Slow Cooker Apple Sauce

 

We went apple picking, and ended up with more apple than we know what to do with. So I felt inspired to do something I've never done before- Apple Sauce.

 

I was surprised as to how easy it was to make it. Truett was my little helper, washing, (eating) and slicing the apples.

As a homeschooling mom, of a child with sensory problems, this was a dream project. He got to use all of his senses, while feeling like a master chef. He got to touch (washing and slicing), see, smell (my house smelled like an harvest festival), hear (he had to follow my instructions) and taste (which he did at every step of the process).

 

 

Ingredients:
8 medium apples  or 20 small apples (enough to fill the crock pot)

1 strips of lemon peel

1 tsp fresh lemon juice
3 inch cinnamon stick

5 tsp light brown sugar (unpacked)

 

1. Peel, core and chop the apples.

2. Add the sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice and cinnamon stick.

3. Set crock pot to low and cook for 6 hours. Stir apples occasionally, apples will slowly become a delicious applesauce. Remove cinnamon stick . As you stir, the apples will become more sauce like.

4. Keep refrigerated up to 3 weeks or can and process as you would other recipes.

Note: I doubled the recipe and added a teaspoon of Vanilla extract.

 

 

Slow Cooker Bread Pudding

Slow cooker can make more than just soup, who knew!

 I have just recently rediscover my slow cooker. I got it as a wedding shower gift seven years ago, and other than chili, I never really used it for anything until, 3 years ago I found this wonderful recipe book, "Goose Berry Patch- Super Fast Slow Cooking". I used quite a bit for a couple of months when I got the book, and it slowly let it get forgotten. But our life is so crazy and busy that I've decided to make a point of learning more ways to use.

It is a wonderful feeling to get home and have dinner waiting for you. And since no one else in my house cooks, the slow cooker is the only way I get to experience that. 

One of my favorite slow cooker recipes is the Country Bread Pudding.

 

 

You will need 

Non sticky spray

3/4 cup of brown sugar

6 slices of cinnamon raisin bread, buttered and cubed

4 large eggs 

1 quart of milk 

1 1/2 tea spoons of vanilla extract. 

Spray the whole slow cooker with the non sticky spray and sprinkle the brown sugar on the bottom of it. Place the cubed and buttered bread ( I usually cube it and use spray butter. its just less messy that way) on top of it.DO NOT MIX IT! Is very important that you don't disturb the sugar on the bottom. Beat the eggs, milk and vanilla extract together and pour it over the bread. Remember not to mix it just pour. Set it up for four hours on high. Enjoy!

I love how easy it is to make it, and it is always a crowd pleaser. 

Ps.: if you double the recipe, you don't need to double the time. Just add two hours instead. 

Any one with variations of this recipe or other slow cooker desserts?  

Pirate Birthday Cake & Food

Here is how I made The Pirate treasure chest cake for Truett's birthday party.

The morning of the party I realized I was going to have a lot more people than I expected over, so my husband ran to the store and got a cake with blue flowers on it.

I pressed the blue flowers to make a sea and used brown sugar to make sand. I place my cake on top of the store’s cake as if they were one big cake. I got a lot of complements on cake and no one seemed to notice that they didn’t go together. 

And the birthday boy getting ready to blow the candles. For more Pirate Party ideas check out my other posts.

For the rest of the food, I got pretty cheap and creative, all the while keeping up with the pirate theme.

I found these cut flags on the Disney Junior website. They suggest you put it on oranges, but I put them on hot dogs and labeled them as "Pirate Ships"

I also had pirate labels for all the other food. Sorry I forgot to get pictures with the actual food on the containers (which I got for $1 each at target). Here is what I had:

Pirate Catch of the Day- Gold Fish

Planks- Crackers

Cannon Balls- Grapes

Pirate Rope- Twizzlers

Pirate Snacks- "Jake and the Neverland Pirate" fruit snacks

I found these little labeless drinks at the dollar store, and they were perfect for the Sea Water labels.

The labels were not mine, I got them from "How to Nest for Less". They have all sorts of cute free printables and lots of ideas on affordable ways to make events memorable.

Sweet pumpkin seeds

Every year I make some spicy seasoned pumpkin seeds for my husband. But this year I wanted to make something the kids would eat as well.


So I decided to make it sweet! I had some popcorn seasoning that was kettle corn flavored, so I figured why not?
I ran out of pan spray, so I used vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the Cooking sheet. Then I dumped the already washed and dry seeds on the cooking sheet. I put a little more oil on top of the seeds and went nuts on the kettle corn seasoning. Put it on the oven at 350F and just waited for the seeds to turn brown.
I have to say, I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but its really good, I highly recommend.

What do you guys think? I would love hear if you try it, or f you put a different twist on it. So let me know.

Keeping it crafty,

Nessy