This one pot dish is literally named for being made in a pot. It’s the original one-dish cuisine.

This, my friends. This is the quintessential dinner that melds together land and sea and balances the forces of nature to create an amazing meal that would make even mermaids and pirates cheer. With more protein than a Brazilian meat festival, this one pot recipe will make you lift your anchors and set full speed ahead toward the coast. And you’ll thank me for it. I thanked me for it– I’ve never made this dish before, but with so much fresh seafood available here in the Outer Banks, it was a challenge I was eager to attempt and declare victory for all.

There are a few more steps than normal because of the complexity of textures in paella (pronounced PIE-Ay-uhhhh) so bear with me and I’ll try to break it down step by step so you can recreate this on your next seaside adventure.

First, gather all of your ingredients. It’s helpful to know what goes in at what point so you can simplify your timing.

1. Brown your boneless, skinless chicken thighs over medium-high heat to get a quick sear on the outside. The chicken will have plenty of time to finish cooking the whole way through when it’s in the crock pot, but you want to seal in the flavor. After removing from heat, chop chicken into bite-size pieces.

2. Using the same skillet, brown the sliced andouille sausage quickly on both sides and remove from heat.

3. Put brown rice, seasonings, and fresh vegetables in the crock pot. Add broth and give it all a good stir. The turmeric and smoked paprika will flavor the entire dish but begins with this first step. Add bite-size pieces of chicken and cooked andouille sausage. Cook on low for six hours or until all liquid is absorbed.

4. After time is up, it’s ok to remove the crock pot lid at this point and give everything a really good stir. Try to keep rice from sticking to the bottom of the crock pot.

5. Add seafoods– shrimp, sea scallops and clams. Be sure to properly clean your seafood before adding to the pot. A sandy clam does not add flavor! If you are peeling and deveining your own shrimp, you need THIS TOOL. Seriously, just get one for yourself at the start of this trip.  (You’ll use it for the Crock Pot Low Country Boil as well.)

Cook on high for up to one hour– shrimp should be pink and clams should have all opened. You do not want to overcook seafood so try to be nearby for this last step.

And that’s it! You have just mastered the Old World, cultivated classic of a seafood paella (technically a mixed paella because of the chicken, but let’s focus on the gifts from the sea and the amazing local seafood markets located in the Outer Banks.)

Thank you to the owners of the Ooh La La beach house here in Avon. This dish used many of the tools and cooking accessories and your stocked kitchen did not disappoint. I had everything I needed  to prep, clean and cook all of my ingredients for this meal. This kitchen set-up made everything easy, including a spacious dishwasher to handle my mess!

Crock Pot Seafood Paella

Serves 6

1.5 cups brown rice

I’m seriously considering moving to the beach. Sunshine, seafood, salty air… it’s all good for my soul. As long as I have a good internet connection, I might just be willing to carry my crock pots up and down the east coast and showcase local flavor and attractions. Ok, I’m putting it out there– where should I go next and who can hook a girl and her crock pots up?! I’ll feed you!

I used the rest of my finds from this week’s farmer’s market to make ratatouille for dinner tonight. I love the fact that I used the same kinds of ingredients, but in a new way to make a totally different presentation!

I have never seen pure white patapan squash or white eggplant before in this region, but I was delighted to experiment with these adaptations to the standard variety.  I also used yellow cherry tomatoes instead of canned diced red ones. Such a delightful dish to cook low and slow while we played all day.

While we normally do adventures as a family, today we decided to go in two directions– literally. My husband took our oldest to the beach to tiptoe in the shark-infested waters and fly a kite in the salty breeze. I took our youngest on a bike ride down the main road of the island. I’m so glad I bought a bike rack for my car so we could all bring our bikes to the beach. It’s so much easier than trying to rent them upon arrival! The sidewalks in Avon are flat and easy and the breeze felt fantastic even thought it was a scorching day. We all enjoyed the sunshine and a bit of solitude. There is something about experiencing the wind on your face and the sun on your back,  just taking a deep breath and exhaling gratitude. I’m not kidding when I tell you that staying here in the Outer Banks has really been cathartic for all of us.

But back to the food, of course! By the time we hit the beach, the bikes, came back to swim in the pool at the house, and got cleaned up… dinner was ready and no work was needed. Another amazing day is complete and it’s time to chill on the porch with a few cold drinks and listen to the birds and cicadas chirping in harmony.

