Life Happens

As I sit here on January 31st, I realize I have not made anything in my crock pot for one week. The hubby has been gone for two weeks. Had I known that he would be gone half of January when I started 30 Days of Fun I would not have chosen Crock Pot for the first 30 days. With him gone I find myself not cooking and to be honest I have only gone to the grocery store once in the last couple weeks. I typically go about two times a week when he is home and I cook a lot! I found myself skipping the crock pot as I was not wanting to make the large portions of food for myself and most the time the kids won't eat it. I make them but the fight was not worth it! So now that I have made all the excuses in the book!! It is time to rave on the dishes I did get a chance to make this month. My top three in no particular order were the Bacon Potato Soup, Chicken Tortilla Soup and Blueberry Dump Cake. I will be making these again many times over.

So I am so excited for the crock pot fun to be OVER! I want to put the crock pot away and hide it in my cupboard for a bit. I apologize I have not been motivated these past couple weeks. Life took over! So this next month I am not going to promise to blog daily or do something daily. For me this is likely impossible! Because life will take over! I am going to have a general theme throughout each month. So stay tuned for tomorrow when I reveal February's 30 Days of Fun. Again I am thrilled to say good-bye to the crock pot. If you want to continue the fun check out A Year of Slow Cooking, http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ More power to this blogger who has the motivation to use her crock pot all year long!!

Crock Pot Spaghetti

We love spaghetti in our house and I wanted to do an easy quick meal today for the kids and me. So I added a jar of pre-maid sauce to my crock pot (make sure to rinse the jar with a little water to get all the sauce out), a can of corn, about 3/4 cup water and spaghetti noodles. Before I added the noodles I poured boiling water over them and let them sit for 5 minutes. I didn't want the noodles to be done because they will get mushy in the crock pot. So they were just flexible enough and cooked very well in the crock pot. I cooked on low about 3 hours. The last 15 minutes I added shredded cheese. This was easy and fabulous! YUMMY!

Egg and Cheese Bake

I didn't sleep well last night. This is one of the downfalls with having hubby away. I worry more and sleep less. So this morning I got up at 6:30, I could not toss and turn anymore. I put together this Egg and Cheese Bake, another recipe from Fix-it and Forget-It, and was excited to have brunch with the kids.

3 cups toasted bread crumbs 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese fried, crumbled bacon or ham chunks (optional: I left it out) 6 eggs beaten 3 cups milk 3/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper

Combine bread, cheese and meat in greased slow cooker. Mix together eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Pour over bread. Cook on low 4-6 hours (NOTE I COOKED ONLY 3.5 HOURS AND IT WAS STARTING TO BURN)

OK, so here is my input, I am not a huge egg fan. I wouldn't even eat eggs until I was about 24 and now I prefer scrambled so this may not have been a very good dish to make with out my husband here. I think he would have liked this. I compare it to a quiche, which I am not fond of. I didn't even attempt to feed this to the kids I knew they wouldn't eat it. So if you like eggs and quiche this is an easy crock pot breakfast but if you don't, then skip this one. Have a great Saturday everyone and happy crock potting!

Blueberry Dump Cake

I have been a crock pot slacker. My husband is gone and to be honest I have no motivation to cook in my crock pot. First most of the recipes make so much food that there is no way the kids and I would be able to eat it all. Well today I decided to pull myself out of my slump and cook some yummy dessert. I was craving blueberries so I used Google and came accross this yummy recipe. Ok now that you have scrolled down and seen the recipe, yes I know it is pretty much Cherry Delight....I know I can't trick you all. Oh well this is just as good as the Cherry Delight. I do have to admit I ate a little and passed the rest off to my friend. I hope her and her family loved it as much as me.

1 21 oz. can blueberry pie filling 1 package yellow cake mix 1/2 C. butter 1/2 C. chopped walnuts (optional: I left this off)

DIRECTIONS: Place pie filling in the slow cooker. Combine dry cake mix and butter, sprinkle over filling. Sprinkle the walnuts on top of that. Cover and cook on low for 2 - 3 hours. Serve warm in bowls. Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

UGH Another Disaster!

