Crock Pot

Why didn't someone tell me to register for a Crock Pot when I got married?  It took almost 5 years, but I finally bought one.  Originally, it was just for part of Thanksgiving dinner we were bringing, but I decided to make use of it if I have it.  I finally had a reason to jump on the "Crock Pot Girls" bandwagon (whose name, website, and facebook page have recently changed to protect them from a lawsuit...ridiculous if you ask me, but no one did).  I've made quite a few dishes in the crock pot that are super easy (which is key for me) and Shawn actually likes.  Taco soup, cheesey chicken (over rice), broccoli chicken (over rice), enchilada soup, enchilada casserole, chicken and dumplings, and so on.  I can also still make my usual chili, 8 can soup, and mexican chicken spaghetti in it too.  It's also made me more on the ball about running the dishwasher every night instead of every few nights (you might say that's wasteful and too much, but that's your opinion) because I want the crock pot ready to go for the next day...and in turn, all my favorite stirring spoons, spatulas, dipping spoons, cutting boards, baking sheets, etc. are clean when I need them so I don't have to scrounge or handwash really fast.  It has made cooking and cleaning the kitchen much more enjoyable...and consider the source when I say it, because we all know how I'm not a fan of complicated business in the kitchen.  Anywho, it's back to the usual routine tomorrow.  The faster it starts, the faster we all go back to normal and warmer weather will be here before we know it!  I wish we could skip January and February...my least 2 favorite months of the year because the weather is always so miserable (or even worse, it teases with a few warm days then deep freezes and snows/ices for the next several...more miserable deep freeze than snow).  If I lived anywhere north of here, I doubt I would venture out at all between October and May.  I hope your 2012 is off to a good start!