Fudgy Peanut Butter Cake

Fudgy Peanut Butter Cake

Makes 4 servings
Prep. Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 1½ hours
Ideal slow cooker size: 2- to 3-qt.

Ingredients:
¾ cup sugar, divided
½ cup flour
¾ tsp. baking powder
⅓ cup milk
¼ cup peanut butter
1 Tbsp. oil
½ tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. dry cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water

1. Butter or spray interior of slow cooker.
2. Mix ¼ cup sugar, flour, and baking powder together in a small bowl.
3. In another larger bowl, mix milk, peanut butter, oil, and vanilla together. Beat well.
4. Stir dry ingredients into milk-peanut butter mixture just until combined. Spread in buttered slow cooker.
5. In bowl, combine cocoa powder and remaining ½ cup sugar. Add water, stirring
until well mixed. Pour slowly into slow cooker. Do not stir.
6. Cover. Cook on High 1½ hours, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Serving suggestion: Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Note:
I take this to potlucks and it is always a hit.

Notes from the Recipe Tester:
1. If you double the recipe, cook for 2 hours.
2. This is a pretty sturdy cake. I kept one of my test cakes for over an hour before serving it, and it was just as good, if not better, than the one we ate right away.

Pasta Fagioli

* 2 lbs veggie burger crumbles
* 1 onion, chopped
* 3 carrots, chopped
* 4 stalks celery, chopped
* 2 (28 oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
* 1 (16 oz) can red kidney beans, drained
* 1 (16 oz) can white kidney beans, drained
* 30 oz veggie beef stock
* 3 teaspoons oregano
* 2 teaspoons pepper
* 5 teaspoons parsley
* 2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (optional)
* 1 (20 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
* 8 ounces pasta

Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 7 1/4 hrs

1. Brown beef in a skillet.
2. Drain fat from beef and add to crock pot with everything except pasta.
3. Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 4-5 hours.
4. During last 30 min on high or 1 hour on low, add pasta.

Crock Pot Lemon Bread

Lemon Bread
Fix-It and Forget-It Diabetic Cookbook, page 250

Cooking Time: 2-2 1/4 Hours
Ideal slow cooker size: 4-qt.

Ingredients:
¼ cup canola oil
6 Tbsp. sugar
sugar substitute to equal 3 Tbsp.
2 eggs, beaten -- I always add an extra egg to my cakes to add moisture and texture.
1 ⅔ cups flour
1 ⅔ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup fat-free milk
4 ozs. chopped walnuts
grated peel from 1 lemon

Glaze:
¼ cup powdered sugar
juice of 1 lemon -- I use orange juice :)


1. Cream together oil, sugar, and sugar substitute. Add eggs. Mix well.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to shortening mixture.
3. Stir in nuts and lemon peel.
4. Spoon batter into well-greased 2-pound coffee can and cover with well-greased tin foil.
Place in cooker set on High for 2-2 ¼ hours, or until done. Remove bread from coffee can.
5. Mix together powdered sugar and lemon juice. Pour over loaf.
6. Serve plain or with cream cheese.

Parmesan Chicken Meat Balls

Parmesan Chicken Meat Balls

The original recipe is a crock pot version, but they're just as easy to bake. Do a double batch and freeze them for quickie dinners. Perfect! They can be varied with ginger and teriyaki glaze over pineapple rice, stuffed with buffalo cheese and skewered, breaded and thrown into subs, served as dippers with some garlic alfredo sauce..... YUMM :)

Servings: 4 1/2 dozen
Prep time: 25 mins
Cook time: 2 hrs
Total time: 2 hrs and 25 mins


Ingredients:
1 pound ground chicken -- I'm using ground vegetarian chicken substitute
1 egg
2 cups fresh parmesan cheese
2 cups mozzarella
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 Italian seasoning packet
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 red bellpepper,diced
4 green onions,diced
1 large jar alfredo sauce


Directions:
In a large bowl add all ingredients except for alfredo sauce. Mix until combine. Make 1-inch meatballs. Put the meatballs in a crockpot that is on high, pour the alfredo sauce on top of meatballs. Cook for two hours. One hour for the veggie version.

Peasant Stew

Peasant Stew

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6 chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds), skinned ---I'm using 6 vegetarian MSF Chicken Grillers added just at the last step of the recipe.
1 cup chopped onion
1 (14.5-ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes with jalapeño peppers and spices, undrained
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

Directions:
Combine cumin, salt, and pepper; sprinkle over chicken.

