At the beginning of the week, I told you how I got talked into getting a slow cooker, and how ridiculously easy it is to use. (post)

Well, here's a recipe for barbecue ribs you can try this weekend, that shows how insanely simple it is to have fall-off-the-bone ribs, without having to tend the grill for 8 hours. Put your tongs away, you won't need 'em.

Slow Cooker Ribs
3 lbs Ribs
2 cups barbecue sauce
Salt and Pepper
Garlic

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle ribs with salt, pepper and garlic. Put the ribs in a broiler pan and brown in the oven (or under the broiler), for about 15 minutes. Turn them over and brown for another 15 minutes. Drain off the fat.

Cut the ribs into portions of about 2-3 ribs each, and place them in the slow cooker. Pour barbecue sauce over the ribs and stir to coat. Cover and cook on low for about 6-8 hours, or until the ribs are tender.

That's it. Done. Delicious, tender ribs, and you hardly did anything. Or needed any grill skills. (I guess if you want to make it harder, you could make your own barbecue sauce, but I'm all about easy.)

For another variation, try making some Cola Ribs. The difference is, you don't put barbecue sauce in at first. Instead use 1/2 cup of cola, and cook covered on low for about 8 hours. Drain off the remaining liquid, pour 1 1/2 cups of barbecue sauce in, stir to coat, and cook on low another hour or so.

So good, they'll make you want to slap your grandmama down.