Posted in Crockpot, dairy free, Gluten Free, Recipes, Snacks

Cranberry Almond Coconut Snack Mix (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

I know there is some debate on whether Cheerios is really Gluten Free or not.  Since I have not been diagnosed with Celiac’s disease and only have a sensitivity to gluten, I decide that Cheerios are okay for me.

The Wee One loves this snack mix.  While it was cooling on the baking sheet, he would randomly walk into the kitchen, take a handful of the mix, pop the snack mix into his mouth, and then walk out.

I added some pumpkin seeds to my snack mix.  Yum!

Cranberry Almond Coconut Snack Mix

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

 

 

Ingredients

-5 c. Cheerios

-3 c. Honey Nut Cheerios

-1 c. gluten free oats

-1 c. dried cranberries

-2 c. unsweetened shredded coconut

-2 c. raw almonds, chopped

-1/4 c. melted coconut oil

-1/4 c. honey

-1/2 tsp. cinnamon

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1 tsp. vanilla

Directions

 

  1. Spray crock with non stick spray.
  2. Place the both kinds of Cheerios, oats, cranberries, shredded coconut, and almonds into the crock.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together the honey, coconut oil, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla.
  4. Pour the honey mixture over the dried ingredients in the crock.
  5. Stir until everything is evenly coated.
  6. Before placing the lid on the crock, place a paper towel over the snack mix.  Cover, and then cook on low for 3 hours.  Stir every 45 minutes.
  7. When done cooking, pour the mixture on a paper towel or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
  8. Allow to cool for an hour before placing in an air tight container.

Happy eating,
Traci

Posted in Crockpot, Lunch, Meat, Recipes, Sandwiches, slow cooker

Trends and Peach BBQ Pulled Pork – Day 4

Welcome to Day 4 of the 31 Days of Slow Cooking.

I am a special education teacher by day and a mother by night. Sort of like being a Superhero.

Lots of my stories are about my students or my two boys. Both keep me entertained.

Right now all I am hearing about from the students in my building are about the clowns that are “haunting” the schools. No one has seen these clowns but the students swear they are really out there. I’m not saying the clowns don’t exist. It’s just the students are obsessed about them.  Some are downright scared of them. When I ask the students to quit talking about them, they think it’s because I am scared of them.

After 17 years in the teaching field,  you realize trends and urban legends come and go. Two years ago, according to the students everyone had Ebola. Last year, it was the Watch Me trend and the Dab trend. Many years ago, we had the shaped bracelets that students traded. Then 3 years ago, we had the rubber bands you could make into bracelets. 

It’s just so interesting to see what trends come and go.

One trend I wish would go is the sagging pants. It’s been going on for 10 years.

What are some trends you wish would make a comeback?  Or what are some trends you wish would disappear?


This is one of Hubby’s favorite recipes.

We make an extra batch of the pulled pork and then freeze the extra portions for meal later on.

Peach BBQ Pulled Pork

Stars of the recipe:

  • 2 lbs. Pork loin or roast
  • 1 bottle of barbecue sauce
  • 1 (16 oz) jar of peach salsa

Steps:

  1. Place the pork loin or roast in the slow cooker.
  2. Pour the barbecue sauce and salsa over the pork.
  3. Cook on low 8 hours.
  4. Shred the pork.  (Here is a trick to how to shred the pork quickly.)
  5. Serve on rolls.

Printable Recipe

This recipe has been linked up to Miz Helen’s Full Plate Thursday.

happy-slow-cooking-1
Posted in Chicken, chicken 1, Crockpot, Recipes

Crockpot Chicken (Revised)

The beginning of July was quiet in our house.  Maybe that was because I was sick from the Fourth of July until that Friday.  I was housebound for two of those days because I had a fever.  On the Fourth of July, the only relief I got from my fever was laying in front of a fan. Continue reading “Crockpot Chicken (Revised)”

Posted in Crockpot, ramblings

Updates

I’m not going to be posting any weekly menus for the next three weeks.  We are currently just eating out of the freezer because I have a lot of food stock piled in the freezer.  Hubby expressed his concern with the amount of food we have in there so I’m going to be use some of the food up.  Plus there is another reason I’m not going to menu plan but I won’t discuss it until a later time.