Place chicken in an electric slow cooker; stir in onion, tomatoes, and chiles. Cover with lid; cook on high-heat setting for 3 hours. Stir in beans. Cover; cook on high-heat setting 1 hour. If you're using my vegetarian version, you'll need only the 1 hour.

Place 1 chicken thigh in each of 6 soup bowls; ladle 1 1/4 cups stew into each bowl. Top each serving with 2 teaspoons cilantro and 2 teaspoons sour cream.

Crock Pot Wild Rice

Crock Pot Wild Rice

Makes 4-5 servings
Ideal slow-cooker size: 3-4-qt.

1 cup wild rice, or wild rice mixture, uncooked
½ cup sliced mushrooms
½ cup diced onions
½ cup diced green, or red, peppers
1 Tbsp. oil
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
2½ cups 98%-fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth



1. Layer rice and vegetables in slow cooker. Pour oil, salt, and pepper over vegetables. Stir.

2. Heat chicken broth. Pour over ingredients in slow cooker.

3. Cover. Cook on High 2½-3 hours, or until rice is soft and liquid is absorbed.

** I'm going to be adding Italian marinated chops as the top layer**

Company Mashed Potatoes

Company Mashed Potatoes

Makes 12 servings
Ideal slow-cooker size: 6-qt.



15 (5 lbs. total) medium-sized potatoes
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 small onion, diced fine
1 tsp. salt
1/8-¼ tsp. pepper, according to your taste preference
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh, chopped spinach, optional
1 cup grated Colby or cheddar cheese, optional


1. Peel and quarter potatoes. Place in slow cooker. Barely cover with water.
2. Cover. Cook on Low 8-10 hours. Drain water.
3 Mash potatoes. Add remaining ingredients except cheese.
4. Cover heat on Low 4-6 hours.
5. Sprinkle with cheese 5 minutes before serving.

CrockPot 5 Layer Brownie Recipe

CrockPot 5 Layer Brownie Recipe

Hold on to your hats. This is one rich, satisfying, amazing dessert. And it took all of 5 minutes to prepare. The most difficult part for me was climbing up on to a bar stool to reach the baking cabinet over the refrigerator.


We were lucky that we had everything on hand for this brainstorm---which is good because after all the vegetable dishes I've been eating lately, my sweet tooth was on the prowl.

The Ingredients.
--1 16 oz package of brownie mix (I had a box of the Whole Foods GF 365 brand--it has chocolate chips in it!)
--1/4 cup melted butter
--1 egg
--1/4 cup water
--1 can sweetened condensed milk
--1/4 cup walnuts
--1/4 cup coconut
--1/4 cup oats (I used Bob Red Mills Gluten Free Rolled Oats)


The Directions.


I used my mini 1.5 quart crockpot for this dish, because my other one had a chicken dish in it (coming tomorrow!). The proportions of the oats, coconut, and walnuts are for the mini crock. If you decide to use a larger size, use enough of the toppings to spread over the whole surface area.

--melt butter (I was lazy and didn't want to dirty another bowl, so I melted the butter in the crock while I was doing the dishes)

--add 1/4 cup of water, the egg, and the brownie mix

--stir until none of the powder is left dry; batter will be quite thick

--pour can of sweetened condensed milk over the top.

--Shuffle children quickly out of the kitchen because you are "working" and lick out the inside of the can, being careful so you don't cut off your tongue.

--wash sweetened condensed milk off of your face

--cover milk with a layer of oats, then coconut, then walnuts.

--close up crockpot and cook on high, if using a little crock, low if using a bigger one. Test with a knife after two hours, if it comes out clean, cook for another 20-30 minutes with the lid off to get rid of the collected condensation and to help solidify the condensed milk. You will know this is done when the edges pull away from your stoneware.

Since I used my mini crockpot, this cooked for about 4 1/2 hours altogether. That's a really long time to wait for brownies, so I needed to go to Target and buy stuff we didn't need to eat up the time.


The Verdict.

Well worth the wait.
We ate these for dinner.
and then for breakfast.
and we were happy.

Crockpot Curried Rice and Lentils

Ingredients:

* 1 cup rice
* 1 tbsp curry powder
* 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
* 1/2 cup lentils
* 2 vegetarian bouillon cubes
* 1/2 tsp garlic powder
* 1/4 tsp pepper
* 1 onion, diced

Preparation:
Combine all the ingredients in a crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. I'm adding minced carrots, peas, and fresh mushrooms to mine... might even add in some veggie sausage crumbles, too :)

Makes four servings.

