Very late to the game here, but my “secret” for crockpot cooking with ground beef? I buy a huge whack of hamburger meat when it’s on sale. When I get home, I break down the package - maybe fix patties for one meal, keep a pound of two off to the side for some random meal. Those get packaged for the freezer, and the remainder gets browned (usually with onions and garlic, because onions and garlic make everything taste better,) drained, and frozen in meal-sized packets. When I want to use the slow cooker, I don’t have to worry about browning or not.
When I worked overnights, the crockpot was a lifesaver. I’d come in from work, get the big kids off to school, toss some ingredients into the slow cooker, and go to sleep. By the time the kids and husband got home, the house smelled like I’d been slaving all day! The absolute simplest dish, and one of the most popular, was country pork ribs, jar of decent barbecue sauce, cook all day. I usually didn’t even thaw the ribs first - they cooked beautifully, regardless. Beef stews, made with cheap cuts, were also popular, but I usually browned the beef first. (Tip: If you’re too lazy to pre-brown, you can almost replicate the caramelized flavor with a judicious few drops of molasses or cane syrup or even a few grains of dark brown sugar. Sounds weird, tastes good.)
Chili, red beans and rice, dried beans cooked with a leftover hambone or some smoked ham hocks, all sorts of soups - these are exactly what crockpots were invented for. (I prefer to add rice later in the cooking process, though. Ditto noodles. Those things take a bit of trial and error, though, because every cooker is different.)
And, I’m almost ashamed to admit to this “recipe,” but it has become the “please bring this to the potluck” request among my friends and family: Premade meatballs (whatever’s on sale,) and barbecue sauce. Toss in pot. Cook until the meatballs are hot. Sure, I could (and have) gotten all fancy, and did homemade meatballs, made my own barbecue sauce, and? No one liked them as well as the version with Armour frozen meatballs and bottled sauce, and I worked lots harder and paid more for a final product that the audience didn’t appreciate.