Winter time means it’s time to nest and make some comfort food. My mom used to refer to this hearty food as “sticking to your bones”. I guess she meant that it has substance and really fills you up (unlike some of the lighter meals we tend to eat more often in summer).

Homemade mac & cheese is always a winner and now that I have my new little “Slow cooker recipes” book, I’ll try a new mac & cheese recipe, using my crock pot.

If you have a crock pot somewhere in your cabinet (or stored away in the basement. maybe?), I recommend taking it out and using it. Most crocks come with their own recipe books. Mine includes a recipe for roasted chicken and veggies, pot roast and beef stew that are delicious. It’s great to throw the ingredients in the pot in the morning and smell the aromas of food cooking all day long, until it’s time for dinner. You get your food  preparation out of the way before facing the rest of the day.

My new little recipe book: Gooseberry Patch: Favorite Slow-cooker Recipes, includes a recipe for cranberry tea and overnight oatmeal with walnuts and raisins. I’ll bet the tea is yummy after brewing for so long in the crock pot and love the idea of waking up to a warm breakfast in the morning after it’s cooked all night long.

This week, I plan to make the barbequed chicken and taco soup from my new little book.

I also got out my bread maker and plan to make some homemade bread this winter. This is another kitchen appliance that I highly recommend buying and using. There’s nothing like the smell of homemade bread baking, it tastes fresh and delicious, and bread makers are super easy to use—they knead the dough and do all the hard work for you! The bread maker will pay for itself if you really use it. The cost of store-bought bread seems to have tripled lately.

The recipe book which came with my bread maker also has recipes for desserts, something I’ve never tried, but plan to.

What are some of your winter-time favorites from the kitchen?

I’m currently involved in a steamy love affair with my slow cooker. Let’s face it…sometimes it’s really hard to get dinner on the table when you’re dealing with a baby (or older kids, for that matter) and the ten million other things that consume us throughout the day. Since I stay home during the day, though, I try my best to make sure there is some form of a dinner ready when my husband comes home.

When my daughter was a newborn I would applaud myself if I managed to pop a frozen pizza into the oven when my husband pulled into the driveway. Now that I have been doing this whole Mommy thing for some time, I’ve figured out a few tricks. First of all, I spend time actually planning my weekly menu, trying to plan easier meals for the days that I know will be hectic. Secondly, I try to make meals that will yield enough leftovers for my husband to take to work for lunch the next day.

The best tool in my kitchen arsenal has to be my crock pot. I use it three or four times a week because I love throwing something together in the morning and then spending the day doing what we have to do and not worrying about what I’ll cook that night. Slow cookers aren’t just for stews and roasts either. I’ve made macaroni and cheese, pizza potatoes, and spaghetti sauce in my slow cooker in addition to plenty of other kid-friendly meals. I’m not really sure how I managed in the past without it.

If you haven’t yet ventured into the realm of crock pot cooking, you should really give it a try. You’ll probably save money, but more importantly you’ll save valuable time. If you’re anything like me, you’ll wind up falling in love with your crock pot too.