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I grew up eating crock pot meals – my mom still uses her crock pot all the time – but in my ten years of married life, I have barely touched mine. I guess one of the main reasons I never use a crock pot, is I am not a morning person. The thought of touching raw meat first thing in the morning just turns my stomach!
But I am determined to conquer crock pot cooking! I love all the meals my mom makes and I really love the idea of having a meal ready to go at dinner time.
So, I decided to start easy – split pea soup. I made it Friday night so we would have it for a quick meal Saturday night before we headed out for our friend’s birthday party. (I knew if I left it to Saturday morning, I might lose my motivation – I am far more ambitious at night!)
So here is my before:
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And here is my masterpiece after:
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Saturday afternoon I also made some pumpkin muffins for dessert. I added 1/2 cup of wheat germ to make them healthier. I wasn’t too fond of the wheat germ flavor, but Jackson and Julia didn’t seem to mind! 🙂
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The soup was delicious and I think I am on my way to a long, happy relationship with my crock pot.
edited to add: I didn’t bother to include my recipe, since it was so darn basic (my mom just told me how to do it over the phone). But in case you were wondering here it is.
Split Pea Soup
1 lb green split peas (I wanted to make it a bit bigger, but didn’t have room to double, so I just increased the portions a 1/4)
2 ham hocks (I just used one big one)
1 large carrot (I used two medium ones)
1 big onion (I used 1 and 1/2)
1 celery stalk (I used 2)
2 quarts of water (I added a bit more)
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
After cooking, remove ham hock, and cut up meat.
Blend soup, add the ham, stir and serve 🙂
For more crock pot recipes you can visit our good friend Sandra every Thursday for Slow Cooking Thursday. (Now that girl knows how to cook!) And as well, over at Heather’s place on her party post, she held a crock-pot recipe swap. So if you are looking for some new recipes, don’t miss out those links!
Join Us For Tackle It Tuesday
We’re making housework blog-able!
Each week on Tuesday, we are posting before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that we tackled this week.
Find out more about Tackle It Tuesday here.
The project can be little or big – whatever you want. Basically, Tackle It Tuesday is about giving ourselves incentive, deadlines and satisfaction in getting our household tasks done.
Diane in Alaska says
I would love some more crock pot recipes! I tackled a terrible area of my office…my whole room needs it but starting with just a corner made a big difference!
Marilyn says
I love pea soup. That’s what we had Monday night! I tackled my bathroom and found an angel. I always wait till Tuesday night to do my tackle. Someday I’ll get it done early and be up at the top of the list.
Mona says
What a wonderful tackle! I do hope that you will continue! I too have been looking into more crockpot recipes, thank you for sharing the posts that might have some good ones!
Blessings!
jen says
I love cooking with my crockpot and the smell that fills the house and the fact that the end of the day you can just sit down and eat 🙂
Lore says
WOW, that looks delicious! yummm
Ruth says
yah
i finally was able to play again
!!!
Beckie says
Mmmm…. Smells so good, I can smell it here!
Q&Q says
I love my crockpot. He is so dented and stained! I make crockpot meals every Wed and Sat. Peasoup is one of my favorites but my family is sick of it so I haven’t made it for several years. Thanks for reminding me of that basic but oh so good recipe. 🙂
Mrs Lifecruiser says
Hm…. how hungry that made me now, just before dinner time!!! *s*
I’ve never heard of crock-pot cooking before like that, we have a similar crock-pot cooking in Sweden but generally it’s steak or chicken with veg. in the oven.
My contribute this week has the funny subject of:
Cruise My TIT’s…. *lol*
That’s because we’re planning a cyber cruise as you might know and I’m in the preparations for it, it starts the 16th of March with a lot of interesting destinations. Check it up, if you like cyber travelling!
Janice (5 Minutes for Mom) says
Preparing it the night before is a GREAT suggestion – THANKS! That will definitely work for me!
Lisa – an ice cream shop?!?! OH MY!!! I would get FAT! I LOVE ice cream – I REEAALLLY love it!!!!
Lisa Knight says
I would be lost without my crockpots! I have 4 that I use & 2 have 2 liners one for big meals & one divided for sides. I used them in our ice cream shop to keep toppigs warm in a water bath, but they have since become part of my kitchen!
Heather says
Sounds great! I love using my crockpot. I really need to bring one (yes, I have 2) to the new house to use while we’re here.
PT-LawMom says
Yummy, looks good. I always try meat recipes and my family hates the texture. Maybe I should move on to soup?
HsKubes says
Looks great!
I used to love using my crockpot but have fallen out of using it. I hope to pick it up, again, soon.
Enjoy your day.
~ Christina
mjpuzzlemom says
I love my crockpot and I am sad I missed the Party! I am trying my second tackle today.
mjpuzzlemom says
I love my crockpot and I am sad I missed the Party! I am trying my second tackle today.
ChupieandJsmama says
Your soup and muffins look yummy! I love making pea soup in my crock pot. Maybe I’ll do that for dinner today 🙂 I don’t use my crock pot nearly enough. I should really use it more often. Great tackle. And about the above post. I know how you feel about the yelling. Sometimes I let my kids push my buttons and I just can’t stop it. I lost it the other day and felt exactly as you did. All we can do is say we are sorry for yelling and try to better next time.
jenny says
those are yummy! split pea soup & pumpkin muffins…sounds really good, it’s kinda like a comfort food for me…
great tackle…mine isn’t so exciting but at least I tried…hehehe!
Stacey says
Don’t forget, you can put everything in the crock at night, and leave it in the fridge until it’s time to start cooking the next day. Might help with the raw meat in the morning problem.
Oops. I just read that others had said the same thing in your comments. ROFL and here I thought I would be so helpful. 😀 I used to use the crockpot daily, but have fallen out of the habit a tad. IT’s great in the summer because it doesn’t heat the house up. (Was that said?? NO!! 😀 *giggle*)
Off to find my tackle….
Celeste says
I love crockpot cooking. I cooked a roast Sunday and today I will be making soup with the leftovers.
Heather L. says
Great tackle! You can also prepare your crockpot contents the night before and store them in containers in the fridge until morning. Then, all you have to do is dump it in and turn it on. Just don’t put the crock in the refrigerator or it may crack when you put it in/on the heating base. I’m not a morning person, either. I am much more productive in the evenings, too.
Marcia says
Hi Janice
Great tackle! And those muffins look so good. I love baking muffins because they’re so easy!
This week I organised my HUGE pile of handbags. I’m a handbag-oholic (!)
Marcia
http://organisingtips.blogspot.com
tanyetta says
one day i’m going to join the tackle tuesday! one day my dearies (is that a word?) 🙂
Laura says
Great tackle!!! My crockpot has the removable pot so I sometimes will just put everything together right in the pot the night before, pop the whole thing into the fridge and then in the morning all I have to do is put it in the crockpot and turn it on. Easy! I’d be lost without my crockpot.
Enjoy!
Laura
Karen says
I like Susanne’s tip about getting things ready the night before. I love my crockpot, but have never tried split pea soup. I may have to tackle that one day! 🙂
Susanne says
Yum, that looks great! That’s a great tip for crockpot cooking is to get everything ready the night before and then just put it all together the next morning. I couldn’t live without my crockpot!
Adventures In Babywearing says
Oh, please post some yummy crock pot recipes! I am the same way… mine is collecting dust and hasn’t been used for ages!!
Steph
Angelika says
Tomorrow will be my first Tackle it Tuesday! I had intended to do the task today, but talked myself out of it, LOL. This is the perfect incentive to DO IT! Thanks!