Hubby and I are having issues with using the slow cooker for our dinners because he is either forgetting to turn it on low when he’s been asked to do it by me or I make the mistake of turning it on high instead of low because I think I’m using one crock pot but I’m using another crock pot.  Don’t ask.

Anyway after our last issue with the crock pot, I went on Amazon and got us a new crock pot that is digital.  Sweet!  I already have one that has the automatic timer.  The problem is that it is huge and it only gives me two choices for the low temperature and two choices for the high temperature.  With this crock pot I can set the exact time I want and whether I want it to cook on low or high.
image

image

Now I’m going to start looking for new crock pot recipes for the write 31 in October.  I’m going to do another 31 days of crock pot recipes.  I’ll type of the recipes on my Google Drive between now and then.  I’ll also upload the pictures of the recipes to the Drive.  Once October comes around, I’ll then share those recipes.  The recipes will be ready to go but not the blog posts.  Those blog posts will be fresh material so that I’m following the guidelines for the write 31.  (Although I may put some notes on the Google Drive when I’m typing up the recipe.)

Here is a link to my new crock pot.  I’ll share my impressions of it after using it for a while.

Happy eating,
Traci

Posted in Crockpot, Electric Pressure Cooker, Recipes, Soups

Split Pea Soup (Pressure Cooker or Slow Cooker)

On a cold winter day, soup is the perfect meal.  This split pea soup warms the soul.

My grandpa loved split pea soup.  I’ve never liked it until now.  We’ve had it twice in the last few months.  Yum!

This can be done in either the pressure cooker or the slow cooker.

split pea soup

Split Pea Soup

adapted from Skinny Taste

Stars of the recipe:

  • 1 lb. split peas, rinsed and picked through
  • 1/2 c. diced onions
  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped into small pieces
  • 2 Tbsp. minced garlic
  • 1 & 1/2 c. diced ham
  • 6 c. water
  • 1 chicken bouillon cube
  • 1 bay leaf
  • salt and pepper to taste

Steps (Electric Pressure cooker):

  1. Rinse the peas.  Pick out any bad pieces.
  2. In the pressure cooker, saute the onion, carrots, and garlic for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the water, ham, bouillon cube, bay leaf, salt and pepper, and split peas.
  4. Put the lid on the pressure cooker.  (Make sure the pressure cooker valve is closed).
  5. Set to the pressure cooker for the soup.  Pressure cook for 20 minutes.
  6. Allow to naturally release the pressure.
  7. If the split pea soup is not as thick as you would like, allow it to sit for a few minutes to allow it to thicken up.

Steps (Slow Cooker):

  1. Rinse the peas.  Pick out any bad pieces.
  2. Saute the onion, carrots, and garlic in a small pan on the stove.
  3. Add the water, ham, bouillon cube, bay leaf, salt and pepper, split peas, onion, carrots, and garlic.
  4. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

Happy Eating,
Traci

Posted in Crockpot, Pasta, pasta

Crockpot Lasagna

Soon after I was married in 1999, my mom gave me a recipe for lasagna that involved no boiling the noodles.  I’ve made it that way for the past almost 17 years.

I can’t believe I haven’t shared the recipe for my lasagna before.  It takes a while to prepare it, but it’s worth the preparation.

I used my casserole crockpot for this recipe.  You could use an oval, but you may need to break up the lasagna noodles.

