Crock Around the Block Tonight.

This ain't no cookin' blog, and I am definitely no Marth (Martha Stewart, that is).  But lately, due to late nights in the art room prepping student works for a few shows (this time of year is rough stuff for art teachers in my district), I have been rocking the crock.

This baby is the paint to my brush, the soup can to my Andy Warhol, the mustache to my Dali.

We purchased this 7 quart slow cooker from good ol' Costco.  The best part about this particular model is that once your meal finishes cooking, it automatically switches to "Keep Warm," so if I start the meal in the AM and don't get home in time to stop the cooking, the meal will not keep on cooking and burn, but instead stay warm, toasty, and ready to eat!

I spent 2 hours last weekend busting out some make ahead crock pot meals.  I made 5 large gallon bag meals and immediately froze them.  The meals are large enough so that the hubs and I get dinner and lunch out of them (sometimes even an additional meal).  I pull them out and defrost them the night before, then throw them in the slow cooker in the AM, and VOILA! Dinner is served.

Here are the meals I put together:

Chicken Teriyaki

Pepperoncini Chicken

Red Pepper Chicken

Chicken Curry

Mushroom Chicken with Rice

I like to write the cook time and any reminders about side dishes directly on the bag.  For example, if some of our frozen garden green beans would be a good addition to the meal, I make note of it, so brain-fried Miss French Fry remembers to cook those up too.


I stuck with the chicken family this go 'round and used a variety of organic chicken thighs, drumsticks, and breasts.  Next time, I'm going to dive into some other meats.  Thus far, I've tried the chicken teriyaki and the mushroom chicken, and they are GOOOOOD.

Crock 'n roll, folks.