10 Awesome Slow Cooker Recipes

I love using a Slow Cooker so much I own two of them (different sizes).

With the colder weather here in Alberta right now, this is the perfect time to dig out the slow cooker and give some recipes a try. Here are 10 recipes you should try.

  1.  Blackberry Jam – If you like jam, go check out Healing Tomato for a great easy recipe, and don’t ya just love the name of that blog?

slow-cooker-blackberry-jam

2.  Baked Potatoes – if  you don’t want to wait an hour when you get home from work for a scrumptious baked potato try making them in the slow cooker. The One Pot Chef will show you how. I make these quite often and they are yummy.

slowcookerpotshd

3. Meatloaf – this is on the menu for this week (Wednesday). Meatloaf is a comfort food in my world and this recipe from Modernly Morgan is one of the easiest and tastiest I’ve tried.

crockpotmeatloaf3-768x1150

4.  Porcupine Meatballs – over at 365 days of slow cooking you will find 2 ways to make porcupine meatballs.  I really like these with the marinara sauce.

porcupine-meatballs

5.  Bacon Mushroom Swiss Chicken – okay I love this one, bacon- yes, mushrooms – yes, chicken – yes, and swiss cheese – oh my god YES!! It’s just a winning combination and another adorable blog name Recipes that Crock – bah ha ha – love it!!

bacon-mushroom-swiss-chicken-sq

Continue reading 10 Awesome Slow Cooker Recipes

Day 11 – Edible DIY Pretzel Wreaths

Edible DIY Pretzel Wreaths

Here is a cute and delicious idea for Christmas. These can be made and given as gifts or hung on the Christmas tree.  I plan on storing some in an airtight container until Christmas Day and then my family and friends can pick an ornament from my tree that is edible and delicious.

pretzel-wreath-1

For these pretzel wreaths you will need 9 small pretzels for each wreath, melted chocolate chips to adhere the pieces together and candy of your choice for decorating.  I used M&Ms and colored sugar.

Lay your pretzels out on parchment or wax paper (to catch the extra chocolate and sugar, this could get messy) to the size you want, like I said I used 9 pretzels in total per wreath, 5 on the bottom and four on the top.  I dipped each of the bottom pretzels in the melted chocolate and placed on the parchment paper in the shape of a wreath. Then I dipped the 4 remaining pretzels and placed them so they would overlap the bottom layer. While the chocolate was still wet I added my candy and colored sugar. Continue reading Day 11 – Edible DIY Pretzel Wreaths

Day 1: Hershey Kiss Christmas Cookies

Welcome to Day 1 of my 12 Days of Christmas 2016.

Over the next 12 Days you can look forward to posts that will include things to make, things to bake and easy ways to decorate.

I’m starting off with these Hershey Kiss Christmas Cookies (that’s my name for them).

I had a good laugh when I read the instructions to remove the wrappers from the candy as the first step in the baking process.  Take it from me buy a big bag….a lot of them ended up in my belly – very, very smart move on the part of the Hershey company…lol

cookies-1The pictures below the recipe show the step by step process after the dough is made.

recipe from Hershey’s
1 bag Hershey’s Kisses brand Candy Cane Kisses (I used Hershey’s Hugs)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons milk
Red and Green colored sugar
Preheat over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove wrappers from candies (approx. 35)
Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add alternatively with milk to butter mixture, beating until well blended.
Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in red and/or green colored sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 8 – 1o minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookies is set. Remove from oven; cool 2 to 3 minutes. Press candy piece into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Yields approximately 35 cookies.

Continue reading Day 1: Hershey Kiss Christmas Cookies

Easy Coconut Cream Pie – A Wandaful Dessert

When it comes to pie recipes, this classic coconut cream pie recipe takes 1st place. A refrigerated pie crust makes it easy, and the whipped cream and toasted coconut make it simply irresistible.

Coconut cream pie for dessert on Easter Sunday has been a long-standing tradition. I want to share my recipe with you.

IMG_4559 I rarely take the time to make a homemade crust because it’s always hit and miss for me. Maybe one of these days I’ll find the perfect recipe and give it a try …but for now two frozen ready to bake deep dish pie crusts make it so much easier and less time consuming.

This recipe makes 2 deep dish pies. You will need: Continue reading Easy Coconut Cream Pie – A Wandaful Dessert

Day 11: Reindeer Noses in a Jar

Welcome to Day 11 of my 12 Days of Christmas

If you are doing a cookie exchange or need to do some baking for your child’s class Christmas party, these Reindeer Noses in a Mason Jar are sure to delight. I think these are adorable and so much FUN!

nose 1

I first saw this idea on the blog From Rookie to a Rock Star.  It was so unique, I knew I wanted to give it a try.  The recipe I used for the cookies can be found here.  The icing I used was a simple powdered sugar icing, that recipe can be found here. Continue reading Day 11: Reindeer Noses in a Jar