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Tampilkan postingan dengan label Totally Together. Tampilkan semua postingan

Minggu, 24 Maret 2013

Easter Recipes for the Slow Cooker



Happy almost-Easter! 

We host Easter each year (except for when I'm pregnant or have a newborn, which means we haven't done it for the past two years. But that's not my fault because other people have offered, and I'd just be an idiot to not accept the offers. So, I still stand by my declaration that we host Easter every year...) and I love it.

Adam usually puts something on the barbecue, our family helps out by bringing side dishes or beverages, and I line up a bunch of crockpots on the countertop. 

There are too many of us to all sit around the table, so we kind of eat in shifts. The kids run around in circles because it's fun for the uncles to "chocolate them up" and the Easter egg hunt out back results in squished flowers, mud tracked indoors, and eventually tears when the egg-grabbing turns a bit too competitive. 

It's certainly not a scene Norman Rockwell would have chosen to paint--- but he should have.

Because honestly? The day couldn't possibly be any better.

and I can't wait.

If you're hosting, or bringing along something to share this year, I've got you covered. The slow cooker is your friend. Use it! And enjoy your family. 

Main Courses:
Honey Glazed Ham  (this is what we're having!)
Mint Glazed Lamb (this is what we're having!)

Side Dishes:

Appetizers:

We have dessert covered thanks to Zest Bakery, but if you don't:
rice krispies treats (hey, the REAL rice krispies are going gluten free in about a month. score!)

you're welcome!
:-)


If you're entertaining, and need a bit of help getting the house in order, no worries. I've got you covered with that, too!



Adam doesn't like pictures of the kids on the Internet, so this is the best you'll get!
Happy Easter!

Sabtu, 18 Agustus 2012

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Granola





I'm pushing it. It's still summer, I know. I can't help it --- we picked out all the school supplies and then the pumpkin candle aisle got me. 

And all of a sudden I NEEDED a bit of fall right this very second. The kids start school again on the 27th, and even though the weather is still hot out (this is actually the SF Bay Area's best weather of the year; if you ever come for a visit, pick somewhere between the end of August through the first week of October if you can swing it) (and by hot, I mean 75 which I know for a lot of you isn't hot but we're big babies here, so feel free to completely ignore me), and I'm still doing laundry from last week's beach trip I wanted something fall-ish.

so I made granola. 

My friend Jennifer (not this one or this one or this one or this one) made a batch of granola to take on our beach trip and we ate it every day over greek yogurt in the room so we didn't pay the *exorbitant* hotel breakfast prices.

this isn't her recipe; she says she doesn't really have one. I've made granola in the slow cooker before, and like that I can wander away from it and not have it burn. I wanted to use leftover canned pumpkin, so it did need to cook longer than I thought it should so it wasn't a soggy mess. And, you should put dried fruit in near the end so they don't shrivel up on you.

enjoy!

The Ingredients.
serves 12 (lasts 5-7 days in our house over yogurt for breakfast for 5 people)
(freezes well, the raisins will get hard, but then soften again)


5 cups of rolled oats (we use certified gluten free)
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 to 3/4 cup honey (start with the smaller amount)
1 cup whole almonds (or use toasted pumpkin seeds)
1 cup dried cranberries/raisins or mixture (add last hour)
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

The Directions.

Use a large slow cooker -- I used a 6.5-quart. It's not a typo that I didn't add any butter or oil; I wanted to see if it would work without any, and it did! The pumpkin helped to coat the oats and provided enough moisture to keep it from burning and the honey did a good job of providing sweetness and a bit of a binder.

Stir everything but the dried fruit in. The honey will be gloppy--- just stir the best you can. Cover, and cook in a vented slow cooker (prop lid open with chopstick or wooden spoon) on high for 4 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so. Add dried fruit the last 30-minutes to an hour. There really isn't an exact science here--- when you're happy with the texture and the consistency, it's done!

Let cool completely-- the oats will get a bit harder and crispier after cooling (you can spread it all out on layers of foil or paper towels or parchment paper on the counter to speed up the cooling process).

Store in an airtight container in either the fridge or the freezer.

Hey Steph, how come you don't just bake it in the oven? Honestly, it's easier for me to set a timer for 30 minutes and come back and stir the pot throughout the day then it is for me to camp out in the kitchen for 30-45 minutes straight and stir every 5-10 minutes to keep the granola from burning. I just don't have that type of time unless the kids are asleep, and this way they can help stir.

It's a lifestyle choice--- someday they won't be attached to my leg and I can open the oven door safely, but for now, it's just not an option! :-)

Happy (almost) fall, and Happy (almost) school season!

