• Slow Cooker liners are a bit of  a game changer and they're great for batch cooking. It literally means that you don't have to clean the slow cooker afterwards because everything is contained in the liner.
• If you're out of the house too long to be able to leave the slow cooker on all day, why not pick up a cheap timer plug. You can set the slow cooker to come on for the exact cooking time to coincide with dinner time or when you will arrive home. Can't believe we didn't think of this one....
• That eight hours cooking can actually be over night. This one blew our mind. We cooked soup while we were sleeping and it was ready to be blitzed and brought to work the next morning.
• Slow Cooker Porridge is UNREAL. Oats, water, milk, honey and cinnamon and left on the lowest setting while you sleep. The house will smell incredible and breakfast is ready to go.
• Simply remove the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking to reduce water and thicken up your dish.
• You can make ready-for-slow-cooker meal bags for the freezer. Literally add everything the recipe calls for in to a big freezer bag and label clearly. You can defrost the night before and empty it all in to the slow cooker the next morning. Genius!
• You can use tin foil to create two separate slow cooker spacer. Then add a slow cooker liner over it. Cooking two things at once is no longer an issue!
• Only using your slow cooker for savoury food? You HAVE to try brownies. Imagine coming home to the smell of freshly baked brownies that didn't require your undivided attention.

Written by Tracey, mummy blogger and staff writer at www.familyfriendlyhq.ie.
Check out her own blog at www.loveofliving.ie