Yum!

I've tried to branch out in my cooking in the past with disastrous results.  I've tried braving new ingredients and unfamiliar techniques, and I just feel awkward and unhappy with the end product.  I've since decided that what I really want is food I already like, with familiar ingredients, tweaked slightly to taste different than my usual stuff.  This is one of the reasons I've stopped buying cook books.  If there's only 3 or 4 doable recipes in the whole thing then I'm wasting space and money.  Instead I turn to the library and the ever-expanding internet for inspiration.  Right now my two favorite online sources are All Recipes and Cooking Light, both of which have massive lists of available recipes.  Create an account with All Recipes and there's an online recipe box you can save recipes from the site so you can find them when you need them, and a grocery list maker so you can organize the ingredients you need.

Today I finally got to go grocery shopping, after carefully planning out my menu to still use up some of the ingredients I have at home.  And now I get to cook!  For dinner I made Pepper Jack Chicken from the Slow Cooker recipe book I mentioned in an earlier post.  Cheese, chicken, peppers, rice....all things my family likes, just arranged in a new manner, and made in a slow cooker.  That's only one dish to wash!  Bonus!  I did make a couple of edits, nothing drastic.  I was excited to try this one, and thankful that my first posted recipe wasn't a dud!  I chopped and mixed in about 10 minutes, then it cooked in the slow cooker for 5 hours.  I love not having to fuss with a meal as it cooks; just turn on the slow cooker and walk away.  And tada!!

It looks and sounds much cheesier than it actually was.  This is more like eating a mexican gumbo in that the sauce is really more of a broth.  However, it was very easy, and very tasty.  My husband salted his, but I didn't think it was necessary.  Try it out for yourself!

Pepper Jack Chicken