Slow Cooker Apple Cranberry Dump Cake

Ok, Ok, OK, I know, I have totally fallen off the face of the earth. Not really. Just my blog..I am still baking and cooking all the time. I just have not written at all... Last year I started with a bang and just keep blasting through, well, at least towards the end of the year. Total peter out...

I really think I need to make writing my blog a New years resolution..

There are still tons of new recipes for me to try out. And at Christmas time, I added new cookie recipes to my repertoire. Sorry, one day, I will post them..In the new year, we have not started our hard core diet yet. There is no new junk food in the house. We are eating more clean and not buying Fried chicken from the local grocery store as convenience. (IT does taste great) I made my first turkey over the weekend. My Husband was quite surprised that I had never made a full fledged turkey. I had to call my Mom and sister for some pointers. One of our vendors gave me a 20 lb bird for Christmas. Shoved it in the freezer and waited until January. This baby took about a day and a half of thawing out. Hung out in the kitchen sink. On Sunday, I removed the insides, basted with butter and spiced it up. 4 and 1/2 hours later, we had turkey. I let it sit for about one hour. Covered it with foil. Then I started carving. That bird was still hot... Carving is not something I am very good at.. Those skills need LOADS of work.

Probably should have covered it with foil sooner.

So while the turkey was cooking, I decided to whip up a tasty dessert using my crock pot. I am trying to use my appliances. I like the crock pot, but I rarely use it.. I did make a ham in it last week.. Tasted fantastic.

Back to my dessert..  Apples have on hand. Still drinking my cranberry smoothies, fresh cranberries on hand, and who does not have a yellow cake mix on hand....This lovely dessert was quick to whip up, the house smell simply amazing.. Between a turkey and baking apples, who would not want to be a my house on a Sunday afternoon.

This was delicious, BUT it could have used some Vanilla Ice Cream

Slow Cooker Apple Cranberry Dump Cake
modified from Cooking.com
Ingredients
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup fresh Cranberries (fresh or frozen)
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/2 of a Yellow Cake mix. (use the other half another day)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
4 tablespoons Butter, melted
1/2 chopped Pecans

Directions
Lightly spray or grease the slow cooker insert. Add all 4 apples and the 1 cup of cranberries to the insert. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the fruit. Evenly pour your cake mix over the apples and cranberries. Gently sprinkle the brown sugar over the cake mix. Slowly pour the melted butter over the brown sugar. Drop in your chopped pecans all over the mixture. Add a dash of cinnamon all over the top.

Put lid on crock. set on high setting for 2 1/2 hours. When completed, gently remove lid. Wipe off lid.

Remember to peel your apples before you start chopping.

It is loads more work this way to peel

I made this for my Husband and I with some left overs.
You can always double the recipe for a larger group

Photo skills are not doing this dessert justice.
I liked eating it the next day cold.
Warm or Cold, It was Husband Approved

Cranberry Smoothie

The diet is in another state...

I try to eat healthy everyday, but with the holidays come chocolate and sugar and butter and salt and and and ... I am still exercising, but I am barely maintaining. It is a huge losing battle. Over sized sweaters are becoming my new friend. They can camouflage anything. 

Since I love fresh cranberries, I decided to make a winter drink. It is a great way to get some protein and the benefits of cranberries. They are loaded with anti-oxidants. I really just love the fresh taste of them. I also made a loaf of cranberry nut bread. Should have posted that. It was just delicious.

The beautiful purple swirls of flavor

Cranberry Smoothie

designed by ME

Ingredients

1 cup Almond Milk

1 tablespoon of Vanilla Protein Powder

1 cup or so grated Cranberries

1 squirt of Agave Nectar

ICE

Directions

Place Almond milk and Protein powder in the high power blender. Mix. Add remaining ingredients and mix until blended. Because my Almond milk was sweetened, I needed less agave nectar. Suite to taste.

Raw goodness

How much easier can this get

This was a full glass of delicious flavors

If you wanted to strain, you could, BUT why..

Cranberry Oatmeal Smoothie

I got ALL of my fruit servings in ONE drink today. Four fruits in 1 drink. WOW. This smoothie was not a slammer, it was a long drink. It was a meal. I loved it. It was very filling but not heavy. DOES that make any sense???

In February, I am going to focus a bit more on more healthy and lower calorie smoothies. (Not that the Oreo smoothie was not amazing) As January has gone on, I have been shifting gears. I want to focus on cleanse and types of meal replacements. Cleaner eating.

I have also been working on different recipes. I am trying to regularly incorporate sweet potatoes into our diet. They are loaded with so many good things and NOT loaded in calories.(we are not putting butter on them) Just to keep this blog happy, I still have some new cookie and bar recipes. That whole deal has not gone out the window. Just like smoothies, there are tons of cookie recipes for me to sample....

Cranberry Oatmeal Smoothie
slightly adapted from somethewiser.com
Ingredients
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup of Greek yogurt
1 frozen ripe banana
1 apple, cored and quartered
1/2 cup whole cranberries
4 tablespoons rolled oats
4-6 whole pitted dates
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
Place all ingredients in a Vitamix or high powered blender in the order listed. Start slowly and increase power until smooth.

I let this smoothie sit overnight, you can drink immediately if you want.

Simple ingredients. 

The dates last a long time and add huge flavor to smoothies

These cranberries were from Christmas. 

There were one or two that were ugly, but they have a long shelf life

This delicious monster was AMAZING.

Forget the Fast Food Calorie Laden Nightmares, make your own.

This drink is not fattening.