Crock Pot Ratatouille

Serves 4-6

3-4 large white patapan squash, softball sized (about 1-1.5 lbs)

3 small white eggplant, 5-6 inches in length (about 1 lb or less)

1 sweet onion, diced

1 yellow pepper, diced

1 pint yellow cherry tomatoes

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 leaves fresh basil, chopped

1 c. broth (chicken or vegetable)

Mix all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve with rice, noodles or fresh bread and butter. If you can’t find patapan squash, you can substitute yellow squash.

I might have found flirty peaches at the weekly Farmer’s Market this morning, but we still need to have dinner, right?! Good thing I decided to make a big ol’ batch of crock pot grits to cook low and slow all day. I mean, come on… it’s three ingredients. That’s barely even a recipe. So let me also tell you about the toppings I made for our grits bar tonight.

I like to make a simple crock pot of grits and then provide a buffet of toppings!

After my morning adventure and an afternoon swim, I popped into the kitchen at Ooh La La, our beach house for the week, to whip up some easy toppings for our crock pot grits. Personally, I love a good dish of shrimp and grits with just the right balance of textures and a kick of spice, but not everyone is as big a fan of this southern specialty. So I’ve found that it’s better to make toppings and let people make their own concoction.

I have four tonight: 1. shrimp scampi 2. sauteed spinach 3. shredded cheddar cheese 4. maple syrup (but that last one stands alone for those people–AKA kids– that like their grits to be sweet instead of savory). Oh– and a couple adults added sriracha dribbles on top just to crank it up a notch!

This worked out to be a great easy dinner before going to the luau tonight. The what?! Oh yes, there is a luau every Tuesday night at the Koru Village Resort and Spa. It was so much fun to have the kids swashbuckle with pirates, swim with mermaids and party with fire dancers!

So here’s the quick recipe for tonight’s dinner. We shared it with the owners of Ooh La La, our beach house for the week. They are a fabulous local family that have really done an amazing job updating this vacation home! Since I’ve been blogging all week from here, I only thought it right to share some of my cooking! Even the baby enjoyed the grits, and there is nothing better than a gooey grits and toothless grin!

Crock Pot Grits

Serves 12

3 cups stone ground grits (white or yellow)

11 cups water

1 t. salt

Put all ingredients in crock pot and give it a good stir. Cook on low for 8 hours– it’s ok to stir it one or twice to make sure it cooks evenly.

This meal requires no silverware– or plates!

Dinner tonight was epic. Seriously. I’ve been dreaming about a low country boil for weeks now, but not just the flavors fusing together, but enjoying it with the salty ocean air, the sound of the waves, and the openness of a housetop porch. And indeed–my prophecy has come true!

After another fabulous day at Ooh La La, our amazing beach house for the week, we enjoyed this one pot wonder just as the sun was setting. We started today at the Avon Pier, watching skilled fisherman catch buckets of fish and even some shark! Yes, the North Carolina coast has been ridden with shark incidents in recent weeks, but this was intentional baiting and catching of these dangerous creatures. No joke– it was thrilling and terrifying to see even little ones brought to the surface and hauled up to within feet of us.

We attempted to go out for lunch today since dinner was already going and the pier really made us work up an appetite. Lunch was ok– but not the local fare I was hoping for; I’m not convinced that the “Catch of the Day” didn’t arrive frozen in a box the week before. The kids didn’t want to eat their fish sticks… because they didn’t taste like the ones at home (well, duh!). So while we all enjoyed the air conditioning and endless fountain beverages, I’m not convinced it was worth it to go out to eat.

If the local restaurants aren’t appealing, make sure you stop by the local seafood markets instead– you can get fresh (never frozen) fish and creatures that came directly from the ocean. The Outer Banks is a prime location for tuna, soft-shelled crabs, shrimp, and many other options… including the sharks I mentioned before.

It is totally worth the extra buck at the seafood market to have them peel and devein your shrimp instead! But if you do it yourself, click and buy the tool in the link provided!

We then returned “home” for another afternoon of swimming. I peeled and deveined the pound of shrimp I picked up at the seafood market to add as the last step of the low country boil. Mental note to self– it is totally worth the up-charge to have someone else do this process. After removing the tubes of excrement from my crustaceans, I was no longer as excited to devour these treats of the sea. I mean, come on… I can’t unsee or unfeel that. But fresh is always the best option and local is a total perk. You’ll want your own shrimp tool to peel and devein in one swipe if you are getting fresh raw shrimp.

