Do you know what's for dinner? Mom and blogger Stephanie O'Dea does, and chances are she's cooking it in one of her five Crock-Pots. In January of this year, Stephanie made a New Year's resolution that she would cook at least one meal a day using a Crock-Pot. Not only has she stuck to her commitment, she's created a blog to share her experience and her recipes. A Year of CrockPotting (misspelled to catch the Google searches) details her menu hits (Original Crock-Pot Taco Soup) and misses (Overnight Quinoa and Brown Rice Pudding).

Stephanie's resolution recently caught the attention of famous kitchen diva Rachael Ray, where Stephanie got a chance to show her stuff. The show will air July 23rd, where she'll show Ray's viewers how to make Crock-Pot creme brulee. I had the opportunity to talk to Stephanie this week about her experience on the show, as well as her year of Crock-Potting and she had a lot of good stuff to share with ParentDish readers.

Any parent in charge of cooking knows that getting dinner on the table can be tricky after a long day, and working parents know that hot, home-cooked meals during the week are especially difficult. Stephanie herself is a working mom (she works for BlogHerads) and one of the reasons she started this personal challenge was because she didn't feel like they were cooking enough meals at home.

"I knew I wanted to start a blog, and I wasn't terribly comfortable with sharing too many family details," said Stephanie, when I asked her why she chose Crock-Potting in the first place. Stephanie's written a book on household organization that's due to be released next spring and wanted a project to keep her busy in the meantime. Because of her position at BlogHerads, she knew that food blogs were popular and no one there had done a Crock-Pot blog yet.

Stephanie also said, "I don't really like cooking. I like playing, which the Crock-Pot lets me do. I am not patient enough to stand over a stove, or to use my oven. I like the saving-time factor of slow cooking---I can put it on in the morning or at lunch time when I still am thinking clearly, and then leave the house or get other things done." She also points out the cooking with a Crock-Pot means that you're not trying to put a meal together during that early evening meltdown time.

Stephanie uses five different Crock-Pots -- two 6-quart oval pots, a 4-quart round, a 1.5 quart for appetizers and desserts, and a Little Dipper -- to feed her family of four, which also includes her husband and two little girls, ages 6 and 3.

Her youngest daughter has Celiac disease, and the family has decided that it makes the most sense for them all to eat gluten-free. In fact, the recipes on Stephanie's blog are gluten-free, unless otherwise noted. "The Crock-Pot is a tremendous asset to have in a house with allergies," says Stephanie, "You can get the most basic ingredients and toss them in and they will simmer all day and create a marvelous meal---a meal that you can be sure is allergy-safe." She says that some families with food allergies will use their Crock-Pots to make large portions of safe dishes to freeze and use when traveling.

While I was looking through Stephanie's blog, I was surprised to discover that you can cook corn on the cob in a Crock-Pot. So I had to ask her what other tricks she had up her sleeve. She pointed me to her perfect baked potatoes, gluten-free bread, and a tasty (and simple!) risotto.

Stephanie gets her recipe ideas from other food bloggers, including those from BlogHerads, as well as Food TV. She also tries to recreate some of her family's favorite takeout or restaurant dishes. She passed along some of her favorite recipes for us to try:

Sundried Tomatoes and Feta Tri-Tip
Chinese Lemon Chicken
Blue Cheese and Steak Roll-ups

and for company...

Brie with Pecans and Cranberries
Buffalo Wing Dip

As for being on Rachael Ray, Stephanie says that she's just as warm and friendly in real life as she seems on TV. Despite having the double whammy of being both nervous and sick with a cold/flu bug, Stephanie said Rachael just squeezed her hand as the lights went up and they made it through the five-minute segment just fine. I'm looking forward to seeing Stephanie on the show on July 23rd.

Though Stephanie laughingly says that next year will be the year of "take-out and long naps," she'll have an incredible collection of tried-and-true recipes to cook for her family and to share with the rest of us. I don't know about you, but I might just have to dust off my Crock-Pot this weekend and try those Blue Cheese and Steak Roll-ups. Yum!