I would like to begin this post with an argument. The title of carrot cake is really a misnomer. This shouldn’t be considered a dessert. It is based foremost on a VEGETABLE for goodness sake! It is a carbohydrate next and then a treat after that. It is vegetarian, kosher, can be low fat and I’d almost put the gold sticker of “healthy” on it!

Based on these clear and evident facts, I would like to share with you my recipe for crock pot carrot cake. Serve it for breakfast, after lunch, for an afternoon or evening snack or just about any point of the day. Chalk it up as doing a good deed for yourself. And trust me, this tastes soooo much better than drinking v8!

1 c. flour

1 c. oatmeal

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. applesauce

2 t. potato starch

1/4 c. apple juice

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1 t. cinnamon

1 c. grated carrots

1 t. vanilla

1/2 c. raisins

1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a separate mixing bowl by hand. Coat a loaf pan with non-stick spray and then pour batter in. Place entire loaf pan in crock pot (use oval shaped crock pot to make it fit). Cook on high until center of cake is no longer jiggly– about 2-2.5 hours. Let cool and then shmear with whipped cream cheese or cream cheese frosting.

Stuffed peppers are a delicious union of textures and are meant for slow cooking. But sometimes, the prep work of cutting and chopping and mixing and stuffing is just too much.  Consider this my recipe for “inside out stuffed peppers”. I’ve figured out a way to get that same great result with even less time. It might not have the same presentation as beautifully stuffed bells, but if you are looking for ease and a great meal, this is a good sloppy way to serve a favorite dish. Enjoy!

1 lb. ground turkey or chicken

2 T. dried parsley

1/2 c. uncooked rice

1 t. salt

1/2 t. ground pepper

1/2 t. red pepper flakes

1 t. worchestershire sauce

1 16 oz. bag frozen chopped peppers

1 medium onion, sliced

2 c. spaghetti sauce

Mix together first seven ingredients. Put frozen peppers and onions in bottom of crock pot. Form 12-14 meatballs from the mixture and arrange in a single layer in the crock pot. Pour spaghetti sauce on top evenly. Cook on high for 3-4 hours.

“To make a good salad is to be a brilliant diplomatist —

the problem is entirely the same in both cases.

To know exactly how much oil one must put with one’s vinegar.”

Oscar Wilde 1856-1900, British Author

Dinner was not a crock last night. We grilled out brats and had cold side dishes, drank chilled wine and enjoyed time with friends.  Sometimes I really enjoy the contrast of a hot main dish and the refreshment of cold accompaniments. I made a vinaigrette salad last night that everyone seemed to really enjoy, so I thought I’d share the recipe with you too.  Tomorrow I’ll use the crock pot, but this was a nice change. 

Making a vinaigrette salad takes only a few ingredients, but just the right balance (as Oscar Wilde said in the quote listed above). You want chemistry and harmony and simplicity in the perfect mix. Depending on the potency of your ingredients, you may want to divide the dressing measurements in half and add a bit at a time until you get a good balance. Remember that when the vegetables marinate, they will absorb some oil and vinegar and release some water, so you might want to drain the salad a little bit before serving.  Enjoy!

1 English cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks

2 c. cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half

1/2 medium sweet onion, cut into chunks

1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz. can green beans, drained and rinsed

3 T. fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 c. extra light olive oil

3 T. red wine vinegar

1/2 t. salt

1 t. coarsely ground pepper

Mix all vegetable together, then drizzle with oil, vinegar and seasonings. Toss salad together and then add parsley and mix one more time. Refrigerate at least an hour and then drain, if needed, before serving.

After some trial and error with cooking potatoes in the crock pot, I’ve finally got some advice for you. First off…don’t try to make mashed potatoes. The long amount of time and lack of high heat sort of ruin the effect. But, if you want to make them on the stove and then keep them heated in a crock pot, that works out fine.

I really wanted to make a side dish of potatoes that was easy to cook and didn’t take an excessive amount of prep work (or extra dishes or pots). These scalloped potatoes turned out bubbly and flavorful without having to add a canned creamy soup. Give this a try, especially if you have two crock pots, so you can do a meat main dish in one and this delicious accompaniment in the other. Enjoy!

