3-Ingredient Slow Cooker Dump Cake

I've wanted to post a "dump cake" recipe for a while --- but was a little worried about how it would look. I mean, I'm supposed to be a PROFESSIONAL and all --- and don't professionals keep under wraps that they shoo the kids out of the kitchen so they can lick pie filling off the lid of the can with no one watching?

So when I saw Kristen, from Dine and Dish write about her insecurities blogging about dump cake I felt better. Because you know what? Not everything can be perfectly made-from-scratch with nothing-at-all artificial. This is real life, not a magazine!

You'll love this customizeable recipe. If you don't care for canned cherry filling or chocolate cake, use apple pie filling or even canned peach slices in syrup with a yellow cake mix.

The Ingredients
serves 6 to 8

2 (21-ounce) cans pie filling
1 (15-ounce) box cake mix (we are gluten free, so that's what I use, but you certainly don't have to!)
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted (my butter is salted; it really doesn't matter)
1 tablespoon water

The Directions

Use a 4-quart slow cooker sprayed well with cooking spray. If you have a 6-quart and that's it, reduce cooking time by about a 1/3.

Dump out the pie filling into the bottom of your prepared slow cooker. (don't forget to lick the cans! that stuff is GOOD.) In a large mixing bowl, mix together together the cake mix, melted butter, and water. You're going to have a crumbly cake mix, but what you're really trying to do is to "wet" all of the powder.
(go ahead and eat a few spoonfuls of the mix. there's no eggs, and again, that stuff is GOOD.)


Pour this evenly over the top of the canned filling. Cover, and cook on high for 2 to 3 hours, or on low for about 4 to 5 hours. Uncover, and continue to cook on high for another 30 minutes or so to release condensation.  

Your cake is finished when the dough is set, and you can poke at it with your finger and not get a bunch of goop (technical term) on it. The filling will bubble up and be intertwined with the cake mix. Spoon into bowls and eat warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

The Verdict

Holy crazy mama, this is Uh.Maze.Ing.  it's SUPER DUPER hot when right out of the crock--- be careful! Thank you, Kristen, for the nudge!! :-)



-------) I'm doing some work with the Glad company, and will be tweeting from their @GetGlad handle on Monday, March 24th from 8am-10am pacific using the #gladyouasked tag. I'd love for you to play along!! 
Here's a bit more info.

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Chipotle Pork Soft Tacos

It looks like I'm on the Rachael Ray show today!

I'm sorry for the last minute notice, I only just found out about 4 seconds ago. :-)  The show was taped a few weeks ago during the Great Big Huge Snow Storm of The Year of The Century and I was only supposed to be in New York for 10 hours.

Instead I was there for 3 days.

But all is wonderful, and today is the airing. This is the recipe I used:

The Ingredients

serves 10

4 to 5 pound pork shoulder roast/butt (bone in or out, your choice)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced into rings

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons ground coriander

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon chipotle chile powder

3 tablespoons honey

1 cup orange juice (about 2 oranges, or you can use bottled)

1 cinnamon stick

2 limes, juiced (to add at the very end)

½ cup chopped cilantro leaves (to add at the very end)

Suggested toppings:

corn tortillas for serving

4 cups finely shredded red cabbage

1 cup sour cream

2 cups grated cheese

2 avocados, diced

The Directions

Rub salt and pepper on all sides of the meat, and brown in olive oil on the stovetop in a large skillet. Using kitchen tongs, place the browned meat into your slow cooker. Using the same skillet, caramelize the onion and garlic until transparent and remove from heat. Whisk in the coriander, cumin chipotle chile powder, honey, and orange juice. Pour this mixture evenly over the top of the meat. Toss in the cinnamon stick.

Cover, and cook on low for 10 hours, or on high for about 5 hours. Shred meat completely using two large forks (discard bone if you used a bone-in roast), and stir in fresh lime juice and cilantro leaves.

Serve in warmed corn tortillas with your desired toppings.

The Verdict

I had a ball and feel so very (VERY) fortunate to have had the opportunity to see Rachael again and work with her amazing staff and production team. Thank you again to Tara, Bridget, and David for keeping me safe and warm in New York!

have a wonderful week, and thank you again for your support, kindness, and for being the best people in the history of the world. xoxo steph

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Camping with Your Slow Cooker

I didn't always like camping. I much preferred hotels or motels with maid service and a restaurant and clean towels.

