top 10 slow cooker recipes for parents

i've been doing this thing for awhile now.  when folks have a new baby, or when i remember to do it, i send them a word document of my top 10 slow cooker recipes.  these are the recipes that i mostly have memorized and often make at least once a week. as many of you know, i fricking love the crockpot.  sure, i love my dutch oven and braising, but when i was a new mom, being able to throw dinner in the crockpot in the morning was a godsend around 5pm later that day. mornings were the only time i could get a little household work done and they still are...by the afternoon i am usually so tired all i want is a latte and a nap. however, i have since figured out that all of us, parents or not, could benefit from the glory of the crockpot.  so, if you would like to fall in love with the crockpot this fall and winter...go here to get the top ten slow cooker recipes. check out one of my favorite blogs of all time, dinner a love story, and see what jenny has to say about the korean ribs she made from my top 10 list.  she's pretty awesome in the kitchen so i am sure she found a way to make these even more killer.

things i love

i love him.



happy saturday!  here are some exciting things i want you to know about....

oh darling boutique is having their fall open house this weekend.  today is the last day and they are open from 10 - 6.

does this weather have you thinking about snow? are you going through the winter coats?  think about donating to the heart ministry center.  instead of doing one big giveaway coat drive like last year they will be giving coats away throughout the month of october.

the french bulldog meat + cheese shop opens tonight for dinner service at 5pm.  our family is so very happy for bryce, phil, and ann.  be sure to check this new place out.

meet some of the pathway women and learn about what the program has done for them

i love this blog.  especially this post.

GSW {menu plan} :: 14

cute kitty photo of the day

it's feeling very indian summer like around here.  did you know that indian summer by the doors is the song our family walked down the aisle to when we got married?  it's true.  except it wasn't really an aisle.  mike, hendrix, and i just sort of entered the room where everyone was waiting and then the ceremony began.  what is true is that i love mike best.  better than all the rest.

now.  onward with the menu plan!  i'll be honest...i couldn't get away with serving all of the dinner ideas, i post on these menu plans, at my house.  mike and hendrix would be disappointed or disgusted.  i would eat all of the dinner ideas and love every bit of it.  those two? not so much.  so this week's menu is still seasonally influenced, but is actually what we will be eating next week. i'm hitting two birds with one stone you might say....

1. emily's meatloaf with roasted butternut squash and a cherry tomato salad
2. sausage, bean, and kale stew with crusty bread (except with chard)
3. roasted chicken drumsticks with peach bbq sauce and potato salad
4. best {eggplant} sandwich ever with oven baked french fries
5. grilled italian sausages with butternut squash latkes

weekend lunch & double it for the freezer....
tomato soup with grilled cheeses

prep ahead for snack/treat time....
homemade animal crackers

back to school dinner

on monday, we had a back to school dinner for hendrix.  i put out the white tablecloth, used name cards, and printed out BE BRAVE signs.  i put together a little gift bag filled with flashcards, white boards {to practice writing}, eraseable makers, and a superhero cape.  we talked about school and what it meant to be brave. 

i had read about this back to school dinner tradition in a few places and really liked the concept.   i think it is so sweet and gives adults the chance to get excited about back to school, too.  did you get pumped for the first day or were you like mike and dreaded it?  i absolutely loved the first day of school, buying school supplies, and talking about summer at recess. 

for dinner i made slow cooker korean ribs with rice and red cabbage.  just make the rice according to package directions and saute your thinly sliced red cabbage in olive oil and sesame oil.  season the cabbage with salt and chinese five spice.  it's also great with bok choy or carrots.  to make the ribs...

slow cooker korean ribs

3 lbs country style pork ribs or beef short ribs

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. soy sauce

1/2 c. water

5 - 10 whole jalepenos

combine ingredients in slow cooker (meat can be frozen which is a bonus) and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  serve over rice with veggies on the side.

.....

i'll be back soon with a menu plan for next week.  in the meantime, don't forget to check out our what's for dinner page for dinner ideas.



homemade animal crackers



mike came home with the cookie cutters that his grandmother bought at the town grocery store in the 1930s when she lived in this house we now call our home. mike's mother had made cookies with her mother, in this house, with those exact cookie cutters.  then he made cookies with his mother and grandmother in their house in another town.  now the cookie cutters made their way back to this house.  i was so awe struck with the bag of cookie cutters that mike's mom had saved all of these years.  there are ones for every holiday.  i knew which one hendrix would like the best.  an ax shaped cookie cutter.  so hendrix and i made animal crackers with the lion, owl, bird, horse, dog, and alligator shaped ones.  and the ax shaped cookie cutter. 
.....
homemade animal crackers
yield 2-3 dozen depending on size of cracker

1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup of brown sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 heaping teaspoon of baking spice
1/8 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1/2 cup of rolled oats (can grind them up if you like)
1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
1 cup of all purpose flour

cream sugar and butter.  add egg and vanilla, mix well. in a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients.  add to sugar mixture and mix well.  form dough into a ball, wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to overnight. 
preheat oven 350 degrees.  take a hunk of dough off your dough ball and warm up with your hands.  roll out onto a floured surface.  cut out shapes and bake on parchment lined baking sheet for 5-8 minutes.  store in an airtight container at room temp for up to one week.

brave new beginnings

today hendrix started preschool.  i'll be honest (and dramatic) it felt like the beginning of the end to me.  soon he will be four, writing his name, reading books, then before i know it...he'll be bringing unsavory girls home.  i feel like i fell into a vortex.  one day he was born. the next he was 3 1/2 writing "H"s.

last night, we had our back to school dinner.   i'll tell you more about it this week and share my recipe for slowcooker korean ribs with rice and purple cabbage.  our theme this year is: BEING BRAVE.

mostly, i think i am just emotional because that is what mothers do.  we love our children so much that sometimes our hearts and tear ducts can't handle it.  we are so proud of them and want so much for them.  my brother once said the greatest and worst thing about having children is watching them grow up. 



my friend, anjanette, told me to try to remember how lucky i was that my kid was healthy and that i could bring him to any school we wanted.  she's right.  my son was born healthy and today went to preschool healthy and happy.  i am the luckiest mom in the whole world to have hendrix as my son.

monday mail + being brave

hendrix got a postcard in the mail today from his favorite book store owner.  he was so blown away by the fact that he was old enough to receive mail and that it went into a mailbox all the way downtown and ended up in our po box all the way out here.  3 year olds and their awe and their story telling are pretty great. 

.....

hendrix starts preschool next week.  i get pretty emotional when i talk about it.  there's parent teacher conferences, field trips, writing your own name, learning phonics...this is the real deal, folks.  i know he is a little nervous so i am going to try to reign in my emotions.  also, i am planning a back to school dinner.  i have seen some other mommas do them around the internet and like the idea.  this year our theme will focus on being brave.  i'm going to pick up a few new books and a writing tablet for him to open at the dinner table the night before school.  then we can talk about how all sorts of people need to be brave in all sorts of situations.  i am working on making him this cape, too. 

so, if you don't hear from me much this week, it's because i am taking advantage of our last week of summer and getting ready for a new chapter.