4-5 medium-sized potatoes, skin on

1 medium onion

1/4 c. flour

2 T. parsley flakes

1 T. salt

1 t. black pepper

1 1/2 c. milk

paprika

1 c. shredded cheese (try cheddar or mozzarella)

Use a food processor to slice potatoes and onions thin (this is much thinner than what you can do with a knife!). Put in pot and then mix in flour and seasonings. Smooth out mixture so that is it flat, then pour milk over entire surface area. Potatoes should not be completely covered by milk. Shake paprika on top as garnish. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 3-4 hours. Stir in shredded cheese before serving.

(This is a really good recipe to use a crock pot liner, the edges crisp first and get stuck to the sides. If you use a liner, it is much easier to clean out the pot! You can buy some by clicking here.)

Let’s make a play list for today’s recipe to put you in the mood! By the time you sing along to Sweet Home Alabama(Lynyrd Skynyrd), Little Bitty (Alan Jackson) and the beginning of Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond), you’ll have a pot full of home cookin’ set for a down-home country feast.  Whether you live in the north, south, east or west, you’ll enjoy this soothingly savory dish that goes great with any variety of side dishes. I’ll be serving mine with steamed broccoli and maybe some scalloped potatoes. If I can figure out how to do the potatoes in the crock pot, you’ll see it posted later this week!

Once your meal is made, add some more songs to your play list so you can dance around and sing when you are doing the dinner dishes later tonight. Enjoy!

1.5-2 lbs pork country ribs

1 cup ketchup

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. apple juice

2 T. apple cider vinegar

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 t. celery seed

1/2 t. ground mustard

2 T. parsley flakes

Spray pot with non-stick spray. Place country ribs side by side in one layer (best if using an oval shaped crock pot). Mix remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and then pour on top of meat. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Applesauce is awesomeness. I don’t ever remember hearing children’s song lyrics that explained this or country songs about missing it, but I’m pretty sure we can all agree that it is comforting and simple, sometimes sweet and sometimes tart and when you up or down, it just brings you back.  This is a staple food for most kids and even adults. Applesauce only takes a minimal number of ingredients and is something that everyone from age three to 1-oh-3 will eat.  I add a few extra ingredients to mine because I like to eat it warm and I think this combination makes it a little more scrumptious.  So make yourself a pot this weekend and hum a little ditty about it being good to the core.

3 lbs golden delicious apples (10-12 apples=cored, peeled and sliced)

1/2 c. water

1/4 c. brown sugar

3 T. instant tapioca

1/4 t. black pepper

1 t. vanilla

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 c. raisins (optional)

Put apples in the crock pot first. Mix together all dry ingredients and sprinkle on top of apples, then add water and vanilla and mix to turn everything a few times. Cook on low for 6 hours. If you prefer smooth instead of chunky applesauce, then use an immersion hand blender to puree apples to desired consistency. Add raisins during last hour, after pureeing. Serve warm or cold.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  This is a really easy recipe for enchiladas– you buy the sauce already made and a handful of other ingredients. When you put it all together it tastes authentic and just the right balance of flavors and spice. I always keep a bag of flour tortillas in the refrigerator, so even though enchiladas are traditionally made with corn tortillas, I’m going to use the ones I already have. 

Enchiladas are pretty much a corn (maize) tortilla wrapped around any variety of fillings, including meats, potato, seafood, vegetables, cheese, beans or any combination of these, covered in a red chili sauce. The Spanish word “enchilado” means spicy or hot, but that doesn’t mean that your taste needs to be extreme. You can add intensity with jalapenos or Tabasco if you’d like to crank it up a bit.  This dish is also a great way to get your family to fill up on protein and you can use shredded beef or chicken if you prefer it over ground meat.

I suggest serving this dish with some Spanish rice or refried beans and some shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and a dollop of sour scream.  And if you serve dinner and request “dos cervezas, por favor”, I say cheers to you and enjoy your celebration!

