Crockpot Mac 'n' Cheese

I never really loved crockpot cooking until I got married. It's not that I didn't love the simplicity of it, it's just that I had a pretty strong distaste of all things kitchen applicaney, so I didn't own one. Since marriage, I have slowly come to the understanding that the right kitchen tools make all of the difference when it comes to cooking well. I now take great pleasure in finding a gadget that will make our creating more tasty & more efficient. You might laugh a little bit, but my current top kitchen appliances/gadgets are:

1. Kitchenaid mixer
2. Crockpot
3. Food processor
4. Cookie cutters (jungle animals, hearts, & alphabets)
5. Electric kettle

All of these items, minus the kettle, have been acquired post-wedding. I'm still a little new to using them, so I get a little giddy, especially when making bread or cookies because I used to seriously mix the ingredients by hand... & they hardly ever turned out as a result.

My problem with most kitchen appliances is that they can only be used for one thing & I'm way too practical for that. Why on earth people have pizza warmers & quesadilla makers is beyond me (don't you have an oven?) We'll probably never own a waffle maker (I don't really like them anyways) or a bread maker (you can totally make killer bread without one!) But we will always hold dear those on my top 5 list, especially our crockpot.

Lately, I've been very into making our own yogurt in the crockpot & made some hearty baked potato soup in there, too. We've made a batch of applesauce in the crockpot & I hear you can even make things like oatmeal or lasagne in there... crazy! A crockpot is really quite the magnificent invention, especially when you're beyond busy. Pair that with my complete devotion to homemade mac 'n' cheese & you've got a real crowd pleaser. 

What are your favorite crockpot meals? And have you ever tried mac 'n' cheese pizza? For real...

Crockpot Mac 'n' Cheese

Ingredients

2 cups whole milk
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups uncooked whole wheat elbow macaroni

Directions
In a mixing bowl whisk together milk, evaporated milk, egg, salt & pepper. Pour milk mixture into the crock pot. Add cheese & uncooked macaroni. Stir gently to mix.

Turn slow cooker on low & cook 3 hours, or until the custard is set & the macaroni is tender. (Do not cook more than 4 hours, or the sides will begin to dry out). Serve at once.

*Note: this version of mac 'n' cheese is not like your averaged boxed kraft dinner. It's very thick & custardy & the noodles stick together more like a slice of pie than individual pieces. But don't let that scare you! If you like rich, cheesy things, you will love this recipe.

Crockpot Baked Potato Soup

I grew up in northern Minnesota. Ahh, the land of meatloaf for dinner once a week, hot dishes (or casseroles for non-Minnesotans) at every shin dig, & the spiciest condiment in your house was usually ketchup, or at least it was in my house. We ate pretty simply growing up-- lots of taco, spaghetti & tuna helper dinners. But we also ate lots of potatoes.

It might be obvious to everyone else, I'm starting to realize that when you're the meal planner of the household, you get to decide what you eat. Sure, you can't completely decide (um, if we could afford to eat sushi more than twice a year, I would so be there) but you can cater meals to your liking. Growing up, we ate potatoes a lot because my mom is boarder-line obsessed with them. Every time we had a "fancy" dinner, the baked potatoes would come out for sure. And if things were especially exciting, the "top the tater" would also make an appearance (basically sour cream with chives). Oh those were the days.

When I made this baked potato soup, I couldn't help but think of my mom. I just know that she'll love it. It's rich & creamy & salty & cheesy. It's perfectly paired with crumbled bacon & grated sharp cheddar. And what's best is that you stick everything in the crockpot & then forget about it all day long. It's the perfect meal for those super busy days when you know cooking is just not gonna happen. No matter if you're from Minnesota or Montana, this soup is a tasty comfort.