And then I had kids. Don't get me wrong, I still love maid service and clean towels, but I hate spending lots of money and I hate having to get kids to sit still and have "restaurant behavior" when we are on a long trip. A few days here and there is absolutely fine, but sometimes you really just want a grilled cheese sandwich or a bowl of naked pasta and don't want to wait around in a booth at Applebees.

And I want my kids to be unplugged as much as possible, and I have got to admit the first thing I do when checking into a hotel or motel is to flip around and see "what kind of cable channels does this place have?"

I also want my kids to not be fearful of the outdoors and I like watching them dig with sticks and climb trees and just BE TOGETHER -- it forces all of us to work together to set up and break down camp and that kind of stuff warms my suburban soccer mom heart.

So I've embraced the dirt (thank you baby wipes!) and the sand (thank you dust buster!) and the laundry (dear help me, the laundry is just insane when we get home) and the chaos camping brings and now I can honestly say that I really really like being outdoors and pretty much all that camping has to offer.

And I bring along a slow cooker (or two).

Since we car camp and usually stick to a pretty family-friendly campground (mostly KOAs), we have electricity when we camp. Although we did recently decide to get a tiny pop-up tent trailer, I did use the slow cooker when we tent camped.

Just like at home, the kids are hungry and tired after a long day, and knowing that dinner is hot and ready after spending the day outside playing in the water or after a day touring around is just wonderful.

If you are tent-camping, I'd recommend having a long extension cord with you, and using one of the lockable-lid slow cookers. Obviously this isn't a way to cook if you are in bear country ---- I'm not going to even pretend to know how to bear proof a crockpot -- so don't do that!

If you've got a travel trailer or motorhome, you are already used to cooking in it, and I know a slow cooker is a mainstay in many RV kitchens already. Just like at home, I'd highly recommend a programmable slow cooker that will turn off when the cooking time has elapsed, so your food stays hot and safe to eat until you return back "home" for the day.

These are the cookers I happen to use and recommend, and you can usually find them at Bed Bath and Beyond or Kohls at a deep discount right now since the holidays are over.
I know that I'm terribly biased, but I do like the Ninja a lot for camping because having the stovetop and oven setting is pretty darn cool when away from home.

This is what I do to make camping and food-prep easier with the slow cooker:

1) do as much prep at home as possible. I like to chop all my veggies at home and separate our meals into Ziplock baggies and write on the outside of the bag what it all is (everything looks the same when it's frozen solid!) and then I freeze the bags at home to stack into the cooler.

2) if you are planning a chili or taco soup, brown the ground beef/turkey at home, and I'd suggest opening all the cans at home and then freezing in a zippered bag.

3) plan on lazy cooking --- which for us is usually a hunk of meat (or boneless chicken thighs) and a bottle of your favorite something sauce (bbq, simmer sauce, pasta sauce, etc.) Instead of bringing the jar or bottle, put the meat in a freezer bag and then put the sauce on it at home and freeze at home, so in the morning all you have to do is dump the contents into the cooker.

4) we usually do a sausage and vegetable medley -- which is super easy and all I do is make sure to have a 5-lb bag of potatoes with us and I do wash and cut those on the campground, then put in the bottom of a slow cooker with sliced chicken and apple sausage, and a bit of chicken broth (or white wine). If I've got a bag of baby carrots (which I usually do) I throw those in and any other random veggies I've got (bell peppers, brocolli).

5) save the leftovers from your sausage and veggie medley to do breakfast-for-dinner the next night (and any leftover hotdogs you might have). Scramble up 6-10 eggs or so with some milk then pour over the leftover potatoes and sausage and cook the next day.

6) baked potatoes or corn on the cob work great in the slow cooker, or you can do a layered dinner with meat and your potatoes and corn. My kids are super happy with a loaded baked potato for dinner, and since we usually have bacon for breakfast, I keep some for dinner time toppings. We always have a variety of cheeses with us, too.

7) planning ahead this way actually works in flexibility! I am not a slow cooker purist by any stretch of the imagination --- I also bring the pancake griddle which works great for quesadillas and grilled cheese sandwiches (and pancakes ;-) .). The kids still like to cook hotdogs on sticks, and we have a dutch oven that Adam uses over coals. If for some reason we have no power or are in a position where we don't feel safe leaving a crockpot plugged in, any of the prepared plastic bags can be dumped into a dutch oven or large pot to be cooked with propane, over coals, etc.

