05/14/13

crockpot berry cobbler

One of my favorite things to watch is Hunter play and interact with his daddy. He sure loves him. One more recent thing that just makes my heart smile is seeing this.

Jacob will sit down on the ground with a book, and Hunter walks on over and sits down right next to him or on his lap. He’s snuggled up close soaking in the book, and just being super sweet with his daddy.

Love these two.

When Jacob gets home from work, he tries to get as much play time in with Hunter. This usually frees me up to get dinner started or just have some Heather time. But on those days I plan ahead and start dinner in the crockpot I don’t have to be in the kitchen, I can sit on the couch right next to them and just watch.

While today’s recipe isn’t a crockpot dinner recipe, it is made in the crockpot, but for an after dinner treat of berry cobbler!

I’m not going to lie, pictures of the cobbler cooking in the crockpot are not flattering to this dish. I’ll show you. Once it is done:

Once you have taken most of the cobbler out:

Good thing I’m basing this recipe on taste, not looks! It was delicious, especially serves over nice cold vanilla ice cream.

I got to thinking about why you would use a crockpot for this recipe. The prep time takes just as long as oven made cobbler and it takes longer to cook. Well, it was a hot day when I made it, and not having to turn the oven on was glorious. Summertime dessert making in the crockpot is the way to go.

Crockpot Berry Cobbler

adapted from here

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided

2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup natural cane sugar, divided

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp canola oil

1/8 tsp sea salt

2.5 cups fresh or frozen raspberries, thawed (or any berry)

1.5 cups fresh or frozen blackberries, thawed (or any berry

Vanilla ice cream, optional

Directions

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and cinnamon. Combine the egg, milk and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened (batter will be thick). Spread batter evenly into a 5-qt. slow cooker coated with oil.

In a large bowl, combine the salt and remaining flour and sugar; add berries and toss to coat. Spread over batter.

Cover and cook on high for 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until a toothpick inserted into cobbler comes out clean. Serve with ice cream if desired.

I may have skipped ahead in my 50 crockpot recipe list to share, but I’ll get back on track with the next one! This one was pretty tasty and I just had to share.

Have you ever cooked dessert in a crockpot? If so, what did you make? Do you love watching a dad with his kiddo?

Tomorrow I’m sharing PLANK workouts. If you have one you want me to include, please email it to me (heather.englund@comcast.net) along with the link for where to find it. Thanks!

Heather

05/13/13

make it monday: DIY fancy door or window molding

Hello and happy Make it Monday! My little man Hunter woke up sick early this morning , so instead of getting this post out a bit earlier, mommy duty called and it is here now, during afternoon nap time.

I hope you all got to check out my Secret Recipe Club reveal of bircher muesli – not your average overnight oatmeal. It’s an awesome and quite refreshing summer time make ahead breakfast.

Now, on to Make it Monday!

If you are anything like me, you’ll want to print this out and tell your husband to do this in your house. But, if your husband is anything like mine, he won’t want to see it and will just figure it out on his own. It’s like asking for directions, men just won’t. Maybe he’ll use this tutorial and the pictures as inspiration???

Recently Jacob installed a new to us, old back door in our house.

Along with the door install, he added some fancy shmansy molding above the door. The door was already really cool, then the molding took it over the top and made it fit in even better in our old house.

Here’s how you (or your man) can do this, in just 10 easy (or challenging, depending on skill level) steps!!

Gather your supplies.

exacto knife
pry bar
liquid nails
nails and screws
electric drill
hammer
miter saw (10″ blade)
finishing nails
nail set
5″ x 1″ wide molding (width based on need)
decorative molding (width based on need)
caulking
paint

Step 1) Take an exacto knife and run it along the paint between the existing molding and the wall.

Step 2) Isolate where the existing nails are and pry the molding off of all 3 parts around the door (top and both sides). Make sure you are careful to not break the existing side molding, as this will get put back on.

Step 3) Cut a straight horizontal line across both pieces of side molding, at the top (if it is angled like ours was). Run your liquid nails along the back of the molding. Hold it there to allow the liquid nails to set. Use your finishing nails and hammer them into the existing door. Use the nail set to set the nails into the molding. Repeat on with other piece, so both side molding pieces are reattached.

