The night before Mike and I got married we were at the church decorating with our families. If you've read the story of how Mike and I fell in love, you know that it was not your typical scenario. I had only met his parents once before our wedding...and it was at our wedding shower. Crazy, but true. Somehow the conversation shifted to his incredible mother, Jo, telling me a story of one of the times they were running from a hurricane. Since they lived in Florida, evacuating due to hurricane conditions was fairly common. Jo went on to tell me that she made steak, mashed potatoes, and corn in their hotel room using a single hot plate and a coffee pot. A coffee pot, people! Mike, his sister, and dad all chimed in to testify as to how amazing of a meal it was. My soon-to-be mother-in-law was MacGyver and Martha Stewart rolled into one sweet Southern woman!
I would be lying if I said I didn't panic a little. Surely this isn't the kind of cooking Mike expects, right? At that point my culinary tool belt consisted of the skills to make cereal and to not burn popcorn 85% of the time. I could bake like nobody's business, but apparently a newlywed couple cannot survive on brownies alone.
Thankfully, our first year of marriage Mike did all the cooking. And I mean ALL. Though my stirring skills shot through the roof! But then I graduated from college and we bought a house. It didn't make sense for Mike to work all day and come home and cook when I was perfectly capable of doing so.
Enter: my love affair with the Crock Pot.
Over the past 3 years I've fallen deeper in love with this ceramic bowl of awesomeness. It lets me cook without burning the house down, feeds my family, and doesn't stress me out. Everyone wins. Sometimes I go so far as to meal plan for the month, but I'll save that for another blog entry.
Recently people have been asking for Crock Pot recipes, so I thought this blog would be a lovely place to share some of my favorites. Because honestly, what's better then sitting on the couch while you're cooking dinner?
This recipe comes from the "Southern Living Slow-Cooker Cookbook"
Spaghetti Casserole
1 1/2 lbs ground beef (we used turkey)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (26 ounce) jar tomato and basil pasta sauce (or whatever you have on hand)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk (I used regular milk and it turned out fine)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces uncooked spaghetti, broken into pieces
3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I don't use quite that much)
Grated Parmesan cheese
-Cook ground beef and onion in a large skillet, stirring until beef crumbles and is no longer pink; drain meat, and return to skillet. Stir pasta sauce into beef mixture.
-Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in milk; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, 8 minutes or until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat, and stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and pepper.
-Spoon one-third of meat mixture into a lightly greased 5-quart slow cooker. Spread half of broken spaghetti over meat; pour half of white sauce over noodles, and sprinkle with 1 cup cheddar cheese. Repeat layers once. Spread remaining meat mixture over cheese. Top with remaining 1 cup of cheddar.
-Cover and cook on low 4 hours. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve with Parmesan cheese. Makes 6-8 servings.
This may not be the prettiest dish in the world, but man is it good! Mike got seconds and sweet Liam asked for more...twice!
Let me know if you try the recipe and like it! Happy Stress-Free Cooking!
Laura, one of our favorite crock pot meals is pot roast. Use any kind of beef roast you wish, put it in the crock pot and cover it with a can of low-fat mushroom soup, a packet of onion soup mix, a can of mushroom slices (with broth) and about 1/2 cup of beef broth. Cook on low up to 6-8 hours and serve. The gravy is really good over mashed potatoes or noodles.
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