Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese

I think this is a great recipe for young kids. We all love traditional baked macaroni and cheese, which is much better, but this crockpot recipe is easier, and Anna and Amy ate a lot! Jeremy did not like it at all, which is unusual for him, but I think he was expecting it to taste a bit more like our usual. It was definitely edible. And I'm sure it has a lot less calories than the baked variety which has butter and I use full-fat cheese (for this I used 1/3 less fat cheese.)

Quick Movie Review--don't waste your time on Wild Hogs. Maybe it was talked up too much for me, but I was disappointed and slightly disgusted by some of the humor. I did laugh a few times, but nothing really compares to the laughs of The Office these days. It has raised the bar for my funny bone. (And maybe lowered other standards.)

Quick Couch Potato Confession--I've been trying to watch some of the new shows, but I'm just not with-it enough to manage the DVR. Chuck was supposed to be taping tonight but wasn't, a show was too low of quality, and I have yet to watch Kid Nation with the kids. I haven't seen any of The Office because we didn't finish Season 3 in time, and then the DVR wasn't working. I did watch Biggest Loser, but FF through most of it due to boredom. I also watched last week's Chuck, which I liked--a bit corny but appealing. Has anyone watched Pushing Daisies? That one looks good to me. Anything else good that anyone has seen?

Aren't you all glad that you know every detail of my entertainment life? Not a TV show, movie, or book goes by without me blogging about it! But I just tell myself, "It's my blog, and I can write about whatever I want!" Such freedom of expression!

Crockpot Tortures - Stuffed Peppers

To view this video just push play--it has a black background that just blends into the background of the blog, but it is there.



If you're still interested in the recipe after seeing the video, here it is. By the way, I didn't think it was that bad.

Falling For a Dancer

I've added a video to the left with clips from a great movie called Falling for a Dancer. Has anyone else seen it? It's another four hour series, set in Ireland, but it definitely doesn't have the lofty feel of North and South. It's actually very gritty, intense and emotional; but also has its inspirational moments and romance. Here's a succinct plot summary from imdb: "Romantic drama set in rural Ireland of the 1930s. The story begins when 19-year-old Elizabeth has a brief fling with an actor and falls pregnant. Community pressure forces her to marry a dull middle-aged man, but maybe there is hope on the horizon." I don't think it's rated, but I would say it's PG-13 level with some of the material in it, but I personally was pretty comfortable with most of it. I don't know if that is really saying much though--everybody has different threshholds for different things. I would love to hear someone else's opinion of it. I know it's available from Netflix, but I don't know about Blockbuster. Maybe I'll just have to buy it to share! Anyways, check out the video!

Fudgy Brownies

I have so many thoughts on this single recipe! I guess a list is in order:

Why are these in a healthy cookbook--430 calories a serving, 14 grams of fat? And who is going to eat just one serving?

Is there any need to improve upon plain brownies made from a box?

What's the point in doing something in a crockpot that only takes two hours? (We had to rush home from our errands last night so the brownies wouldn't burn.)

What do you do with the extra brownie mix? (The recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of brownie mix) Of course you're going to mix it up and grab a spoon, again defeating the purpose of healthy eating.

Having said all that, they did taste pretty good. I would compare them to the Ghiaradelli Chocolate Muffins made from a box, which would be easier, and I bet less calories. Or if you're in a regular brownie mood, just mix up you're favorite box! I will admit to being a brownie snob--I only like Ghiaradelli brownies--other brands just don't have that deep, intense flavor.

By the way, I appreciate all of your comments on the Crockpot blogs, but I should warn you there are about 50 more recipes left, so I don't want you to feel like you have to comment all the time--I won't be thinking, "Why isn't anyone commenting!! Boo hoo! Nobody likes me!" or anything like that. I know it might get old, but I feel impelled to share each and every one.

I'm think I'm going to eat a brownie right now, but I have to get the crockpot out of the oven. I had a meeting here today and didn't have quite as much time to clean up as I needed, so there are several pots and pans hiding in the oven.

Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli/Mashed Potatoes

These were both good! I like brown rice better than white, so I tried cooking the rice halfway before adding it to the crockpot because it usually takes twice as long to cook as white, but it was a little too mushy, so next time I'll just add it dry. Because of this, I think that white rice would definitely turn out too mushy, so maybe add it in the middle of cooking time? The kids were much more open to this because it looked more familiar than a big chunk of meat or chicken. I guess I've taught them to prefer casseroles. The only complaint was from Jeremy who could tell the broccoli was different than fresh and didn't like it. I was worried about this myself, but I thought the frozen broccoli was pretty good. Definite repeat recipe. I should probably confess that I used reduced-fat cheese rather than nonfat cheese. I was just too chicken--no pun intended.
I was worried about the potatoes, seeing that I needed to use fat-free sour cream. I was sure they would taste funny, but they didn't. I didn't peel the potatoes, which made it so much easier, and the skins were really yummy in it--not overwhelming. I liked these so much that I had a second helping, which kind of defeats the purpose of a healthy recipe. I'll just have to focus on the extra fiber I got! Also a repeat recipe.

Crockpot 5 - French and Fruity

The soup was Jeremy's pick. We asked him why he picked it since he doesn't like onions, and he said because it was French. That makes sense, doesn't it? Dan and I loved the soup, but then we both love onions. If you like caramelized onions, you will like the flavor of this soup, and it was great with the cheese covered bread dipped in it. Anna wins the contest for thinking of the most euphamistic ways to say she doesn't like the new dinners. She described this as "uncommon." But she did put it into her bowl without too much fuss, and had a few small bites.
Most of us liked the Cran-Peary Compote, and it made the house smell very good all day. We thought it would be great with a scoop of ice-cream. I love Dreyer's Slow-Churned 1/3 less fat Vanilla Bean Ice-cream, but we didn't have any.
I hope you all like the Halloween theme! If anybody cares, the regular music is down at the bottom of the blog.