Ready...Set...use the Crock-pot!

How about a post to start off the new year?

Well, I woke up this morning to frozen pipes, which immediately took all the air out of my plans to wash the dishes and cook up something healthy...ish.

Luckily, the water is running again, and hubby is still in bed; I didn't have to stress him out with the news. We'll probably still have to check for leaks, but the day isn't ruined! Have you ever spent a day either being the person-on-your-back-in-a-frozen-mudpit-of-a-crawlspace-with-a-flashlight-and-a-hair-dryer-in-eight-degree-weather, or as the one walking around above said person, yelling status reports down through the bathroom tile?

It's a good thing we have kids, because at some point we give up on through-the-floor communication, and set up a message relay - one of us in the room with the sink, one at the door, and one poor soul at the opening to the crawlspace, shouting updates to Dad. Yes, it's Dad in the crawlspace. I ain't that crazy. (Okay, so I'm lucky that the pipes tend to freeze on days that he is home. :D )

You'd think we'd replace the insulation that a raccoon took a liking to, two winters ago. But...yeah.

Okay, so back to the cooking. I have had a love-hate relationship with Crock-pots since the first time I used one. Sort of like my issues with electric can openers, but that's another story. A Crock-pot is a wonderful thing, makes your kitchen smell divine all day, and produces a delicious meal with very little work. You do have to remember to turn it ON (coming home starving, only to find a whole, raw chicken at room temperature is my favorite way to remind myself of this fact), and worse, you do have to clean it. Eventually. And that's where the problems really start.

This is how it usually goes:

I decide to let the broth or leftovers cool down (after all, I'm going to use them for some fabulous meal tomorrow, right?). My first mistake. The food is now out of sight, but it's there, and it's watching me. It either continues to sit there throughout the night (and looks decidedly gross in the morning), or I suddenly remember and stick the whole thing in the fridge, to deal with the next day...where it looks decidedly gross in the morning. Or is forgotten. Completely. Once we have reached the point of gross, or forgotten-and-biohazardous, I continue to procrastinate, thinking, hey, there might be an apocalypse any day now, why waste my last hours dealing with this?

Eventually, the crock and I take a trip Outside, where the contents can be disposed of without any deaths being caused by fumes. The last time I tried this, I could not get the lid off to save my life. Yes, I know I could have used a knife. Or heated things back up (!), and that I could have avoided this whole thing, if I'd used one of those nifty liners I'd bought. But I was TIRED of this crock-pot. It was a hand-me-down, with a broken knob and a plastic lid, and an 80s color scheme. We were in a harmful relationship, and it was just best if we parted ways. So we did. That's all I'll say.

Fast forward to the final days of 2008, and I am inspired to try it again. The Crockpot Lady at A Year of Crockpotting has posted some delicious looking meals (and desserts! and crafts! and...) that she made during a year-long challenge to herself: to cook something every day in a Crock-pot. I've been drooling for days, and finally convinced hubby to bring home a new friend from the favorite store to hate. I know, I know. But it's a new year! If everyone else can be in denial about their diet resolutions for 2009...

Besides, she makes it look so eeeasy...