January 6

Sundays are family night with my parents and my sister and her family.  I had carefully planned either a side dish or a dessert to take to my parents's house tonight knowing I wanted to share with you all.  Usually, each of us is asked to bring something for supper--either the main dish, the side dish or dessert, but after my finger fiasco last weekend at dinner, my parents decided they were doing it all tonight. So, I spent yesterday scouring cookbooks and the internet for crockpot breakfast ideas, but alas I decided that I would just not use my crockpot today.  All of the breakfast recipes would have left me with a lot of leftovers and quite frankly, my family doesn't eat egg based things well when they are left over.  I look forward to this next week's recipes as I have planned them carefully.  :)  See you all tomorrow!

January 5

Today I made Sloppy Joe's.  This is modified from my mother's recipe.  It is definitely a family favorite not only with my family, but with my extended family.

First I browned the hamburger.  I seasoned the hamburger with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion.  I use both fresh or dried minced onion whichever I have available.   Here is what the hamburger looks like when I'm done.

After the hamburger is browned, I then add the chili powder and tomato sauce.  I do not put mustard in my sloppy joe's because I do not like the taste of it; however, if you like that flavor, you would add it here.  I let it cook at least an hour if cooking on the stove to allow all the flavors to blend together.  I cooked this on high for 2 hours, but I have cooked it for 6 hours on low before. 

I usually don't measure the chili powder, but did today so I could write the recipe for you all.  My family said it was the best I've made in a while so I think I will stick with measuring the chili powder. :)

January 4

Well, I didn't crock today.  I had so many leftovers from the past three days, I needed to get them used up.  Eating our leftovers is another one of our New Years resolutions, so every few days, I will not be posting.  :)  Tomorrow I will be making Sloppy Joe's.

January 3

Well, today I started back to work from Christmas break.  I did not get any pictures as I was running late.  You know how those mornings go where you're just plain running behind.  :)  Anyway, I made Apple Cider Pork Roast. It actually turned out really well.  I really liked the subtle apple flavor that the cider added to the recipe.  I don't know how often I will make this recipe as my family prefers beef to pork, but if I were to make a pork roast, I would definitely use this recipe again.  The boys rated it as a 7-8 out of 10.

January 2

Tonight I made a family favorite Dutch Meatloaf.  I have been making this recipe for about 17 years, but this is the first time I have ever tried it in the crock pot.  I got the recipe from my ex-mother-in-law Tiny Ruby.  My boys eat this up every time I make it. I think you could use your favorite meatloaf recipe in the crock pot if mine doesn't appeal to you.

Here's what it looked like before I added the sauce on the top. Make sure you spray the crock before you cook it. It will ease the clean up process.  :)

Here it is after I added the sauce on top. I cooked it on low for 7 hours and then put it on the warm setting for about an hour to let it rest.

Here is the final product.  You can drain the grease before you serve it.

I always serve this with au gratin potatoes and green beans.  Like I said earlier, it was a huge success with my family!

January 1

My first crock pot recipe of the year is Chicken Breasts with Stove Top Stuffing. I made some minor changes to the recipe as I made it.  First, I used provolone cheese instead of swiss since I had it on hand.  I also mixed the butter with the Stove Top instead of just drizzling it over to dry Stove Top.

The recipe turned out well.  The whole family felt that the chicken was really good, but Patrick said he would pass on the stuffing.  He doesn't like stuffing so that was not a surprise.  I forgot to take pictures and promise to take them for tomorrow's recipe.  I think I would possibly use just one can of soup next time, I had a lot of gravy left over.

I have decided to spend the next year blogging about using my crock pot to feed my family.  I have several hopes for this blog.

1. I hope to create healthy meals for my family and teach my boys to help around the kitchen.
2. I hope to save money in my budget as a result of not eating out.
3. I hope to create family memories in the process.

I have been gathering recipes from both cookbooks and online that will get me started.  I will be looking for ideas and suggestions as the year goes along.