Crockpot Day 13 and Day 14

For Wednesday, I had some bacon in the fridge that needed used up and I'd been wanting to try some kind of breakfast casserole. I needed a guideline and was happy to come across The Henhouse Pottery Blog.

I peeled and diced 3 potatoes (because that's what I had) and threw them in the crock....after I fully doused it with olive oil, of course. Since I was feeling too lazy to chop an onion, I added 1.5 Tb dried minced onion. Actually Konnor was getting fussy and the two olders were fighting over a block. Yep, a block. We only have like a bizzillion, but I digress...I just wanted to get the crock pot going. I cooked the bacon in the microwave (about 1/2 pk) and crumbled it over the top. During the bacon cooking, Kelton wandered into the kitchen proclaiming, "I like what I smell!! Next was a bag of cheese (about 2 cups). Lastly, I wisked together 9 eggs (because that's all I had), 1.5 cups of milk and 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and poured it over the top.


I cooked on low for just over 5 hrs. It probably was done sometime after 4 hrs because the edges got pretty dark.


I was really happy with how my breakfast casserole turned out and everyone liked it. Katie even ate a few bites!! This would work great to prepare the night before, get up at like 3am to turn it on and then awake hours later to yummy eggy goodness.


Although they have their moments, Kelton and Katie have so much fun together when Kelton is out of school. They love sharing a bowl of popcorn for their afternoon snack.




Thursday was a no crock pot day. I was feeling a bit burnt out. Konnor had his 3mo pictures and a PT appt. He's growing so fast!!






Today we had decided to grill and since I love me some baked beans, I decided to give them a go in the crock. I looked around online and couldn't find a recipe I was satisfied with, so I came up with my own.

1 lbs white beans, soaked overnight
1 onion chopped
4 cups water
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 T chili powder
2 T vinegar
2 T maple syrup
1 T prepared mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup


I started out 4 hours on low and was afraid it wasn't cooking fast enough so I switched to high at noon. The sauce isn't at thick as I'd like, but the taste is awesome. I think next time I might do a little less water and more ketchup. It made a ton, but I'm not sure if we'll eat them over the weekend or freeze the leftovers.


I ran into Walgreens on my way to swim the other night. I spent $16.47, saved $36.96 and still have $3 RR for next time!


Kon and I hit up Target after his pictures on Thurs. I spent $13.06 and saved $21.31. I was happy to get Crystal Light for so cheap, especially the new ones that don't contain artificial sweeteners.


We're excited for the long weekend! We plan to do some relaxing, probably some fishing and BBQing too! And you know I'll be using the crock pot!

Crockpot Day 11, Day 12 and my 1st grader!!

Yesterday around 11am, I realized, "Oh crap, there's nothing in my crock." Katie had lunch in the middle of getting it ready. I turned around at one point to see her plate totally empty...she fed the majority of her lunch to the dog. Nice. Because I totally buy the expensive free range eggs for Jasmine.

Since I finally bought more chicken, I got to make Chicken and Brown Rice. I never throw out left over chicken broth, I freeze it in ice cube trays. So before I could start, I had to thaw some out.

I used Namaste Perfect Flour Blend, left out the mushrooms because they're weird, slimy and give me the creeps and added a 1/2 tsp of salt. I threw two gigantic chicken breasts on top and cooked on low for 5-6hrs.


About an hour before the boys got home,
I stirred in 1/2 a bag of frozen peas.

It was really good. E ate a giant plate, Kelton polished his off and Katie declared it "ucky" before even tasting it. It does need more salt and next time I absolutely have to remember to spray the pot first. It soaked overnight and still required a lot of elbow grease to get it clean. Since I had the chicken out already, I cooked and shredded some for the freezer. This works great for casseroles or when I start craving chicken salad.


Once again, there was a crap ton left over. I have to think crock pot cooking will be fabulous when Kelton becomes a teenage boy and attempts to eat me out of house and home. Since we're doing leftovers for dinner tonight, of course I wanted to try another dessert and what about Peanut Butter Cup Cake doesn't sound good? I used Namaste Perfect Flour Blend and soy for the milk.


