Kelly, while browning meat will have an effect on how the meat tastes in the end, I rarely ever brown meat for a crock recipe. Like you I'm a toss-n-go person.

I made a yummy roast for au jus not too long ago. crockpotcooking.tribe.net/threa...e424de I browned the meat, but I'm sure it's a step you can pass over and it won't matter too much. it's only a 3 lb roast so browning doesn't take much time - maybe 10 minutes. There's only 2 of us and this recipe filled us up for days and we had lots of extra au jus. Just remember to buy a roast that will fit your crockpot ~3/4 along with water. We have a small 3.5 qt one which was perfect for us.

I like to make spaghetti sauce in the crockpot, but you should cook ground meat a bit before adding. Maybe if you do sausage you don't have to cook in advance because it'll cook in the sauce. Or if you don't cook meat at all you won't need to "pre-cook." There's nothing like a sauce that's been simmering all day.

Kelly, it sounds really odd, but a "quick and dirty, easy and cheap" recipe that I've used, many times is as follows.

One medium sized roast (I usually go about four pounds, or so), browned or not... doesn't matter
One package instant spaghetti seasoning (I prefer Lawry's, but go cheap)
One can of your favorite cola (I prefer diet Dr. Pepper, but I've used Pepsi, Coke and various generics)
One crockpot

Combine ingredients, set on low for 8-10 hours or high for 6.

The meat will be, literally, falling apart when done. The spaghetti seasoning and the cola both have citric acid in them that break the meat down and tenderize it. It's not gourmet but it's easy, fast (to prepare) and very tasty.

Love and light, dear ones.
Rev