entire apartment like the oven does, whereas if I use my oven in the summer, I'll be positively melting. Also, it extends one's cooking capacity: If I've already got bread baking in the oven, I can still make dinner by using the crock pot.

I've had great luck making beans via slow cooker - they have yet to overcook - and a single person can use cooked beans lots of ways.

I second the recommendation for ATK's Slow Cooker Revolution. I've yet to try a bad recipe from ATK. I just got a new Cuisinart 3.5 qt programmable cooker, and split the recipes from SCR in half for that size cooker.

Make sure that whatever is in the crockpot leaves the crock 1/2 to 3/4 full - not any fuller.

My first slow cooker sat on a shelf for about 20 years. Since I never even used it, I gave it to charity. About a year ago I purchased a large one thinking that I'd use it for office parties. So far I've used it twice for that purpose, but not in the proper way. I used the liner in the oven and used the base to keep the food warm. I've made only one meal for myself and made way too much to consume.

I also cook for one. I've been worried about making smaller portions in a large cooker, but after reading the posts here, I'm thinking that it can be done. Seems like the larger problem is to fill the liner to high.

I'm now inspired to make chili, spaghetti sauce, soup and other dishes that I can freeze in ziplocks and enjoy when I don't have time to prepare a whole meal.