Stay Tuned this fall, because I'm going to be hosting daily giveaways again!!

Also, it's time to reorder a new copy of Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life --- I'm so happy and proud of the way this journal turned out and has been received; thank you!

bonus fun photo of a Pismo Beach Crab!




Jumat, 30 Maret 2012

Slow Cooker Mint Glazed Lamb



I hope this works. I have always used the free Blogger software to run this website, which is owned by Google. And they changed it. And they are making me use it and even though I had three months of "warning" that this change was going to happen I'm slightly irritated.
This is the first time I'm typing with the new format and it looks different and my buttons are in different places and I am not the best when it comes to change.

so there you go. I'm an old fuddy-duddy stuck-in-my ways crockpot lady.

BUT. I have new and exciting lamb for you. Lamb so good you're going to want to test it out EVEN THOUGH you already love your tried-and-true "but everybody already loves my lamb" recipe.

I know.

change is hard.

We're all in this together. (insert High School Musical soundtrack)

Slow Cooker Mint Glazed Lamb

The Ingredients.
serves 6-8
 
 (ha. that sticky has the words "mint-glazed leg of lamb" on it. I probably should have taken that off before I shot the photo. oops.)

1 onion, sliced in rings
4 to 5 pound boneless leg of lamb
1/3 cup prepared mint jelly
3 sprigs fresh mint leaves (about 10)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Separate the onion rings with your fingers and place in the bottom of your cooker. Put the meat on top. In a small mixing bowl, combine the mint jelly, fresh mint, garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Smear this mixture on all sides of the meat. Cover, and cook on low for 7 hours, or until the lamb is fully cooked and begins  to relax and lose it’s shape.
Serve with mashed potatoes and a spoonful of accumulated gravy (you can thicken the gravy by making a cornstarch slurry: 1 tablespoon cornstarch whisked into 2 tablespoons cold water).

The Verdict.

I have always shied away from mint jelly—it looks like lime jello to me, and I couldn’t figure out why lamb was supposed to be paired with something that smelled like Doublemint gum  ~ until I tried this! Lamb and mint are meant to go together! This sweet, salty, and minty glaze can not be beat. It really is a good combination-- good enough to make me want to CHANGE our normal Easter Lamb recipe for keeps.

I've got an Easter line-up post in the works, and will get it up soon so you can start your grocery lists. Use the ZipList feature at the bottom of the posts! It's completely free and will create a customized shopping list. Super cool.

I also want to give a shout-out to Kiwi Krate, the neat art box subscription service for kids that I reviewed the other week. It's a great product, and they are really trying to get the word out about their new company. Thanks for taking the time to click over and check it out -- I appreciate it.




Rabu, 15 Februari 2012

Slow Cooker TV Dinners



One of the finer comforts in life is having a well-stocked freezer. Before our family became gluten free, I regularly bought packaged frozen lasagna, pizza, and hot pockets (mmm, hot pockets) to pop in the oven on a busy weekday night when I forgot to plug in the slow cooker.

This really isn't a possibility now: not only is packaged gluten free food terribly expensive, I'm just not comfortable feeding the family manufactured food on a regular basis.

So I've combined two of my favorite loves into one completely awesome package: Slow Cooker TV Dinners. 

I've always been a meal-planner, but I like that I can plan two or more weeks of meals and get them all in plastic zipper bags in the freezer, so I'm not chopping onions or potatoes each and every day. I figure if I'm already chopping an onion, I might as well chop up 10 and get it over with!

(or you can go the environmentally-friendly route and use Tupperware!)

One of the easiest ways to stock your freezer is to cook large batches of food, and freeze half of it. Clearly label and date the food, and then serve it again a few weeks later.

My family will ALWAYS eat the following things--- no matter how often I serve it:

Instead of saving the leftovers for the next day, I freeze them to pull out later in the month. The food is already cooked-- so I thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then microwave or heat on the stovetop. I don't find the slow cooker all that useful to reheat leftovers.


Another way to successfully stock your freezer is to assemble freezer bags with raw meat, vegetables, sauce, and spices. I like to buy my meat in bulk, and then I simply put the ingredients needed for a specific recipe into a freezer bag and clearly label the outside with a magic marker. I then pull the frozen bag out the night before to thaw in the refrigerator. In the morning, I dump the food into my slow cooker and cook according to the recipe's directions (I'd suggest writing that on the bag, too).