With my hubby leaving tomorrow at 3am for 3 weeks making dinner was the last thing on my mind. Our family enjoyed a day of fun: video games, errands and we ventured out to see The Spy Next Door. But before we left I put some frozen chicken in the crock pot and added a bottle of Sweet and Sour sauce. We got home and I decided to add rice and some water. I thought if this works it will be brilliant and tasty! Anyways at about 3:30 the Terminex guy calls and wants to do a termite inspection. It is free so I said sure come on over. With the spiders around here Terminex sprays every few months so I do trust them. With a strange little man walking around my home (thank God hubby is still here), I was also making phone calls to have our heater fixed, roof fixed and an electrician to repair a couple outlets. Oh the joy of home ownership...everything seems to break at once! A long story short, I forgot about the crock pot....the rice burned and the chicken was DRY. I don't have much luck doing poultry in the crock pot. Is there something wrong with my poultry skills? Hmmm something to ponder as I wait an hour and a half for the pizza guy to get here. Others must also have had issues with their dinner tonight!

McCormick Crock Pot Spices

I am really opening up this blog for opinions on these spices. Tonight I tried the Beef Stroganoff. My husband said he prefers the way I make my non crock pot stroganoff. I am not fond of stroganoff but make it for my husband. This was a meal my mom made quite often when I was growing up and I think I got tired of it. But I actually liked the McCormick spice better than my own recipe. So yes I did enjoy it. The recipe called for beef tip but I used ground beef. My daughter actually ate it too so it is kid friendly because she is VERY picky! Have you tried any of the other McCormich Crock Pot Spices? If so which ones and where they any good?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls...REMIXED

One of my favorite Christmas treats are Peanut Butter Balls. After making dozens over the holidays I didn't quite feel like making them the traditional way. I called on my crock pot for a remix of one of my favorites! So tasty!

1/2 stick butter (1/4cup), 1 cup peanut butter, 1 t. vanilla, 2 cup powdered sugar, Chocolate almond bark

Turn Crock pot on low. Put butter, peanut butter and chocolate almond bark in crock pot. Cover and cook on low 30-60 minutes stirring occasionally. When mixture is completely melted add vanilla and powdered sugar. Mixture will be lumpy and you will see some powdered sugar. Remove pot from cooking element. The mixture will be warm and keeping it in the pot will keep the mixture from hardening. Roll into balls and dust with powdered sugar. Let cool on wax paper. Enjoy!

I like Meatloaf...I like Tacos...

I know I only have a couple people who actually read my blog, to you I apologize. Yesterday, I did not cook in my crock pot. I had a few things "stir" my world yesterday and cooking in the crock pot was the last thing on my mind. Praise the Lord the situation has somewhat worked itself out. My husband is going to have to go away for work for three weeks. So my dilema these last couple weeks of January is figuring something out to cook in the crock pot for me and the kids. Or I am going to be blessing lots of people with good food. Which is tons of fun too. So today my husband and kids were all home. School work day and four-day weekend for my hubby. So he grasiously made us all breakfast around 11am of pancakes and bacon. So having a late brunch we had an early dinner. My husband summed this meal up by saying, "It is good. I like meatloaf...I like tacos." So here is a great new recipe for all you meatloaf and taco lovers!

Meatloaf Sensation

2.5 lbs ground beef, half of an 8oz jar salsa, 1 pks dry taco seasoning, divided, 1 egg slightly beaten, 1 cup bread crumbs, 12oz pkg, shredded Mexican-mix cheese, salt pepper

Combine all ingredients except half of taco seasoning. Mix well. Shape into loaf and place in slow cooker. Sprinkle with remaining taco seasoning. Cover and cook on low heat 8-10 hours.

Another great recipe from Fix It and Forget It

This meatloaf was delicious. I served it over a bed of lettuce, tortilla chips and you can add your favorite taco toppings.

Crock Pot Roast

If you use your crock pot then you probably have cooked a roast in it. I cooked a roast in my crock pot today. This is so easy! Add your roast and spices a little water and cook on low 8 hours. I sometimes add carrots and potatoes too. BUT my favorite thing to do with my crock pot roast is to add soy sauce. Today I didn't add any water for the first time (oops should have still added a little water as the soy sauce did burn a bit on the bottom of the pan) and just added soy sauce. The roast was delicious! I wanted a simple dinner so we just had roast beef sandwiches.

