Hello, slow rider.

Intros are awkward, so I'll keep this one short. My name is Kara. I'm an unfabulous cook. It's not that I can't cook -- I don't burn rice or dry out fish -- it's just that I don't have the patience for anything that requires two pots or more than three ingredients. There are exactly four dishes that fit my criteria, and I'd estimate that my husband has eaten each one of them approximately 400 times.

(He cooks too. Don't get any June Cleaver notions. It's just that I work at home, and by the time 4:30 rolls around, I'm usually too hungry to wait for him to get home, get inspired, and get dinner started. So I'm just like, "Welcome home! I made crab quesadillas...again!")

Then we got the slow cooker for Christmas. Technically he got got the slow cooker, but I've commandeered it. Here's why I love slow cooking: Do you remember spin-art?

Put a piece of paper in the spinner, squirt some paint, and hope for the best. You never knew what the finished product would be until it stopped spinning, but it was always AWESOME! At least by my standards. I had spin-art all over my bedroom in 1988.

That's kind of how I feel about the slow cooker. I dump some ingredients in, stir, and 6-8 hours later, I find out what sort of tasty masterpiece I've created. I'm happy, my husband's happy, and I'm eating REAL food for a change. (I actually bought celery last week. And my potato peeler is finally getting some action!)

So, this is my collection of slow cooker recipes. It's mostly for me to remember what the hell I threw in the pot, but if someone else can use it too, yippee!

xo, K