My crockpot is becoming my best friend.....

...not because it's chilly this week either.  I came home from work yesterday to discover my husband had finally demolished our kitchen so our new one can be installed. This is exciting on several levels but really scary to me for one reason: I don't want to compromise my personal food values just because I don't have a normally functioning kitchen at the moment, I'm not sure where everything has been stashed and lastly everything is covered in about a quarter inch of dust.

I teach a lot of my kitchen design clients about the need to be prepared and organized during their remodels, but much like my struggle with my new gluten free diet, talking about something and living it are two completely different things.

I decided, in advance, I was going to set up my kitchen like I do when on a camping trip. My friends at festivals joke that I'm glamping because we always have such a nice kitchen for the week. What it really boils down to is that just because I'm at a festival doesn't mean I should start suddenly eating a ton of junk food that makes me feel crappy just because it's easier. This remodel, I feel the same way except this time I have one added bonus, electricity.

On our side porch I'm setting up my camping kitchen table with bins of my basic necessities underneath. My husband was happy with having a hot dog roast over our backyard firepit, but with his brother staying with us to help with the kitchen, I had a nicer set up in mind. We have a grill, a single butane burner stove, a convection toaster oven, but most importantly a crockpot. I used to think the only things to make in a crockpot were hearty stews and overnight applesauce, boy did I have a lot to learn!

One of the most surprising resources I found for crockpot cooking was Pinterest. Yes, I've filtered out a lot of recipes that contained a lot of processed junk, but I've also found some gems and learned a lot of new techniques. My most recent discovery was that you can roast an entire chicken just like you would in the oven, in a crockpot. Just place the onions, potatoes and carrots underneath the chicken like you would in a roasting pan, season it up and cook on low between 4-6 hours. This has proved invaluable to me. I come home from a long day of work to dinner that is already done. Talk about a great way to make sure I can relax and enjoy my time with my family.

This week I don't have a full kitchen, and I'm on jury duty so I have the challenge of packing gluten free lunches. I am refusing to eat takeout during this remodel, (as if you hadn't guessed). The crockpot is helping me create dinners that easily can become leftovers that can be eaten the next day, without a lot of dishes or mess (especially important since I'm currently using our bathtub to clean dishes).

This week I'll be doing meat free Tuesday since I have the house to myself and I'm not entirely sure what my brother in law is and isn't willing to eat while he stays with us.  Tonight we are having pulled pork barbeque, a super easy dish to make. I rubbed on a pork shoulder with my family's secret spice rub. I then placed it in the crockpot, fat side down) with some apple juice (local of course), beer works well for this also.  I put the crockpot on low and left for court. 8 hours later I have wonderful pork that is juicy and falls apart that can be used Ina multitude of dishes. I shredded some of the pork and am heating it up with 1 part cider vinegar, 1 part water and 1 part homemade BBQ sauce. My husband and his brother will be having it over whole grain rolls to soak up the juices, while I will be enjoying mine plain.

For a side dish: zucchini corn salad, fresh from our garden. Simply toss corn kernels and diced zucchini with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice. Season with salt and pepper and toss with some fresh chiffonade basil from the garden. Let the flavors marinate about a half hour before serving.  It's a simple dinner that is full of flavor and does not take a lot of time to make. Once the kitchen is finished I'll be posting about how my homemade tomato sauce is coming along as our harvest should be just about ready as well as my first attempts at making catsup. In the meantime, be well and treat yourself to all the wonderful flavors this season has to offer.