Crock pots & Paradise

We've been living in Hawaii at the Lodge at Kaneohe Bay for the past month. Basically our room is a normal hotel room with a medium sized refrigerator and freezer, a sink, and a microwave. It is pretty nice (no five-star hotel, but it isn't bad) and it's right on base which is super convenient with us sharing a car! They have a decent breakfast in the mornings which has been really nice and again convenient, especially because they have coffee 24 hours a day and my husband is somewhat of an addict- people call him Starbucks.

Since we don't have an oven or even a hot plate (flat heated surface, typically portable, used for cooking food or keeping it hot- silly enough, didn't know what it was until I came here) we've been eating out a lot, cooking on the grills at the courtyard at the lodge, eating Panera's frozen soups and sadly a few nights have been the classic microwave dinners.

Last week I decided to buy a crock pot. We already have a crock pot, but it is in storage somewhere in Honolulu until we get a house on base. It was hard for me to convince myself to buy something that I already had and didn't really "need," but I am so glad that I got it. We've had a couple meals in it so far, pot roast, Mexican chicken, and chicken tortilla soup. Walking into our room smelling cooking food has been a nice way to feel at home. This week I am going to try some new recipes in the and I am excited to see how they turn out! I am trying Italian chicken tonight and crock pot meatloaf tomorrow. Sounds way better than anything that comes out of a cardboard box and it is much more budget friendly than going out to eat.

What are your favorite go-to crock-pot meals?