Crock Pot Ratatouille

Idea: Use it over pasta w fresh mozzerella, use as pizza topping, on a crostini w shaved parmesan, as a stew w veggie chicken and fontina cheese added in, as a base for minestrone, topping for couscous, layered in lasagna --- the options are endless!




Servings:8

* 2 large onions, cut in half and sliced
* 1 large eggplants, sliced, cut in 2 inch pieces
* 4 small zucchini, sliced
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 large green bell peppers, de-seeded and cut into thin strips
* 2 large tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch wedges or 28oz can unsalted diced
* 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
* 1 teaspoon dried basil
* 1/2 teaspoon oregano
* 1 teaspoon sugar (optional, but it does help)
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* red pepper flakes, to spice it up

Prep Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 1/2 day

Layer half the vegetables in a large crock pot in the following order: onion, eggplant, zucchini, garlic, green peppers, tomatoes. Next sprinkle half the basil,oregano,sugar,parsley,salt,pepper on the veggies. Dot with half of the tomato paste. Repeat layering process with remaining vegetables, spices and tomato paste. Drizzle with olive oil. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours. Place in serving bowl and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Refrigerate to store. May freeze up to 6 weeks.

Variation: add a can of rinsed chickpeas and probably about 1/3 c. balsamic vinegar and topped with shredded mozarella cheese

Slow Cooker Salsa

Slow-Cooker Salsa

Makes 8½ cups
Prep. Time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking Time: 2½-3 hours
Ideal slow-cooker size: 3-qt.

10 fresh Roma, or plum, tomatoes, chopped coarsely
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers
¼ cup cilantro leaves
½ tsp. salt



1. Place tomatoes, garlic, and onion in slow cooker.
2. Remove stems from jalapenos. Remove seeds, too, if you prefer a milder flavor. Chop jalapenos. Stir into slow cooker.
3. Cover. Cook on High 2½-3 hours, or until vegetables are softened.
4. Allow to cool.
5. When cooled, combine cooked mixture with cilantro and salt in a blender or food processor. Blend or process to the consistency that you like.

Crock pot dressing

I'm gonna change this up and make it vegan with a homemade gravy/cream sauce in place of the can of COM. Might go ahead and try to swap flax for the eggs.

CROCKPOT STUFFING
2 c. chopped onion
2 c. chopped celery
1/4 c. dried parsley
1 c. margarine
1 (14 oz.) pkg. seasoned stuffing
2 (4 oz.) cans mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
2 beaten eggs
3-3 1/2 c. chicken broth

Sauté onion, celery, parsley and butter. In a large bowl put stuffing, mushrooms and sautéed onion, celery and parsley. Combine mushroom and celery soups, eggs and chicken broth. Mix everything together. Put in a 3 1/2 quart crock pot. Cook on high for 45 minutes. Then on low for 4-8 hours. Serves 10-12.

Getting ready for the holidays...

Notice to all: there might be a sudden influx of recipes coming through here in the next week or so. Some I've tried and some are on my to-try list :) I told you guys long ago that this blog is merely my 'thinking aloud' kitchen. I'm finding some wonderful idea; tweaking them is going to be fun! :)

So we start with Cashew Loaf for the Crock Pot


Mix in a bowl:

*3/4 cup raw cashews, chopped
*1 1/2 cups soy or nut milk
*1/4 cup dried onion, or 1 onion, diced
*1 cup fresh whole-wheat bread crumbs
*2 Tbsp. Bragg's Liquid Aminos (to replace soy sauce)
*1/2 tsp. salt
*1/2 tsp. dried garlic granules, or 1 clove fresh garlic
*2 Tbsp. dried parsley
*1/2 tsp. celery salt
*1 1/4 cups quick oats
*1 cup water

Spray the Crock-Pot with cooking spray and put the loaf mixture into it. Cook on low heat all day.

Servings: 8
Calories: 200

Crock pot meal on a busy Monday....

Crockpot Mediterranean Stew

1 eggplant -- chopped
2 zucchini -- chopped
1 red or green bell pepper, seeded/chopped
1 onion -- chopped
3 large tomatoes -- chopped
2 cans garbanzo beans -- (14 oz.) drained/rinsed
1 Tbs oregano
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
1 can artichoke hearts packed in water -- (14 oz.) drained/quartered
1 package egg noodles -- cooked
Crushed red pepper flakes -- to taste/opt

Add all ingredients except for noodles to the crock pot and stir well. (Sometimes I also add a Tbs of tomato paste for a thicker stew.) Cook on low for 8 hours. Serve over the cooked noodles. 4 Servings.