Creative Cooking, Crockpots, and Funky aromas

 I feel like I've come a long way with cooking since my Husband and I got married and got a house. It helps that we have a stove but no microwave, and it also helps that my husband has been patient with my tedious little baby steps in figuring out how many things taste not only BETTER but some things just outright taste GOOD if there's no microwave involved. I know there's some studies that suggest Microwaving actually destroys FEWER nutrients (I don't know how true they are) than using the oven, but goddamn it does godawful things to the taste.

 I don't think I'd have ever eaten vegetarian lasagna if I had to eat it before, I made it and loved it here, and even MiniMonster ate some. He said "BLEAH!!!" loudly about SOMETHING but ate most of it, so I suspect he got a small chunk of onion. He doesn't mind the taste of onion (onion powder, grated onion dip...), but the texture seems to really get his goat.

 I still have a lot of things I need to work on, like cooking steaks in the oven (or getting the Huzbeast a grill.) But still I think I do pretty darn well, and we eat really well I think. Maybe having two kids younger than three isn't the time to start learning "Long hand" cooking but so far I'm doing pretty well in spite of the extra complication, and maybe I'll do even BETTER when I don't have to worry about little fingers reaching for pot handles if I loose track of someone for more than a second. ((MiniMonster isn't supposed to be within two feet of me when I'm cooking, and we've set rules on where he can stand to watch, but you know... things happen to other people, so they could happen to us too.

 Unfortunately I think we may need to replace the Crock Pot, which is a big staple for me because I can put delicious things in to cook and then get on with my day. Chili's and Curry's and Soups, even BBQ or Pot Roast... but a while ago I noticed that the black enamel had super fine cracks. I can't FEEL them to touch, but I can see them, and the Crock Pot, even when vigorously cleaned, now really kinda SMELLS. Not like food but more like something just... just BAD. I might try boiling some water and pouring it in there, and see if that kills it for a little while, but I think that ultimately we just need a new Crock.

 Sorry Crock, you've been lovely, and I'll really miss you.