For a long time, I’ve had a basic crockpot that only offers three options: Low, High and Off.
As I’ve started cooking more from scratch and using strategies such as bulk and freezer cooking, my crockpot has become an important part of my kitchen, and I’ve often thought about upgrading to a slow cooker with more options.
So when Ninja introduced me to their brand new Ninja Cooking System and offered to send me one for a review, I was pretty excited, and I gotta tell you…this thing is like a slow cooker on crack.
Not only does it offer you the ability to program your slow cooker to cook for a specific length of time (which is the main feature I was looking for!), but it also includes a myriad of functions to make home-cooked meals even easier:
Steam-Infused Roasting allows you to roast meat up to 50% faster than a conventional oven.
One-Pot Cooking makes it easy to cook delicious meals without creating a pile of dishes. Start with the stovetop function and then “move” it to the oven with the turn of a dial!
With the patented Searious Slow Cooking feature, you can sear meats and veggies in the same pot before you slow cook them and easily reheat meals in the non-stick pot.
And the Steam-Infused Baking allows you to cook moist, delicious desserts with less fat.
We’ve already used ours to roast a chicken and to make our favorite stuffed shells even easier (see recipe below), and I have a feeling it’s going to get a lot of use over the next few years as I learn to use it for even more!
At the end of the day, the Ninja Cooking System is perfect for a busy family because it saves you time on preparation, cooking and clean up!
Freezer Stuffed Shells
Ingredients:
1 box large pasta shells
1 lb ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 eggs
3/4 tsp parsley
salt
pepper
garlic powder
28-ounce jar of pasta sauce
1 cup water
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
Directions:
In a large bowl, mix ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, parmesan, eggs, parsley, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Transfer to a pastry bag (or plastic bag with the corner snipped off) and pipe the filling into the uncooked pasta shells. Discard any shells that are closed or broken. (I save mine in the pantry for other pasta dishes.)
Set the shells on a baking sheet or bar pan and cover. Flash freeze in the freezer and then transfer to a plastic bag or other container. Keep frozen until ready to use.
To Prepare:
Mix 28 ounces of pasta sauce with 1 cup of water. Spoon 1/2 cup on the bottom of your Ninja Cooking System or slow cooker. Add a layer of frozen shells. Top with 1 cup pasta sauce.
Repeat with second layer of shells. Cover with remaining pasta sauce.
Cook on low for 3-4 hours.
During the last five minutes of cooking, sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.
Serve hot.
Enter to Win
This week, Ninja is giving one lucky Life Your Way reader a Ninja Cooking System of their own!
To enter, fill out the form below:
This giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, November 2nd. The winner will be selected randomly and notified by email, and this post will be updated with their name as well. Open to U.S. residents 18 years old and above.
Giveaway: Ninja Cooking System ($199 Value!) is a post from Life Your Way
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