The Crock Pot Low Country Boil requires a few extra steps than you normally see in Dinner Is A Crock recipes, but since we were in and out of the house all day, it was not challenging at all. Again– the point of taking my crock pot to the beach was so that we could eat well without interrupting our adventures.  Dinner tonight was a total success and everyone ate well after our beautiful day in the Outer Banks. If you haven’t checked out the house yet, be sure to CLICK HERE and see about planning your trip to Ooh La La.

Crock Pot Low Country Bowl
Serves 4

3 ears of yellow corn; peeled, cleaned and broken in half
8 baby red potatoes (golf-ball sized or smaller)
1/2 sweet onion, cut into chunks
4 stalks celery, cut into 3-inch sections
1/4 c. Old Bay Seasonings
3 springs fresh dill
1 12 oz. can of beer (I used Yeungling)
2 c. water
1 14 oz. package Hillshire Farms Lit’l Smokies or other cocktail links
1 lb. large fresh raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

Put all of the vegetables in the crock pot with the water, seasonings and fresh dill. Add the beer. Cook on low for four hours or until the potatoes are fork tender. Add smokies or cocktail links and add another hour on low. Let the crock pot turn to the “keep warm” setting until you are close to dinner time. When ready, add the shrimp to the pot and set on high for 30 minutes– or just until the shrimp have turned pink. Drain crock pot into a strainer and shake out as much liquid as possible.

Pour the steaming awesomeness directly onto a table (covered in a plastic bag and layers of newspaper) and enjoy with your fingers. No silverware or condiments necessary.

Roll out of bed and out onto the hammock as the sun rises and crests over the ocean and dunes.

The sun was beaming in the window when I finally opened my eyes this morning. I had to look around for a minute and remember there wasn’t school or camp or work or anything to rush off to this morning. Today’s to do list included the pool and the beach. I was pretty sure I could accomplish those tasks so I rolled back off to sleep as the sun soared into the sky and the light in the room subdued. Granted, it was only another hour or so before my kids were knocking at the door and ready for breakfast, but I awoke again with a great calm and a readiness for an adventure.

One thing doesn’t change no matter where I sleep– my desperate need for coffee in the morning. Lucky for me, Ooh La La‘s kitchen was totally equipped. Every appliance (COFFEE POT AND KEURIG!) needed was readily available and the cabinets were full of the comforts of home– not just dishes and cups, but tupperware, travel mugs, grill tools, fruit baskets. I was completely at home even though I was still uncaffeinated!

After an easy breakfast, I skipped off to the grocery store, categorized list in hand. Oh, you missed that in the last post? HERE YOU GO. But whoa— I must warn you… the grocery store was full of crazy people without a plan. It was like playing Supermarket Sweep but with a Hunger Games approach. Despite my greatest organization, it still took longer than anticipated to get through the store, but the good news is that everything I needed was in stock.  Since I brought all of my basics and non-perishables with me, I didn’t really need the aisles, just a lap around the perimeter of the store.

Crock Pot Steamed Summer Vegetables are a great was to create a healthy and seasonal side dish.

While I know that I’ll be at the local Farmer’s Market on Tuesday, I still needed some produce today. We were planning on a BBQ tonight with hamburgers and hot dogs, so I decided that I would steam some veggies in the crock pot as my side. The good news was that the store also had great little packages of fresh herbs and I totally stocked up.

The groceries and prep work for dinner tonight took just over an hour and then it was off to the pool! The house seriously has it’s own swimming pool. I want to live here. Like, not just this week, but from here on out. The pool is just big enough for all the kids and grown ups to get in and play. The youngest played on the stairs mostly and the oldest kept trying to see if his cannonball could splash over the fence. Oh wait– you thought I meant my oldest kid? Nope, that was my husband trying to tsunami the pool!

Sand dunes in the Outer Banks help protect these narrow islands from harsh weather.

After the pool and a light lunch we crossed over the sand dunes to the beach. There is something about the waves that is so cathartic. I feel such peace at the waves, listening to them crash and then pull everything negative away.  There is something that reaches my soul when I stand at the waves and realize I have to relinquish all control. I can’t make them stop. I can’t make them crash. I can’t protect my sand castle or demand that the water fill the mote. I can just breathe and trust that none of it is my handiwork and that the water will continue to rise and fall and I don’t have to do anything. Much like dinner tonight– there is nothing left to do but breathe and enjoy.

