The Miracle Bean Pot

Hopefully the title of this post alone drew you in.  Raise your hand if you know what a bean pot is.  Anyone?  I definitely didn't until my wedding shower.  B's cousin bought us one and told me that it was the most amazing thing in her kitchen.  Here's mine:

I know it doesn't look like much, but I promise you it's incredible.  This is why.  So freezer meals are great, until you forget to take them out of the freezer.  Last night, I made a point of having Bob choose something to eat out of the basement freezer and move it to the upstairs freezer.  He chose chicken alfredo.  In my head I said, ok I'll put it in the fridge before bed and it'll be thawed by the time Bob needs to put it in the crock pot.  (As a pharmacist my darling husband has some week days off and is in charge of the cooking).  Well, guess who didn't take the chicken out of the freezer.  Shame.  I texted the hubby from work in the morning and asked him to take it out.  Guess who didn't do that.  Yes.  My chicken was still frozen by the time I got home from work.

THE HORROR.  Imagine my despair as I looked at the bag that read "cook on low for 5-6 hours."  Ummm I don't have 5-6 hours.  I have a maximum of 2 hours before my husband starts eating chips and salsa for dinner.  Then, the lightbulb: I'll use my bean pot!  I threw my chicken and sauce in the pot, put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour and a half, and it was fabulous. I boiled some whole wheat noodles (of course), made some frozen veggies for myself (of course), and we had dinner.  The lesson of the day is this: bean pot=crock pot on speed.  Realistically it probably didn't need an hour and a half but we were busy and I get distracted.  But this thing makes the meat so tender and delicious.  I've put potatoes in it and let me tell you, they do not come out like the partially cooked crock pot potatoes.  So, I owe all of this to Bob's wonderful cousin.  Without her I would never have known about the I-want-chicken-alfredo-but-forgot-to-thaw-it life saver.  

My chicken alfredo.....

....was not that exciting.  I mean, it was seriously 2 chicken breasts with a can of alfredo sauce.  So no, I'm not a crazy make-everything-from-scratch kind of wife.  I did add some freshly ground black pepper (which is just like not freshly ground black pepper) and it was pretty good.  I used to use these noodles:




but I can't find them anywhere now!  With a husband who doesn't eat veggies, pasta that advertises 1 full serving of veggies is on my list.  And they tasted good.  So if anyone knows where to buy these please let me know!

I would also like to note that tomorrow is Ricky the dog's FIRST birthday!  He's growing up so fast :)

In the very near future, I will be trying a recipe re: a friend's request.  Our good friend Jake asked if I would only write about frozen meals.  I said, no way.  I enjoy the occasional normal, thawed meal.  So he passed on his recipe for taco chicken and rice (personally I feel the name needs some work)--just kidding Jake.  But maybe we'll really think of one after we eat it =)  Stay tuned...you'll have my unrated, non-biased opinion very soon.