Slow cookers are great time savers and there are lots of cook books on the market offering many tasty options for slow cooker meals. The benefits are plenty, not only will your family come home to a lovely meal you won't have to slave for hours in the kitchen to make it. You'll save time and money while providing healthy meals for your loved ones.

Here are some slow cooker meal ideas for you to try at home.

Slow Cooker Beef Chili

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 can pinto beans, drained (15 oz) 1 can enchilada sauce (10 oz) 1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)
• 1 tablespoon instant minced onion 1 cup water
• 1 cup shredded process american cheese
• 4 cups corn chips
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup shredded process American cheese

Directions
Brown ground beef. Transfer meat to slow cooker. Stir in beans, enchilada sauce, tomato sauce, 1 cup of cheese, onion and 1 cup of water. Reserve 1 cup of corn chips; crush the remaining chips and add to the meat mixture. Cover and cook on low heat for 8 to 10 hours. To serve, top with sour cream, remaining cheese, and reserved corn chips.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Ingredients

• 3 carrots, cut lengthwise into halves, then cut into 1 inch pieces
• 3 ribs celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onions
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 1/2 tsps Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 3/4 tsp dried basil leaves
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 pounds beef for stew, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (about 14 ounces) reduced sodium beef broth
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour

Directions
Layer ingredients in slow cooker in the following order: carrots, celery, potatoes, onions, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, basil, pepper, bay leaf, beef, tomatoes with juice and broth. Cover and cook on low 8 to 9 hours. Remove beef and vegetables to large serving bowl; cover and keep warm. Remove and discard bay leaf. Turn slow cooker to high; cover. Stir water into flour in small bowl until smooth. Add 1/2 cup cooking liquid; mix well. Stir flour mixture into slow cooker. Cover and cook 15 minutes or until thickened. Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Serve immediately.

Alternatively try a healthy fish stew.

Canadian Fish Stew

The Canadian seafood gives this recipe it's namesake, but of course you can use your own local varieties instead. I certainly couldn't tell difference. For this recipe you'll need:

• 2 oz of butter
• 1 sliced carrot
• 1 minced onion
• 1 stick of celery, minced
• 12 cooked Canadian muscles
• 12 Canadian oysters
• 9 oz of white fish (whatever is your favorite)
• 9 oz of Canadian shrimp
• 30 ml of Brandy
• 60 ml of tomato sauce
• 125 ml of white wine
• 1 tbsp of Canadian mustard seed
• 250 ml of fresh cream
• 1 sprig of Parsley, minced
• Cayenne pepper to taste
• Lemon juice to taste

For the white sauce:

• 4.5 oz butter
• 2 oz of flour
• 1 tbsp salt
• 4 cups milk

Directions
That was a lot of ingredients, wasn't it? Good job on getting them all together. You'll need a big pan too, obviously. Start with the white sauce as you'll need it in the stew. In a small pan, melt the butter then add flour and salt. Pour the milk in slowly and stir constantly. Set aside. Now on to the stew, melt the butter then fry all the chopped and sliced vegetables a little. Chop the shellfish and add to the pan. Add the brandy and flambe if you can, if not don't worry too much about that. Next add the tomato sauce, wine, mustard and the white sauce you already made. Bring that all to the boil. Add the cream, as well as the parsley and as much cayenne pepper as you think is good. Mix a little salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste, and serve when the consistency is good.