Slow cooker taco soup and other eats

Thank you all for the well wishes for Ms. Pixie! She is home and resting now. She’s sore and slow moving, but seem content now. I’m just glad to have her home and in a few days she should be back to normal.

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I will say that the February medical bills can stop any time now. Between my root canal and crown, John having his own periodontal work and a couple other things done and now Pixie’s surgery, we are now around $4300 in medical bills. Good grief. Good thing I have the ability to work extra, which I will be doing on weekends. At least we live in a time when we can get all this stuff done, though. I don’t want to complain too much about it. 

I got a book out of the library called Cook it Slow, Cook it Fast from Mr. Food Test Kitchen and it has a lot of great recipes in there for the slow cooker and the pressure cooker! We decided on the taco soup this week:

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I did make substitutions by using veggie crumbles for John, subbed white beans for black beans, and using vegetable broth, but other than that followed the recipe. You just brown your ground beef and add everything to the crock pot. Cook on low for 7 hours or high for 3.5 and it’s done! It almost is more like a chili. Maybe it could use more broth, but this was really tasty!

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I am excited to do some pressure cooker recipes out of this book. We have a pressure cooker, but don’t use it too often. Time to change that!

Here are a few other things I have been eating the last couple of weeks. 

Football leftovers of red beans and rice:

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Staying the that mardi gras theme, we did a little celebrating on that date with some bread pudding at Morgan Steakhouse:

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Slow cooker overnight apple oats: – topped with maple cream.

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Tomato soup – I will admit this is Progresso. It’s quick and easy and not that bad, actually.

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Baked clam strips:

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And of course, on a stressful day like Monday was, I picked up some M&Ms 50% off:

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I’m trying to measure these out in a small ramekin. I’m focused on Ireland this fall and being in a size smaller pants!

20 thoughts on “Slow cooker taco soup and other eats

    1. Lori Post author

      Even though she is sore and all that, I feel so much better that she is home where she feels comfortable. I’m pampering her with extra wet food – cause food = love, right? 😉

  1. Sandy

    Oh poor Pixie! A couple of days away on the computer and I missed all of Pixie’s problems. She must have been so uncomfortable. I love how she claims the top of the radiator as her spot. The first time that I was in a cold climate (UK one Christmas), I perched myself next to the heating and had to force myself to move. Wishing Pixie a speedy and comfortable recovery and maybe a nice lotto win for you and John to keep on top of the medical, dental and vet bills!

    1. Lori Post author

      We put that piece of wood on the top originally so I could display a christmas figurine parade on it. Then Pixie discovered it and after I took the parade down, we didn’t have the heart to move the board 😀

  2. Shelley B

    Ah, medical bills. On the one hand, so glad when you can get things taken care of, but on the other hand, not so glad to have to pay them. Pixie has mastered the art of looking relaxed – so happy she’s home!

    1. Lori Post author

      It would have not been as noticeable if the bills were spread out instead of clumped into a fee weeks. Oh well. Can’t do anything about it now — except work more!

  3. Fran

    Big hug for Pixie and for you. Happy that she’s home and hope she has a speedy recovery.

    That sure is a lot of money on medical bills. I’m so glad we got pet insurance when we got Bella. We usually get 70-80% back from the bill. We just calculated last weekend how much I paid over the past 6 years and how much we got back. We got back more than we paid.

    That soup looks delicious! I love my slowcooker and got a whole bunch of recipes from the internet for it. I use it every 2 weeks at least.

    1. Lori Post author

      Yes, our insurance is not the greatest. It doesn’t cover any dental, so that was the biggest expense for both of us.

  4. Helen

    No one wants to take a $4300 hit for ANYTHING – except maybe a fabulous vacation. I feel for you!

    Those blueberries reminded me that I’ve been meaning to tell you that me, the no fruit person, has been on a blueberry kick. I’ve been eating about a cup of them a day, can you believe it?

    Pixie certainly does look happy to be home and I know you’re happy too.

    1. Lori Post author

      I know – it’s like a trip to Ireland without actually going there….

      Yay on blueberries! I have been eating them a ton, even though I feel guilty that they come from Chile. John had periodontal work and can’t have any berries (tiny seeds) for a couple weeks or longer so I don’t have to share now. 🙂

  5. Biz

    Aw, poor Pixie – she looks like she’s resting comfy though! Ugh on the medical bills – I just saw what my cobra payment is going to be until I find my new gig, and while it’s a big number, I can pay it, which a lot of people have shitty insurance, so I am not complaining one bit 😀

  6. Chris

    I have had trouble doing overnight oats. I bring it to a boil now on the stovetop, put the lid on, and leave it overnight. I love it! I like to put diced dried apricots in it. They plump up by the morning.

    1. Lori Post author

      Dried apricots sound yummy! I love the overnight in the crockpot, but it has to be done with the water bath or they will get overdone.

  7. Pubsgal

    Aw, Pixie! Glad she’s home, and hope she’s feeling better soon!

    And your soup looks really good – I would have thought it would turn out thinner, but it does look like a nice chili! I love crockpot cooking, but I kind of burned out my husband on it when the kids were babies. 😉

    1. Lori Post author

      I was surprised that it was so thick, but it was really good. I love the crock pot, but I don’t always think to use it.

  8. Bec Francis

    So glad Ms Pixie is home with you now, I had no idea she had been so sick! xxxxx I have been reading your blog for a couple of years now and have followed all of Pixie’s adventures (Sleeping!). We have two spoodles and I know how it when they’re sick, just awful. So glad the little muffin is on the mend now xxxx

  9. Jeannie/Qlts2Slo

    Yes! She’s back on the rad and looks to be resting well! She may be sore, but I bet without all those stones she’s feeling better. It does always seem like big expenses come in clumps.

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