My measurements for the lasagna layering are estimations because I typically don’t measure how much of each ingredient I use on each layer.

crockpot lasagna

Crockpot Lasagna

IMG_0038

Happy Eating,
Traci

Posted in chicken 1, Crockpot, Ingredients, Uncategorized

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

Crockpot Fajitas

Stars of the recipe:

  • 2 to 4 chicken breasts (depends on the size of the chicken breast – Mine were huge, so I used only 2.)
  • 1 green pepper, sliced
  • 1 yellow, red, or orange pepper, sliced
  • 1 small onion, cut into rings
  • ¼ c. water
  • 2 Tbsp. homemade taco seasoning or storebought fajita seasoning packet

Steps:

  1. Place chicken breasts in a 4 quart crockpot.
  2. Place peppers and onions over the chicken.
  3. Sprinkle the taco seasoning or fajita seasoning over the chicken and veggies.
  4. Pour water over the chicken and veggies.
  5. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours.  
  6. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken.
  7. Serve on a tortilla with cheese and sour cream.

Click here for a printable version of the recipe.

Posted in beef, Chicken, Crockpot, Menu planning, Sausage

Menu Plan Monday – November 2, 2015

Can you believe it is November already? Thanksgiving will be here before we know it.

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I have 9 new recipes to share between now and the third week of November. This means I’ll be posting 3 or 4 recipes a week. All but one of the recipes have been tested and approved by my family. One of the recipes is for a turkey breast that my mother-in-law has raved about.

The majority of the recipes are for the slow cooker. Anything to make it easier for you. A week before Thanksgiving, I’m going to give you my plan for making the food in stages so as not to do it all on Thanksgiving.

This will be our first year hosting Thanksgiving, so that will be fun. Last year I made the side dishes and then transported them to my mother-in-law’s house. We’ve already invited my mother, sister, and mother-in-law to Thanksgiving. We have a few other people we want to invite also.

I’ll post my first Thanksgiving dish on my Cooking It Slow blog. It’s for Makes It Owns Gravy Turkey Breast and Easy Gravy.

Menu Plan Monday
Menu Plan Monday

I created a printable menu but am changing the dates on a few meals. We have leftover side dishes that would go better with the meatloaf than the beenie weenies. So I’m flip-flopping the meatloaf and beenie weenies.

As you can see, I’m still using the crockpot for my meals. It’s so much easier to use the crockpot for our meals.

Monday – Crockpot Meatloaf, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, and veggies

Tuesday – Chicken fajitas, Spanish rice

WednesdayBeenies Weenies (We didn’t make them last week.)

Thursday – Sausage and cheesy hash brown casserole

Friday Barbecue Chicken Legs, pasta side dish, veggies

Printable Version

What’s on your menu this week?

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Countdown to Thanksgiving Pinterest Page
Countdown to Thanksgiving Pinterest Page

Happy Eating,
Traci

Posted in 31 days, Crockpot, Imaginative one, Wee one, weekly ramblings

Weekly Ramblings – Halloween 2015 – Write 31 Wrap Up

I'm Hungry

Today is the last day of the Write 31 challenge.  I can’t believe it’s over.  During the challenge, I hooked a lot of meals and desserts in the crockpot.  It’s been a fun experience.  In fact, as I am typing, there is chicken and hamburger meat cooking for later meals.

I’m going to continue cooking dinners in the crock pot.  During the month, it’s been a much easier way to get dinner on the table, which is much less stressful on my part.  O would love to do more freezer kits and share them with you.

My 31-day post will be attached to a page later this week, so you can still refer to it later.  I’m also going to provide printable recipes.  I’ve already put some of the recipes on my Google drive.  Once I finish that, I’ll provide you with a link to all the recipes.  🙂

Here is a list of new and old blogs featuring crock pot meals.  I’ve shared a few of them on my menu plan Monday blog posts.

  1. The Magical Slowcooker
  2. Recipes that Crock
  3. 365 Days of Slow Cooking
  4. A Year of Slow Cooking
  5. Sassy Slow Cooker
  6. Funny is Family – Crockpot Thursday
  7. Six Sister’s Stuff

Here are 23 recipes I’ve shared over the last 31 days.

I hope you enjoyed the recipes I’ve shared.

Continue reading “Weekly Ramblings – Halloween 2015 – Write 31 Wrap Up”