Crock Pot Cooking

I am new to the world of blogging.  New to writing, new to reading.  I'm fascinated by what I'm finding "out there" that people blog about.  I don't have a specific topic, but a lot of people do.  I just stumbled upon a great blog last night called A Year of CrockPotting.  I love my crock pots.  I know most people will say it's one of those useless appliances, but mine are front and center.  Meat comes out moist and tender.  And of course, I don't have to stop in the middle of the afternoon to think about what's for dinner.  I have a number of tried and true recipes that I stick to, but this blog documents using a crock pot every day for an entire year!!  It's going to take me a while to go through the site, but what I glanced at last night made me very excited!  If you haven't used a crock pot, I strongly suggest you do!  I'm sure you could find a recipe on this blog...or maybe I'd even share one of mine.  ;)

Peppermint Chocolate Chip

I've been making a conscious effort lately to eat better and less.  Never before have I been so aware of calories and fat content.  It's been an eye opener, to say the least.  I look at what I used to eat and I'm realizing that my weight gain in recent years was not entirely the fault of my children.  

For instance, I went through a phase where I was addicted to the mint chocolate chip milkshakes at Chick-fil-A.  I had no idea how many calories were in that little bit of heaven.  I would crave them, and satisfy that craving a few times a week.  They were so accessible with a drive-thru window!  I was devastated when they stopped serving the mint chip flavor.  Sure, I had seen the balloons and signs advertising the flavor as a limited time only thing...but it had been months.  And I was hooked.  I tried the cookies and cream flavor, but it was a sorry substitute.  I went through a withdrawal of sorts, and got off the milkshake band wagon.

Yesterday, DH and I made a pit stop in Chick-fil-A for lunch...for the first time in a long time.  They now have balloons up advertising a new milkshake flavor, for a limited time only.  Peppermint chocolate chip.  Good lord, that sounds divine.  I was so tempted.  DH was telling me to order it.  I resisted.  I wasn't going to let them get me hooked on a limited time only flavor again, only to have them discontinue selling it.  But it was tough.  As I started to waiver, I grabbed one of their nutritional information brochures.  I nearly fell over.  One peppermint chocolate chip milkshake has 850 calories!!!  No wonder I gained 10 pounds last summer during the mint chip addiction!  I had no idea it could be that bad.  Like I said, calories are a totally new concept to me and 850 is enough to keep me away from that milkshake....at least for a little while.  :)