Making dinner was getting harder and harder to accomplish. By the time we woke up, showered, got dressed, ate breakfast and nursed Ellie there was very little time to prep dinner. I was running around going to the grocery store, making snacks, lunch, doing dishes, laundry and enjoying spending time with my kids! Reading books, cuddling, singing songs, going to the park, making cookies, building block towers, racing cars and pretending to eat Jacobs play kitchen coffee with avocado, cheese and salami inside....mmm. Doesn't that sound tasty? :) I found that if I didn't prep dinner earlier in the day, when the afternoon rolled around there just wasn't enough time or energy to make a full and nutritious dinner.
I decided to bust out the good old crock pot again. The weather has started to get cooler and what better than a warm and comforting meal? If you are anything like my husband, soup just doesn't cut it for dinner. So, I had to get a little more creative. I pinned some recipes, searched through my favorites websites and consulted my mom and mother in law. So far so good. I have made these (listed below) delicious meals in the crock pot in the past two weeks. My friend Jen requested the recipes so I told her I would get them up on the blog. I included the links to each recipe below.
*Turkey chili and cornbread- (Cornbread was made in the oven. I use the krusteaz brand bc it's very moist) Jacob loves beans and anything with tomatoes. He is not a huge meat eater so this is a good way to get him to eat ground turkey. We both ate way too much cornbread. But, hey we couldn't help it ;) You can find the chili recipe here. I browned the meat and then threw everything in the crock pot. High for two hours or low for four.
*Chili verde chicken tacos-This recipe was so easy. And the meat can be used for so many other meals besides tacos. Marios tacos looked more like tostadas because he piled on the meat so high you couldn't fold the taco...lol....men :/ You can find the recipe here.
*French onion soup- Ok, I know I said my husband doesn't care for soup. Well, this is about the only soup he really likes. It is so delicious, especially with the crunchy cheesy toast. Jacob is dairy free so he just had toasted bread with his soup. You can find the recipe here. Keep in mind that you do have to caramelize the onions on the stove top before you add them and the remaining ingredients to the crock pot.
*Chicken cacciatore- This is one of my favorites so far. I couldn't help but take "taste tests" during the cooking process. Not because I needed to check anything, but just because it was so good. I put it over pasta, but you could even serve it with crunchy bread...mmm. You can find the recipe here.
*Sloppy joes- I had to try this recipe. Mostly because I hadn't had a sloppy joe since I was a kid camping with my dad and brothers. What a way to bring back memories. I remember loving them so I decided to give this recipe a try. So so good. I served it with sweet potato fries and a salad. Jacob didn't quite know what to do with such a sloppy "hangaburger", but he managed. You can find the recipe here.
I plan on making more in the upcoming week. I may take a crack at Spanish chicken and liguica, pinto beans (to use for tostadas, breakfast, burritos and freeze for later), minestrone, roast and veggies, and chicken curry. Stay tuned because I will post links on the blog. I hope you rekindle your love for the crock pot and try out some of these recipes. Your belly will thank you!
Here are a few pictures I can share. Oops, I forgot to take a picture of the French onion soup until I was on my last bite ;)
