Slow Cooker Sunday

Long time no chat!  Not much has changed here, meal planning as usual since signing off in January.  Truthfully for the first couple of weeks I took a bit of a "meal planning vacation" and just loosely planned.  I ended up feeling totally lost and am now totally back to the regular routine.  But one thing that IS new is Slow Cooker Sunday!!  For the last two weeks I've prepared Sunday supper in the slow cooker. I typically save Slow Cooker recipes for mid-week when I'm starting to lose steam.  I love coming home to a fully cooked meal when I'm feeling too tired to cook.  But using this method of cooking on a Sunday has it's virtues as well.

1) I find that weekends come and go so quickly that I sometimes feel that all I've accomplished is getting my chores done. Blah!  A slow cooker meal makes for an easy supper and usually enough leftovers to pack up for Monday's lunch, freeing up time to enjoy other things.  It's a walk in the park... literally!!
2) If you are home doing chores you get to enjoy the smell of supper cooking all day long!
3) I often come across slow cooker recipes that are tempting but don't fit with my weekday requirements.  During the week I'm limited to recipes I can prepare ahead of time and then turn on and leave unattended for 9 or more hours.  Since I have more flexibility on the weekend I can attack my Slow Cooker bucket list.

Two weeks ago I made Deli Style Chicken. For Sunday's supper we served it with baked potatoes (microwaved) and raw vegetables.  "Easy peasy lemon squeezy" as Marin would say. The next day we had the leftovers with a side a Greek Orzo salad.  Last weekend I made Mexican Style Chicken which we had on tortillas with cheese, sour cream and quacamole on Sunday night and scooped over brown rice for a super easy Monday lunch.  (Note:  I replace all the spices in this recipes with a couple of tablespoons of Mexican Spice Blend)

I may just keep this Slow Cooker Sunday ball rolling... at least until grilling season is in full swing anyway!

This is the menu from last week.  I also slow cooked some Cabbage Rolls through the week. This recipe was one of the best we've come across in the last little while. I've never made cabbage rolls before always thinking they were too labour intensive.  On the contrary!  This recipe was quick, easy and the perfect mid-week slow cooker recipe since you can easily prep it the night before and leave it unattended for 8-10hrs.  Dave and I both devoured these and agreed they tasted just like the cabbage rolls we each grew up on.  Marin liked them too. 

Recipe Links

Raspberry Chia Jam, Healthy Happy Mom
Vegan Overnight Oats, Oh She Glows
Greek Dressing, from my salad dressing printout
Balsamic Vinaigrette, Goodness Gracious
Broccoli & Shrimp Stirfry, Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Slow Cooker Deli Style Chicken, 100 Days of Real Food
Hearty Tuscan Soup, Chatelaine
Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls, Canadian Living


The coconut oil toast I have on the menu for Sunday breakfast is simply toast with coconut oil instead of butter.  This is my latest obsession since having this Avocado Coconut Toast a few weeks ago.   The avocado toast has become a go-to quick weekend lunch and the coconut oil toast with raspberry chia jam a new favorite breakfast.  And in fact, coconut oil toast on its own it not too bad either!

This week we're following Week 46 (mostly).  I love having the blog to refer back to when I'm menu planning on the weekends!!  Which begs the question... what's going on with this blog anyway??   I'm making (slow) progress on a new look and hope to implement the changes soon.  I don't plan to return to weekly posting anytime soon, but will try to pop in a bit more frequently with posts like this.  I'm amazed that the page views have not slowed down.  Thanks to everyone who's still popping by!  Also, I am faithfully using my What's Cooking This Week board on Pinterest, so check me out there as well!!

Sandra