Pinecones

Doesn't the title sound Christmasy? This is a recipe for one of my favorite things to make in the crockpot. With homeschooling and eating our big meal at lunchtime, I have come to depend on my crockpot for a lot of my meals. It's so nice when the meal makes itself! This one is great because all you have to make is a vegetable.

Pinecones in Tomato Sauce

2 8oz cans of tomato sauce (I used one 15oz can)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup water

1 1/4 lbs ground beef (I just use one pound package of beef)

1/2 cup long cooking rice

2T onion, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Mix together tomato sauce, garlic powder and water in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl, mix well. Shape into 24 pinecone shaped balls. Arrange in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours.

Now, I make mine for lunch, cook on low and it's done in 4-5 hours. And this is also fun for little kids to shape the pinecones. My girls helped me just this morning. And it smells super yummy as it's cooking! I got this recipe in my Goosebery Patch Slow Cooker cookbook. There are lots of other great recipes in there, so if you like using your crockpot, you should definitely check it out!

Oh, and I am linking up over here today....http://www.raisinghomemakers.com/