Swedish Meatballs

The very first time I used my crockpot, I felt like I had cheated. I had made dinner...but I hadn't done anything. I pulled the lid off and we ate.

I felt like I had stumbled upon some great dinner cooking secret. But nope, it was just a crockpot! Now I use my crockpot all.the.time. I have had some hits and misses but I love that girl. So much so that the words have rubbed off the knob. Luckily I know them all by heart!

One of my dinner hits, that was loved by 7/7 Turners, was Swedish Meatballs. Yum!

I am sure that there are a ton of recipes floating around for these babies, but this is the one that I used. It is simple and delicious! I usually make a huge thing of mashed potatoes to go with it.

This recipe comes from a You Tube vlogger OCD Much, with a few tidbits from me, in pink.

What you will need:
*optional---> crockpot liner. One of the only items that I will pay FULL price for! Worth the money to me to not have to clean!
1 lb pkg of precooked meatballs (I use a bigger bag and fill my crockpot. My kids devour these!)
2 jars of Heinz beef gravy (we like lots of gravy so I add another jar)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 16 oz container of sour cream

So here is where the "hard work" comes in...
Put all the wet ingredients into your crockpot. Combine well.

 Then add in your meatballs. Coat them with your wet ingredients. Put the top on.


Because the meatballs are pre cooked, you are basically just heating this meal up. You can cook on high for a couple of hours, or let it simmer all day. Which is nice, if you didn't think about dinner until like 3:00.

 Not that I know what that is like...

crock pot lovin'

I got a crockpot when I got married almost 14 years ago. Actually, I recieved three. Some people get toasters, we got crockpots.

I returned two of them. The other one sat on my shelf collecting dust. Until my sister introduced me to this book...

Image taken from Amazon

It literally changed my life. The first time I made dinner in it, I felt like I was cheating. Seriously. I couldn't believe that I put ingredients in at 9am and then everything was done by dinner time. No work, no muss, no fuss.

Still going strong after 14 years!!

Now I use it all the time. I really wanted to get another one, because I have recipes that work well together like ham & baked potatoes. I finally broke down and got one...isn't it cute?

In one crockpot, I placed 2 pork tenderloin (these were $5 each at Vons one week and I bought 4). Cut up some onion, garlic, threw in some seasonings and topped it with bbq sauce. So yum and so easy.

Tenderloin with bbq sauce and white onions looks a lot like...

The other crockpot was busy "baking a cake". Mmm, it was a yummy moist chocolate cake with white chocolate chips. We ate it with some cool whip on top.

chocolate cake with white choc. chips (:

When I was taking pictures, I realized that they both looked like the exact same thing while cooking! They weren't though and they both turned out well. Here is the recipe I followed for the cake...

Crockpot Chocolate Cake
1 box chocolate cake mix
8 oz sour cream
1 pkg instant choc. pudding
1 cup chocolate chips
4 eggs
3/4 cup oil
1 cup water

In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Grease ( I wouldn't  recommend using a liner with this) lightly and pour in. Cook 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.

Easy Shmeazy

Over Easter, I purchased more than one ham, when they were at a rock bottom price. I hope everyone did!

I have been trying to clean out my freezers and this ham was taking up quite a bit of room.

Normally my favorite way to cook a ham is in the crock pot, with a can of oj concentrate, honey (or maple syrup) and brown sugar.

Let it cook low and slow all day and you have a nice sweet ham.

Well I didn't have any oj concentrate, and didn't want to go to the store for some, to my stockpile I went...and found this marmalade!

So this "recipe" was marmalade, with a little bit of water to thin it out some, skipped the honey and syrup, and added just a sprinkling of brown sugar.

It turned out sooo yummy! Using  the crock pot is so easy and all you really have to do is put the sides together. It is nice for summer also because it doesn't heat up the whole house! What are your favorite meals to cook in the crock pot?

Cooking Thursday~ honey ham

By 7am yesterday morning, I knew it would be a day where I did not want to make dinner.

My choices were...hire a personal chef, eat out, or turn to my good friend...my crockpot.

After I had decided on a crockpot meal, my son asked, "Mom can you pleassssssse make honey ham?

Since I had everything I needed I said sure!

I like to get the Farmland half hams to make this recipe. I had a pkg of turkey ham also and decided to make it all at once.

Place ham in bottom of crockpot.

Pour a can of thawed oj concentrate on top.

Add about 1/2 cup of brown sugar to the top.

Then pour maple syrup on top. I didn't measure, because I was using what was left in the bottle.

Cook on low for 4-5 hours.

This is sooo quick and easy and my kids love it!

I served this with rolls, mashed potatoes & gravy and steamed vegi's.

For more yummy recipes, head on over to Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Cooking Thursday!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

The other day I was asked on Facebook, for the recipe I use for Chicken Tortilla Soup. I found this recipe on

It is very yummy and I love that I can just cook it in my crockpot! Sorry I don't have a picture, I took my camera to the zoo yesterday and it is MIA! Hoping I didn't leave it there! Anyway, here is the recipe. Let me know if you make it and what you think!

4 chicken breast halves
2 15oz cans of black beans, drained
2 15oz cans Mexican stewed tomatoes
1 cup med. salsa
1 4oz can of chopped green chilies
1 14.5 oz can of tomato sauce

Lay chicken pieces at the bottom of your crockpot. Add ingredients on top. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Before serving, take the chicken out and either shred it or cut it into pieces.

Serve with tortilla chips& cheese. I also like a dollop of sour cream!

** I love using Reynolds crockpot liners. It makes clean up a total breeze!