Crock pot adventures

I'm interrupting my regular posts to blog (or maybe brag) about my first attempt at using my slow cooker. My brother bought one for me right after I moved in. He has one and uses it constantly, and thought I should have one too. However, I hate leftovers. Except if they're from a restaurant (little white boxes are my friend!). So I unfortunately left it sitting on my counter, collecting dust, while I took months to research recipes to find something I'd actually like to eat multiple times. Finally, I found a great macaroni and cheese recipe from A Whisk and a Prayer. Here's the link:

http://whiskandaprayer.blogspot.com/2010/08/magazinecookbook-monday-slow-baked-mac.html


Pictures!

 

1. before cooking, looks yummy right? yeck.

2. 2 cups of elbow macaroni

3. brand stinkin' new - still has the sticker on it!

4. finally done!! tastes so much better than it looks, I promise.

If anyone has slow cooker recipe recommendations, pass them along! In the meantime I'll be busy googling others. And eating macaroni.

Duvet

I know only about 2 people read this blog, but I have a question for those out there. How do you feel about duvets?

When I first knew what colors I wanted to use in my bedroom, I saw an orange comforter in a magazine that I really thought would look nice, but I couldn't find it anywhere. While looking at Ikea, I found a duvet cover that was a great color. I use a down comforter in the winter and thought this would be great to use with it.

 

However, I'm running into some issues. First, whatever material it's made out of attracts dust bunnies and hair like there's no tomorrow. And with that beautiful long haired cat you see sitting in the window in the picture above, there's no solving that problem. Washing/drying/etc. doesn't do anything. Second, I do not understand how the comforter is supposed to stay in the duvet. Is there a way to get around it bunching up in places? Please, someone tell me something I can use!

For now, I'm using the plain white down comforter without the duvet but keeping the nice pillow cases. They have really pretty detail:

 

Let me know  your thoughts on duvet covers and if there's any way to get around the comforter bunching up inside.