Slow Cooker Recipes Review

I have heard so many good things about the use of a Slow Cooker that I got one for my birthday earlier this year (I honestly love kitchen gadgets as gifts!). Maybe you should know, that growing up in Germany, I haven´t heard of such a thing as a Slow Cooker before we moved to the US. 

To kind of force myself into using it regularly, and that way get a feeling for the possibilities that come with that new way of cooking, we had Slow Cooker meals every Wednesday since we´ve got it - and some weeks even more than that. 

In this post I would like to share my experiences from the first few recipes I´ve tried.



Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken:
(click on title for recipe link)

This one was my very first time using the Slow Cooker and I was very curious about the outcome. I had to admit that the first thing I realized was the smell (it might have been the soysauce) that was not quite my taste. The actual meal was ok, but I found it a little dry. The problem might have been that my Slow Cooker was bigger than the one in the recipe and therefore my chicken wasn´t covered with sauce while cooking. 
The second day we had the leftovers pulled-chicken-style on a sandwich and that turned out to taste just perfect!!





Slow Cooker Whole Chicken:

(aaaahhhhhrrrgg, I can´t find the recipe! I am sure it was on pinterest somewhere... but why can´t I find the link?)
This time the chicken turned out much better and even if the recipe called for soysauce again (and I still didn´t like that smell in my kitchen) the sauce was delicious! For the first meal we had the chicken on a salad, which was ok but not as good as the leftovers with potatoes and the wonderful sauce that we had the second day!





Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce:

This recipe is nice, but I should have adjusted the seasoning to the way I usually season my very own Bolognese Sauce, to make it taste more the way I like it. The first time around, I wanted to stick with the recipe, but next time I will be braver...  




Overnight Oatmeal for Slow Cooker:

This idea of preparing your breakfast the night before and wake up to a warm oatmeal caught my eye and I had to try it out! But to be honest I prefer my own version of warm oatmeal with fresh apples instead of over night cooked apples. I still like the idea and I might give it another try...


 
Crock Pot Cashew Chicken:

This is my favorite so far! Nice seasoning, just be careful with the amount of pepper flakes you use. Your meal could turn out a little bit too spicy!





Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes:

This one is suuuuper easy and the outcome is super yummy! I am just not sure if potatoes really have to cook for 7 hours (I like potatoes in any way you can think of), but I am sure I will make it again!




Crock Pot Roasted Chicken:

I couldn´t find paprika in my cabinet so I used a BBQ rub that my daughter made in preschool for father´s day (I think it has paprika amongst other stuff) and I will make several different meals from it. First day, chicken with potatoes and salad. Second day, pulled chicken sandwich. Third day, chicken in pasta sauce and I am pretty sure we will still have some leftovers for a fourth meal...

 
















So, after a lot of chicken recipes, I might try beef next. Also on my list are apple sauce and meatballs. I´ll keep you informed!

Xmas Crafts 2012 Round Up

What a crafty holiday season it was! 

Here is a quick overview of how we kept ourselves busy his year. 

Starting with "baking" projects:

Gingerbread houses out of graham crackers (big hit!) 

Ice cream cone christmas trees

Sugar cookies with icing

Next are holiday decorations: 

 

Bead ornaments (melt in oven)

Snow globes 

(one mason jar with glitter and one plastic globe from the craft store)

Paper snowflakes out of coffee filters

Last but not least is a fabric craft: 

DIY christmas tree screenprinting

I hope you all had a wonderful crafty holiday season!

sweet, sweet things

In general, I am not a dessert person, but I do love meringue! And when I saw this dessert recipe at the current issue of Sunset Magazine, I just had to try it. Doesn´t it look suuuper yummy?

It is basically meringue topped with whipped cream and berries - what a perfect combination!

These are my meringue before baking.

These are those delicious sweet, sweet sugar temptations.

Et voilà!

I totally loved them! And of course the kids loved the amount of sugar, too... It is a great dessert if you are thinking of a special dinner with lots of guest (makes 10!) but maybe not an every day thing. But I am happy to have some left overs for today... bye... (on my way to the kitchen).

bonjour baguette!

Today, I´d like to share another favorite recipe of mine. Homemade French baguette. Imagine the smell and taste of fresh out of the oven baguette!! Hmmmmm!

I love to eat it as sandwich, as side dish, or just plain as a snack for the kids (and for me!) at the park.

If you like to attempt it please bring enough time. Start 3h before you want to eat it (don´t worry, you don´t have to work on it the whole time, it is mostly rising of the dough).

