Crockpot Challenge Roundup

It's March 4th, and so concludes the Crockpot Challenge! The challenge, initiated by Julie at Peanut Butter Fingers, was to try 10 new crockpot recipes from mid-January to the end of March. I loved the idea of putting my crockpot to use more often than usual, and had a lot of fun trying out new recipes to get us through the coldest part of the year.

The last few months have been pretty packed with travel, events and celebrations so unfortunately I didn't quite make it to 10 new recipes. With only two adults in the house, crockpot cooking tends to leave us with leftovers for days, so over the 7-ish week period I made 6 slow cooker meals. That's an average of one per week, which is much more often than my usual, so if the goal is to use the crockpot more often and try some new dishes, I still consider it a win. :)

The overall theme of the crockpot recipes was definitely soups & stews, but two of my favorite new trials were the spinach lasagna and the cranberry applesauce. I loved using the crockpot for something other than a soup, and Matt and Riker both loved those two dishes.

So without further ado, here's the Crockpot Challenge Roundup!

Spinach Lasagna
Definitely a winner. This doesn't require any precooking and you can basically add any kind of veggie you want. The end result was cheesy pasta goodness without all the hassle of prepping a traditional lasagna. Bonus: A regular lasagna usually yields a huge pan, but in the crockpot, you can downsize to however much you actually want.

Tomato Bean Soup
This was a pretty simple, basic soup. It was easy and I liked using dried beans (a rarity for me!), and while I wouldn't call this a dish for company, it was a filling, no-frills weeknight dinner or lunch for the fam.

Cranberry Applesauce
Loved this! The recipe came about by accident as I was attempting to crockpot my traditional baked apples, but the end result was fantastic. The cranberries gave the sauce a nice color and flavor, and this is by far the easiest applesauce I've ever made - no food mill required!

Spicy Potato Leek Soup
Potato Leek Soup is already a pretty easy dish to make, but "crockpotting" it was even simpler. I just dumped everything in, let it simmer away while I worked, then pureed everything up with an immersion blender at dinnertime. I liked the addition of hot peppers here since it added extra flavor without extra fat.

Cheesy White Bean & Cauliflower Chili
This chili was a huge hit in my house. It's super cheesy and spicy, and even Riker ate a full bowl. The cauliflower really bulked up the dish so it felt like a chunky chili without any meat and without the need for a lot of beans. It's not the healthiest crockpot meal on the list, but was great for football Sunday.

Spicy Eggplant Potato Stew
The resident Indian meal! I adored this stew. The one major issue I had though, was that it required cooking beforehand. The best thing about crockpot cooking is the fact that you can throw everything in raw and the slow cooker will do the work for you. This recipe was based on an old Slow Cooker Cookbook I had lying around, and I really disliked that every recipe in that cookbook required some kind of sauteing or cooking before the food ended up in the crockpot. That said, if you like curry, this one's worth a try.

And there you have it. A month's worth of crockpotting in the bag. Spring's right around the corner so I probably won't use the old Hamilton Beach for too much longer, so if you have any suggestions for must-try recipes before the cold weather ends, please share them!

Party Twofer

This weekend seems to be flying by! Yesterday morning I met up with my friends Heather and Karla to drive up to north Jersey for a bridal shower. I had planned to get up early for a daybreak gym session, but Riker's sick again, the poor kid, and he's had a rough couple of nights. After being up half the night, I shut my alarm clock off in the favor of a bit more sleep before being gone all day. Once the gang was all up I got to work on breakfast, which came in the form of Van's light waffles with fresh strawberries and plain Greek yogurt.

It filled my belly up for the 2 hour car ride I had in store! Around 10:00 I grabbed some coffee for the road and met up with the girls to drive to the shower. I haven't hung out with these girls in a few weeks, so it was a lot of fun getting to spend the whole day catching up.

Our friend Vanessa met us at the party as well. She's about 3 months pregnant and is looking really cute with her little baby bump.

The bridal shower was in honor of Liz, who's marrying Matt's good friend Adam. She's a total sweetheart and I was happy to celebrate such a special day with her and her family. Can't wait for the wedding, it's going to be a blast!

The shower was held at Grillestone Bar & Grille, and her bridesmaids had decorated the party area really cute in purple and white.

I especially loved the party favors. Adam and Liz like to garden together, so we were each given a potted herb to take home, which I thought was adorable. I much prefer useful favors over nick-knacks that I just end up tossing out, so loved getting to take home a pot of oregano to grow in my kitchen. I snagged a pot of fresh basil as well. ;-)

After sipping on glasses of sangria, a buffet lunch was served. I loaded up one half of my plate with salad, spinach and steamed veggies, and the other half with carbs. The penne vodka was delicious, and I had to have a bit of rice and potatoes as well.