Step 4) Measure the width between both outer pieces of side molding. Cut your large 5″ x 1″ top molding piece, allowing 2 extra inches (which will be 1 inch on each side).

Step 5) Run your liquid nails along the back of the molding. Put it in place above the door. Make sure it is evenly spaced. Hold it there to allow the liquid nails to set. Use your finishing nails and hammer them into the existing door. Use the nail set to set the nails into the molding.

Step 6) Take 3 small pieces of remaining top molding and drill screws them into the wall above the molding (at both sides and center). Make sure the pieces are not taller than your decorative molding.

Step 7) Measure by the base and cut your decorative molding at a 45 degree angle (using the miter saw), the same length as your top molding. Use liquid nails to put it onto the small pieces of molding. Have someone hold it (this is where I got to help!!) while you very delicately hammer in finishing nails and finish it with the nail set.

Step 8) Measure by the base and cut two small side pieces of decorative molding, cut at a 45 degree angle. Attach with liquid nails.

Step 9) Caulk around all of the molding, so there are no gaps showing to make it look like it is one big piece.

Step 10) Once the caulking is dry, paint all of the molding.

And that is it! 10 steps to an awesomely improved door or window!

Right next to the back door is the dining room. The two windows in that room have the same molding too, which Jacob did a couple months ago.

It made such an improvement to the very blah looking dining room.

Want to include your Make it Monday post? Add it below! To read more about Make it Monday, or to get the image and info click here .

What did you do over the weekend? Any fun projects or crafts?

Heather

05/12/13

bircher muesli

Happy Mother’s Day! Hope you all got to spend time with your mamas. As a gift, Jacob built me 3 raised garden boxes (2 of them pictured below).

I’m excited to get them into the ground and filled with dirt. Also, I have kale and cucumber beginning to sprout in my DIY egg shell seed starters! Hooray for 2 year old seeds to still grow!

Today is another Secret Recipe Club reveal day. This month was super fun for me. I was given Jennifer of Peanut Butter and Peppers! Jennifer is a blogger I’ve known since before Hunter was born. She even guest posted for me once he arrived. Jennifer loves food and shares so many yummy looking meals, snacks and treats. I seriously just want her to come and cook for me. Like every day. Personal chef????

Okay, it will probably be a no, so I guess I’ll make some food for myself. The recipe I chose as a no brainer – bircher muesli – AKA overnight oats!

With the warmer temps around here I’ve been eating less and less hot oats - and that makes me sad!

Soaking your raw rolled oats in liquid (yogurt, milk and juice) plumps them up and ‘cooks’ your oatmeal for you. No hot stove required.

Jennifer’s bircher muesli is a bit different than previous overnight oats I’ve made. Normally I go with banana and peanut butter, but here, the flavors are bright and fresh. OJ and pineapple juice + fresh shredded apple set the tone with natural sweetness. I went ahead and amped up the fruity flavors with a fig and orange zest Chobani bite.

Bircher Muesli
Serves 1

Adapted from peanut butter and peppers

Ingredients

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 small apple, grated

1/4 cup juice (combo orange and pineapple juice)

3.5 oz fig and orange zest chobani bite (or plain yogurt)

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tbsp raisins

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Add all of the ingredients in a bowl; mix well. Cover and refrigerated for at least 8 hours.

And it’s all ready and waiting for you in the morning! So so yummy, thanks Jennifer!

Emily at Chobani was so sweet and sent me all four Chobani bite flavors to try. And try I have. Here are my order of favorites: raspberry with dark chocolate chunks, coffee with dark chocolate chunks, caramel with pineapple chunks, and lastly fig with orange zest. Obviously, I love me some chocolate!

Last thing before I head to bed - tomorrow (Monday) is Make It Monday! What are you sharing? Read more about it on the Make It Monday page – I hope you’ll join in!

What is your favorite warm weather breakfast? Do you make breakfast the night before often? How was your Mother’s Day?

Until next time,

Heather

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