TELL ME WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO WHEN YOU COOK A CROCK POT ROAST? I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW OTHERS IDEAS AND MAYBE GET A FEW NEW ONES FOR MYSELF.

Cherry Delight

Last night I made homemade brownies. I had a Bible Study today and I was suppose to bring a dessert. So I made a 9 x 13 pan of brownies and was excited to have dessert for my family and dessert for the ladies today. Hmmm, like so many times my brownies crumbled a little too much for my liking and the presentation was sub par. So I turned to dessert idea number two. In the cookbook Fix-It and Forget-It it gives a little tip on cooking cakes in your crock pot. Let me quote the book:

You can use a 2-lb coffee can, 2 1 lb coffee cans, 3 16 oz. vegetable cans, a 6-7 cup mold, or a 1 1/2-2 quart baking dish for baking cakes in a slow cooker. Leave the cooker lid slightly open to let extra moisture escape.

I wanted to give this a try (see above pic, I used a Pyrex baking dish). So here is the recipe:

21 oz can cherry pie filling, 1 pkg yellow cake mix, 1/2 cup butter, melted, 1/3 cup walnuts, optional

Place pie filing in greased slow cooker (I put it in Pyrex dish and set the dish inside my crock pot). Combine dry cake mix and butter (mixture will be crumbly). Sprinkle over filling. Sprinkle with walnuts. Cover and cook on low 4 hours or on high 2 hours. Allow to cool then serve in bowls with ice cream.

The cake took 2 hours on high. I left the lid up a little for the first 30 minutes then closed it completely for an hour and then left the lid up a little the last 30 minutes. I cooled it in my fridge. So let me return to last night. Some very good friends of ours needed a little help. We consider this family part of our "Army Family" and lifelong friends so to say the least I would do anything for them. Anyways Mr. J had shouler surgery today and had to be at the hospital an hour away very early so their two kids spent the night with us. My kids are 5 and 8. Their kids 7 and 18 months. I am not used to having a baby in the house anymore. How quickly we forget the sleepless nights....The baby was up from 4:30am to 6:30am. I slept from 6:30 to 6:45 before my alarm went off. I quickly got ready as Bible study was at 9am and I had another meeting immediately afterwards. So I needed to be clean and pretty today! After taking care of myself, it was time to get 4 kids ready. Thank GOD my husband was here to help but seriously not easy and for those that have lots of kids...MORE POWER TO YOU! We got all the kids packed in two separate cars. My hubby took our kids to school and I took AJ to school and then Miss M to daycare. I hustled to Bible study. I was about to get out of the car and saw all these women carrying plates and bowls....I FORGOT THE DESSERT! What a day...I am exhausted...but I got to eat the cherry delight for dessert tonight. It was very good! It was really sweet so a small piece is plenty. This is definitely a dish I would do again.

Chicken Noodle Soup

5 cups hot water, 2 chicken bouillon cubes, 46 oz. can chicken broth, 2 cups cooked chicken 1 tsp salt, 4 cups "homestyle" noodles, uncooked, 1/3 cup thinly sliced celery, lightly pre-cooked in microwave, 1/3 cup shredded, or chopped, carrots

Dissolve bouillon in water. Pour into slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients. Mix Well. Cover and cook on low heat 4-6 hours.

Another great soup recipe from the cookbook

Fix-It and Forget-It

. ENJOY!

Christmas Hot Chocolate

This hot chocolate brings me back to my childhood! My sisters and I were home schooled in the fourth grade with another neighborhood family. I remember watching Gone with the Wind for the first time curled up on the Ortenzio's couch drinking Laurie's homemade hot chocolate. To me this cocoa tastes exactly the same and reminds me of those carefree days when I was a child. This is a large batch so I only made a half batch for my small family.

10 cups milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup cocoa, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 cups hot water

Pour milk into crock pot and turn on high heat. Mix together sugar, cocoa, salt, and hot water in a heavy saucepan. Boil 3 minutes, stirring often. Pour into milk and stir. Cover and cook on high heat 2-2 1/2 hours. Stir before serving. Serve with Marshmallows and how about a candy cane...(we omitted the candy cane)

Again taken from 101 More Things To Do With A Slow Cooker

Chicken Tortilla Soup

It is after 11pm, we just returned home from some friend's house. I am tired so I apologize if I am not making any sense. My goal is to blog daily about my crock pot adventure. Today was a successful adventure. I even took today's crock pot meal to our friend's home. All four adults were impressed and thought it was very tasty. So here it is ladies and gentleman Chicken Tortilla soup a definite success and a delightful addition to my recipe collection.