It's recommended to thaw the food overnight, and not just put a block of ice into your slow cooker in the morning. In general, it's fine to cook with frozen meat, vegetables, etc., but the other ingredients should be room temperature, and the stoneware should always be room-temp before being plugged in. You can read more about this on Crock-Pot's official website

Read through the ingredients and directions on each recipe-- if it makes more sense to add chicken broth, etc. in the morning, do so, and if I've got directions to add something right before serving, follow those guidelines--- don't just dump everything into the bag if it doesn't seem appropriate. :-0

if you'd like, you can sign up at ZipList to create a personalized shopping list. All of these recipes are in their database (I've included a little button that says "save recipe" under each recipe). It's free, and I've found it immensely helpful.

10 Chicken candidates for Slow Cooker TV Dinners:

10 Beef candidates for Slow Cooker TV Dinners:

10 Pork candidates for Slow Cooker TV Dinners:

my kids will also eat the following fish dishes (ooh, Dr. Seuss!) twice a month:

 I hope this helps a bit with your meal planning! 

P.S.: some of the photos in these recipes are HORRENDOUS-- they were taken before I (somewhat) knew what I was doing with food photography. If you make a recipe of mine and take a better picture, send it my way and I'll give you full credit.


other stuff you might find useful:
meal planning for dummies (or for normal people, whatever)

Selasa, 13 Desember 2011

mercury in food, a last-minute gift giveaway, and the best ham(s) ever



this is a compensated post. I was asked by BlogHer to help spread the word about  Mom's Clean Air Force.

I stopped eating tuna fish about 11 years ago, when I first became pregnant. I took my baby-prep research seriously, and followed all the "rules" the "experts" told me I should and shouldn't do. 

After my first was born, I remember quizzing the pediatrician, "I can eat tuna again, right?"
I will never, ever forget her non-answer: "I don't think anyone should ever eat tuna. It's just not worth the risk since we don't know enough about it." 

She was talking about mercury poisoning. Until a few days ago, I didn't know much about mercury except that it was bad. I didn't know it actually came from burning coal, and the coal emissions get in the clouds, which then get into the water supply through rain and snow. Every state in the country has issued a fish advisory of some type because of unsafe mercury contamination. 

If you really think about it, everything has a high level of mercury because it's in our water supply; all fruits and vegetables are watered with it, and all of the animals we eat have consumed it. 

Mercury is linked to Alzheimer's disease, cancer, premature birth, brain damage, premature death, and birth defects. 

I can't fix this. 

All I can do, and all you can do, is become educated. Be aware. I've been asked to share the Moms Clean Air Force website with you. Please consider joining, take the time to read the literature and pass it along; change happens from the bottom up. 

I've also been asked to share this youtube video for further information.

Hug your kids tight.

thank you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

in other news, I've got book giveaways over on the review page for you. I've got my friend, Crystal Paine's (the Money Saving Mom) new book, Hallie Klecker's new cookbook, The Triumph Grocery Guide, two DVDs that Elana Amsterdam sent, and 5 copies of Totally Together. Last minute gift ideas? No problem, I've got you covered!

also, our buddies at DinnerTool wanted to share that they are feverishly working on adding new recipes. They are eager to share their Chili Cook Off recipes with you, and would like to give you a head's up that in February they will be hosting a slow cooker recipe contest. 

Gluten Free Home for the Holidays is happening right! now! at Gluten Free Easily. Tune in each day for the whole month of December for a new recipe and new giveaway. The grand prize is a Vitamix!


Ham! I've got ham! Every day this week I've gotten an email about ham in the crockpot. Yup, it works, and it is WONDERFUL. Here are our favorites:

maple ham

honey glazed ham with thyme



have a wonderful day.

Selasa, 15 November 2011

A Slow Cooker Thanksgiving


Be thankful for your crockpots this year. 


It sounds peculiar, and maybe even a bit stupid, but if you stop to really think about it, your crockpots are providing a gift. The gift of time.

thanks to this simple machine you have more time in your day to do the things you really want to do: garden, read, play, tickle, sleep, write, create, and spend time with your family.

life is good.

traditional stuffing

cornbread stuffing

candied sweet potatoes

homemade cranberry sauce

amazing mashed potatoes

sweet and sour caramelized onions

perfect turkey breast
creamed corn
 
spinach artichoke dip

crustless pumpkin pie


 

even MORE holiday food!


and just in case...

how to company clean in 30 minutes or less


have a wonderful Holiday! We're hosting again this year, and I'm looking forward to having all of our family in one place instead of making the rounds. As an added bonus, my birthday falls on Thanksgiving--pumpkin pie as birthday cake! yum. 

We're still hosting daily giveaways to help with your Holiday gift giving over on the GiveAway page--- go check them out and win! win! win! :-)

gobble ~ gobble ~ gobble


Selasa, 02 Agustus 2011

Pineapple Salmon Slow Cooker Recipe (flop!)




