Ok, Dani

Travel, Wellness, Personal Growth, and Manifesting for Women

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Resume
    • Contact
  • Work With Me
    • Intuitive Readings
    • Holistic Life Coaching
    • Money Rewiring Hypno
    • Speaking
  • Lifestyle
    • Marriage
    • Wellness
    • Minimalism
  • Manifesting
    • Inspiration
  • Travel
    • Cruising
    • Disney
    • Family Travel
  • Podcast
    • Manifest It Sis Episodes
  • Videos

How A CrockPot Saved My Life

July 28, 2015 by Dani 15 Comments

If you're new here, sign up for the FREE 5-Day Manifesting Breakthrough Challenge! . And then, join me in my group, Manifest It Sis on Facebook! We have lots of fun over there. Thanks for visiting!

Welcome back!! Have you signed up for the FREE 5-Day Manifesting Breakthrough Challenge?! .

red crockpot

Or maybe…How a crockpot could save my life if I could figure out what to make in it….

So, in 2009, I forced John to go black friday shopping with me. We got a crock pot for $5 and promptly forgot about it.
A couple years ago (I think) John made chili in it once.

I finally made use of it a couple weeks ago… and now I’m lightweight in love.

Mornings are easy for me. (And you know this, man.) I can get up early and get tons done. Evenings….notsomuch. I’m still really hurried with getting home from work, getting Ro from daycare, getting Kai from family (which can either take 10 minutes or an hour depending on the day), getting them all unloaded into the house, then getting something cooked without them ripping the house apart, spending some quality time with them, getting them bathed, fed and put to bed.

I realized I was starting to be that mom that relies on the TV to babysit while I cooked. (No shade to those moms, I get it, and the struggle is really real. I just don’t want that for us right now.) I would try to have Roey help me, and actually get annoyed at Kaya being between my legs fussin’ and trying to get picked up, instead of including the poor child or spending time with her.

John gets in about an hour after I do, and needs a minute to decompress before jumping in to daddy mode. This would add to my frustration because I’d love for him to just come home and immediately take both of them so I could finish cooking….or him finish cooking so I can play with the babies.

Note: I don’t even like cooking.

These frustrations build and build and I’m hating our evening routine and stopping at McDonalds once a week to throw a cheeseburger down Ro’s throat instead of having to cook and deal with the annoyance. (And sidebar: I’m halfway obsessed with the Southwestern Salad…and now the new Asian Salad with ginger dressing. So good! but that’s a separate story.)

So I’m looking for my big frying pan one day and checked in a cabinet I never look in…and find my new savior.

The Crock Pot was sitting there all shiny and un-used just waiting to make my life easier. (full disclosure: I still haven’t found the big frying pan…John ended up buying one at Costco.)

I added the crock pot prep to my morning routine and I came home to a hot entree ready for my family! I just had to throw some veggies on, or put a salad together and boom. (If we weren’t low carbing it would be even easier, I could just put rice or pasta or something in the pot and have a one-pot meal all done for me.) 

It freed up about an hour of my evening!!

Bonus: During the time I was cooking, it was easier to have Roey help me out with an easy task (ex: taking craisins out of bag and putting into salad), and I could even have Kaya on my hip cuz I wasn’t cooking anything that would pop oil on her, or required two hands or knifework.

YAY!!! Slow Cooking For The Win!!!!

I told John my plan to use it at least twice a week. He was totally down with it and said he’d use it once a week, and I figured we’d have leftovers to help us make it through.

 

Ummmm……

We made it about a week and a half into that plan.

LMAO.

#Fail

I didn’t prepare properly.

We ended up trying just two recipes:

BBQ Chicken Breasts: Chicken breasts, onions, garlic, italian dressing, salt, pepper

Mushroom Chicken Breasts: Chicken breasts, onions, mushroom slices, can of cream of mushroom soup, salt, pepper

Both were simple in flavor profile, but still pretty yummy. I need to find some proven delicious crock pot meals that will work for all four of us. I became mini obsessed with allrecipes.com for a hot second trying to find easy slow cooker recipes for my family.

I don’t do traditional meal planning all the time, I do more of a….general meal “guide” if you will… but with the newness of slow cooker use, I’ve got to meal plan a bit more thoroughly.

That said, I need your help!

Do you use a slow cooker?

Any great recipes or tips to share?

