I love my crockpot

Ok, so I will admit - it has taken me about three years of being married and making my own meals to really get into using a crockpot. We got a pretty nice one as a wedding gift and it sat almost a year in it's box before we really used it. And then I think the first thing we even used it for was some hot apple cider for a party we had.

Then one day last year Nate decided to make a roast in it. It turned out great, but I still didn't jump on the crockpot cooking bandwagon.

I really don't know what I was waiting for! I've now done two meals this fall in the crockpot and let me tell you, it's a lovely feeling coming home and dinner is more or less done!

In my quest to cook recipes from the Betty Crocker book, I have found many meals will be easier if there is a little prep work the night before and then have them cook all day while I'm gone at work. So far, we've made beef stroganoff in the crockpot and corned beef for sandwiches.

The challenge is finding meals that need to cook for a long enough period of time while we are at work. If the meal only calls for 5-6 hours, that doesn't work out real well since we are gone for about 8. Nate's thinking of seeing if we can somehow hook up a timer though, that would turn it on at a specific time. I don't quite know how that will work, but hey, you never know.

I am now officially addicted to my crockpot and I think we'll have an opportunity to have many yummy meals this winter!