Crockpot Hot Boiled Peanuts

Summertime here in the south means hot boiled peanuts! You can find them at grocery stores, convenience stores, produce stands, festivals and there are even little boiled peanut carts on a lot of street corners downtown in the little towns and big cities alike. My kids know once we start seeing the peanuts on display at our local grocery stores, that means it's time for Mommy to cook up some hot boiled peanuts just for us. 

*Ok, quick side note here: Fellow Mommy bloggers, how do you do it? Have you noticed how completely impossible it is to think and get into a flow when you are surrounded by children and talking and noises and microwave beeps and fights over whose turn it is to be "it" and kids saying they're hungry and asking if they can eat such-and-such, etc...?? I'm about to go insane!! I need an office. Ahem, hubby....?!? lol*

So anyway....Tuesday morning I hauled out the peanuts I had bought--raw, green peanuts--and rinsed and drained them before placing them in my crockpot. I then added enough water to completely cover them and stirred in some salt and seasonings, switched to the high setting and let it go. A few hours into it I added a little more water since the top layer was becoming dry. After about 6 hours, we had delicious hot boiled peanuts that required very little effort but tasted like I'd been hard at work all day. Yay! Happy kids and parents alike. Now here it is Thursday and they're already nearly cleared out which means another trip to the local supermarket or Farmer's Market to pick up some more raw, green peanuts! These are a staple to our summer: we snack on them throughout the day, bring them with us to the pool or beach, bring them to share at parties and BBQs, bring bags of them with us to the fireworks, etc....they're so versatile and keep really well with all the salt in there as a preservative. Enjoy!

Makes 2 Pounds

2 lbs raw green peanuts, found in the produce section of your grocery store

1 - 1 1/2 cups salt

Dash garlic powder

Dash onion powder

Dash cayenne

Directions:

Rinse and drain the peanuts in a colander, picking out any that are broken or open. Place peanuts in a crockpot and add enough water to completely cover the peanuts. (They will float to the top.) Stir in a cup of salt and a few shakes of each of the seasonings. Cook on high for 6 hours and check for doneness and taste, adding more salt if needed. (If it's too salty, add 3-4 more cups of water and cook for another hour...likewise if they aren't soft enough for your taste, cook longer, checking after every hour until you reach the level of "doneness" that you want.)

This has been one of my favorite snacks since I was little and my mom made hot boiled peanuts for me and my brothers and sisters. I remember my grandparents buying some for me at a produce market on a street corner in Green Cove Springs, FL, where we'd meet up with them so my brother and I could go stay with them at their house at the beach for a week or two over the summers. You can also use packaged raw dried peanuts in the nut and popcorn aisle at your grocery store, but I much prefer the raw green fresh peanuts to those. But if you're having a craving and the raw green ones aren't to be found or aren't in season, by all means, use the dried!