Page 36 September 2014 Local mom turns crockpot cooking into full-time career By Amanda Goossen Photography by NTK Photography For Arcadia resident Jenn Bare, it was a sudden change of plans on the long Labor Day weekend 2011 that would inspire an at-home business. “We were supposed to spend the weekend with friends and they cancelled,” said Jenn. “It was too hot to go outside and do anything so we decided to brainstorm a business.” The week before the fateful holiday weekend, Jenn had started a Facebook page called Crockpot Girl to inspire others with her recipes. Watching how quickly people were responding sparked an idea for both she and her husband. As Jenn puts it, her husband Aaron is a serial entrepreneur. “Aaron really kept me motivated and his wheelhouse is in the digital world. He was excited and saw the vision,” said Jenn. So the Bare’s spent the weekend creating the website Get Crocked and set up the social media. Jenn put many of her recipes in a self-published e-book titled Get Crocked and they worked hard to get noticed. Three years later, the Crockpot Girl Facebook page has 1.4 million followers and the app for Android and iPhone was the No. 1 app in the Food & Drink categories for 15 weeks. The Labor Day weekend celebrated spent. To Jenn, getting to do what she loves makes all the hard work worth it. “I’ve always been a foodie and when 7 serious about cooking,” said Jenn. “I # business and in our busy lifestyle the crock-pot was the way to go.” She began preparing the basics and eventually Jenn tried creating new recipes or tried turning family favorites into recipes that would work using this one-pot, slow-cooking method. She was inspired by the success. After turning her Facebook page into Q_ " $ Q Q " && = “There was such an interest from people that Jenn didn’t have time to do it all on her own so I started helping with recipe testing and social media,” said = “We make it a point to be very engaged with our followers and respond to their comments and emails,” said Jenn. “I think that’s one reason it has grown.” The feedback is one of Jenn’s favorite parts of the job. “I’ll get emails from people saying ‘thank you so much, you’re helping my family have more time to eat together or to save on groceries,’” said Jen. “The kind words make it all so worth it.” The success of Get Crocked did not go unnoticed. In April 2014, Crock-Pot, the brand that inspired Jenn’s business, contacted the Bare family. “Crock-Pot saw the website and liked the community I had built as well as how I had used their product,” said Jenn. }+ ambassador.” As brand ambassador, Jenn does videos for Crock-Pot and traveled this past summer to the Boca Raton headquarters to do cooking demonstrations for 50 employees of the company. In the fall, which is the season for the slow-cooking method, Jenn will make appearances for the company. And when Crock-Pot has a new product, Jenn does exclusive giveaways on her website and Facebook page and announces the new items. Jenn, once a global business manager traveling back and forth to the Philippines, was able to commit to Get Crocked full time this year and sees it as such a blessing. “I have the best of both worlds,” said Jenn. “I get to stay home with my kids, use my business degree and manage my own business.”
Page 37 September 2014 By Jenn Bare Serves 8 • In a large skillet, cook ground beef and onion. Crumble the beef as you cook it, until it’s no longer pink. • Mix in Italian Seasoning, salt and the sauce. Set aside. • In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, all the ricotta and all of the Parmesan cheese with 1 egg. (The egg isn’t a must if you don’t have any, although it will make the cheese creamier and easier to spread.) • Spray your 6-quart slow cooker with nonstick spray or use a slow cooker liner. (Trust me!) • Layer ingredients. Layer 1: Pour in 2 1/2 cups of sauce and meat mix and spread evenly. Layer 2: Sprinkle 2 cups of ziti noodles (uncooked) over the sauce mix. Layer 3: Add half of the cheese mixture – drop in balls then carefully spread over noodles. Layer 4: Pour in 2 1/2 cups of sauce and meat mix and spread evenly. Layer 5: Sprinkle the rest of the ziti noodles over the sauce mix. Layer 6: Add the other half of the cheese mixture. Again, drop in balls then carefully spread over noodles. Layer 7: Pour in the remaining sauce and meat mix and be sure to cover all the ingredients. • Cover and crock on low for 4 hours. • About 10 minutes before serving, sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Serve after the cheese is melted. TIP: The key is making sure you have enough sauce. If you are short, cut the recipe in half. Without enough sauce, this dish will be too dry! • 1 pound 93% lean ground beef • 1 medium onion, chopped • 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 2 cups shredded mozzarella • 64 ounces of spaghetti sauce (any kind) • 15 ounces ricotta cheese • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese • 1 egg • 16 ounces uncooked ziti noodles