If you are looking for an amazing cake – you must try this cake. It’s like eating a giant peanut butter cup! It’s not too difficult to make. My husband said that this may be the cake he requests for his birthday cake. And a friend that doesn’t like peanut butter loved this cake! If you make it – let me know what you think!

Chocolate Cake

• 1 Chocolate Cake Mix (any brand box mix)
• 1 small box chocolate pudding
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

(Please not you do not need to use any of the ingredients listed on the back of the cake box.)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a spring form cake pan. (The kind you use for cheesecakes.)
2. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. This batter will be very thick.
3. Pour into the greased spring form pan.
4. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes in a greased spring form pan. (Test it after about 35 minutes so you don’t burn it.) The tooth pick may not come out clean because this cake is so moist, but the center should bounce back if you touch it.
5. Let it cool and remove the spring form from around the cake.

Peanut Butter Frosting Recipe:

• 1/2  cup of softened butter
• 1/2  cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon of milk

Make sure the cake is completely cooled before frosting it.

1. In a small bowl combine all the ingredients. (You may not need all the milk – it just depends on the consistency you like.)
2. Mix well and spread on your cake and enjoy!

 

Here’s the next set of Slow Cooker Freezer Recipes. In case you missed it check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of my 1 Hour + 1 Mess = Crock Pot recipes. 

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This set of recipes includes: Crock Pot Ribs, Simple Beef Stew, Comfort Chicken, Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches, and Crock Pot Chicken RanchTacos.

What I love about these meals is that so many of the ingredients are items I already have in my pantry.

Shopping List
Printable Shopping List

Meat

• About 2 lbs of ribs
• 2 lbs cubed stew meat
• 3 1/2  lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 pounds pork shoulder roast

Produce

• 4-6 large potatoes
• 2 Bags of baby carrots
• 2 Large white onions
• 4 garlic cloves
• lettuce
• tomatoes

Grocery

• brown sugar
• garlic powder
• ¾ cup Coke (I saved a 2 liter with flat soda to use)
• honey
• BBQ sauce
• Better Than Bouillon (Like beef bouillon but it has a richer flavor.)
• Chicken bouillon
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• apple cider vinegar
• chicken broth (or you could just make your own with chicken bouillon)
• chili powder
• yellow mustard
• Worcestershire sauce
• 8 hamburger buns
• 1 Packet taco seasoning
• 1 Packet Ranch Dressing powder
• Ranch dressing
• taco shells (soft or hard)
• shredded cheese
• salsa
• sour cream
• salt
• pepper

 

First take 5 large freezer bags. Grab a Sharpie and label each bag. You should also write the instructions on the bag.

Go through and add all the meats to the bags. Then go back and add the rest of the ingredients. (You can fill them up in any order, this was just my preference.) Freeze the food and make sure the food will fit in your crock pot when it’s frozen. Take them out in the morning and cook according to the instructions.

Click here for the printable version of the recipes.

Crock Pot Chicken Ranch Tacos (Pictured Above)

• 1 -1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 Packet taco seasoning
• 1 Packet Ranch Dressing powder
• 1/4 cup Ranch dressing (do not add to freezer bag)

Write on the bag:

Dump in the slow cooker and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-7 hours. When the meat is cooked, shred and add back to the crock pot with 1/4 cup ranch dressing until heated.

Instructions:

Dump all the ingredients except for the Ranch dressing into the freezer bag. On the day you serve the meal you will need the additional items:

• taco shells (soft or hard)
• lettuce
• cheese
• tomatoes
• salsa
• sour cream

Continue Reading…

 

I love granola – but I hate to pay so much for it at the store. We have really been trying to cut down on sugar and processed foods. For me to eat yogurt – I need it to have granola. So after playing around with some recipes I came up with this. It will make about 4 cups – but I may need to double it next time since my kids love it! I ate it on my Greek yogurt, my 2 year old daughter ate it with milk (like cereal) and my 8 year old will not stay out of the container. I had to give him a bowl of it because he was just spooning it into his mouth.

If you have been looking for a simple recipe for granola that your whole family will love – you must try out this recipe.

Homemade Granola

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1/8 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3 Tablespoons of honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a small cookie sheet.
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, and pecans (if adding nuts).
3. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, honey, and vanilla.
4. Pour the liquid into the oats and combine well.
5. Spread onto the cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes. Check it after 10 minutes and stir it so it evenly browns. You should also check it again in about 5 minutes. You want it to brown – not burn.

I will be making this more often. It’s just sweet enough but not a lot of sugar. You can add other stuff to it. If you add dried fruit, add if after you bake it.

