Slow-Cooker

I love my slow-cooker. I use it all the time for a number of reasons.

I use it for the days that I work, when I want to come home and eat a nice home-cooked meal but don't have all night to fix one.

I use it on the days that we have soccer at the time that I would normally be cooking dinner, that way it is ready when we get home.

I use it to keep from heating up my house in the summer. For me, there is nothing worse than having the oven on in the summer. Especially since the sun shines all afternoon on our kitchen which makes it the warmest room in the house anyway, without the oven on.

I have make spaghetti dishes, pork roasts, beef roasts, whole chickens, sourkraut and sausage, you name it, I have made it.

Most recently I made chicken legs. I added no water, simply placed them on the bottom, covered the lid and cooked. About half way through I covered them in barbeque sauce.

When they were done, they were delicious. I made a couple different vegetables and some rice to go with it and dinner took 10 minutes.

That definately works for me.

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday.

Back to School

My 3 oldest all went back to school this past week.

My oldest is in 5th grade, which means a new school, one where they switch classes and catch the bus at the break of dawn! My second oldest is in third grade and my youngest daughter is in kindergarten.

That's three different busses, three different pickup times and three different drop off times. And that leaves me a little time alone with my little man.

Here is the before, when they all came down to eat breakfast.

And after they ate and got ready for school.

Where does the time go?

When Is It Time to Clean the Oven?

I know those that know me are thinking I have some profound reason to clean the oven. But honestly, this is how I knew it was most definitely time to clean it . . . it caught on fire.

Yes, FIRE!

I was making oatmeal cookies last night and it was getting pretty late. I had already made a coffee cake, so I was about ready to call it quits last night. So instead of waiting for each pan of little cookies to bake I decided to make one big cookie.

That would have been a novel idea except for one thing, I neglected to remember that cookies not only rise but spread and increase in size as well. Even my cookies that are egg free. So my large cookie dripped over the side of the pan as it increased in size.

Which led to the cookie dough falling to the bottom of the oven and smoking up the whole house, which still reeks the next day I might add.

So fast forward to tonight, when I heated up the oven to 425 degrees to bake my potatoes for dinner. About half way through the preheating time, my oven literally caught on fire. So I had to turn off the oven and it eventually died down and completely went out in a few seconds, thank goodness. I was standing with my kitchen fire extinguisher just in case though!

That meant my husband had to throw the potatoes on the grill with the chicken, which was still very good.

So, I HAD to clean the oven or else I couldn't use it at all. Not very good for someone that loves to bake.

Instead of using expensive store bought cleaner though (my friends and family know me better than that) I made a paste of baking soda and warm water and it worked wonderfully. I simply scrubbed it in with a rough sponge.

Then I sprayed a solution of 1 part Dawn dish soap to 5 parts water. That got rid of the rest of the gunk.

My sister always jokes that in her house you know when dinner is done when the smoke alarm goes off. But in my house, I know that when my oven is on fire, I know it is time to clean it!

Being able to joke about it definitely works for me.

This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday.

New Treasure

See this little gem? My parents bought these used when I was little, I actually think before I was born.

I have inherited it. I need to clean it, repaint it and refinish the wood. I haven't decided if I will paint or stain the wood. But either way, I am super excited to have gotten it from my parents.

I currently have it sitting in my front room as I am not sure where to put it.

Look at all the carvings and graffiti, it has been well used.

Once I decide what to do with it, I will post those photos!