4 Chicken Breast halves, 2 15oz cans black beans undrained, 2 15oz cans Mexican stewed tomatoes, or Rotel tomatoes (I used Rotel), 1 cup salsa, 4 oz. can chopped green chilies, 14 1/2oz. can tomato sauce, tortilla chips, 2 cups grated cheese

Combine all ingredients except chips and cheese in slow cooker. Cover. Cook on low 8 hours. Just before serving remove chicken breasts and slice into bite sized pieces. Stir into soup. To serve, put a handful of chips in each soup bowl. Ladle soup over chips and top with cheese.

Thanks to Julie for letting me borrow her book, Fix-it and Forget It. This book was written by Dawn J. Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good.

Crock Pot Macaroni Cheese

When we awoke today in the Midwest it was -2 degrees with a wind chill of -15. Yes super cold and with this cold brought another day off for the kids. We only have one SUV so my hubby took it to work. I searched the cupboards and then looked to google for a recipe I could do with the ingredients I had. I came up with this tasty mac and cheese. I had it ready for lunch, my husband tries to come home for lunch, and loved it. He said it reminded him of his mom's macaroni pie. This is a compliment in my book, his mom is an excellent cook. My kids prefer Kraft mac and cheese so we had to force them to eat this but as an adult super tasty. So cook this up and enjoy mom and dad!

Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese (from cooks.com)

8 oz macaroni cooked (2 cups) 1 large package of cheese (I used about 4 cups Cheddar and mozzarella cheese) 1 large can evaporated milk 1 1/2 c water 3 eggs beaten 1 stick butter salt and pepper to taste

To Macaroni add butter, salt, pepper and milk: mix well. Add water stir in eggs and cheese. Put mixture in crock pot. So not stir again. Cook on low 1 hour and then on high 1 hour until fully cooked.

Crockpot Dilema

What do you do when your weather is like this (see below)? Seven degrees with a wind chill of negative 14. Kids are home and it is too cold to go anywhere and... Your crock pot looks like this (see below)? That's right the crock pot bit the dust. I have had this crock pot for about 3 years. I noticed lately that it had been cooking at a higher temp. Yesterday's casserole I cooked at a considerably lower amount of time then stated at a low temp. I knew it was a goner when I checked the potatoes yesterday and the handle fell off. Which in turn released a lot of important crock pot steam. So seriously how was I suppose to make an awesome crock pot meal without being able to go to the store. I don't have a lot of supplies left in the house and my crock pot...well you know I just told you. The bowl with the blue lid is a crock pot stew I made a few weeks ago. I had tons of leftovers and decided to freeze for a later date. I decided that my crock pot had one or two more gos, even if the handle is broken, and threw the frozen stew in. And it worked great warming up leftovers. So on this cold day in the Midwest I was able to provide my wonderful husband a warm and hearty meal...even if I couldn't make it to the store.

And Ladies and Gentleman WE HAVE A WINNER

I tried another recipe from 101 More Things To Do With A Slow Cooker and we have a winner! This casserole was a hit with the entire family. Seconds were served all around. So definetly a must in your crock pot. This meal is super easy and tasty.

Family Favorite Casserole

1 pound ground beef (browned and drained), 1 medium onion (I omitted), 1 1/2 cups diced potatoes, 1 1/2 cups baby carrots (cut in thirds), 1/2 teas salt, 1 can 10.5 ounces condensed cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 cup milk 1 1/2 cup elbow macaroni (cooked) 2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Combine all ingredients except milk, macaroni, and cheese in greased slow cooker. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on low heat 6-10 hours or on high 3-4 hours. Stir in milk and cooked macaroni during the last 30 minutes of cooking if on low heat or the last 15 minutes if on high heat. Sprinkle grated cheese over top.