Crock Pot Steamed Summer Vegetables

Serves 6-8

4 zucchini, quartered lengthwise

1 lb asparagus, rinsed and woody ends removed

1 package button mushrooms (doesn’t matter what size package, they are mushrooms, they’ll fit!)

6-8 twigs of fresh thyme

3-4 twigs of fresh rosemary

1 c. water

Layer vegetables and fresh herbs in the crock pot so the flavors are infused throughout the dish.

Layer vegetables and herbs in the crockpot– I put in zucchini first, then 2-3 sprigs thyme; add asparagus and a couple sprigs of rosemary; then the mushrooms and the remaining seasonings. Pour in the cup of water around the edges so that the water covers the bottom of the crock pot. The vegetables will release enough additional liquid to continue the cooking process. Cook on low for 4 hours, then serve. You can remove the herbs or use them as garnish.

Who doesn’t love a baked potato with all the toppings?! The problem is, I rarely ever keep baking-sized potatoes in the pantry.  (Although has anyone ever used one of these?!) So this recipe is a great way to fulfill that salty and savory craving with items that you can keep on hand. I used refrigerated shredded potatoes, but you can totally make this dish using the frozen kind instead. The quantity and directions stay the same.

My mother-in-law used to make a potato casserole like this and my recipe is totally inspired by her dish. I remember lots of festive gatherings, summer BBQs, and family dinners with second and third helpings of potato casserole. Some nights, I’d rather just have this as my main dish with a side salad… and save room for dessert! Family recipes are the best– because they satisfy your soul and not just your appetite.

Crock Pot Potato Casserole

Serves 8-12

You can keep these ingredients on hand for an easy side dish anytime.

2 lb. shredded potatoes (just wanted to share… I use THESE)

8 0z. sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 onion, chopped

1 10.5 oz can Cream of Celery Soup

1 cup bacon crumbles

Put all ingredients in crock pot and give it a stir until everything is combined. Cook on low for 4 hours.

These 5-ingredient stuffed caps are a delicious main or side dish!

Two tips with today’s amazing recipe……

1. Find a ground sausage that you like. It can be a prepped tube from the grocery store or a visit to a special deli or anything in between. But when you find it, it becomes a mainstay in your home for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  No endorsement here, but my personal favorite is the country pork sausage from The Fresh Market. I also like that they shape it into the face of a pig each day and that makes me smile. But I really like the combinations of spices that gives it a little kick and a lot of taste.

2. Learn how to clean a mushroom. Because it is a sad sad day when you didn’t REALLY get all the dirt out of it and then after 4-6 hours your dinner actually tastes more like mud than anything else. That’s disgusting.

How to Clean a Mushroom Cap     Here’s my step by step process to clean a portobello mushroom properly. Sorry for the footage– I had the phone propped on my paper towel holder, but I promise to start uploading better videos soon! 

The BEFORE mushrooms are on the left and the AFTER ones are beautiful on the right.

Now that your mushrooms are prepped, you just need to mix together the ingredients, much like making a meatloaf. This dish will taste much more complex than the basic ingredients because of all the seasonings in the sausage– so remember to pick a good one.

Crock Pot Sausage-Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Serves 2-3

4-6 portobello mushroom caps, properly cleaned of skin and “gills”

1/2 c. shredded gruyere cheese

1/2 c. shredded white cheddar cheese

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1 egg

Prep and wash mushrooms and then put in crockpot with the smooth side down and the underside facing UP. Mix the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and then form into patties, much like a hamburger.

Place each patty into each mushroom cap and smush just a little so that the two things join together. Do not push so hard that you break the mushroom cap, but if you just did- it’s ok. A broken mushroom tastes just the same.

Cook on high for 3-4 hours. The filling will cook through and brown just a little on top.

With only four ingredients, Sunday dinner can be ready in about two minutes!

Hey! Anybody else not want to cook dinner tonight?! Yeah, me too.

How about two minutes of prep. Four ingredients. Three hours of cooking. Two minutes to serve.

How much easier can this get?!

We went to a late afternoon baseball game today and it’s that four o’clock game time that totally interrupts dinner. RANT: With my son’s allergies, baseball fields make me crazy– everyone loves their peanuts and crackerjacks and littering the floor, the field and the play area with peanut shells. (PSA: Please consider putting your shells on a napkin or back in the bag instead of making someone else clean up your mess and putting all the allergens in the air! I’m sure my kid is not the only one at such high risk.) So dinner at the game isn’t really a viable option.

