I’m on my way to Wisconsin this weekend with one pair of boots and a trench coat (everything else is still in the pod!) so I’m hoping for some mild weather…and thinking about lots of warm and cozy slow cooker meals! 

I’ve mentioned before that I used to have a snobby attitude about the slow cooker. My brother gave me a camouflaged crock pot one year for Christmas and I promptly returned it to K-Mart on December 27th. I believe I said something along the lines of “crock pots are for hicks.” I know, I know, so terrible! You know what they say, karma is a bi*#$!  Now I love them. But I will say that I much prefer my stainless steel to camouflage…

A lot of the recipes for slow cookers can be a bit old-school, or midwestern (meat and potatoes) but I keep seeing new, modern, healthy and delicious sounding crock-pot recipes. And I’m all over them.

(Real Simple)

Slow Cooker Recipes

White Bean Soup with Andouille and Collards – Real Simple

Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna – Real Simple

Slow Cooked Chicken Fajitas – Heather’s Dish

Brazilian Feijoada – Cooking Light

Vegetable and Chickpea Curry – Cooking Light

Chicken Curry – Martha Stewart

Spanish Meatballs – Martha Stewart 

Hot and Spicy Braised Peanut Chicken – Better Homes & Gardens

Drip Beef – The Pioneer Woman

Lentil Sweet Potato Soup – Eat Live Run 

What are you making in your slow cooker?

Getting a juicer was beyond exciting for me as I love love LOVE fresh juice, but at $7/juice – it can be a rather expensive habit.

For the most part I love it, but am still learning the ins and outs, what we like in juice (the Taster does NOT like wheat grass powder mixed in) and how different fruits/veggies can change a juice.

Love:

• fresh green juices with whatever ingredients I want!
• not spending $7 for a single juice at the coop
• so easy and fast
• you can use produce that is a little past its prime (an apple that I may hesitate to eat, I have no problem with juicing!)
• when heading out of town I throw in all of the leftover produce – no wasting and love starting a trip or vacation with healthy juice
• starting my day out with a burst of vitamins and nutrients

Learning to Love:

• cleaning up – it isn’t terrible, but our kitchen is somewhat covered in juice pulp (exaggeration)
• the pulp! I need to figure out a way to use it – throwing it away makes me feel like an awful human being

Favorite Juicing Ingredients So Far:

• romaine
• apples
• cucumber
• lemon

Do you like fresh juice?  Do you have any great juice combos?