impressed?

when my mother-n-law was in town we decided that we should probably make a few meals at home, so not to spend all our money before we left on vacation.  since ronaldo and i both work full time - and do not enjoy cooking - we rarely (and by rarely, i mean probably only once a week) make dinner.  sure, we grab a bowl of cereal in the morning and always pack our lunches, but dinner?  that's left up to a frozen pizza or mr. ronald mcdonald.  i know, unhealthy, but true.

one of my best friends, margie, told me about her crockpot roast and since we happen to own several of those - i decided to give it a try.  here are her instructions:

1 packet of ranch dressing

1 packet of italian dressing

1 packet of brown gravy

2 cups water

1 beef roast

basically you just mix the seasoning packets with the 2 cups of water and pour it over your roast.  leave it in the crockpot all day on low.  i added carrots and potatoes when i got home at 3:00.  we ate around 6:30 and it was amazing.  (thanks jonesi!)  ronnie thought i was the bomb. 

so the next day i decided to try it again.  this time, chicken. i put 3 or 4 chicken breasts along with salt, pepper, half a can of cream of chicken soup and 1 cup of water and let it simmer all day on low.  again, it was so good.  all i had to do that night was cook some squash and make a lipton rice packet.  (takes about 10 minutes). 

you want to know the best part?  it takes literally 2 minutes in the morning to throw it all together and then there is NO clean up after you eat.  3 plates and one crock pot later - the kitchen was spotless. 

i'm in heaven.

next, i'm going to try mexican.  i have a taco seasoning packet, rotel, water and i'm either going to put in hamburger or chicken and see what happens.  i'll let you know how it turns out. 

the possibilities are endless:

chili

soup

lasagna 

casseroles 

bbq

this could be the beginning of a beautiful crockpot relationship.