Crock pot adventures!

First of all... I'm back!

Bridezilla did rear her ugly head just a little bit... but hopefully not too many people were scarred in the process. The HEB bagger who announced that he liked to put people's groceries in as many bags as possible (really? and did you just say that out loud?) got a little taste of my wrath... more of the evil eye and re-education of why that was not a good thing. Then my brother made the mistake of drinking the last of (MY) milk and I woke up to eat my daily oatmeal with milk and splenda two days before the wedding... it wasn't pretty. He definitely thought I was a wee bit bridezilla-ish, but handled it pretty much in stride. Surprisingly, I think I handled R's lack of timeliness (an hour late to our rehearsal and only arrived 30 minutes before the wedding started... could have strangled him!) in a relatively calm manner. I have yet to let him forget about it, though!

We survived the wedding and actually enjoyed it and had a blast on our honeymoon. I STILL haven't ordered my wedding album, so I also don't have the images yet to post, but one day I will. Can't believe we've already been married for 3 1/2 months. Between my two grandmothers passing away within 6 days of each other in early December, going to 4 weddings (2 of which one or both of us were in), and his school/work schedule, it has been chaotic but things have begun to slow down (for me at least).

Valentine's Day was a success... R redeemed himself from last year by sending me beautiful tulips to work and surprising me at home with a card, wine and best of all... hired someone to clean our bathrooms and kitchen! My efforts seemed pale in comparison, but I got a card, made him a cd and made steak for dinner with orzo and green beans.

On to cooking...

I have been trying to cook more and finally busted out the crockpot to actually use (besides to make queso!) I went out on a limb and made pot roast.... huge success! So easy and so good. I really expected to come home to it all dried/burnt up. Instead I came home after work to my house smelling amazing and a delicious dinner already made! I was wanting to use it to make something a little healthier (but still simple and yummy) so I found a recipe for "Italian Chicken" which sounded strange (chicken, italian salad dressing, and potatoes?) but was also a big success! Richard raved about it and said he couldn't stop thinking about it and had to have leftovers the next day. My goal is to try one new crockpot recipe a week so I have a good repertoire to rotate through and make my life easier. Sorry I don't have pictures, but here are the recipes:

Marie's Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast (http://www.allrecipes.com/)

4# chuck roast

salt and pepper to taste

1 packet dry onion soup mix (like Lipton's)

1 cup water

3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced (I used unpeeled baby potatoes)

3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

(Note: I used at least 2x the amt of carrots/celery called for... I like veggies)

Season roast with salt and pepper and brown in large skillet on high heat on all sides

Place roast and remaining ingredients in slow cooker.

Cook on low 8-10 hours

Zesty Italian Chicken (http://www.southernfood.com/)

4 chicken breasts (I used 1.5# chicken breast tenderloins... same thing just already cut)
1/2 cup Zesty Italian salad dressing (I did not use the "lite" version, maybe you could)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
4-6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used 4 unpeeled, but still cubed, gold potatoes)
(I also added 2 handfuls of baby carrots and 1/2 onion pulled apart and 1 cup of chicken broth because I knew I would be gone for at least 9 hours)

Layer the chicken breasts, 1/2 of the next 3 ingredients, the vegetables, and then remaining 3 previous ingredients in the crock pot.

Cook on low 7 hours.

Do you have a good crockpot recipe? Please share in the comments!

(I just recalled what else I've tried to make in the crock pot: beans. R loves beans and really wanted me to make some. When he was a bachelor he lived on beans, eggs, and corn tortillas. The first time, I put too many beans in the pot and wasn't able to put enough liquid so they were REALLY dry. The next time was better but R admitted on our honeymoon that he didn't really like them! I hate to even attempt "mexican" food because I know it won't be like his mom's!)

Love, B