It smelled like a warm peanut butter cup. It was definitely done after 2 hours on high. I thought all the chocolate was supposed to go to the bottom and only leave the peanut butter cake on top, but it left a layer on top plus the gooey chocolate underneath. Mmmmm...


Since we have a kindergarten graduate,
we ate dessert first tonight!
It was totally yummy! This recipe is a keeper!

I can't believe today was Kelton's last day of kindergarten. I remember that sick feeling in my stomach and the tears that filled my eyes when we left him that first day. I kept asking Eric, "are we really just supposed to leave him?" It felt so wrong, but naturally Kelton has loved every minute. He's such a smart little cookie and a total people person. He's thrilled to be a 1st grader now.



I'll totally lose my mind when these two little devils start school.

Katie is super excited that Kelton will be home to
play with her for the summer.
Maybe I'll let him get the crock pot ready tomorrow!

Crockpot Day 9, Day 10 and my weekend!

For Day 9, Wednesday, I was tired and we still had tons of the BBQ Chicken and Cornbread Casserole from Tue night. I seriously cannot rave enough about it and I cannot wait to make it again! Since I planned on leftovers for dinner (I had it for lunch too - YUM!), I threw a dump cake in the crock before I left to get some laps in at the pool.

I poured in a can of crushed pineapple, a can of diced peached and sprinkled a coconut cake mix over the top. I cut up 5 Tb margarine and put it over the top of that then threw some shredded coconut in too because it just sounded yummy.


It cooked on high for about 3 hours and smelled very tempting!

This was not gluten free, so it was a treat E and I had after the kids were in bed. Using the coconut cake mix and extra coconut was definitely the way to go. Next time I'm going to do this gluten free for Katie. I was a bit nervous that there was so much left over since I'm still trying to shed the rest of my baby weight, but E was a trooper and polished it off overnight!


For Day 10, Thursday, I wanted something simple again. Last week, my mom's friend Ann, left me a comment saying,

to go with your grilling try this crock pot recipe..
1/2 stick butter
1/3 cup water
1 8oz block cream cheese
salt & pepper
2-3 sacks of frozen corn
You do have to stir occasionally

I had planned to use a lasagna from the freezer (thank you, Yvette!) and I figured the the cream corn could go with it. Instead of halving the recipe since it obviously makes a lot, I just froze the leftovers. I went with fat free cream cheese and 3 Tb of margarine since that's what was left of the stick from making the dump cake. I threw it all in, set it on low and left for Konnor's PT appt.


When I got home, not much had melted, so I turned it to high and stirred. I stirred several more times before I left to pick up Katie from daycare. I was gone about an hour and in that time some of the liquid burned on the sides of the crock, although the corn itself tasted great.


I added some more salt and pepper before serving. I think next time I'd like to try A Year of Slow Cooking's creamed corn recipe. I also really want to try a corn casserole or corn pudding, but I need a recipe!

Since it was just Konnor and I this weekend, no crockpotting. My friend, Lisa came over and we had a great time playing with my cricut. I made Laura's spinach dip and my mom brought over some chicken enchilada dip.






On Sunday, my mom kept Konnor for a little bit so I could get my shopping done. At Dillon's, I stocked up on chicken breasts. My total was $64.36 with $51.96 in coupon savings and I have $3 to spend next time! Sorry, no picture.

At Target, I spent $18.22 with $24.97 in coupon savings.

Breaking the crockpot out again today!

Crockpot Day 7 and Day 8

So there's nothing really hard about daily crockpotting, it's the daily blogging. Seriously time consuming!

Yesterday I went with an easy standby, chicken taco meat. You simply throw a few frozen chicken breasts in the bottom of the crock, sprinkle them with a pk of taco seasoning and then pour a jar of salsa or picante sauce on top. Cook on low all day, shred the chicken and fill your tortillas or taco shells and enjoy! Mmmm, it's always so good and if there's leftovers, I freeze them for chicken taco soup later. I don't tend to do very many big freezer cooking days, but I like to always make extra to freeze, which keeps our freezer pretty stocked.

