When we were living in SoCal and I had a wonderful kitchen to spend time in, we very often we had Crockpot Tuesdays. I worked late on Tuesday nights and wanted nothing more than a warm home-cooked meal when I returned from my commute and Crockpot Tuesdays was the perfect solution. Since resettling here in the Bay Area, I for a while found myself resisting the kitchen. I wasn’t in the mood to cook. I didn’t enjoy the space I had to work with. I was working a lot and not doing the food shopping. Excuses, excuses, excuses. But now that I have a lovely large kitchen and my meal planning is in full effect (it’s coming along smashingly by the way), I have no reason not to have warm home cooked meals everyday day of the week.

That’s The All-Star cooking breakfast!

The only problem is that now it’s not just Tuesdays that I’m working late. Monday, Wednesdays and often Fridays are turning into 8 or even 8:30pm quitting times so the crockpot is getting a lot of use over here. It’s great though. Simple, warm, perfect for winter, and waiting for me when I get home!

Most of my recipes are soups and stews, although I will throw in the occasional whole chicken and veggies. I like making whole chickens because the remains make for awesome chicken soups, but who has the time to wait and make sure it’s cooked. I let the slow-cooker do that for me. Set it and forget, baby!

I usually prepare my meals before I leave for work. They don’t require much prep so it’s easy to just throw it all in! Tonight we’re having No Hurry Curry from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker.  I’ve made it before. I even blogged about it (the recipe is in the post I linked above.) I’m not vegetarian but I really love this book. It’s nice to have meatless meals sometimes and the recipes are creative and healthy!

Here are my ingredients all ready to go…

Looks good already!

The recipe doesn’t call for it but I’m adding cauliflower. I actually bought it by mistake because I thought it was in the recipe. It’s not but I’m keeping it in there anyway. I’m in the mood for cauliflower. I’m also using chicken broth because that’s what I have. Like I said, I’m not vegetarian so chicken broth is what I use.

I wasn’t ready to cook yet and I didn’t like all the ingredients on the counter so I put them in a basket where they will wait. I would like a different basket but this is what I had.

Baskets make everything better!

Goodness, I feel ready to eat this right now! Alas, I will have to wait 10 hours. I’m sure it will be worth it. What’s your late work-night solution for dinner??