8) If you are on a roadtrip, see if your van or truck has an outlet in it. This way you can actually cook while you are driving. Lots of mini vans have outlets in the back and this works great to cook a large roast for pulled sandwiches or something not-too-soupy for eating on the road. If you've got an RV, you already know way more about this sort of thing than I do!

UPDATED: [please see the comment selection below for further information on cooking-while-you-drive. You most likely need an adapter to make this option work for you.]

I'm sure you already know this, but it bears repeating that this will drain your car battery if you are not actively driving. I wouldn't leave it plugged in your car if you plan on touring a museum for a long period of time, etc.

9) UPDATED: I've gotten a few emails about thermo slow cooking. I haven't personally tried this out yet, abut plan on it this summer. There are two well-reviewed companies that make these, and I think they'd be absolutely fantastic for camping.
Wonderbag and  Thermal Cook both ship world wide, and both companies have reached out and are run by wonderful people. When I have the opportunity to recipe test using these products, I will certainly write a thorough review. If you have had experience cooking in a thermal device, please share your feedback! 


I hope this helps a bit! Happy Camping!!

If you've got other suggestions or menu ideas, please let me know, I know I've got an awful lot to learn. Especially since one of my dreams is to travel cross-country and see EVERYTHING! :-)

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Cold Weather Meal Plan for the Slow Cooker

I feel like a fraud pointing out that it's been cold lately because I am right outside of San Francisco and our cold is NOTHING compared to real cold.

I know. I stink. But I do have CNN and twitter so I am very very aware at how REALLY cold it can be. And I hate it if you are cold and I wish I could make global warming happen even quicker so you are no longer cold (KIDDING. that is a joke  .....  save your (frozen) tomatoes!!)

If I could send everybody heating blankets and fluffy slippers, I would. Most definitely.

Instead, I've got a cold-weather meal plan for you that is easy on the wallet (I'm in denial over my credit card bill from Christmas) and is filling without being heavy and bogged down with cheese and grease in case you (like me) are trying to figure out why the super cute corduroy pants that fit in October no longer fit.

ahem.

Monday: Sausage and Vegetable Medley
Tuesday: Clean out the Pantry Chili
Wednesday: Honey Garlic Chicken
Thursday: Parmesan Tilapia
Friday: Carnitas

Grocery List:
[to print out just the list, use the PRINT button below and make sure to delete all extraneous text and photos before clicking print.]

PRODUCE
- 1 package of fresh stir-fry vegetables -- you need 4 cups of fresh vegetables --(broccoli, cauliflower, bell pepper, mushrooms, carrots, etc.)
- potatoes (red or brown, will need 2 cups worth, cubed -- about 2 Russet or 5 baby red)
- 2 lemons
- 1 orange
- 1 lime
- 2 heads garlic
- 1 onion
- baby spinach (will need about 2 cups -- 1 large handful)
- avocado (sliced for carnitas)

DAIRY
- Parmesan cheese, shredded (1/2 cup)
- shredded cheese for carnitas
- sour cream for carnitas

MEAT
- 2-3 pounds boneless chicken thighs
- 4 fillets of tilapia (or 1 per family member)
- 2 to 3 pounds pork shoulder roast
- smoked chicken sausage (Aidell's brand or similar)

CANNED GOODS
- 3 cans of your favorite beans
- 2 cans tomato paste (6-ounce cans)
- chicken broth (4 cups)
- beef broth (2 cups)

CONDIMENTS
- honey (1/3 cup)
- ketchup (1/2 cup)
- mayonnaise (1/4 cup)
- soy sauce (La Choy is gluten free) (1/2 cup)
- sliced jalapeño peppers (in jar)
- salsa (garnish for carnitas, optional)

OTHER
- corn tortillas
- aluminum foil

SPICES
- Italian seasoning ( 1 tablespoon)
- basil (1 teaspoon)
- cumin (1 tablespoon)


a few quick announcements:

*  from Totally Together Journal: How to Combine Gratitude with Goal Setting  and  30 Day Organized Life Challenge
*  I was on NPR and shared a Take Out-Fake Out KFC recipe
*  If you'd like to subscribe to the site(s) for updates via email, here are the different options.

I hope you have a wonderful week and stay warm and cozy! And wash your hands a lot; it's flu season.

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