Orzo Salad

It’s hot here and it’s not even the peak of summer yet. The other day I made a goulash of veggies and beans in the slow cooker. Here’s a picture of Girl-dog wishing it would cook faster.



I enjoyed the segment on the Rachael Ray show yesterday about a woman who made a resolution for 2008 to cook with her crockpot every single day. She has a blog about it. One of the things I like most is that the preparation is done in the morning, so come meal time, it seems like less work being done when it’s time to eat.
Anyway, I’ve had more flops than successes lately. It gets discouraging, especially when I get stuck eating the leftovers. I feel like I’m in a rut. And I’m burned out from being the cook in the house and having to plan menus, go grocery shopping, spend time trying to make something different and then have it turn out to be a disappointment. Sigh. One of my dream vacations would be to have dinner prepared for me the whole time, and not have to help with dishes or any other aspect, aside from deciding what I want.

I can be a worry-wart, so lately it just has not been fun, planning what to shop for, going to the store, seeing how much things go up each week. Add to that, hoping what I make will be edible.

One dish that I did like was an orzo salad from "Everyday Italian." The recipe calls for garbanzo beans too, I put mine in separately since hubby doesn’t like them. It’s quick to put together and is light yet substantial.