Slow Cooker BBQ Cranberry Meatballs

I have really been into slow cooker meals lately. When my kids get home from school and the chaos starts, sometimes I don't have as much time as I'd like to make dinner. It's always so nice to know dinner is already cooking. This recipe is more of an appetizer/party recipe, but why not make it a meal with rice. The original recipe called for 2 cans of cranberry and 2 bottles of BBQ sauce, but I made it with 1 of each and it was plenty of sauce for us. The meatballs don't have to cook very long because it's really just heating them since they are already cooked. 

Slow Cooker BBQ Cranberry Meatballs
adapted from sixsistersstuff.com
1 (24 or 32 oz) pkg frozen meatballs
1 (14 oz) can jellied cranberry sauce
1 (20 oz) bottle of BBQ sauce

Combine jellied cranberry sauce and BBQ sauce in a crock pot and stir until smooth. Add meatballs and stir until well coated. Cook for 2-5 hours on low. Serve over rice or with toothpicks.

Carrot Sheet Cake

I love sheet cakes! They feed a lot of people and are easy to frost. I made this one for Easter. I wanted to try it because of the fabulous description given on the website melskitchencafe.com. She writes, "this recipe has been around for a long time and was a renowned recipe in a large bakery that has since closed down. It definitely lives up to its fame! This cake is dense and moist and perfectly spiced. Topped with the whipped cream cheese frosting and it is a dream." I will definitely make this again. My 1 1/2 pounds of carrots gave me about 4 cups loosely packed. I peeled mine, but the original recipe left them unpeeled. I also added 5 minutes to the bake time because the middle wasn't done. So make sure you test the middle before you take it out.

Carrot Sheet Cake
melskitchencafe.com
Cake
4 large eggs
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup water
2 tsps vanilla
3 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 TBSP cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
2 tsps salt
2 tsps baking soda
2 tsps baking powder
1 1/2 pounds carrots, washed and ends trimmed
Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsps vanilla
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour an 11X17-inch rimmed baking sheet. Shred the carrots, finely, on a box grater or food processor. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine the eggs, oil, applesauce, water and vanilla. Whisk in the sugar to combine until evenly mixed.
3. In a second bowl mix flour, spices, salt, soda and baking powder. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until moistened. Gently fold the carrots into the batter until evenly distributed. Bake the cake for 30-32 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely.
4. For the frosting, mix the cream cheese, vanilla and butter with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the frosting and whip to combine (don’t overmix or the frosting will become too stiff). The frosting should be smooth and creamy.

Slow Cooker Ham

I tried a new way to cook my Easter ham this year. I stuck in in the slow cooker! I loved this idea because it freed up the oven for my potato casserole. There are many recipes online for slow cooker ham. In every single one I looked at, they had you discard the glaze packet and mix your own brown sugar and seasonings. That didn't make sense to me. SO, here's what I did. I put my 8lb. ham in my slow cooker and rubbed the seasoning packet all over it, top and bottom. Then I poured 1 cup of pineapple juice over the top. I cooked it on low for 6 hours. Next time I might try 4-5 hours because it seemed a tiny bit drier than I would have liked. Other than that it worked like a charm.

This is my before pic. I forgot to take an after one because we were ready to eat!

Easter Bird Nests

I've been wanting to make these and I finally remembered to buy the ingredients. My kids helped out, but the pretzel part was a little too difficult for them, so they just helped stick the eggs and peeps on. I didn't put peeps on all of them because some of us don't like them. We took a few over to our neighbors. It's a fun easy spring treat.

Easter Bird Nests
1 pkg (24oz) white almond bark
1 16oz bag of pretzel sticks
Candy eggs
Peeps (optional)

1. Melt the almond bark in a microwave safe bowl. Remove 1/4 cup of melted bark and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, dump about 1/2 of pretzel sticks in and pour melted bark on top. Stir well to coat pretzels. Add more pretzels if needed. I used about 3/4 of my bag. Don't use too many or they wont stick together well.
3. Scoop a small amount of pretzels onto waxed paper or foil. Using forks, arrange sticks into a nest shape. I made about 22 nests.
4. Dip bottom of peeps, and candy eggs into reserved melted bark and place on nests.
5. Let harden and store in an airtight container.

These are the eggs we used. They are my favorite!!

Since they were so cute, I displayed them on my cupcake stand.

New Kitchen

It's been awhile since I've posted a recipe because our family moved over 2000 miles to the Seattle area last week. We are renting a house in a really nice neighborhood and this means I have a new kitchen to cook in! I'm still getting used to it. So far I've made rice, tater tots, brownies, and those Peeps nests you can see on the counter (that I will post). I have been dying for an open kitchen with an island and white cabinets and it is exactly that. I just need to add some barstools and curtains. There are 3 things I don't love. 1. The lack of cabinet space. I had a lot more room in my previous kitchen. We bought some shelves for the garage so I can put my bread machine, blender, food processor, and other small kitchen appliances on them because there just isn't room in the kitchen. 2. I haven't figured out a way to keep my two year old out of the pantry. It's an accordion style door, so he can just pull it right open and he's constantly getting stuff out. 3. Whoever invented the sink has never cooked or done dishes. It has one big deeper side, and one tiny raised side, and the tiny side has the disposal!  I have yet to find a grocery store I like. I was very satisified with my ALDI and Walmart Neighborhood market in Fort Worth. So far I've been to Fred Meyer and QFC (which are essentially Krogers) and Walmart (not a Super Walmart so no bakery, meat, deli, and sparse produce). I'm thinking of trying Costco. Hopefully I can figure it out soon and post new recipes!

I'm standing in a living area that is empty. I still have to figure out how I'm furnishing it. I don't want to spend a lot to furnish a rental.

Stupid sink.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Coconut Chewies

I love these cookies! These are the first cookies I've ever made with coconut and they are so good! I've been making this dough and freezing it in balls. You can read more about that here. The original recipe did not have chocolate chips, but I like to add them. :) 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Coconut Chewies
adapted from melskitchencafe.com
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup butter, softened
2 tsps vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
1 cup quick oats
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl cream together the sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a greased or lined (silpat or parchment) baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes, until the cookies are set but not overly browned.

Treat Idea - Freezing Cookie Dough Balls

 This is the best idea ever! I don't know why I've never thought of this before. You make cookie dough, roll it into balls, and freeze them. You bake them frozen, straight from the freezer. The idea I saw, uses this method for gift giving, and I have tested this on a few friends in the last couple of weeks. I gave them frozen dough balls and they baked them. It has worked perfectly! I love this because you can bake them right away or save them for later and still have fresh cookies. I tried 2 new cookie recipes (which I will post soon), and loved them both. If you want to try this out, there are 8 tested recipes and ideas for gift giving, suggested on this website here. Here are the easy steps.

Treat Idea - Freezing Cookie Dough Balls
melskitchencafe.com
1. Make your dough.
2. Shape it into balls, and place on a parchment, wax paper, or foil lined cookie sheet.
3. Lightly cover the tray with plastic wrap, and freeze until the cookie dough is very firm.
4. After they are frozen, you can either transfer to a freezer ziploc bag and place back in the freezer until ready to use or you can put the cookie dough balls into the trays/tins for your gifts.
Since the cookies are being baked frozen, make sure to add 2-4 minutes to the baking time.

Thick and Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies ready for the freezer.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Coconut Chewies

I found this cute box at Walmart for $.97. Just add some ribbon and a little note with baking instructions and it's done.