Like this post? Check these out too:

  • #Mom2Summit: The Refresh I Didn’t Know I Needed#Mom2Summit: The Refresh I Didn’t Know I Needed
  • When is it OK to punch a toddler in the face?When is it OK to punch a toddler in the face?
  • Why Do You Blog?Why Do You Blog?
  • Shoott Photography Review: My Family’s ExperienceShoott Photography Review: My Family’s Experience

Filed Under: Food, My Life

« OKDani.com Reader Survey
BFF Whether You Like It Or Not! »

Comments

  1. Tiffani G says

    July 28, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    My friend, have you not discovered Campbell’s slow cooker sauces? Throw it in the pot with some chicken breasts (you don’t even have to defrost!) and by the time you’re home, Moroccan chicken. I get them at Tarjhay. Another recipe we like is Southwest chicken–breasts, corn,black beans and tomatoes. You’re welcome. I even threw some curry chicken in there last week. Get up on it!

    Reply
    • Dani says

      July 28, 2015 at 5:26 pm

      I LOVE YOU

      Reply
  2. Antionette Blake says

    July 28, 2015 at 3:21 pm

    I have 4 different size slow cookers and have been using them for years. Have you used any of the slow cooker seasoning packs – they are awesome! Any cut of meat with veggies is a perfect meal to come home too especially in the winter. I made an awesome lemon / rosemary chicken which was awesome! Here’s my link to other meals – http://dedivahdeals.com/product-reviews/friday-foodie-feature/

    Reply
    • Dani says

      July 28, 2015 at 7:02 pm

      Awww snap. I gotta get these packs ASAP!!!

      Reply
  3. AprilD says

    July 28, 2015 at 3:21 pm

    I love using it and have recently dusted mine off as well. My favorite (since we’re doing the slow carb diet) is pot roast beef chunks and carrots. I put baby carrots on bottom then either marinade the beef or use simple seasonings and 6hrs later we have deliciousness! I also love cooking beans in it but that is only it you’re in the mood to do the whole pre-soaking the beans step…

    Thanks Tiffani G!!! I love my crock pot but didn’t know Campbell’s had slow cooker sauces!!

    Reply
    • Dani says

      July 28, 2015 at 5:51 pm

      Hey fellow slow carber!!! Hmmm I haven’t even put a piece of beef in that bad boy yet. Thanks for expanding my miiiind and junk 🙂

      Reply
  4. Jessica says

    July 28, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    I have a great recipe, super easy! Chicken Chili, http://domesticatedwildchild.com/chicken-chili/

    Reply
    • Dani says

      July 28, 2015 at 7:03 pm

      Thanks! I’ll check it out

      Reply
  5. Camille says

    July 28, 2015 at 5:13 pm

    Another blog, skinnytaste.com, has a whole section of recipes dedicated to crock pot dishes. I’ve tried a couple and they are pretty good!

    Reply
  6. Tanay says

    July 29, 2015 at 11:33 am

    I haven’t even used my slow cooker because….. lazy… but ill be saving this page so that when you get all the good recipe comments ill be able to use some =)

    Reply
  7. Ty says

    July 29, 2015 at 10:41 pm

    Like you, I forgot about my crock pot for years. I thought it was just one of those appliances that you “had to have” but never really used.
    Over the years, I have pulled it out but not as much as I should. I don’t know why I insist on making my life hard by working 10 hrs a day and rushing home to cook, when it can already be done.
    Hump…I need to do better!!!

    Reply
  8. Chardae says

    July 29, 2015 at 11:10 pm

    I love the crock pot! I used to use it ALL THE TIME! Then one day I the man said “this tastes like crock pot”. So I made something different and he said the same thing. It’s been quite dusty ever since but I do plan to resurrect it with a baby on the way. Oh, and check Pinterest or some recipes and meal plans.

    Reply
  9. Julie Wood says

    October 28, 2015 at 10:10 am

    I use the Crockpot a lot this time of year! It saves me so much time and is so easy making recipes. I like making Beef Stew, Spaghetti and meatballs and Pulled Pork for sandwiches!

    Reply
  10. Holden Humphreys says

    November 14, 2015 at 9:36 pm

    We have one but never use it, looking at the other responses for suggestions. 🙂

    Reply
  11. Rosie says

    December 17, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    I don’t have a slow cooker, but I’ve been googling around looking for one. I think that it would be so much better for meal prep, as there isn’t much time at night.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress