Such a crock!

OK- so I was talking about Crockpot cooking with a friend the other day. She said her main issue with Crockpotting is that most of the recipes are very similar. I agree. My main use for the Crockpot is for my recipes that I already make, but adapt them for the Crockpot to make the preparation easier. A site that you could check out for new ideas is this one.

Here's one of my favorite Crockpot Recipes. It's a combination of a few recipes and I use it for Hawaiian Haystacks. I trim the chicken before cooking, then just shred it right in the pot. It makes it so quick and easy.

Creamy Crockpot Chicken
2 whole chicken breasts, trimmed
2 cans Cream of Celery soup (or Cream of Chicken or Mushroom)
1 cup Chicken Broth
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp lemon pepper.
1/2 tsp black pepper (I only use freshly ground. There is a huge difference!)
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)

Place chicken in crockpot. Combine other ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on High for 3 hours or Low for 6 hours.

My tips:
I don't add salt to this because the broth has enough in it.
You can use the lighter versions of the soup and sour cream to help make it a little healthier.

Another thing that we were discussing was kids' eating habits. Dinner is a struggle at my house because my kids have inherited my picky tendencies. My friend makes a little buffet of salad ingredients and lets her kids assemble their own. What a great idea, and what a great Mom for being willing to put in that effort. It reminded me of the Muffin Tin meals that I've seen around on different blogs. One was this one. Google "Muffin Tin Meals" if you want more ideas.