Recent Cooking Fails

Cooking fails are a part of life. But there comes a time when you think you have it all together, right? Funny how life sneaks up and proves you wrong!

My Failed Roast

A few months ago, you might remember a photo on my Facebook page. It was a beautiful crockpot roast—before it cooked. It was really a simple recipe. A roast, some veggies, beef broth and wine. Some basic spices. All I had to do was let it cook. What I didn’t tell you was that this recipe was a complete failure.

I checked on the roast before I ran the kids around to their various activities. I even turned the crockpot off before we left, because it seemed to be almost ready. But when we got home and cut into it, it was completely overcooked. It was still edible, but no one enjoyed it.

Cheeseless Lasagna

Fast forward a few weeks, when I tried to make a healthy lasagna. Whole wheat noodles, cottage cheese instead of ricotta. It was set up to be a healthy, filling meal. But when I checked on it after 15 minutes in the oven, I saw that I forgot to cover it and the cheese on top was burning. I added more cheese, put foil on the top and thought, “Problem solved.”

Not so. After another 20 minutes in the oven, I went to check on it again and all the cheese came off on the foil. By then it was too late to add more cheese, so we had a cheese-less (but healthy) lasagna. Lasagna just isn’t the same without cheese!

Showing Me Up

Of course, my husband is always supportive—especially when he gets to brag about showing me up in the kitchen. The day after my lasagna disaster, I left him in the lurch. I had something come up and he was left to cook up the chicken I intended to make.

When I got home, Jeff had a big grin on his face. “Everyone loved the chicken!” he boasted. Great. I’m not even sure what he did to it, but clearly he did it well! I’m glad the kids enjoyed dinner, even if it mean the Jeff got to brag about his cooking “win.”

Almost-Perfect Pizza

Enough with my cooking failures. The next day, I needed something quick. I turned to frozen pizzas. I know, not healthy. But I couldn’t mess up frozen pizza, right? I got the pizzas going and jumped on a team call, asking Jeff to finish them up. Of course they were a hit! We had no leftovers, and I won’t even tell my husband that one of them was just a tad overcooked. Ha!

I’m determined to turn my recent failures around. Especially when it comes to the crockpot. I love the simplicity and ease of it (you  know, when the dinner actually turns out). So even after my roast bomb, I’m not going to give up. There are so many healthy recipes you can make in a crockpot and I’m determined to find them—and be successful.

What are some of your favorite crockpot recipes or resources? I’d love some help!