Broccoli and Beef Pasta
This week's crock pot experiment ought to make those of you familiar with my eating habits very proud! It had both broccoli (which I have been training myself to eat small amounts of when it's steamed) AND cheese in it. And I liked it!
It's one of the more labor-intensive crock pot dishes I've tried, as it involved browning ground beef to add about halfway through the cooking time (I cooked it ahead of time, put it in the fridge, and then nuked it to warm-ish before I put it in the crock pot), and cooking pasta to add about 30 minutes before it was done. I also had to add cheese and tomato paste at the 30-minutes-to-done mark. Neither of those things was difficult, it just meant this was not a "throw-it-all-in-the-pot-and-forget-about-it" recipe.
Andrew and I both liked it; the cheese flavor wasn't really noticeable to me at all. The broccoli wasn't a strong flavor, either. Unfortunately, it was not a hit with either Corwin or Ian. I'm not sure why, as they both like all the individual parts. But Corwin had 2 or 3 bites and then didn't want any more, and Ian nibbled on his but threw most of it on the floor. Oh well...I'll keep this one in the rotation for Andrew and me, and feed the kids leftovers or something.
It's one of the more labor-intensive crock pot dishes I've tried, as it involved browning ground beef to add about halfway through the cooking time (I cooked it ahead of time, put it in the fridge, and then nuked it to warm-ish before I put it in the crock pot), and cooking pasta to add about 30 minutes before it was done. I also had to add cheese and tomato paste at the 30-minutes-to-done mark. Neither of those things was difficult, it just meant this was not a "throw-it-all-in-the-pot-and-forget-about-it" recipe.
Andrew and I both liked it; the cheese flavor wasn't really noticeable to me at all. The broccoli wasn't a strong flavor, either. Unfortunately, it was not a hit with either Corwin or Ian. I'm not sure why, as they both like all the individual parts. But Corwin had 2 or 3 bites and then didn't want any more, and Ian nibbled on his but threw most of it on the floor. Oh well...I'll keep this one in the rotation for Andrew and me, and feed the kids leftovers or something.