Slow Cooker Apple Spice Cake

Just because you're short on space doesn't mean you can't cook dessert =)

This is an easy mix and forget cake recipe that passed the toughest food critics I know- my kids.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour 

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

 

Directions:

Line your crock pot with parchment paper.

 In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the applesauce and vanilla (the mixture will look curdled). Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated.

Transfer the batter to the prepared slow cooker and cook, covered, until set and a wooden prick inserted in the center comes out clean, 2 to 2 1/2 hours on high.

Holding the parchment, transfer the cake to a rack and let cool for at least 15 minutes.

Frost with your favorite frosting or top with vanilla ice cream and serve warm.

Beans and Rice

Almost done with the series, and I'm finally getting around to a recipe.  This one is so easy and good for you!

I cook my own beans, because I like to mix different ones together.  But you can buy (and thoroughly rinse!) whatever canned beans you prefer.  Just be careful, because canned kidney beans often contain added sugar.

You will need:

1/4 c dried black beans

1/4 c dried pinto beans

1/4 c dried kidney beans

1/4 c dried great northern beans

1 c brown rice

1 jar of your favorite salsa (again, watch the ingredients!)

Optional toppings:

shredded cheese

sour cream

diced avocado

diced green onions

diced jalapenos

It's best to soak your beans overnight before you cook them.  But, if you're like me, you'll forget about it and wait until the last minute to start cooking the beans.

Bring the beans to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for a couple hours until the beans are tender.  Make sure you keep an eye on them, or you'll end up cooking all the water out and burning your beans (ahem).  Or, if you remembered to soak them overnight, just put them in the crock pot with enough water to cover them a couple inches cook on low all day or on high for about 4-5 hrs.

While the beans are cooking, cook your rice.

Once the beans are done, drain them.  Mix them in with the rice and add the salsa.  You can stop here and serve the beans and rice, or you can put it in a pan, cover with cheese and bake in a 350* oven until the cheese is bubbly.  I'm skipping the oven part this time, because I don't need to heat up the camper ;)

When serving, let everyone top with their favorite toppings.  

Cooking things in the crock pot is a great way to go in the summer.  It allows you to put supper in in the morning before you get busy with everything and it doesn't add a lot of heat to the house.  You can even set it outside to cook if you're short on space =)

Getting Organized

As I'm slowly unpacking my things and deciding what we actually need in the camper, I'm realizing I have too much stuff.  There, I said it.  I have too much stuff.

l

The problem arises on what to do about the food I had in my nice big walk- in pantry.  Most of the things can be transferred into smaller containers (bulk beans, rice, quinoa...).  And the canned goods can go in the storage areas under the beds.  But that still leaves a lot of things that need to find a home.  And not just any home, but one that makes it easier to get to and use those items =)

So my coffee maker is on the counter and all the necessary items for it are in the cupboard directly above it.  My dishes are in the cabinet above the table, because that's where they will be used daily.  Larger items like my crockpot and an electric skillet that I found are in a drawer under the fridge.  In the other drawer under the fridge are my pots and pans (or the ones that came with the camper because they're smaller!) and the baking pans (again the smaller size) are in the oven.

Besides the food that is in pest proof containers, most of the food we use on a regular basis is stored in the cabinets above the sink area.  I also have some of the larger items in the cabinet above the sofa (right next to the stove).

I'm going to have to be a lot pickier about what gets stored in the fridge.  It's not much larger than a dorm size fridge.  With trips into town being limited, I won't be able to buy as much fresh produce- good thing my in- laws have a garden I can raid ;)  And I'll be getting some container gardens growing soon.  Most of our produce will be frozen since we have an additional freezer in the tent.

After working on the organization (trying to fit 6 people into a camper with their clothes and some toys!) for almost a week, I think I'm almost done.  I know there's a couple more boxes with kitchen stuff in them (I haven't found my french press yet!) but I do know I have the bulk of that I need organized and put away.

Maybe next week I'll actually get around to posting about how the cooking has been going lol!

How do you organize those hard to organize spaces?

Welcome Home

It's been a crazy week for me.  Why?  Well, because this is the week that we packed everything up and moved.

But not your ordinary move.  We didn't move into a house.  We moved into a camper.  All our things are in a storage container (except for what we use daily ;)).

This is all part of our plan to downsize and simplify.  We'll eventually build a house.  

My challenge over the next few Fridays is to show you how I manage to feed a family of 6 in roughly 300 square feet of living space.  So you'll probably get lots of crockpot recipes...  Maybe some grilling...  Definitely lots of sandwiches...  

Because it's not just that my kitchen is smaller, but so is my stove and my refrigerator.  And until we get the outdoor kitchen set up, I don't have a lot of space to store food or to cook.  And I have to go back to hand washing dishes.

But on the bright side, I have some million dollar views of the mountains...

Sunset after a thunderstorm

It'll be an adjustment, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.  If nothing else, the kids will have great stories to tell.  

"Remember that summer that mom and dad thought we could live in a camper..."