1 lb ground turkey

1 medium onion, sliced thin

1 can diced green chiles

1/2 c. salsa

3 T. olive oil

10 tortillas (corn is traditional, flour ones still work)

1 can enchilada sauce

1 c. shredded colby jack cheese

2 T.  jalapenos (from the jar)

Heat olive oil in a separate pan and brown meat until crumbled and cooked throughout. Add onion and saute until translucent. Add green chiles and salsa to mixture and stir, turn off heat. Pour a little enchilada sauce into the crock pot, just enough to coat the bottom. Roll 2-3 T of meat mixture in each tortilla and then place each one in separately, seam-side down (this works easiest in an oval shaped crock pot). Cover tortillas with remaining enchilada sauce, then the cheese and then sprinkle with the jalapenos. Cook on low for 3-4 hours. Ole!!

4 chicken breasts (can be frozen)
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 can yellow corn niblets, drained
1 can black beans, washed and drained
1 jar of picante sauce (mild, medium or hot)
1 pkg. plain cream cheese (8 ounces)

Directions:

Place frozen chicken breasts in the bottom of a crockpot. Layer all ingredients EXCEPT for the cream cheese. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Ten minutes before you serve, stir in cream cheese. Serve over rice.  Or– make it a day ahead and just add the cream cheese when you reheat!

(recipe originally provided by Preferred Childcare, Inc., Greensboro, NC)

This weekend, I visited an amazing little organic grocery store, that seriously had two aisles, a delicious bakery and an old man with four teeth. I was tickled to browse the spices and produce, all of local variety. My search for local honey was finally complete and I bought “summer glory” that was harvested just last week. This time of year also produces one of my seasonal favorites, rhubarb, which was readily available and very affordable at this little corner store.

It doesn’t surprise me anymore how many of my friends can only list about five different kinds of vegetables that they will eat, usually: lettuce, carrots, celery, corn and some sort of a bean. Come on, people, there is a rainbow of colorful delights growing in and on our earth!  It’s time to broaden your horizons and try something new… maybe grill a zucchini or steam an artichoke with dinner. Indulge in fresh mushrooms for a stir-fry or bake some beets to a sweet crisp. But today, I am going to introduce you to rhubarb, an unfamiliar stalk that cooks down into a mouth-twisting tartness that is best complemented by spring fruits or pastry sugariness.

There are very few ingredients in this dish and it takes almost no prep time. Serve it warm with angel food cake and vanilla ice cream or freeze the sauce and scoop it up as sorbet. It’s non-dairy, can be sugar free, full of vitamins and a real treat. Enjoy!

5 stalks of rhubarb, cut into 3 inch sections (leaves and end removed, washed well)

1 lb. strawberries (tops removed)

3 ripe bananas

1/4 c. sugar (OPTIONAL)

Put all ingredients in crock pot, cook on high for 2-3 hours. Puree with immersion hand blender until consistency is smooth.  Serve warm, cold or frozen.

This morning I am participating in the Susan G. Komen’s Race for the Cure. It has been my privilege to support this cause and all the amazing women and men that are fighting cancer every day. We all know someone, have loved someone or have experienced this battle ourselves. We must provide courage and compassion to support each other and on a day like today we add enthusiasm and charisma as well. I am proud of my community for running (no pun intended) such an amazing event every year.

One of the goals of the I AM THE CURE campaign this year is to “start the fight by living right!” It only makes sense that I challenge myself today to make a healthy PINK meal. I think we’ll call it Crock for the Cure. Maybe someday I’ll run my own fundraiser along these lines, but for today, I’d like to provide you with an easy colorful recipe. Enjoy!

(to find a Race for the Cure in your area, visit http://ww5.komen.org/findarace.aspx)

4 salmon steaks (about 1-2 lbs of salmon; deboned, skin on)

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin

1 T. pink peppercorns

1 c. white wine

1 T. olive oil

2 T. fresh dill, chopped

1/2 t. salt

Start by coating crock pot with a non-stick spray. Place salmon steaks side by side in the crock pot. Drizzle with olive oil, peppercorns, salt and fresh dill. Scatter sliced red pepper on top.  Pour wine around edges of fish, but don’t rinse off the seasonings. Poach for 2 hours on high.

To continue the theme, mix 1 T. softened cream cheese into 1/2 c. cocktail sauce and serve with the fish. It will be pink and spicy and will complement the opaque color of the fish.