This time I added black beans and corn. I soaked some black beans overnight, rinsed them and added them to the crock with the chicken. About 2hrs before dinner, I threw in about 1/2 bag of frozen corn.


Yummy as always. We used tortillas, sour cream and shredded cheese. Kelton gobbled his up and in true 2yr old style, Katie refused to touch hers. Next time, I think I'll throw in a chopped onion also. There is LOTS left for the freezer!

Today, I was super excited to try BBQ Chicken and Cornbread Casserole. I already had some shredded chicken in the freezer, which now puts me totally out of chicken. (Cross your fingers it goes on sale soon!) I used 2 sweet potatoes because I really like them and 1/2 a lg white onion that needed used up. I also added an extra 1/2 bottle of bbq sauce because 1 bottle, even with the extra water, didn't seem like enough.


I used Gluten Free Pantry Yankee Corn Bread Mix
and cooked on low for 6 hrs.

It looked really pretty before the sauce bubbled up around the edges, but the corn bread was cooked perfectly. I only prepared it with 1/2 the butter, but I think next time I could leave it all out.


This is probably my new favorite. Really. Freaking. Good. Really. Kelton cleaned his plate, E and I each had seconds and even Katie took a couple nibbles! I don't think I'd change a thing except maybe to try adding some beans.


This week, Katie's toe nails are green and her fingernails are orange. She's pretty much got all her colors down now. I think it's time we start working harder on numbers though because she still counts... 2, 4, 9, 2, 4, 9...



She does so many funny things during the day, but doesn't always care to have her picture taken.


We had a new little friend at our house that I found when I was out walking the other night. We've had a lot of fun watching him the last couple days. I've had to convince Katie that since he's a baby he needs to nap too so that way she'll leave him alone. Tonight, we returned him to the pond and Kelton did some fishing with Pete.





Crockpotting continues tomorrow and
I'm working on my next blog about couponing too!

Crockpot Day 6, a day off and a date!!

For Day 6, I decided we needed to have breakfast and I wanted to set it the night before so it would be all I nice and ready for us when we woke up. I didn't follow a recipe, just did some googling and then threw some things together. I used a bag of frozen cinnamon sugar apples (a la Yvette's apple trees), 2 cups apple juice, 3 cups water and 2.5 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats. The majority of what I read online said to use steel cut oats, but I didn't have any and didn't feel like going to the store.


I dumped everything in, stirred and let it cooked over night. It smelled wonderful and looked like a big pot of goo. Eric and I loved it. It was like apple crisp, without the crisp. Kelton and Katie each had a couple bites. Kelton gagged and then Katie refused to eat anymore of it since Kelton wasn't. I can't wait to give this another go with steel cut oats and maybe different fruit.

Despite the rain, Eric and the kids stayed busy in the garage on Saturday morning building Eric's work bench. He built his kegerator right in and there's a pony keg inside, so come on over for a drink!



Saturday night, Mimi came over to babysit (THANK YOU!!) while Eric and I went to Sumo's with some friends. YUM!! Afterwards we went to The Alley to ride go-carts. We had a great time, but headed home by 10pm. We're getting so old!






Today, I took a day off from my crockpot. I know I was planning a week, but I've decided I'll do a month instead and allow weekends off if I want. It's my game, I can change the rules if I want to!

I did manage some bargain shopping though!
Walgreens was $23.73 with $9.50 left in RR. This transaction made me really really really want Katie to potty train soon. We'll save so much more $$ when we only have one in diapers!


Target was $6.18. I'd gotten my free facebook sample of the pretzel M&Ms awhile back and they were so yummy, I had to get some for the boys to try!

No picture from Dillons, but I spent $43.76 and saved $46.61. I really need some chicken breast, but they weren't on sale and I couldn't force myself to pay full price. I usually stock up when they do B1G1. Hopefully that sale will come around again soon!

Crockpotting starts again tomorrow!