eat your heart out

Allow me to toot my own horn for a second: I'm not too bad of a chef.
Somehow in my teenage years I snuck my way out of having to do hardly any cooking for the family.  This could be due to the inordinate amount of time I was away at work, volleyball, friends' houses, school and church meetings.
Anyway, I got this notion in my head that I would never ever have to cook because food would always just materialize in front of me. I mean really, where did all this food in the fridge/pantry come from anyways? Well, going off to college served as a rude awakening to my absence of cooking knowledge. I had Top Ramen, popcorn, and rice/tomato sauce/sausage down to an art but that's because I got frustrated enough to just do it. I learned that you actually had to buy food. And to make sure to kept track of expiration dates. (This one time, I forgot I had bought a cantaloupe and put it in my fruit bowl. It rotted and got mold all over my roommates oranges.... that were in another bowl. That's right; my cantaloupe was so moldy that it went through not one, but two bowl sides to the oranges next to it. I had a big learning curve to get over ok?)  I experimented with some recipes, but mostly stole them all from my bomb roommates who had basically been cooking since they were in the cradle. I'd like to say that I graduated freshman year with a greater appreciation for all things healthy food, recipes and expiration dates.
Married life has given me yet another awakening (a little less rude than the first time thankfully.) For the first time ever I'm doing this thing called meal-planning. Seriously.
Which leads me to this puppy right here:

le crockpot.

I've had this little contraption for a year and a half now and today, I finally cracked it out!

This is a big moment for me people. Crock pots have terrified me. I feel like they epitomize everything "womanly" and "domestic" and now that I've used it... I'm pretty much labeled as domestic too. Which is fine I guess; it's just not a label I thought I'd ever have.

I usually try to plan about 6-7 meals every two weeks for Kyle and I. Most of the cookbooks I have use recipes that make 4-8 servings, so with one recipe we get two meals. Plus we like love eating out so we really are quite well-fed even though we only plan 6 meals.

Kyle's family grew up doing crock pot meals and when he suggested that we do one for this Sunday, I was slightly anxious for reasons I still don't know.

Long story short, he picked out a crock pot recipe from the ever-traditional Good Book cookbook (the red and white checkered one) and while he was away home-teaching, I made the dang thing!

I haven't had any of it yet, but it's making our house smells AMAZING.

After the crock pot challenge was conquered I felt licensed to continue my domesticity by making no-bake cookies. Actually, I just really wanted something sweet and these are the easiest cookies to make. And the husband loves them too. I believe that's a win-win situation.

Anyway, I hope you guys all had a great weekend! We did almost nothing yesterday and it was awesome. 

I'm including the recipes for both the crock pot meal and the no-bakes. While I can't vouch for the crock pot meal yet, the no-bakes I can; and yes, they're to die for. Thank you Food Network.

Beef Pot Roast:

1 2.5-3lb boneless beef chuck pot roast (I used a rump roast... it was cheaper)

2 T cooking oil

1 t Worcestershire sauce

1 t instant beef bouillon

1 t dried basil, crushed

1/2 t salt (which I just realized I never added...)

4 medium potatoes (cut into bite sized pieces)

6 medium parsnips (peeled and cut into 2" pieces)

2 small onions (cut into wedges. I actually used half of one yellow onion and cut that into wedges)

2 stalks celery (bias-sliced (whatever that is!) into 1" pieces. And I definitely added more celery)

Trim fat from meat. Put the sliced vegetables in the cooker. Cut meat to fit, if necessary. Add 3/4 c. of water, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon, basil and salt. Cook on low for 9-11 hrs, or high for 4.5-5.5 hrs. 

No-bakes from the Heavens (I made that up, but I think it's fitting)

2 c. sugar
4 T cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 c. milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 T vanilla
3 c. oatmeal
Waxed paper

In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for 1 minute then add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened.