Cooking Catastrophes

Lately I've been trying to become a better cook, and I am constantly looking for a new recipe that is simple and fairly quick. I've had a few triumphs with my new recipes including pot roast, scalloped potatoes and chicken pot pie. The recipes that didn't turn out?

• Garlic bread. I've made this a hundred times before, but this time I forgot to take it out of the oven while I was broiling it. When my dad saw the pan of blackened bread from across the kitchen he thought I was holding a plate of brownies. Needless to say, I am now always careful to keep myself focused while cooking. Sometimes multi-tasking just isn't worth it.
• Macaroni & Cheese. I tried to make it homemade in the crockpot, and it was pretty heinous. Everything was clumpy and gooey. Thank heaven for garbage disposals! A few weeks ago I went to Julie's for a little recipe swap, and she gave me a new recipe for mac and cheese. Maybe I can try it this week!
• Banana Bread. Well, it was actually really good, and I threw in some chocolate chips instead of nuts. I think the pan I used was the problem, maybe next time I'll try a glass pan. Thoughts? I used a dark bread pan and the outside of the bread cooked much faster than the inside. By the time the inside was finally cooked the outside was blackened and I had to trim it off before serving it.
  
• Beef something. I don't remember what it was called, but the recipe called for cubed stew meat, carrots, peas and cream of chicken soup in the crockpot. Once it had been cooked you pour it over cooked egg noodles and voila! You have an easy meal! Only if you cook it correctly, that is. We came home to the smell of burned food, and I realized I cooked it on high for eight hours instead of low. Here's a photo of the destruction of the crockpot: