slow cooker tapioca pudding

Back when I was working, I used to use my Crock Pot pretty often.  It was nice to get a meal started in the morning, so when I came home I didn't have to scramble around to hurry and make dinner.

Now that I'm home and have more time, I enjoy the cooking process and so had been using the slow cooker less and less.  Then I started not trusting it...it seemed like it wasn't heating as well as it used to.
 So I put it in the basement!

A couple of times since then I've considered buying one when they have been on sale. Now finally, I ordered one from Amazon.

I wanted to try it out to be sure it was working okay, so I made this recipe from the allrecipes website....

Slow Cooker Tapioca Pudding

4 cups milk

2/3 cups sugar

1/2 cup small pearl tapioca

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

Since I buy skim milk (for drinking) I usually add in some half and half when I use it for recipes.

My tapioca was "minute" tapioca, which is pearl tapioca ground up a bit for faster cooking. It worked fine in the recipe but we really like pearl tapioca better.

Oh, and I made a double batch of this. The crock pot has to have a substantial amount of food in it to work properly...that's my excuse!

Combine milk, sugar, and tapioca in the slow cooker.  

I like to whisk my eggs with part of the milk before adding them. It helps to get them mixed in well.

Add eggs and gently stir mixture until sugar is dissolved.

Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours. When the pudding is ready, turn off heat and stir in vanilla.

It can be served warm but we like it better cold.

The new Crock Pot seems to be working fine.  Now I need to find space for it in the cabinets!