Ingredients

(you may choose to use only half of the ingredients-see useful tips)

2 cups (500ml) warm water

1 tsp. sugar

2 packages active dry yeast

5 to 5 1/2 cups (780 to 860g) all-purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg white, lightly beaten with a pinch of salt

And here are some useful tips before you get started:

• one a warm sunny day your dough will rise faster then on a chilly day (total time required: sunny day 2.5h, chilly day 3h)
• when using the measurement listed above your loaves will be much bigger (nice for sandwiches), when using only half of it - like I did today - your loaves will be thin and crisp (I prefer the thinner ones as a snack)
• don´t skip the part with the egg white and salt - it makes it so much better!!

Ok, lets get started:

Dissolve sugar in warm water, add yeast and stir gently. Let stand until foamy, about 5 min.

Combine 4 cups flour with salt. Slowly add the yeast mixture and beat until incorporated. Beat for 10 min while adding the rest of the flour until the dough is elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Knead the dough with your hands to form a ball. Put dough in a flour sprinkled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place, 45 to 60 min.

Punch down the dough and knead for a few seconds. Form a ball and return it to the bowl. Cover again and let rise in a warm place, 20 to 30 min.

Punch down the dough, cut into 2 pieces and form two balls. Let rest for 5 min.

Line a French bread pan with a kitchen towel and sprinkle with flour. Roll each ball into a log and place on towel in the pan. Cover with the overhanging towel and let rise in a warm place, 20 min.



Place a shallow baking dish filled with boiling water on the oven floor and preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).

Gently transfer the loaves in the towel from the pan. Spray the pan with a nonstick cooking spray. Carefully flip each loaf into a well of the pan. Cut in the top of each loaf. Brush with the egg white mixture.

Bake for 30 to 35 min.

[I got the recipe when I bought one of these pans]

Unfortunately, it takes too long to make the baguette fresh for breakfast, but I found another recipe where the dough has to rise for 12 to 15h. That could actually work - if I remember to prepare it at night. I´ll try it soon!

What would you miss abroad?

This is a tough question to answer and maybe you´ll miss different things in different situations. Sometimes family and friends and sometimes just those little things such as BREZEL!

Before we moved to the US I would have never thought about baking my own brezels because you find them just everywhere you go. But what if you could get them only once a week at the farmers market?

Here is a little piece -or should I say bite- of Germany (this is a German recipe translated in English, please excuse the maybe not so perfect cooking terminology)

Ingredients

500 g (1 pound 2 ounces) all purpose flour

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

75 g (2 1/2 ounces) butter

1 pack dry yeast (7 g)

1 teaspoon salt

1.5 liter (6 cups) water

3 tablespoons baking soda

Sieve flour into a bowl and intermix salt. Heat water and melt butter in it, add cold milk, resolve yeast in mixture (make sure that mixture isn´t too hot before adding yeast). Add this liquid to the flour and make a dough.

Cover bowl and let rise in a warm spot for 45 min until dough has doubled its size.

Boil water and add baking soda (be careful, water will effervesce).

Punch down dough, cut in 12-16 pieces and form stick or rolls.

Put them into the gently boiling water until they swim at the surface (approx. 5 sec.).

Put them on a baking tray with baking paper. Add kosher salt. Cut 1/2 inch deep into the dough where you want the dough to break open.



Bake 30 min. at 325°F (160°C)



Think sticks, rolls, brezels or even an octopus (I made this one for my daughters under-the-sea-themed birthday party)

Which culinary things do you miss while living aboard? Please share!

the best cupcakes are vegan!

First of all, I am not a vegan. I am not even vegetarian. But in our family we have to avoid dairy. That´s why I was curious when I read about a vegan cupcake recipe than won a cupcake competition (did you know that there is something like that?). I had to learn that there is a TV show called Cupcake Wars and the season 1 winner was the Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake from vegan chef Chloe.

I tried it and I fell in love with it. I honestly think it is THE BEST cupcake recipe out there. I will copy the recipe in here but the source can be found here.



Ingredients:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup coffee, water, or coconut milk (I use water)
½ cup canola oil
2 tablespoons white or apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Mix dry ingredients.
Mix wet ingredients.
Mix together (do not over mix).

350°F
16-18 minutes (my oven needs 5 min longer)

If you don´t believe it, just try it out!

btw. I love them plain without any frosting etc.
Let me know what you think!