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 

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.