I have a little crock pot. Its perfect for me, since I use it mainly for beans, and only want to make a small amount at a time. The last time I used it, I made a quinoa chicken soup. The soup was delicious. The “having to leave before I did dishes and not getting to them for two days” was not. Quinoa, it seems, has even more sticking power than rice when dried on. I cleaned it as well as I could, and then gave up. It has been sitting on my counter for three weeks. [Eew, I know, but its dried grain. Everything else cleaned off. So it didn't smell or anything.]

Occasionally, when I have had a chance, I’ll chip away at the crock, to no avail. But today I have been on a cleaning spree in my apartment, so I was determined to get it clean. Sponge, scrub brush, and dawn in hand, I attacked. And removed like two pieces of quinoa. Sigh. Then I recalled a certain blog that I read recently praising baking soda and swearing by its chemical free cleaning power. I bake (so I have baking soda around) so I figured why not. Add baking soda. Scrub with sponge. And it all comes off. Even the red stains from the chili that have been there for nearly a year. It looks like new. I’m seriously blown away. And so ready to convert to hippy-friendly cleaning ways. [Not that I used chemical cleaners really before. Just dawn, softscrub, and windex. Point stands though.]