Dessert was pretty tasty as well. We were served plates of bread pudding cups & mini fudge brownies, and I had a half piece of both. The brownies were seriously fudgy and delicious.

Heather and I also split a chocolate ganache-filled cupcake made by Liz's sister. I actually skipped the frosting and cake and went straight for the ganache center, which was clearly the best part.

It was a beautiful shower and great day with the girls.

But the partying didn't stop there....

I got home from the shower at 5:30, and had just enough time to kiss my baby boy, change outfits and head out for party #2 of the day. Lindsay's husband Ryan was celebrating a 30-something birthday, and we would never miss a celebratory night out with this crew. Lindsay had made dinner reservations for us all at Harpoon Willy's, which you know I love.

A few appetizers went around the table, including the famous buffalo shrimp and some hot crab dip.

I had two shrimp (those bad boys are spicy!) and two pieces of broccoli dunked in the seafood dip, but I tried to minimize the snack intake so I was hungry for my entree. I ordered a special on the menu, Chilean Seabass with shrimp and artichoke risotto and steamed broccoli.

I love Chilean Seabass, it's so buttery and flaky. Honestly, though, the broccoli was my favorite part of the meal. It was super simple - just steamed with salt - but I couldn't get enough and ate every last floret.

Dinner was long and leisurely and I laughed almost the entire time we were there. Such a fun group of friends! After dinner most people stayed behind to have drinks at the bar and listen to the live band, but with a sick little one Matt and I cut the night early to pick up Riker from his grandparents so he could sleep at home. He's still not himself today so it's going to be a day at the homestead, which sounds perfectly fine to me.

Enjoy what's left of the weekend!

Crockpot Spicy Potato Leek Soup

I have one more crockpot recipe to share with you before the challenge ends. I know it's now March (crazy, right?), but I made it a few days ago so technically it still counts.

Last week I happened to see a big bunch of fresh leeks at the grocery store and the thought of steaming, onion-y bowls of potato leek soup popped into my head. It's one of the easiest soups to make even without a crockpot, but crockpotting it let me throw it all together at lunch time during one of my work-from-home days this week, and then by the time work was done, dinner was already made.

I haven't had potato leek soup since I was a kid, but washing and cutting all those leeks really brought me back. Some of my cousins used to live in a big old farmhouse in Vermont on a large tract of land, and when we were kids we used to go foraging for berries and mushrooms and whatever else we could find. One time we found a whole patch of leeks growing wild, and came home with armloads of them. That day I made potato leek soup for the first time, in a warm country kitchen with my favorite cousin and her mom. Such a great memory, and I'd nearly forgotten about it until the other day when I stood over my own kitchen sink rinsing away the dirt from the leeks. That's one thing I love about cooking, all the fond memories that it can conjure up.

P.S. Leeks are really dirty. They look deceivingly clean on the outside, but a quick rinse definitely will not do. Make sure you pull the stalks apart and rinse them all individually like celery or you'll end up with clay and sand all through your soup.

Potato leek soup is typically pretty bland, so the addition of hot peppers and garlic really kicks up the flavor here. I roasted the garlic for this soup (baked in foil with a little olive oil at 400 degrees the night before), but it wasn't really worth the trouble since the hot pepper masked the roasty flavor. Regular garlic will work just fine.

It's a simple but heartwarming soup that pairs perfectly with a green salad for a full meal.

And with that, it's time for me to jump in the shower and get this weekend started. I have a bridal shower in north Jersey today, which means I get to spend the whole day with some of my girlfriends. Can't wait!

Crockpot Spicy Potato Leek Soup

Serves 8-10

Ingredients
6 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, washed and cut into chunks (do not peel)
3 leeks, washed and chopped
1 jalapeno or other pepper, chopped
2 bulbs roasted garlic OR 6 cloves fresh garlic, minced
6 cups vegetable broth or water
3 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
Cheddar cheese, for garnish

Add potatoes, leeks, hot pepper, garlic, salt and pepper to the crockpot. Pour broth over the top. Cook on high for 2-3 hours, or on low for 5-6 hours. Once potatoes are cooked, turn off heat and puree with an immersion blender (or add soup to a regular blender to puree). Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese.

Note: Soup may be stored in Tupperware containers and frozen if desired.