I avoided the “gimme gimme gimmes” by getting snow cones at the game and already had dinner going in the crock pot. Two minutes after we walked in the door after our team’s victorious win, dinner was on the table. THIS IS HOW YOU DO FAMILY DINNER.

Keep these items in your pantry and freezer so dinner can be ready with only a few minutes of prep.

The four ingredients I used were ones I keep in my pantry and freezer all the time… not specifically for this recipe, but because they are practical ingredients that can me used in an amazing number of ways. Add them to your grocery list and keep them on hand.

To victorious wins– on the field and at the dinner table!

(Disclaimer: you could do this with a fresh rotisserie chicken and just take the meat off the bones and throw it in. You could also do this with frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts, you would just need to cook it for twice as long. I prefer the already cooked frozen non-breaded chicken breast strips just to make it even easier.)

Crock Pot Creamy Chicken and Broccoli

Serves 4

3 cups frozen grilled chicken breast strips

1 1 lb. bag frozen broccoli

1 14 oz. can cream-style corn

1 10.5 oz. can cream of chicken soup

Put all ingredients in the crock pot and give it a quick stir. Cook on low for three hours (meat is already cooked through before it thaws and heats in the crock pot, so this is not a concern). Serve over rice (I use this brown rice that is ready in 90 seconds.)

While this vegetable might look like a flying saucer, pattypan squash is a wonderful seasonal favorite!

Summer is almost here which means it is officially BBQ season! I love starting side dishes in my crock pot and then finishing them with fresh veggies and herbs. So for this past weekend’s festivities, I picked up some pattypan squash at my local farmer’s market. I think they are so cute and fun to eat! I also like them better than regular yellow squash because in a pattypan, the seeds are much smaller. The shape of the vegetable sort of resembles a flying saucer or a spin-top toy.

If you get really small pattypan squash, you can just cook them whole, which is a beautiful presentation. But I bought bigger ones, so I went ahead and cut them up into bite-sized cubes. The prep for this dish was so minimal, I had it done in about a minute.

You can use this vegetable in a number of different ways. It holds its texture well when steamed or stir-fried.  I cooked it in the crock pot while I ran some errands and then let it cool completely before mixing it into my salad.

Happy summer BBQs!

Try this side dish at your next summer BBQ!

Crock Pot Pattypan Squash Salad

Serves 10-12 sides dishes

8 Pattypan squash, three-inches in diameter each

2 T. butter

2 green onions, diced

1/3 c. banana pepper rings (hot or mild)

1 8 oz. jar of marinated artichoke hearts (DO NOT DRAIN!)

1 c. sliced carrots

1/2 c. shredded guyere cheese

Cut squash into bite size pieces and put in crock pot, add 2 T. butter distributed across vegetables and cook on low for two hours. Let cool, then mix with remaining ingredients and chill for 2-4 hours. The marinade from the artichoke hearts serves as your dressing.

This is a great easy side dish that goes with everything! And it only takes two ingredients to make it.

Are you ever in need of a quick and easy side dish? This vegetarian option only takes TWO INGREDIENTS and cooks on low for about four hours. It also goes with just about anything, so there’s no need to amp it up with crazy flavor– just dump it in an hit start.

The prep work for this dish is less than five minutes if you start with a whole squash— or about 30 seconds if you buy it already prepped. Now I’m a big fan of doing things yourself… I buy whole mushrooms, not the sliced ones, because I don’t like the brown edges. I buy the pineapple already cored because otherwise it looks like a porcupine and I don’t want to get pricked. And let’s not even move to the meat department and the ease and efficiency of getting chicken that is already boneless and skinless!

But I digress. My apologies. Back to making things easy– I often buy butternut squash that’s already been prepped. It’s fresh and easy and pure in its raw state; it just has the seeds and skins removed which is actually sort of a difficult task to accomplish. You can try something like this to peel it, but it’s a challenging task, especially on a Monday! If you want to prep it yourself, that’s fine… the measurements are still the same. Plus, with only two ingredients, you don’t really to be too precise.

Crock Pot Coconut Butternut Squash

Serves 6 (as side dishes)

2 lbs. butternut squash, peeled and seeds removed, then cut into chunks

1 13.5 oz can coconut milk (light or regular is fine)

Put both ingredients in the crock pot, cook on low for 4 hours. That’s it!