Ideal Verge - Your Daily Dose of Knowledge and Inspiration.

The economy is all whacked out right now and it's scary. I'm not watching the news.

I get an email almost every day asking if I am saving money by using my CrockPot daily.

No. What I am doing is not normal. Most people do not try to do what I'm doing in the crockpot. We are pretty much breaking even on the grocery bills, thanks to BlogHerads. I am grocery shopping more than I ever have before,

We're home, safe and sound. Disneyland truly is the happiest place on earth. We couldn't have had a better time, and coming home to all of your lovely comments and emails has turned me into a weepy blubbery mess.

Thank you. You are all wonderful people. And! Evidently quite opinionated about DVD players... While vacationing, I got to thinking that if I gained 8 pounds (down 4 thanks to the

Here's a line-up of tried-and-true slow cooker dishes that are suitable for your Holiday--any Holiday-- dinner table.








Unless otherwise stated, ALL recipes are completely gluten free, due to a family allergy. If you are not gluten free, simply ignore my notes. --steph

Main Course:





Bacon-Wrapped Cornish Game Hens

Barbequed Hot and Spicy Shrimp

Cajun Turkey Breast
Christmas

photo updated 2015 via deposit photos @lidante

Day 295.
October 21, 2008

We love rotisserie chicken in this house. Costco clearly labels their chicken as gluten-free, so I usually pick up 2 when we go.

But I haven't been going.

I find myself grocery shopping a few times a week now with this crazy crockpotting year, and it just isn't feasible to go to Costco. I'm only meal planning a few

originally posted on July 29, 2008. Updated July 2015.


Day 211.

The kids and I went to the "good" library over the weekend and I checked out a bunch of cookbooks. One of the books was put out by Cook's Illustrated, and was called The Complete Book of Poultry.

There are probably a good five hundred recipes in this book, but narrowing down what I was going to attempt first was rather easy---I

originally posted in 2008. Photo and text updated via deposit photos @bhofack2 in 2015


Day 204.

I made this chow mein with chicken, but you easily could keep it vegetarian, or use your favorite kind of meat---even pork!

Debbi (who doesn't have a blog, but totally needs one) sent me this recipe in May, and I made it just yesterday.

This is a good one; I'm excited to share it with you.

originally posted July 6, 2008. Reposted July 6, 2015.
Long live cheesecake!!

Day 188.

I've never made a cheesecake before; I always thought it sounded complicated. I'm a pretty picky cheesecake eater, I hate it to be dried out, and I don't want the cheesey part to be too thick. I like a bit of crust in every bite. I had a reader ask quite a while ago if I thought cheesecake could be made in

Fish! It's what's for dinner.

I love making fish in the crockpot. I love making pretty much anything in the crockpot, but the ease of making fish is just so wonderful, I'm surprised everyone doesn't cook fish this way.
It's easy.
It's moist and flavorful.
It doesn't heat up the house on a hot day.
it doesn't stink up the kitchen.
and clean up is practically non-existent.

SCORE!

I had a bunch

Originally posted 5/23/08. 



Image and post updated 5/15 via deposit photos @imagesetc


Day 144.





Cream cheese chicken is usually one of the first dishes tried in a crockpot. It is delicious. There are many different variations, but the standard recipe revolves around a can of cream-of-something soup, a package of Italian salad dressing mix, and a block of cream cheese.




I have a

originally posted May 21, 2008. Reposted in 2015.



Day 142.




Last weekend I went through the pantry and put like items together. Since I had helpers, it took a really long time, and it sort of looks the same way it did when I started, but I now have a pretty good idea of our inventory.




We have a surplus of garbanzo beans.




So I made falafels.




In the crockpot.


I've never made

originally posted on May 5, 2008.

Day 126.



Happy Cinco de Mayo! If you are looking for some ideas for Mexican food tonight, you've come to the right place.



Some of my favorites are:


Enchilada Casserole

Tamale Pie

Taco Soup

Chimichangas

Tortilla Soup

Turkey With Mango Salsa

Tacos

Not-Too-Spicy Bean Dip

Chicken Nachos



We had a party on Friday, and served crockpot fare

originally published April 30, 2015. Updated with new photo via deposit photos @bhofack 4/15


Day 121.



We had a busy Saturday this past week and I didn't have a meal planned. Usually that means take-out or macaroni and cheese, but instead I dug into the depths of the freezer and found a forgotten bag of frozen stew meat.


I wasn't sure exactly what to do with it, so just kept pulling

photo updated 4/15 from Deposit Photos bhofack2

Day 118.


We went to a birthday party last weekend and they had a bunch of vegetables roasted in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Along with the roasted zucchini and peppers were slices of portabella mushroom. I couldn't get enough, and kept finding my way back at the buffet table to sneak a little bit more.


Portabella mushrooms are nice

Originally published on April 10, 2008.
Photo updated in April 2015 by Deposit Photos HHLtDave5



Day 101.






These are quite possibly the very best ribs I have ever had. They were so good they made my eyes roll backwards, which is nearly impossible right now because I have a hive on it.


Yes.




I have a hive on my EYEBALL. My left one. It's been rather windy here lately, so the

February 19, 2008 *
Day 50.


Fifty! 50! ack!


This recipe is straight from the Gluten Free Goddess' site. I followed it word-for-word down to the organic, free-range, grass fed, massaged, and sung-to-sleep beef. 


I have been a fan of Karina's for quite a while---her website taught me to not be afraid of gluten free cooking. I owe our love to Pamela's to Karina, and my new-found

It's almost St. Patrick's Day!

Bring on the Shamrocks!

Adam and I have been married for 100 million years 16 years this upcoming July. Before marrying into an Irish family, I ate corned beef a handful of times, and honestly wasn't all that impressed.

That's because I was wrong. Corned beef is DELICIOUS. And (unless you like it that way), it doesn't need to be soggy and greasy.

You can