The Crock Pot is my Friend

Last night before I went to bed, I got things prepped for dinner tonight.  This is a first for me, but I have realized that the crock pot is my friend.  I like that whole "set it and forget it" thing; it makes cooking more like baking, which I like so much better.  And Laura, my cooking guru friend from work, gave me this recipe and said that everyone raves about it.  So last night, I poured onion soup mix into a crock pot, put the pork chops into a zip lock bag in the fridge (they were individually wrapped and believe me, this step took a while), and took out a can of cranberry sauce (and yes, those are all the ingredients).  Then this morning, I put it all into the crock pot, turned it on, and dragged myself off to work. 

Mark's "minimalist" plate!

By the time I got home, the house smelled pretty damn good, and the pork chops were starting to fall apart!  Mom made potatoes and some green beans and carrots, and I made a gravy out of the sauce that was left.  I still cannot quiet get over how few ingredients there were in this, and yet how amazing it was - and also, the fact that it tasted neither like cranberries nor onion soup mix!  It ended up only being Mom, Mark and I for dinner, but all three of us really enjoyed it.  Mark and I were a little obsessed with the gravy and were sopping it up with some of my leftover focaccia bread from the pot luck lunch (don't get me started how much was left over... I will try not to be offended).

The recipe called for a beef chuck roast, but pork chops were cheaper, and Laura said she used a pork tenderloin so I figured it would be okay to use chops.  I still cannot get over the small amount of ingredients (and work!)  that this recipe required, and that is a very good thing for something that tastes so good.  I'd recommend this, and will probably be making it again when there are more than 2 people with me at the dinner table!

Recipe:
Slow cooker cranberry roast or pork chops