I had grand plans of making 5 slow cooker recipes this week. That was until I accidentally strained the beans out of the pot into the sink…etc…etc…So we had two slow cooker menus, the standby pasta dinner, and a quick chicken dinner (quick-ish = 45 minutes).

As my mother would say, both recipes were “Banner Batches.” I liked the soup so much I had it for lunch twice in addition to dinner on Tuesday. Okay, that could have been influenced by the fact that my lunch planning was slightly lacking. Friday’s lunch was “buy your own” … whoops.

1. Easy Springtime Crockpot Minestrone

Notes: Some people on the http://www.howsweeteats.com website commented that this was flavorless or flat, but to me it was perfect. I loved it and so did George.

Recipe: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2013/04/easy-springtime-crockpot-minestrone/

2. Slow Cooked Jerk Pork with Caribbean Mango Salsa

Notes: I think I woke up twice during the night as this one was cooking. It smelled AMAZING. The jerk seasoning added a lot of flavor. I thought I might skip making the salsa…the mango salsa really made this dinner amazing.

Recipe: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/02/slow-cooked-jerk-pork-with-caribbean_19.html

3. Caramelized Onion Chicken
Not a slow cooker recipe but a relatively easy/quick/delicious dinner
Recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/caramelized-onion-chicken-10000000249953/