When Adam and I were in our first year of marriage we lived in an apartment about a half-mile away from his brother and family. We were lucky enough to be invited over for dinner pretty often, and always happily accepted.

Adam's sister-in-law, Angela, is an excellent cook. Her family owns restaurants, and she's grown up in the kitchen and around food. I've always been quite impressed with the way she can open a fridge and just start throwing things together to make a really fantastic meal--- no recipe required.

She made us a salmon dinner one night (gosh, a good 12 years ago) that I still think about. It was the best salmon I have ever eaten. Ever.

ever.

She says she doesn't remember what she marinated the salmon in, but I knew pineapple juice was involved. and soy sauce.
I think.

I've been trying, unsuccessfully, to recreate this salmon. Last week I tried again.

It did not go so well.

The Ingredients.
(do NOT make this!)
4 salmon fillets
1 fresh pineapple, skinned and cubed
1 large orange, juiced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat-free are gluten free)
2 cloves garlic, smashed 
1 teaspoon red chile flakes
aluminum foil
an outdoor garbage can

The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker (but not really. don't attempt to make this. please.) In a blender combine the pineapple, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and chile flakes. Blend until you have a creamy sauce (the color will not be pretty. that should have set off some bells and whistles for me...)

Place the salmon fillets into a flat baking dish with high sides (a pyrex or corningware with a lid works best). Pour the sauce blend evenly over the top. Refrigerate your fish in the sauce for two hours or so (or don't. this tastes really bad and you shouldn't be doing any of this anyhow.)

After the time has elapsed, spread a length of foil out on your kitchen countertop. Place the fish inside (lots of the sauce will stay in the dish. this is fine. trust me,  you don't want the sauce.) and crimp the sides of the foil to make a fully enclosed packet. You can stagger-stack all the fish fillets to make one large packet with all of the fish, or you can wrap each fillet individually. 
Your choice.

Put the packet(s) into your crockpot and cook on high for 2 hours, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Taste. 

Then take outside and throw away.

The Verdict.

The "finished" picture up top is taken on the brick outside by the garbage bins. Thankfully I made this the night before the garbage was picked up---
I've made fish in the crockpot dozens and dozens and dozens of times, and have NEVER had this happen. The fish smelled really really fishy (I think it was a weird chemical break-down with the vinegar?) and the sauce tasted just how it looked.

really, really bad.

We had baked potatoes for dinner instead.

still want fish? these are the good ones!




have a great day! have any flops? feel free to share!


Rabu, 13 Juli 2011

New Look, New Site, New Book, but it's still all the same. I promise.


Hey! What happened to A Year of Slow Cooking?

it's here! it's all right here!

{if you are reading this in a reader or through email, none of this is going to make any sense. I urge you to click through to the main site to see what I'm talking about}

Welcome to the great-big-huge-honking site redesign! It's new. It's different. But all of your favorite (and even your not-so-favorite) recipes are all here, and all of your bookmarks will continue to work forever and ever.

I've wanted to tie my different writing endeavors together for quite a while now, and Jennette Fulda, of Make My Blog Pretty figured it out.

Because she is wonderful.


I'm still playing around with the features and learning the ins and outs of the software (I'm a slow learner) but I couldn't be happier. 

I hope you enjoy the new design and the new features in the header. There's also a brand new home page that's pretty cool (it moves! and has random generator thingies!) You'll find links to pretty much anything I could think of that you might want/need, and there's a shiny new downloadable page with free stuff on it.

Just for you.

This website makeover is in honor of my new book: Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life


 

I began writing this book when my oldest child was a baby---over nine years ago. I was running a drop-in childcare center at the local courthouse and my little one came to work with me every day. I was listening to time management seminars on tape while I worked, and kept thinking that there should be a day timer for moms. Not a blank one--- those already existed--- I wanted someone to TELL me what to do.  

 I wanted someone (or thing) to tell me to change the sheets, to disinfect the remote controls, to wipe down the blinds, and to call my mom. I wanted to be reminded to do a breast self-exam and to make dental appointments for me and the family. I wanted someone to walk me through the Winter Holiday months (in a non-preachy or judgmental way).

I wanted encouragement.  And someone to tell me I was doing a good job, even when I was sleep-deprived and had spit-up in my hair.

So I emailed the Franklin Covey company and told them that they should make a planner for moms. I corresponded back and forth with their development department a few times before I was kind of blown off (they sent me a 15% off coupon and a form letter). 

I then did what any good red-blooded American would do. I got mad and made one of my very own.

