OK... I really can't do Magic. But I totally felt like Samantha from Bewitched tonight. I had dinner on the table in less than 5 minutes after walking in after getting home from teaching tonight.
I didn't wiggle my nose to make it happen... Though that would have been awesome if I did. No, my help came in the form of my Crock-Pot!
Oh that lovely piece of kitchen appliance that so many of us are guilty of putting in a cabinet and leaving there. I admit it... I am guilty of that very same thing year after year.
My mother bought me my very first crock-pot when I was a Sophomore in college living in my own apartment. I often complained to her that after a long day of classes and rehearsals the last thing I wanted to do when I got home (often around 11) was COOK! She claimed that this handy little cooker would save me from eating fast food every night.
I was hesitant to try it. But I fell in love. I cooked with it for a few months and then like a sweater during the summer months approaching... it disappeared. For some reason I stopped using it and put it away.
Fast forward a few years later I found myself saying that reoccurring line... "the last thing I want to do when I get home from work is COOK!". So I got inspired to dust off my old friend that had been discarded so many months before. Sad to say the cycle started all over again.
These days it seems down right impossible to stand at the stove to cook dinner (when Kevin gets home) because of baby. Cooking with the Crock-Pot would help curve the Fast Food dinners. But why did I not jump to rescue my old pal from the hidden corner of my cabinets? I mean... hello... it would help!
It got me thinking... Why? Why don't I cook with it more? Why do I love it and then just stop?
And after much soul searching I found the answers:
- You have to plan ahead. Recipes require a minimum of 3-8 hours of cooking time. So that means 3-8 hours before I want to have dinner I need to know what it is I want to eat.
- You have to have a stocked kitchen. For a couple that pretty much shops for one to two days at a time... If it isn't popcorn, kool-aid, or beer we don't have it in our fridge. That would take us back to reason #1. We don't plan ahead.
- I'm a food Snob! I admit it! I love watching the Food Network. I am inspired by their personalities to cook AMAZING dishes that are tasty and creative. And lets be honest... Crock-pot recipes are... well... BORING!
That was until I saw an episode of Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Cooking. (Click here for the shows website on the Food Network)
She made a Beef Stew with Chocolate. Yes, I said chocolate! I immediately thought "Kevin would LOVE that!". And the amazing thing is she used her crock pot! A Food Network personality using a crock pot! The food snob in me was inspired! So while I was watching her Chocolate for Dinner episode I searched out the contents of my bare fridge. And low and behold I actually had more than half of the items I needed.
To make a long story short... (too late...)
The Crock-pot was pulled out from hiding. Once again...
Now I am on a mission to:
- Find amazing, Delicious, food snob worthy recipes.
- Keep my dear old friend of 13 years living on my kitchen counter next to my Keurig instead of underneath in a few months.
- Cook more dinners (with Baby in tow) and cut down our Fast Food escapades.
Wish me luck!
* Below are links to purchase a Crock-Pot if you don't already own one. I own one similar to the 4-quart Oval manual. But if I were to buy one today I would die for one of programmable ones.
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