Brownies...in the Crockpot!

I have a gigantic folder of recipe bookmarks in Mozilla, and they're all broken out into various categories.  One of those categories is desserts in the crockpot, because if you didn't know this already, you can totally bake in your crockpot.  A recipe I've had saved for a while is from Stephanie's blog "A Year of Slow Cooking", and she made brownies using mugs placed in her crockpot.  Now, it takes about 2 hours and there's really nothing different about how they come out, so I have no problem admitting that there's not a huge reason for doing it this way other than it's something different to try.

I used a 10-ounce bag of Betty Crocker mix, so I was able to split the batter between two coffee mugs.  Definitely use the mugs that don't have any sentimental value, just in case something breaks.  I only had one in my cabinet so I had to go searching in our boxes of dishes in the basement.  This really was easy to do, and I think I would do this again if only because you can throw them in the crockpot before dinner instead of trying to schedule them into your cooking.  It's really difficult for them to burn too.  I think I looked at them twice in the first 45 minutes, and then I got distracted and didn't look again until I saw the clock said they had been in there for 2 hours.  Nothing was burning though, so I was confident they came out well (and they did!).

Grocery shopping has been an unfamiliar activity the past few weeks, so we didn't have any vanilla ice cream or whipped cream to serve with it.  I poured some cold milk into my brownie mug and Hubby added some low-fat Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream -- both were fantastic!  We ate ours as dessert while we watched the second disc of "Weeds" season 6.  It was pure bliss.


Brownie in a Mug Crockpot Recipe
originally from A Year of Slow Cooking
makes 2-4 brownie mugs

2 - 4 coffee mugs
Your preferred brownie mix and any associated ingredients
Cooking spray

Prepare the brownie mix according to the package directions.  Coat each much with non-stick spray and split the batter between the mugs.  Since we used a small pouch of mix and two mugs, each one was a little more than half full.

Put the mugs in the crockpot.  Cover and cook on High for 1.5 - 3 hours.

Our brownies were done at the 2-hour mark.  They were probably done a little sooner than that but I had forgotten to check them.  You'll know they're done when they've risen, the edges pull from the sides, and a knife comes out clean.

This next part is super important because it will go against your instincts -- DO NOT TOUCH THE MUGS.  They are going to be extremely hot.  Turn the crockpot off and leave them sit for a while with the lid off until they're cool to the touch.  I used a pot holder to take each of our mugs out and sit them on the wire cookie rack to cool off.

When all mugs are cool enough to be handled, top with your desired extras and dig in.

Guaranteed to Class Up Your Day!

I  just had to share these!  Two weeks ago, Hubby and I were in the SouthSide Works and had some time to kill before our dinner reservation, so we went into Sur La Table to browse.  I had never been in this store before but had been interested for a long time.  All I can say is it was a good thing that we only had 25 minutes, because I could have spent all night there and spent a whole lot of cash.  I ended up buying a bottle of Peppermint Extract (to be used soon!) and a new pair of dish gloves made by Gloveables, Inc.

When we moved into the new house in October we lost the convenience of the dishwasher as well.  The one in our rented townhouse was awful -- horribly loud and about 30 years old, but had I known that we'd end up buying a house without one, I would have been much more appreciative.  I've been wearing the standard yellow rubber gloves to wash dishes because the hot water and soap were destroying my hands, but I hated them because they were always too big and let's face it, not very snazzy.  I knew they made "fancy" dish gloves but hadn't had a chance to search the web for them, so I was very excited when I saw these at Sur La Table.  For $15.95 you have something "guaranteed to class up your day" -- I don't know about you, but I haven't found anywhere else to get that kind of assurance for less than the cost of a week's worth of Starbucks.  It was really difficult to pick a pair from their selection, but if you visit the manufacturer's website they have many more options so I was better off with the limited choice.

These gloves are great -- not only are they adorable and fabulous, but they're made for girly hands so they fit snug and comfortable, and I can actually hold dishes as I wash them.  Plus the tops of the gloves come up higher than normal ones, so it keeps the water from leaking in as it splashes in the sink (one of my main pet peeves with the regular gloves).  I highly recommend them!

Roasted Sweet Potato Soup

In early December my sister-in-law T gave birth to our very first nephew, J!  We have two older nieces, K and L, but this was the first boy.  We also have another nephew, N, who was born in late February.  About two weeks after J was born I was on vacation from work right before Christmas, so I drove out to my sister-in-law's house to spend the day with her, my niece L, and my new nephew J.  I also made them dinner and L helped me decorate a cake to within an inch of its life (she is 3 1/2 -- see the pictures below just for entertainment purposes, you can kind of make out some Christmas trees).

Anyhow, when I got to T's house we had lunch, which included Roasted Sweet Potato Soup that T's sister-in-law on her husband's side had made for her.  It was amazing.  We ate it with some pepper mixed in, which gave it a very mild kick to the sweetness.  This soup is very flavorful and reheats well.  We froze half the batch and I took it to work for lunch for about a week or so.  It's definitely filling with all the vegetables involved, and because it's water-based (as opposed to heavy cream) the calorie count is significantly lower.  I'm sure you could mix in some yogurt or cream if you wanted to thicken it up, but I don't think it needed it.


Roasted Sweet Potato Soup
modified from a recipe in Real Simple magazine
makes ~ 6 cups 

3 lb sweet potatoes / yams
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 apple - peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 stalk of celery, sliced
1 onion, diced
6 cups water
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup brown sugar (or to taste)

Prick potatoes with a fork and place on a baking sheet covered with foil.  Roast potatoes at 375 degrees for one hour, or until tender.  Remove from the oven, then peel and cut into large pieces or scoop out the flesh.

Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add apple, celery, and onion.  Saute until tender (about 10-12 minutes), stirring occasionally.  Add water, salt, pepper, and sweet potatoes and bring to a boil.  Then simmer about 10 minutes.
*For this step I ended up putting the water and other ingredients into a separate big pot and dumped in the sauteed ingredients.  I did this so that I could use the immersion blender more easily.

Puree the soup carefully in small batches using a regular blender, or use an immersion blender directly in the pot.  Mix in the brown sugar.

Season individual servings with salt and pepper to taste.