 This book has had a rather long and difficult pregnancy. It took me 2 years for me to find and secure a literary agent, then another 3 years for her to find a publisher (I've got an awfully nice collection of reject letters).

And then that publisher backed out (due to the economy) after it was ready to go to print.
(years 6 and 7)

and it took another year for me to find a new publisher.
(year 8)

meanwhile, the crockpot thing was taking on a life of it's own, for which I am eternally grateful, because if it wasn't for the crockpot thing, this book wouldn't have come to life.

but it's here. And it's because of you.

Thank you.

I really hope you enjoy it.
reprinted from the Introduction:

"There is just too much to do and nowhere near enough time to do it!" All over the world women are faced with the daily dilemma of trying to cram more and more into an already over-crowded schedule. Who has time for a monthly breast self-exam when there is weekly dusting and vacuuming, daily meal planning, hourly diapers to change, a baby to nurse, and a sibling argument to referee every five to ten minutes? How on earth can moms take the time to exercise and floss when showering daily is a luxury in which many don't indulge?

As a new mom I found myself wishing for some sort of guide that laid everything out. Some sort of system that reminded me to make dental appointments for everyone in the family every six months. A planner to help with the daily, weekly, and monthly chores so nothing was forgotten. A little bird to whisper in my ear that it's time to update the baby book and family scrapbook. A pat on the back and a friendly nudge to take a long bath and take the time to shave my legs properly.

I came up with Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life as a way to help me as I waded through the vast number of "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts" that I came across in parenting, housekeeping, and self-help books and magazines. Totally Together gave me the permission and tools I needed to whip through the daily chores and minutiae and move on to what I really wanted to do: spend time with my family and enjoy living life. My hope is that your Totally Together journal will be of help to you and your family, too.



Have a fantastic day. I hope you enjoy the new site, and thank you deeply for your love and support-- it means so very much. xoxo steph

p.s.: if you find any site snafus/weirdness, please email me at contact@stephanieodea.com

Selasa, 21 Juni 2011

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili Shepherd's Pie

I got an email yesterday from Donna who asked if I had a recipe that used leftover chili and it dawned on me that I hadn't ever posted the vegetarian chili shepherd's pie I included in the second book.
This recipe first has you make some chili, but if you made 3 crockpots-worth of chili for Father's Day weekend, definitely feel free to use that as the filling!

The Ingredients.
serves 6
 
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
don't want to use canned beans? Here's how to cook dried beans.
 
1 (16-ounce) package frozen corn
1 small onion, diced
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups mashed potatoes (leftover, fresh, from a box-- your choice!)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

The Directions.

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Drain and rinse the beans, and add to the crockpot. Add corn and diced onion. Pour in the tomato sauce, and add cumin, salt, pepper. Stir well to combine. Sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly over the top.
Squish the 2 cups of mashed potatoes down on your chili with the back of a wooden spoon. Now dust with the smoked paprika.

Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours, or on high for 3-4. Uncover the slow cooker near serving time and let cook uncovered on high for 20-30 minutes to cook away any collected condensation. The potatoes will brown on top a tiny bit and begin to pull from the sides.

The Verdict.

This is a fantastic was to either use up already-made chili, or clean out your pantry! The touch of smoked paprika at the end is my favorite part, it gives a bit of something special to the mashed potatoes. If you'd like a traditional shepherd's pie (well, sort of traditional. you'd need to use ground lamb to make it really truly traditional), here's a recipe for you.




I'm getting an awful lot of questions about the sponsored posts. No, I will not do only sponsored posts from now on. The timing with the Coca-Cola event and the Philadelphia cream cheese posts was/is unfortunate--and I can see how it would look that way. I spend a lot of time on the internet, and need to compensate myself for the time spent. 

I also need to sell books, or the publishers will not continue to allow me to write for them. It's just how it all works. I'm immensely fortunate I have the opportunity to work from home while being full-time with my children. But I can't ignore the bills or the mortgage, and it isn't fair to me to work for free.

I've put the recap post for Coca-Cola over on the Totally Together website because I needed to put up a cream cheese post here yesterday (only one more of those to go!)--- the most valuable information I learned at the Coke event was that women need to help women.

I’m in the midst of a new site redesign (nothing will change, but it will all be different. don’t freak out.) and would like to start an everyone-is-included blog/website roll. If you have a site that you’d like included and you’re a REAL person and not some spam monster, please email me at contact@stephanieodea.com (I’m the contact!) with the subject line: blogroll and I’ll get you on the list. This roll will constantly be updated—it’s time we reach out and support one another.

Thank you for being so wonderful. Have a fantastic day.