Happy Saturday, y’all! We’re trying to make it feel like Fall down here in Dallas by cooking warm meals and wearing out coats no matter the temp! Just kidding about the coat part – it’s too hot to wear a coat in 80 degree weather. Today’s post does touch on two of my favorite things about Fall though – dressing in layers and crockpot meals!
cookbook: stock the crock c/o | pumpkin dish: world market | white plate: juliska | gold charger: similar | rattan charger: similar | napkin: threshold | napkins: target
If you guys haven’t caught on by now, I’m a big fan of crockpot meals. Before kids my husband and I cooked fun meals all the time. We still enjoying cooking together when we can, but mostly we just don’t have the time. I’m not at all complaining, I’m just being honest. For this season in our life where we’re both working and are kids are little, our evening time is limited. We selfishly would rather be spending time with our girls as opposed to being in the kitchen. So, about 3 or so months ago we went all in on crockpot meals. Being able to throw ingredients in one dish and let it cook all day is a major time savor!
A couple of weeks ago we got the Stock the Crock cookbook and were pumped to try it out. At first glance I knew I would like this cookbook. It has over 100 recipe photos (I think photos are essential for cooking) and every recipe is easy to follow. I think my favorite thing though is how it’s broken down. The cookbook is divided into sections based on dietary needs – vegetarian, gluten-free, meals for two, you name it. It makes it so incredibly easy to find a recipe that suits your diet. Even though we got this cookbook a couple weeks back, I wanted to try it out before sharing my opinion with you guys. And my opinion…it’s great!
Our favorite meal so far has been the Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. We loved this one because most of the ingredients we already had in our cabinet. It required almost no prep before dumping everything in the crockpot and directions were so easy to follow! It turned our great, too! We’re normally pretty picky about the meals we make and are constantly trying to think of ways we could adjust the seasoning or ingredients to make it better. So, I was anticipating that type of reaction with this recipe. But, we didn’t think any tweaks were needed. The recipe was perfect as is and was such a great, warm dish to kick off Fall. It also made a ton of soup, which means we had amazing leftovers for lunch that week.
Now let’s chat about my other Fall must-have: a trench coat. I’ll be honest that I don’t own a lot of trench coats. I’m trying to change that because they always come back in style making them a Fall/Winter necessity. Not knowing if I would like how they look on me however, I didn’t want to spend a fortune on one. I found this guy for under $50 though and thought it was worth giving a try. The tie sleeve is a fun detail and gives it a feminine touch. The neutral color, too, gives me room to wear it with all kinds of outfits. It’s not super thick, so I wouldn’t bank on this keeping you super warm. But, it’s great for his Fall weather!
jacket: nordstrom (under $50) | top: similar | denim: 7 for all mankind (on SALE) | shoes: similar | bag: gigi new york | sunnies: karen walker
outfit photography: fort lion studio