Liz's Crockpot Apple Crisp

7-8 cups cut and cored apples (you can keep the peels on if you choose) 1/2 cup butter or margarine 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup walnuts cereal or granola cinnamon sugar

Place cut apples in crock pot, cut cube of butter over top of apples, sprinkle brown sugar and walnuts over apples. Crush cereal (I used corn chex) and sprinkle over apples (I used about 1/2 cup but you can use more or less if you choose) I finally lightly sprinkled a little cinnamon and sugar over the top. Cook on High 1 hour and then stir. Cook an additional 30-60 minutes or until apples are tender. Top with cool whip or ice cream. ENJOY!

Note: I made this recipe up this afternoon after my husband encouraged me to keep it up....I will be honest I was going to skip the crock pot today!

Cornbread

My absolute favorite Corn Bread Recipe.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2/4 cup Quaker Corn Meal 1/4 cup sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional) 1 cup skim milk 1/4 cup vegetable oil 2 egg whites or 1 egg, beaten Heat Oven to 400 degrees. Grease 8 or 9 inch pan. Combine all ingredients. Cook 20-25 minutes.

I discovered this recipe on the back of the Quaker Corn Meal box. It is delicious! Obviously you don't need to use Quaker corn meal but I prefer it! Also I double this recipe and use a 9X13 pan when we want lots of cornbread.

I googled crockpot cornbread and was happy to hear that another blogger used my recipe in her crockpot. However, I was very disappointed. It was so dry and my hubby and I are so used to my fabulous corn bread that to be honest we trashed it and I made it the old fashion way...in the oven. We enjoyed our tasty cornbread with leftover bacon potato soup from last night. So enjoy this cornbread recipe but do me a favor and don't cook it in the crockpot!

Bacon Potato Soup

After yesterday's disaster I decided to do one of my favorite, very edible, soup recipes today. Again coming from 101 More Things To Do With A Slow Cooker . I promise I will be doing other recipes but just decided to start with this cookbook. So here is my favorite potato soup recipe, of course with a couple of my little variations thrown in. It is delicious! My husband approves and I make it all the time. ENJOY!

Bacon Potato Soup

6 cups potatoes, peeled and diced 5 cups water 2 cups chopped onions (I omit these because hubby doesn't like them but I do-it adds sweetness to the soup) 4 chicken bouillon cubes 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk 2 cups grated cheddar cheese (Do not use fat free or low fat cheese it will not melt properly) Combine potatoes, water, onions (if you choose) and bouillon cubes in greased 5-7 quart crock pot. Cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours or until potatoes are tender. (After the potatoes are cooked I take my potato masher to them. I don't mash them completely but enough to make my soup nice and creamy with a few chunks) Stir in crumbled bacon, milk and grated cheese. Cover and cook an additional 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Apple Cider Turkey

One of my favorite holiday meals is turkey and stuffing. Yes, I know we just had Christmas and yes, I did make a turkey Christmas day. This meal is so good and I was not quite ready to say goodbye to turkey until Thanksgiving. So I came across a recipe, again in my recipe book 101 More Things To Do With A Slow Cooker . This one was titled:

Apple Cider Turkey

Here is the recipe:

3 to 4 pounds of boneless turkey breast, salt and pepper to taste and 1/3 cup apple cider. Place turkey inside greased slow cooker. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour apple cider over top. Cover and cook on low heat 8-10 hours. Internal temperature will be 190 degrees when done. Can substitute apple juice for apple cider.

Ok I took the idea of this recipe and made it my own. Since I live in a small town grocery stores are a bit sparce so finding boneless turkey breast was a bit hard when I was shopping at Walmart...BUT they had turkey cutlets. I rounded up 3-4 pounds of turkey cutlets, which may I add are not cheap. I also grabbed the apple juice amongst the New Years Day crowds. Arg, got home and my husband wonders why I got two giant bottles of apple juice punch. I had no idea they made apple juice punch. It is day two of my crockpot month and I wasn't going back shopping so this was going to have to work. I layered the cutlets in my greased crock pot. I added the juice (I useds 2/3 cups) and let it cook on low for 8 hours. I added some quick and easy stove top stuffing and green beans. Looks good RIGHT? This was a culinary crock pot DISASTER! It was so dry that milk was a must when trying to swallow each bite. I only got through two bites and decided I had enough. My daughter who enjoys everything plain ate more than I expected. I think because it was so bland she didn't mind it. My husband, bless his heart, ate more than he needed and agreed this is one I won't be doing again. So there you have it turkey in the crock pot (at least the way I did it) isn't so great. Turkey in the crock pot, a nice idea, but one I won't be repeating anytime soon. I think I will wait until Thanksgiving for the good stuff!

