Welcome to Snapshot Cooking, the home of Kitchn’s easiest recipes. These mini recipes are so simple you can practically cook from the before-and-after snapshot itself.

If you’ve ever had one of those nights where you wish dinner would just cook itself, you’re not alone. We’ve been there, too, and have just the answer you’ve been looking for. These slow cooker dinners come together with just two ingredients — a protein and a jar of store-bought sauce — and rely on the slow cooker to do all the heavy lifting. Just dump everything in and let the slow cooker do the rest. Ready to get cooking?

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Pork loin might be the smartest roast to serve to a crowd. It is more economical than beef tenderloin or prime rib, and it’s easier to roast without the worry of overcooking. So the real challenge in serving a pork loin roast is what to serve on the side.

Never fear! We’ve got 15 of our favorite side dishes that are not only easy to make, but also taste delicious alongside your perfectly cooked pork loin roast.

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Ah, the ubiquitous frozen chicken breast — how we love you! Chances are high you’ve got some hanging out in your freezer right now for future use — you know, for that rushed weeknight when you forget to thaw anything and need dinner in the next hour. What’s that, you say? No way to thaw and cook chicken breast in under an hour? Here’s the surprising thing about frozen chicken breast: You can take it straight from the freezer to the oven and cook it up in under and hour.

Not only is it safe, but this time-saver can also be tasty with a splash of olive oil and protective crumb coating. Your Wednesday night dinner rush is about to be saved.

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Have you made an airy pavlova or meringue lately? Or did the health nut in your family abscond with all the egg whites for his breakfast scramble, leaving you with an excess of egg yolks?

Don’t be annoyed! Step up to the challenge and look at this as an opportunity to use these protein-packed, sunny spheres in new recipes. We promise that whatever you choose to make, it’ll be delicious.

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We get a lot of good ideas from you guys (like this one about how to put cheap cutting boards to good use!). So just for fun, we’ve rounded up 18 of the top tips you guys have given us recently. Steal some of them for your own kitchen and leave some other tips in the comments.

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“Healthy” cookie dough falls into the same category as zucchini noodles and cauliflower crusts: lightened-up alternatives to classic (albeit carb-heavy) favorites. If you’re hopeful you won’t notice a difference in taste, you’re mistaken; try as they might, none come close to the real deal. But personally, I’ve taken a liking to spiralized veggies and cauliflower alternatives, mostly because I think of them as fun sides, not as replacements for some of my favorite foods. I was hoping if I approached healthy cookie dough with the same mindset, I might be on board with it, too.

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Confession: I am intimidated by the idea of making bread — it’s a delicate process that takes some skill. Thankfully, there are mixes out there to make bread-making easier for novices like myself, and Trader Joe’s stocks some of the most intriguing variations, including this new wonderful-sounding beer bread. Yes, beer bread. And it’s only $3. In this mix, a carbonated beverage like beer or sparkling water is added to make the dough light and airy.

I was intrigued by the idea of adding a full can of beer to bread dough. Would it add an extra dimension of flavor or would it be too boozy? I recently baked it myself to find out.

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Tamari first popped onto my radar a handful of years ago. I noticed a lot of recipes that called for soy sauce often included a note with the option to substitute tamari to make the recipe gluten-free. So, I was quick to assume that tamari was simply gluten-free soy sauce, with a more interesting name. Turns out there’s a bit more to it. Here’s what you need to know.

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If you’re like me, you’ve just about finished packing away your Christmas decorations and barely brushed all the glitter and confetti from New Year’s Eve out of your party clothes. Nonetheless, for those of you who like to slide out of one holiday’s joys right into another, Valentine’s Day is less than a month away.

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Reminder: Anthropologie’s annual Winter Tag Sale is still going on, so if you’re looking to refresh your kitchen with some new goodies, now is the time. At an extra 40 percent off of sale prices, this is one of the best deals they offer — and items are still being added. We rounded up our favorite steals that are sure to liven up your kitchen and make you want to have guests over again post-holiday season.

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