A Girl's Gotta Eat!

This is a preemptive post in light of the impending weather coming to Middle Tennessee in the coming days as well as an effort on my part to plan out meals with a little more, well...planning. I have found several recipes I really want to try over the past several days, but the idea of the healthy, hearty Smoked Sausage Cassoulet warming in the Crock Pot all day won first place as the one to try first. I think it will last a couple days in the fridge, as my guess is that I won't feel like getting out in 7-degree temps to go grocery shopping! The link above will take you to the recipe as well but here's a sneak peek of what I hope mine will look like and the ingredients needed in case you want to follow along at home on this one. I'll post again with the how-to and my photo after I get it together. 2 slices bacon 2 cups chopped onion s 1 teaspoon dried...

It’s the time of year again for Christmas parties and company potlucks. Our company Christmas luncheon was today. After seeing plenty of people signed up for vegetables and desserts, I decided to bring macaroni and cheese. After all, you can’t have ham without it! The glitch to bringing this dish, however was two-fold. 1) Mike and I have had a lot going on with finals, visiting with friends, and our new German Shepherd pup, Leopold, so I needed to make something quick and easy; and 2) warming up large portions of food in our work microwaves is tedious and frustrating. Cooking something in a slow-cooker solved both these problems in one fell swoop. I was pleasantly surprised. It was very easy to whip up, and I thought it was very tasty. The sauce would have been a bit creamier if I had served it 30 minutes earlier, but it was still very good. And had I been at home cooking it, I could have simply stirred in some extra milk or margarine.  Before Cooking  The original recipe cooks ...

Due to a birthday wish that was lovingly fulfilled, Mike (and I) are the proud new owners of a brand new slow cooker. We’ve always had one, but Mike decided we need one larger than our current 3.5 quarts. His mom bought him a 6-quart, programmable Crock-Pot for his birthday, and we finally broke it in yesterday with Sandra Lee’s recipe for Zesty Turkey . Both he and I were pleased with the results, and there is something so very satisfying about coming home after working all day and being welcomed by the smells of a tasty dinner that’s already cooked and ready to eat. And let me tell you, this did smell delicious! The recipe didn’t say how to serve this, and we thought about making rice, but it ended up being very tasty all on its own. We served it in bowls, as is. A few recipe notes: *We could only find frozen turkey breasts, which we subsequently forgot to thaw the night before. This ended up working out just fine, because the recipe calls for cooking on Low for 4 to 5 hours, and ...