January 1, 2010 Classic White Bread

Did you know that you can make bread in your crock pot? I seriously had no idea until I came upon a recipe in one of my favorite crock pot recipe books, 101 More Things to do with a Slow Cooker. If you choose to purchase this book it is by Stephanie Ashcraft and Janet Eyring and is published by Gibbs Smith. So I decided to start the New Year off with a brand new recipe. I am exhausted from staying up late bringing in the New Year so something easy my first day was the route I needed to take. This was extremely east to prepare and cook time was fairly quick. Take a look at the recipe below: 1 envelope (.25 ounces) or 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast 1 teaspoon sugar 1/4 cup warm water 1 egg 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 cup lukewarm water 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup sugar 3 1/2 to 4 cups of flour In a bowl, comine yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1/4 cup warm water. Allow yeast to foam, about 5 minutes. Add egg, oil, lukewarm water, salt, 1/4 cup sugar, and 2 cups of flour. Beat with an electric mixer 2 minutes of low. With a wooden spoon, stir in remaining flour. Place dough in greased 4 to 5 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat 2-3 hours. Remove stoneware from slow cooker and let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Makes 10-15 servings. Serve with butter and your favorite jam. The smell of fresh baked bread floated through my house. And when the bread was finally done (it took 2 hours in my crock pot...notice the hole in the finished product...I wanted to make sure it was done) I barely could wait the five minutes to cool so I could taste it! So here is the outcome. I first would wait more like 10 minutes before I cut it. It was a bit too warm, therefore: a bit crumbly when I removed pieces from the stoneware. I was not too thrilled on the flavor but after I added the butter and some strawberry jam it was much more enticing. My 8-year old daughter gave it a five because she said it lacked some flavor. She doesn't like butter and was eating hers plain. My 5-year old son said it was "GOOD!" The most important opinion was from my husband because if he hates it then it will never be made again! He loved it and specified that I need to make it again. So overall a good crockpot recipe. Definetly not the homemade bread I made with my mom when I was a kid but definetly a keeper.

30 Days of Crock Pot FUN!

I am so excited to start 2010 with this fun and fabulous new blog. I recently watched Julie and Julia, an adorable movie where a gal named Julie cooks through Julia Child's cookbook in a year. As I watched the movie I thought, "What a GREAT idea!" I can do that...well maybe I can't do a whole year of the same thing. Hmm just like Amy Adams' character in the movie, Julie, I am not very good at finishing huge projects when I start them. For example, all my attempts at weight loss, writing a novel, my kid's baby scrapbooks (I have been working on that one for eight years) and so many more. I do think I could do the same thing for a month. So this is where the idea of 30 Days of Fun came from. January my theme is 30 Days of Crock Pot Fun. A Slow Cooker as some like to call it. I love my crock pot. I use it at least five times a month. I was in shock when I explained my blog idea to my friend, Nicole, that she had a crock pot but had never used it. She continued to tell me she actually has one but it is still in the box unopened sitting in the closet and has been there for the last FOUR years. So my encouraging words for her to pull out the crock pot and use it WORKED! I explained to her that I love to make pot roasts in my crock pot. She called me a couple days later, she had a huge roast and said, "Ok, what do I do?" I told her my tricks and she added her spices and the next day she called. She loved it and was so excited that it turned out! Her husband and her three beautiful and hungry boys were also excited to have a yummy dinner. So this month is dedicated to Nicole. Do not be scared of your crock pot dear friend. Embrace it, celebrate it and by all means cook in it!! I will be cooking in my crockpot every day for the month of January, or so this is my goal. I will cook some of my family favorites and some brand new ones. I will cook from different cookbooks, recipes from friends and a couple of my own. My family will eat what I cook. I will let you know my opinion, my husbands and of course my 8 year old daughter and 5 year old son will let you know if your kids will like it. If you wish try each recipe and let me know how they turn out. I look forward to Crock Pot January! Happy crocking everyone!