I've just purchased one of these little gadgets when they went on sale for $4.99! The biggest thing I see in reading through the manual is that things take 3-4 times the amount of time to cook as in a regular crockpot. So guess that means I put things on before I go to bed. Must be low-low heat or something.

I did make a small batch of beef stroganoff sauce the other night in it, but I zapped it in the microwave first. I guess that could work pretty well too. Start something in the microwave, then finish it or just keep it warm in the crockette. Then kept it warm while I sliced up some leftover steak and cooked some wide egg noodles. Place the steak strips in the microwave for a couple seconds to warm them up, then put on top of the egg noodles and ladle the sauce over it. Yum! A couple pieces of hot buttered toast sprinkle with garlic powder topped it off.

Good luck,
Jan