by Kristen Bagwell

I took a quick roadie with one of my dearest (not oldest!) friends a couple of weeks ago, and it was just a blast. We talked about absolutely everything under the sun, but (as usual for me) we seemed to keep coming back to food. She agreed that hearing "hey, what were you thinking about for dinner?" each day just sends her right over the top, as it does for me, but we both were at a loss for a good way to remove that stress.

We talked about a number of things: having the same thing for dinner each night of each week, as in Monday = spaghetti, Tuesday = tacos, etc, but it just seemed a little boring. We were also trying to figure out ways to get our husbands involved but as luck would have it, neither of them are particularly gifted in the cooking department (sorry, honey). At this point, she told me of a new idea that she had wanted to try, but hasn't yet for various reasons. Even just hearing "new idea" got me all happy...what could it be?!

As it turns out, while cruising around online, my friend had stumbled upon a blog written by cookbook author and blogger Stephanie O'Dea called http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/. As the author herself puts it, "I have an unnatural obsession with my slow cooker. I'm okay with it." My friend is also a working parent, and thought "wow, what a cool concept - dinner made each night when you get home!" Of course it would take some planning, but even just 2-3 days per week would help.  And we are not just talking soups and stews.

The absolute coolest thing about this blog is the variation in meals. I'm talking meat, fish, side dishes, and even desserts! Coming from a cookbook writer, I guess I should not have been surprised. Stephanie O'Dea also provides gluten-free options in most cases, which would be a huge help if you're cooking for anyone with that dietary restriction.

So, what to try first? How about peanut butter brownies (you can see where my priorities lie, can't you)? My husband would be thrilled with the carnitas (pork) and she even has recipes for venison for all of you game-lovers out there. Maybe I will be able to shift my thinking from crock-pot-as-cold-weather-utensil into "handy, dandy year-round cooking tool!"