Crock.Pot.

I may have a teensy bit of an obsession with my crock-pot. I have been cooking everything in it lately, and I.am.loving.it.

Do you cook in  your Crock? Anything besides roast or stew? I have to admit, at first, that's all I really cooked in mine. And, I usually just pulled the beast out on Sundays. Then, I found A Year Of Slow Cooking , the blog is amazing. I also need to buy her cookbooks very, very soon. 

I should back track a bit. I haven't always loved cooking. Some days I even loathe it. But, when you have to feed a family of 7, eating out is not always the most financially responsible choice to make. I found that we were "grabbing something quick" far too often and those debits from my account were adding up. Quickly.

I decided that we needed to be better at sticking to our budget and I could help that immensely, simply by cooking every day. 

Planning, preparing, budgeting. It became a bit of a game to me. I loooooove to see how much I'm saving. I also love to make Cary guess. He doesn't love that game as much I do, however. 

I digress.

So, I started following another blog, Bargain Divas. They have amazing freebies that they list on their blog and facebook pages daily. They offer coupon classes as well. Personally, I have never been to one. I want to attend though. I think it would be cool. Every Wednesday when the grocery sale ads come out, they do a matching thing that allows you to see what each store has on sale and if you couple it with coupons, how much more you could save. The first time that I really did it, I went to Smith's. I was armed with my shopping list, coupons, and pen. That day I spent $50 and I saved $55. Angels were singing! I had so much food to show for it and I was elated! I tried to get Cary to share in my enthusiasm, but he just doesn't get too excited over such things. Boo! It's alright though because I think I had more than enough for him too. :)  

I was hooked.

Now I sit down on Wednesdays and plan our meals for the two weeks. I create excel documents and everything. brekkie, lunch, dinner, and desserts ---they all go on the list. From there, I look at the ads and see who has what  and for how much. I organize my coupons, print them from the internet, and create the shopping lists. I. love. it.

How dorky does that make me? 

 Wait, I don't want to know.

In my meal planning I always list a couple of my kids' favorites . If anyone wants to give me a suggestion, I will put it on the list. I figure if they ask for it, they will eat it. That is important when you have two little girls who sometimes take about an hour to eat a meal. But, that's another rant for another day. Oy! :)

I search the blogs, mainly this one, and I find our meals. I also love Food Network's recipes. I heart Paula Deen and her delicious accent.

I love using the CrockPot. I love using mine, especially, it was my grandmother's. She gave it to me when Cary and I moved from Arkansas to Utah. It's old, kind of ugly, and well worn, but it brings back happy memories for me.

I do have my eye on one of these fancy red, digital numbers  though. 

OR one of these triple crockpot babies that I found at Kohl's.

I really must buy that. Three?! Yes, three. Think of it! You could do a dip, an entree, and a dessert! 

bom chicka wow wow. 

As I said, Obsession. 

Today I'm trying a dessert in mine for the first time. I decided to make a pie. This. Pie. Sort of. Instead of peaches I am using Caramel Apple Pie filling. I am also doubling the recipe. I have 7 piglets to feed. :)

It smells divine. I'll let you know how it turns out :)

So, do you have any heavenly crock pot recipes for me?

Please, share! :)

**Post Edit: Totally made this last night and it turned out pretty well DESPITE the fact that I forgot to add the brown sugar. Ew, right? Actually, it was ok anyway. I'm most definitely trying it again and I think this time I will add rolled oats for a little more texture**