Let Me Introduce You to a Crocko Taco

With a weekly crockpot habit born of necessity, I sometimes long for the variety that comes with other cooking methods. By the time piano lesson season has ended, I long for a non-casserole on Mondays.

This Easy Slow Cooker Taco Pasta was pretty good, and I liked that the textures weren't complete mush. In fact, I'll caution you to make sure you allow enough time for the pasta to cook. The recipe says 10 minutes might be enough, but mine was still chewy with 30 minutes of cooking time. I don't know if it's the size or age of my slow cooker, but do plan to be flexible on that last step.

To top off our meal, I went looking for Oreo recipes since I had quite a few left over from taste-testing in class. We tried both the Chocolate Marshmallow and Caramel Coconut varieties. I liked both flavors, but I didn't need two kinds of Oreos sticking around my kitchen that much. The No-Bake Cookies and Cream Bar seemed the perfect solution for using the cookies and clearing the counter. I was slightly short of the required amount of Chocolate Marshmallow cookies, so I added a bit of Cookies and Cream Pop-Tart cereal that was sitting around. It blended perfectly with the Oreo crumb.

This was a fun meal that turned out to be relatively easy, without sacrificing good flavor. I think the taco pasta could be a fun alternative for a potluck, as could the no bake bars.