Top Just Piddlin' Blogposts of 2014

We’re getting ready to close out another year.  2014 brought more books, travel, cooking, and crafts while raising kids. Shuffling from here to there. Keeping up with homework. Cheering at basketball games, tennis matches, and swim meets. Grocery shopping and cooking meals.  A lot of sorority and PTA meetings.  Trying to squeeze in a little bit of time for my own stuff.  And yes, despite the happy Facebook posts, there were some bad days, but as the old spiritual says, they were outweighed by the good days, so I won’t complain (too much.)

Over the year, these were the readers' favorite posts.  Is your's on the list?

Travel

• Whenin Texas... Finding the Perfect Cowboy Boots - p.s. I love my cowboy boots and ready for a return trip for another pair
• Takingthe Sweet Road - Our Ice Cream Tour - I love ice cream. This was this tasting thru New England
• PackYour Bags: Conferences - the essentials for your next conference

Books & Music

• WhereDoes My African-American Child See Herself in Books?  This one was also very popular on the BlogHer website.
• Books I'm Carrying Around: The Supadupa Kid
• Books I'm Carrying Around: 12 Years a Slave, James McBride, Sue Monk Kidd
• #ColorMyShelf- Diverse Books for All Kids
• MaryJ Blige Heads to London for #TheLondonSessions

For the Kids

• 5 Lessons from Rubber-band Bracelets
• 10 Ways to Avoid an "I'm Bored!" Snow Day
• 10 Things to Do on the Longest Days of the Summer
• Youth Financial Literacy & Entrepreneurship: Watching Seeds Grow

For the Home: Cooking & Crafts

• #WIP- #DIY Decorated Clipboards
• Crockpot Cooking Without a Recipe - Perfect for your next busy day to have dinner ready when you (finally) get home.

Thanks for Just Piddlin' with me.  Come on back and join me for piddlin' in 2015!

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Crockpot Cooking Without a Recipe

I've said it before, I'll say it again - my crockpot is one of my most used and favorite kitchen appliances.  Between running around with the kids and scattering to my own community and personal activities, we barely have time to eat - even less time to cook a decent meal.  So getting dinner cooked while I'm not even home is a masterful idea.

The wonderful part about crockpot cooking is that - although there are plenty plenty recipes and cookbooks out there - you really don't need a cookbook or a recipe, if you understand some basic requirements.

• Liquid - there's got to be some liquid in the crockpot. It could be stock, juice, water, sauce, the fat cooking off the meat - but there has to be some liquid to keep the food from drying out.
• Seasoning - the food is being slow-cooked, so there's time for the seasoning to melt into the food. Season generously, but not too heavy-handed.
• Time - obviously, the whole point is cooking for the hours and hours you will be away.  There are times, too, when you will want to use it to keep food and beverages warm for serving, like for hot chocolate for a cookie party!

From there - be creative.

Meats of course are favorites for the crockpot.  Whatever you cook will become so tender and juicy. You can serve as is, straight from the pot, or continue to prepare the meat once cooked.  Chicken, whole or in pieces, is an easy meat to cook. Roast beef or pork is also easy; you can eat as is, or chop it after cooking for sandwich or taco filling.  I like to cook pork loin and then chop it up for bar-be-que.  A very convenient fact? It doesn't even have to be defrosted! Yes, you can throw frozen meat into the crockpot, turn it on low and come back hours later to a fork tender meal.

Grains, beans, and pastas can be cooked on their own or with your meat choice. These especially need enough liquid since they require a lot to cook to tender. Spaghetti is easier than you think and lasagna works well in the crockpot, too - the tomato sauce is your liquid. I've yet to cook overnight oatmeal, but have tasted it and that's really good.  I need a smaller crockpot, since my son and I are the only ones who like oatmeal.

Vegetables can also be cooked alone or thrown in with everything else. I've made some very tender collard greens in the crockpot.  You probably should reserve this for veggies that can withstand the long hours of cooking, nothing too tender.

You can cook all of these separately or throw everything in the pot together for an easy clean-up, easy serve one-pot meal.  A can or two of diced tomatoes or stock and you've got the base for a good stew. Pick up a loaf of Italian bread and a salad on your way home and voila! Dinner is served.

For the chicken meal pictured above: a pack of drumsticks (frozen!); salt, pepper, basil, paprika to season; 2 cans diced tomatoes in sauce + 6 hours in the crockpot while we were at church, a science fair, sorority meeting, and a basketball game.

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Easy cooking - Crockpot spaghetti

Is it just our house or is summer crazier than the school year?  We start with tennis lessons in the morning, then swim team practice, move on to the stage for play rehearsal for one while the other is at tennis practice number two, then to swim meets and basketball games or practice.  Some time in there, we're home or, at least, pass by close to our house.  We barely have time to stop and eat, so I really don't have time to cook.  Other than feeding them chicken nuggets on the go, what's the other options?  Yes - the rice pot and crock pot - busy mom's saving cooking appliances.

Here's a quick, easy dinner I put together in the crock pot.  It's sure to be in the summer rotation, along with quesadillas (quick, easy, portable, great use of leftover meats) and kimbap (or sushi rolls as everyone calls them, but with no sushi).  Try it and let me know what you think.

Crock-pot Spaghetti

1 lb. ground beef/turkey

1 box of spaghetti

2 cans of diced or stewed tomatoes

Seasoning - basil, garlic, pepper, oregano

1 bottle chili sauce or 1 can tomato paste

1.  Season and brown ground meat in a skillet, set aside.

2.  In the crock-pot, layer the remaining ingredients, with the uncooked spaghetti (break in half to fit, if necessary) on the bottom.

3.  Pour in about 1/2 can of water.

4.  Layer cooked ground meat on top of other ingredients.

5.  Turn crock-pot to Low.  Let cook for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

Everything's ready to cook - spaghetti, seasonings, tomatoes.

A few notes:

- whenever I cook ground meat, I like to cook more than I need and save some - this is great to put together some quesadillas or fried rice for a quick meal the next day.

- I used chili sauce because that's what I had in the pantry.  You could also use tomato paste.  Either will work, but you need something to thicken the sauce.

I couldn't even get a picture before they ate it all!

Enjoy!

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