Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  I'm going to try to be a better blogger this year, and I'm certainly not lacking for recipe inspiration. I was lucky enough to receive five cookbooks for Christmas this year (five!!!) - either I was a really good girl or Santa's tired of my go-to recipes! I've been keeping busy in the kitchen since we returned from our Christmas sojourn to New Jersey trying out new things, with mixed (but mostly good) success. The snowstorm the other day brought absolutely frigid temperatures, as well as a foot of snow and a few extra days off work to keep up the experimentation. Which brings us to today.

Set it and forget it!

We received a Crock Pot as a wedding present, and have only used it once or twice. I'm not totally sure where my hesitation in using it comes from - probably partly because most of the recipes in the slow cooker cookbook we received with it are meat-based, and partly because I'd have to plan ahead to use it. But I figured since we're trying lots of new stuff this week anyway, and we're in the mood for a warm, hearty dish, this is the time to try it. On the other hand, I like using the oven because I can stand in front of it and it's warm. I think this is the real source of hesitation.

Lots of veggies, lentils, and rice - perfect for a cold day!

 So, anyway, today I'm channeling Aunt Linda and trying a recipe for veggie sloppy joes using the Crock Pot. It's from the Better Homes and Gardens' Simple Slow Cooker Recipes and is pretty easy (which I guess is the point of the slow cooker) - you chop up a bunch of veggies, mix them with some lentils, rice, and other stuff, set the Crock Pot on high, and then go write a blog post about how you don't use your Crock Pot. Check, check, and check.

This is the before picture.

 We are probably not going to make them into actual sandwiches, just because they're so sloppy (I know, I know). I will serve it with some homemade bread, though (either focaccia or an olive rosemary bread - I made them both earlier this week and they are delicious. I think I prefer the olive rosemary.).

And the after picture!

 And almost four long hours later, dinner is served! It's good - definitely a hearty dish for a cold night - but a little sweet. The tomato sauce was a little sweet on its own, so I'd cut the amount of brown sugar in the recipe to compensate for it. The recipe calls for two tablespoons - if I were to use the same brand of tomato sauce (in this case, Trader Joe's store brand), I'd remove the sugar all together. A different brand of tomato sauce might be less sweet, in which case I could see adding a tablespoon of sugar. I haven't had a sloppy joe sandwich in years, so I can't really speak to the authenticity of the recipe for all you sloppy joe purists out there. But I can tell you it's yummy.

With that olive rosemary bread I told you about - yum!

It's not good packing snow, but there's certainly plenty of it.

Sloppy Veggie Sandwiches
Better Homes and Gardens' Simple Slow Cooker Recipes

1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup brown lentils, rinsed and drained
2/3 cup brown rice, uncooked
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
2 14-oz cans vegetable or chicken broth
1 14-oz can tomato sauce
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
buns for serving

Combine first 11 ingredients (through broth) in a 3.5 or 4 quart slow cooker. Stir to combine.  Cover and cook on high for 3-3.5 hours. Stir in tomato sauce and vinegar. Cover and cook additional 30 minutes. Serve on toasted buns.