Meatless Monday: ChatterBox & House Paty (5/23/16)

Welcome welcome ALL my readers (all....5 of them?) to my latest addition to my lifestyle blog.
Meatless Monday!
 So, I have made a vow to get healthier.  In order to do that, I've decided to change a few things about my lifestyle.  Yes, I had decided to do this for a number of reasons: To introduce my boy to veggies and tasty meatless alternatives, to become healthier myself, to reduce the carbon footprint I leave behind.
Thanks to Houseparty.com and their non-party Chatterbox, I had been introduced to an armload of options for meat alternatives.   As well as given a few of those alternative to try!

Right now, I'm in running for a few things.   
I'm excited to try these out (AND party with them) simply because I've dedicated myself to a healthier lifestyle SO much I've dedicated Mondays to being Meatless.  This would simply be another #WayToVegParty 

Wordless Wednesday: 4/30/14

This week's Wordless Wednesday features well...ME!As you may (or may not) know, I'm with child and due in July.  If you're curious about my experiences with my first baby you can read about them at My Mommy Blog

3D Ultrasound

Changing table

Crib

Wordless Wednesday: Trip to Ft. Collins, CO Oct. 11-13, 2013 (10/16/13)

Welcome to my first ever Wordless Wednesday.

In order to commemorate this first installment, I shall show you my weekend at Ft. Collins, CO to visit my brother Colin and see HIS performance in Les Miz.

Grantaire and Enjorlas: Buddies to the end!

The show drink: The Drink With Me

Valjean (left) and Fantine (right)

Madame and M. Thenardier

Eponine

While we were out there, we also went on the Budweiser Plant tour.  And yes, we took Colin along too.  Here are some photos.

Slow Cooker Sundays:Oct 6th, 2013 (Cherry Cola Chocolate Cake)

So! Found a new linky from Anderson's Angels.  Welcome to Crock Pot Thursdays!! Okay well actually Slow Cooker Sudays is what I call it. Simply because it's easier to try crock pot stuff on Sundays.

Cherry Cola Chocolate Cake

What you need:

1/2 cup cola
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Topping

1 1/4 cups cola
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup dark rum - I did not use this
Vanilla Ice Cream and cherries - optional

What you do:

In a saucepan, bring cola and dried cherries to a boil. Remove from heat; let stand for 30 minutes. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, chocolate, baking powder and salt. Combine milk, butter and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cherry mixture. Pour into crockpot coated with cooking spray.

For topping, in a saucepan, combine cola and sugars. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate and rum. Pour over cherry mixture; do not stir.

Cover and cook on high for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until set. Turn off heat; let stand, covered for 30 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream and cherries if you want.

ENJOY!!

So this was my first ever attempt at making a cake in the slow-cooker. I would gladly try this again.  However, there are some things I wouldn't actually do again.  First off, I had (mistakenly) thought that I had run out of flour.  The cake turned out runny due to the uneven ratio of dry/wet.  I also don't think I allowed the glaze/sweet sauce to reduce like it should have.  It ended up too sweet and more like a bread pudding. 
All in all however, I think that if I did it again I would.  I'd make sure to keep the ratio like it's supposed to be and make sure the sauces reduce.    It was still good.