Slow cooking makes for a fast Sunday dinner

I'm seeking Sunday dinner solutions.

For many rushed families, Sunday dinner is the time during the week that everyone sits down together.

So, you'd like to serve something a little more memorable than, say, a frozen pizza or tuna casserole.

But it seems that after attending worship services, especially the LDS Church's three-hour block, the whole family walks through the door wanting dinner NOW!

Meanwhile, after a couple hours of teaching Sunday School or Primary, you feel more like taking a nap than cooking a major feast. After all, isn't Sunday supposed to be a day of rest?

I've found that if I squeeze in a few minutes of prep time beforehand, I can put that three-hour period to use (or four hours, depending on travel time and visiting before and after). It's just enough time to simmer a meal in the slow cooker, marinate meat for grilling or let frozen rolls thaw and rise.

In the winter, our favorite Sunday dinner is a beef pot roast, affectionately referred to as "Roast Beast."

Before leaving for church, I throw a three-pound roast in a pan with baby carrots, potatoes, chunks of onions, seasonings and about a half-cup of water. I tightly cover the lid and leave it in the oven at 300 degrees. Several hours later when we walk through the door, we're greeted with a rich, beefy aroma. We set the table, toss a salad and dinner is ready.

An added bonus: the leftover beef becomes future stroganoff, vegetable-beef soup or tacos during the week. It also helps if you can get all the family to pitch in with some of the cooking and clean-up, of course.

When my kids were little, I would often pack some sandwiches or a thermos of soup and head for a nearby nature park after church services. It was a nice way for them to work out some pent-up energy and unwind a little.

I'd like to hear from readers: What are some of your Sunday strategies to make it a memorable day, without too much stress? What are your favorite go-to dishes? Send me your ideas, and we'll use them in a future story. And, five entries will receive cookbooks. E-mail your ideas to vphillips@desnews.com, with "Sunday dinner" as the subject line. Don't forget to include your name and address (or I can't send you a book).

The slow cooker is a great Sunday dinner solution. Last week, I made Apricot Chicken, a recipe from "The Slow Cooker Cookbook," by Debbie G. Harman (Covenant Communications). I didn't have apricot jam on hand, so I used peach jam,. It had a nice sweet-and-savory flavor profile. The recipe calls for nutmeg, which many people only consider using in sweets. But it can perk up savory dishes as well.