Creative Cooking

Hi, my name is Jessie, and it's been four days since I've last used a crock-pot.

Yes, it's becoming borderline obsession.

When Mom and Dad left for SE Asia two weeks ago, I made a commitment to myself to use food already at the house and not go grocery shopping. We had plenty of ingredients in the fridge/freezer/outsider freezer/pantry from which I could concoct something edible.

Not only were these somethings edible, they were delicious! I used the crock pot for most everything, because it fit my busy schedule. (Making dinner at 4am? Why not!)

The meals I made using the crock pot:
1. Black bean chili
2. Meatloaf
3. Chicken-tortilla soup
4. BBQ beef (I also made homemade, gluten-free macaroni and cheese and baked beans to go with this one, but not in the crock-pot! Yum!)
5. Salsa chicken with brown rice
6. Apple-nut oatmeal (Tsukasa and I ate that for breakfast all last week.)

Tsuchan and Carissa made homemade egg rolls one night. We filled them with cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, cilantro, and gluten-free spinach noodles. :) So good!

I also made spaghetti last night, using up the last of our green pepper.

We have successfully eaten almost all of our leftovers, cleaned out the fridge, and used pantry goods to survive these last two weeks. It's kinda fun. I think I may continue!

Confession: I'm dying for produce! Carissa actually bought a pint of strawberries, because we were all craving fresh fruit. (And it was on sale!) They were consumed within 24 hours.
Today I went on a hunt around the house for any spare dollars I could put towards produce, but there's not a single bill to be found! (Hear that, robbers??)

Mom and Dad are not coming home a day too soon. :)