My mother loves the crock pot...but cooking things on the stove (like my grandma did) seems to make the sauce/gravy/broth thicker when you cook certain things...like beans or stew for instance. It's best that way IMO.
Adding onions sounds good...I will try it next time. They definately make a huge difference when you make Posole too. When the munchkins like what you cook you know you are doing good. They are the biggest critics sometimes.
Me...I'm not a picky eater...and I'm kinda lucky in that regard because my kids aren't either,there is only a very small list of things they won't eat