Crockpot Baked Potato Soup
Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, washed but NOT peeled. Diced into 1/2 inch(ish) cubes
1/2 medium/large yellow onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
4 cups chicken stock or broth
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
optional garnishes: crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, green onions

Directions
Add potatoes, onion, garlic, salt, & chicken stock to slow cooker. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours. Add the softened cream cheese & puree soup with an immersion blender until the cheese is incorporated. Top with your choice of garnishes & enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Mama Loves Food

Crockpot Yogurt

 Decadently thick homemade yogurt with fresh strawberries & basic almond granola

Last night I almost killed our yogurt. And our pipes. And maybe even us. It was about -20 F & I shut off our heat (accidentally). I was fooling around with our programmable thermostat earlier in the day & in order to update the settings, you first need to shut the heat off, so I did. And then I got busy messing with the thermostat, which reminded me that I needed to throw our diapers in the dryer, which reminded me that I had a mound of other laundry to fold, which reminded me that I needed to re-organize some of Ruby's clothes... & the list went on & on, which meant that I forgot to turn the heat back on.

And then we borrowed Mad Men from our library & I honestly don't remember the rest of the night because I was in total & utter bliss. It's one of our most favorite shows & we've been waiting so patiently for it to come out on DVD so we could binge on all the goodness (how on earth people watch just one episode per week completely baffles me). Our TV is in the basement, so it's always pretty chilly down there, so I didn't notice the heat not being on.

But when I woke up this morning, my nose was cold, which was strange because our room is usually unpleasantly warm in the mornings (thank you radiator heat). At that point, I started wondering if our boiler was dead, which reminded me that I shut off the heat, which reminded me that I had yogurt brewing & that it might actually be dead (again).

The last few batches of yogurt-making haven't been so smooth. Well they've been smooth, just not thick. And I blame it mostly on the frozen tundra-like conditions both inside & outside of my house (we keep it pretty chilly at night, even when the heat is on). So when I ran downstairs & saw that our thermostat read 48 degrees, I worried about our little yogurt baby. Thankfully, my good ol' trusted yogurt-making friend had just suggested that I put the yogurt in the oven, wrapped in blankets & turn the oven light on, so that's what we did last night. And we got a little more into taking the temperature of the brewing yogurt, so now we've got it down.

I make this yogurt just about once a week & it makes a little more than a quart. We're saving all kinds of cash because the yogurt we really like is about $6 (Fage) & this calls for only 1/2 a gallon of milk. I even strain it so it's super thick & creamier than you could even imagine (if you don't strain it you will yield twice as much yogurt). I sub it for sour cream all the time & it's sensational.

Don't let making your own yogurt scare you. I had to get past that fear/weirdness of making yogurt, but once I did, now it's really a struggle for me to buy it. There's lots of different ways to make it, but I enjoy this method the most because it's super simple & for the most part, hands off. Because let's face it, we've all got a lot on our minds, so we don't need another thing to have to think about. Just leave the heat on in your house & it will turn out famously.

Crockpot Yogurt
Ingredients

8 cups of whole milk

1/2 cup of plain yogurt with live active cultures (we like whole milk or 2% Fage)

Directions (for summer)
In a 4 quart crockpot, pour in 1/2 gallon (8 cups) of milk. Turn crockpot on low & heat for 2 hours & 45 minutes. After time has elapsed, turn off the crockpot & let the milk cool in the crock with the lid on for 3 hours. After the additional time has elapsed, remove lid & stir in 1/2 cup of yogurt with live active cultures & mix very well. Place the cover back on the crock & wrap the entire crockpot in a thick bath towel or two & let it sit overnight (8-12 hours). 

In the morning stir yogurt & transfer it to glass quart jars if you like it thinner (you'll also get more this way). If you're like us & are kind of snotty about yogurt & like it thick, strain it. 

I have found the easiest way to do this is to take 4 coffee filters & place them in a strainer so the entire strainer is covered & then put the strainer over a large bowl. Scoop about 2 cups of the yogurt (for an average size strainer) into the strainer & let strain for 20 minutes or so & then place the remaining yogurt from the strainer in a jar & continue straining until you've thickened the heck out of the yogurt. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before using.

Directions (for winter)

It's pretty similar, you just need to keep an eye on the yogurt more. Instead of letting it cool for 3 hours (after the initial cook time of 2 hours 45 minutes), take the yogurt's temp every so often. When it has cooled to 110 degrees (about 2 hours for us last night), then add your 1/2 cup of yogurt. Also, after you wrap your crockpot in blankets, place the it in the oven with the light on. This will help it to stay at the right temp overnight.

Recipe adapted from milkandhoneyliving.com