Our oven doesn't work. We haven't actually attempted to fix it so for all I know something really little is broken and its no big deal. Until we take the time to figure it out we are relying heavily on the slow cooker to fill in. This means that we have gotten very creative and as always Pinterest to the rescue. Below are three crock pot meals that we have had in the last few days that we would normally be in our oven. These aren't technically reviews of the recipes because I didn't actually follow the recipes exactly but certainly can give some tips.

First up, I made Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole. This one I'm not so sure how I feel about. On first take I didn't love it. However my husband really likes it and he rarely likes my breakfast casseroles. My boys liked it too. The only variation I made to it was that I added mushrooms and included chicken sausage instead of pork sausage. I'm not sure I would always include the hashbrowns as I felt like they caused it to be fairly liquid but that being said maybe I could cook it longer. Lastly, the eggs were more like scrambled eggs than a casserole. Those were my complaints but in a pinch I think it would be great AND obviously the family loved it.

Photo Courtesy of www.damandalynn.wordpress.com

Next up, Shepherd's Pie. Once again I strayed from the recipe. I didn't have Worcester sauce so I used a little steak sauce instead. I didn't have wine so I used some whisky. I also doubled the recipe because i love leftovers. This was fantastic! Just like traditional shepherd's pie it need to cool before eating but this was a big hit the first day and even better for leftovers.

Photo courtesy of www.tasteofhome.com

The last recipe was definitely the biggest stretch. I wanted to make Crockpot Cake. Yes, that's right I had cake mix from before the oven broke and it was just staring at me from the pantry. All. The. Time. As was the icing. Following recipes I found on Pinterest I took the confetti cake mix and started it cooking in the slow cooker. I wasn't sure exactly how to get it out of the slow cooker so I used an ice cream scoop and made cake balls. They went into the freezer to get nice and easy to cover with icing. I melted the store bought icing for about 30 seconds in the microwave and I dipped the balls in the icing. Back in the freezer to get everything ready to go to. I took a few out for after dinner and can I just say they were delicious! Now at any time I want I can grab a little cake for a little treat and the best part is that when I do want a little treat I can grab just one cake ball and its actually an appropriate serving size. Speaking of which, photos will come when I take some out of the freezer. I totally forgot yesterday to take pictures.

Stay tuned. I'll be continuing the slow cooker adventures until we finally fix the oven.