Confessions

of a recipe collector.  I rarely try any of them.  But I LOVE collecting them.  I have piles of recipes I've clipped out.  I have files of recipes I've pasted or written on cards and filed. I've spent hundreds of hours through the years trying to organize them. And through all of that, I still can't find my recipes when I need them.

This is one of the favorite places I keep my recipes.

It is a wall chest with picture collages of the family eating

My biggest dilemma, though, is planning meals ahead and having the ingredients I need.  When It comes time for Gary to be home, I don't know what we're doing for dinner.  As a result, we eat out way too much (I love eating out, but it is hard on the calorie intake and budget).

So, Saturday I told Gary I was going to make an investment that will make it easier for me to actually follow through and make dinner.   I love using crock pots because then dinner is not a last minute thing. But, I don't always like the results of everything mixed together because it can get mushy. So, that is why I made this investment ($69 at Costco).

I'm calling my new quest of using the

triple crock pot at least three times a week,

"The Triple Crock Crusade."

I have to make it official or I wont do it.  But, I've already used it three times. The first time I used it was on Sunday.  I made Cashew Chicken, wild rice, and carrots.  The chicken and carrots worked great, but the rice was a little clumpy.  On Tuesday I made Rosemary Chicken, Baked beans, and berry cobbler.

 We liked the baked beans a lot, and the berry cobbler was OK.  The chicken was very tender, but we didn't care for the flavor. 

So, this is going to be an ongoing experiment.  I just filled them for tonight's dinner with a stew meat mixture (stew meat, onion soup, water), applesauce (sliced apples, 1/2 c.water, 1/2 c. sugar), and au-gratin potatoes (sliced potatoes and a sauce made with 1 T. butter, 1 T. flour, 1/2 c. water).  I'll see how it works and post the recipes that we love.  Those I made today I just kind of made up, so I have no idea how they'll work. 

But, if they are not edible, well, I guess we'll have to go out for dinner!