The Problem with Pinterest

I have fallen head over heels in love with Pinterest and am inspired everyday with the pins that my friends and random strangers have pinned. I eagerly re-pin ideas to my boards with all the hope in the world that I can actually find the time to do some of these amazing ideas. Amazingly enough, I have even had a few pictures from this blog re-pinned and that was incredibly flattering!! I try not to look at it while I am at work, because it is a time suck vortex when I should really be focusing on my work. A girl has to earn a living, right?

But my problem with Pinterest is the visual overload, Sometimes I quickly look at a pin, make a note in my head and move on. Which is exactly what I did when I saw a recipe for this amazing Apple Pie Oatmeal made in a crock pot. I made a quick note of the measurements and now I can't find the source of the recipe and I didn't even pin it onto my own board.

Pinterest is like a new form of ADD.

But back to the recipe. You know how excited I got about cooking in my sleep? I did it again with this recipe, except this time we woke up to the house smelling like apple pie - not that I noticed. But my kids sure did and so did my husband. We greedily ate this up for breakfast and now I can add another hit to the breakfast menu. I can't say the same for the protein shake I made yesterday which left me feeling like I had a tire sitting around my waist for the entire day. I need to work on the measurements, because apparently 1 scoop of protein powder, 1 spoonful of peanut butter, 1/2 cup of milk, 1 cup of yogurt and 1 banana is not a good combo for this lady.

Apple Pie Oatmeal in a Crock Pot

3 apples, cored and peeled and diced - I used Gala apples
1/2 teaspoon cinammon
1 cup steel cut oats
1 cup apple juice
3 cups water

Combine together in a Crock pot and cook for three hours on High. You can probably figure out that I didn't turn it on when I went to bed, but I did wake up at 2:45 AM to get a drink of water and flicked it on as I left the kitchen. The original recipe said to stir it every hour or so, but I didn't and it turned out fine.

Cooking in My Sleep

I love it when I've shown the Dinner Gods a thing or two about efficiency. Lord knows I love a good Twofer, but this Crock Pot idea I had blew.my.mind. And when it comes to dinner, it's hard to blow anyone's mind around here.

I've complained before about using my Crock Pot while I am away at work, so feel free to read that rant some other time. But I really wanted to make a soup in the Crock Pot this week and I couldn't figure out how to avoid making mush while I was away from the house. Do I telecommute that day - seemed a little far fetched to accommodate a dinner wish. Maybe I could have my neighbor come by and turn on the Crock Pot for me...

And then it hit me like a ton of bricks: Use the Crock Pot overnight while I slept! My husband was skeptical, but I knew it had to work. I went to bed at 10 PM, flicked it to the Low 8-hour setting, and woke up to a batch of delicious Split Pea Soup. I didn't even care that my toddler had woken up three times in a row that same night because I JUST MADE DINNER AND IT'S ONLY 6 AM, PEOPLE! 

Something as simple as using my Crock Pot while I slept gave me so much joy that when I woke up this morning I did a twirly dance in the kitchen before even having my first cup of coffee. It was only 6 AM and my night had already dramatically improved. I could sit with the kids on the couch and read books while the soup reheated on the stove. I could help with homework. But best of all, I could have a glass of wine and not run that proverbial marathon for one night this week.

I guess the only downside to cooking while sleeping is that your house will smell like whatever it is you have in your slow cooker and you have to do the prep work the night before. Not that I noticed. This morning we had a Split Pea Soup smell mingling with our morning breakfast. Maybe next week I'll have Carnitas co-habitating with my coffee. The possibilities are endless!

If this is the price I have to pay to not cook dinner after work on some nights, then sign me up.

((shaking fist angrily at the sky)) Take that Dinner Gods! You will not break me.


Whole Foods Simple Split Pea Soup (with modifications)

(16-oz) package dried green split peas, rinsed
1 ham hock
1 cup diced baby carrots
1 cup chopped yellow onion
2 ribs celery plus leaves, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 tsp fresh thyme
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cups water
3 cups chicken broth

Layer ingredients in slow cooker in the order given, adding the broth last. Do not stir ingredients. Cover and cook on high 4—5 hours or on low 8—10 hours until peas are very soft and ham falls off the bone. I bought a ham steak at the store, diced it and threw it into the soup while it reheated. It's a very thick soup, so add some water to it as it reheats. It will thin it out and prevent it from burning while you reheat it.

Beef Stew for beginners

I really like to use my Crock Pot, but I often find that most recipes don't fit in with the amount of hours I am away from the home while at work. An eight hour crock pot pork verde sounds lovely in theory, but it almost always ends up being a rather disgusting looking gelatinous pork jelly by the time I get home from work that night. However, on the weekends in the winter I pull out my Crock Pot for dishes that only need about four to five hours on a weekly basis. 

What I love about this particular dish is that if you make it for guests (or your family), the clean up is done hours before they come over and you can use your free time elsewhere. I have to admit, I do feel rather smug when I go to the park with my kids at 4 pm in the afternoon with nary a worry about what I'm making for dinner that night because its been cooking away on my counter for the past two hours. What's even better is that I have been told by many that the smell of this dish is amazing... one friend went as far as to say she wouldn't mind having a beef stew-scented candle. Ew.  

Cooking beef stew in the oven is a good way to go for some, but I believe that this recipe was meant for the Crock Pot. I adapted this Everyday Food recipe over the years and it has been a hit with family and friends. Maybe there is a market for that beef stew-scented candle after all.

Beef Stew for beginners
Adapted from Everyday Food, October 2006
Serves 4-6 

2 lbs cubed beef (Side note: I always buy a couple of steaks and cube it up myself as my grandmother taught me to never trust what is in those "beef stew" packages of meat, just do it yourself)
1/3 cup tomato paste
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons flour
2 onions, diced
4 carrots, cut into 1/2 rounds
5 or 6 red potatoes, cut up into wedges
3 garlic cloves, smashed
3/4 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 bay leaves


Mix the beef with the tomato paste, vinegar and flour inside the crock pot so the beef is covered with the paste. Generously salt and pepper the mixture and then put the onions, carrot, potatoes, garlic, thyme and bay leaves on top. Cook on high for 5 hours. Spoon into bowls and serve with a hunk of bread and a nice side salad.