What do you think? Do you think it’s better to make your own granola? How else do you eat your granola?

Im busy, so I don’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen making gourmet meals. We like simple, easy,flavorful meals. So I was happy with this combination I tried. It was easy and it had a good flavor.

Crock Pot Beef Stew (Super Easy)

• 2 lbs cubed stew meat
• 2-3 large potatoes, cut into large chunks
• Bag of baby carrots
• 1/2 a white onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 3 cups water
• 3 teaspoons of Better Than Bouillon (Like beef bouillon but it has a richer flavor.)
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients and cook on high for 6-7 hours or low for 7-8 hours.

Pin this recipe. Leave me a link so I can follow you on Pinterest.

Have you seen my 20 crock pot dinner recipes. You make 5 in an hour and you have meals for the week! It saves me so much time!

Im going to work on some more freezer crock pot meals. So make sure you subscribe to my email newsletter so you know when the next  recipes are available.

I love making rolls in my bread machine. This has become our favorite recipe to use. It’s the perfect rolls to make with Easter dinner.

Buttery Bread Machine Rolls Recipe

Enjoy! Let me know if you like them.

This is a great pie for Easter. It is made in a 9X13 pan so there is plenty to go around! It’s really easy and everyone will be very impressed!

Pin this recipe on Pinterest.

Pudding Layer Pie

Crust

• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1-cup flour
• ½ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.
Combine the ingredients and press into a 9X13-baking pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool.

Layer 1:

• ¾ large container of cool whip (you can add more or less if you would like)
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Combine ingredients and pour on top of crust.

Layer 2

• Prepare 2 large boxes of chocolate pudding according to the package pie directions. Pour on top of cream cheese mixture.

Layer 3

• Spread remainder of cool whip on top of pudding. Cool for a few hours and serve.

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This is part of Part 4 – 1 Hour + 1 Mess = 5 Crock Pot Dinners. It’s so easy and so delicious. It’s a meal you can throw in your slow cooker and you know you will have a delicious dinner!

Southwest Chicken

• 1 can of corn, drained
• 1 can of black beans, drained
• 1 16oz jar of salsa
• 3-4 chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
• 1 8oz brick of cream cheese

Instructions:

1. Add the corn, black beans, salsa, and chicken to the slow cooker.
2. Cook on high for 6-7 hours and low for 7-8 hours.
3. About 30 minutes before the meal is going to be served remove and shred the chicken. Then cut up the cream cheese into chunks and add to the crock pot with the chicken.
4. Serve over rice. We also added some shredded cheese on top and it was delicious!

If you are not a fan of black beans you can omit them or just add half the can. I don’t really like them but they were good in this recipe.

 

 

I have started to publish my 2 week meal plan. For our family, it’s a lot easier to plan out our meals for 2 weeks. That way the only reason we need to go to the store is to buy things like milk, eggs, and produce. We are starting a garden. We are growing tomatoes, cilantro, red peppers, and zucchini. We are not very good at growing things but we are gonna try!

Here’s my plan for the week. I am trying a few new things so I can publish another set of 5 recipes for the crock pot that you can prep in an hour and have dinner for 5 nights! I can say that having crock pot meals in the freezer has helped so much. I don’t have any excuse to not make dinner. I just pull the bag from the freezer and dinner is (pretty much) done! Dinner time is so much less stressful!

I keep a list on the fridge and each morning we pick out our dinner based on our day. For example, on Wednesday I have a dentist appointment so we will  definitely be having a crock pot dinner!

Delicious Pot Roast

Beef Burritos with Cilantro Lime Rice (Im gonna take a better picture!)

Crock Pot Ribs

 Chicken Tinga Tostadas

Spaghetti Casserole

Chicken Parmesan (This is my go-to meal when we have company visiting.)

Kelle’s Pork Dinner (My sister threw some stuff in the crock pot and said it was delicious – so Im gonna try it.) mashed potatoes and veggies
Chicken Pot Pie (So good! I will share the recipe next week.)
Honey-Teriyaki Chicken wild rice and veggies
Salmon/pasta (Adults eat salmon and kids eat pasta)veggies
Tamale Casserole (new crock pot recipe)
Creamy Chicken over pasta (new crock pot recipe)
London broil on the grill with twice baked potatoes and grilled onions and peppers
Beef Stew
Mango Salsa Chicken (new crock pot recipe)
Easter dinner

So that’s my plan! I love having a plan for dinner.

I’ve started a meal planning board on Pinterest. I will do my best to Pin my plans on this board. If you don’t have a Pinterest account – send me your email so I can invite you. You will love it!

Are you looking for more ways to save time and money in the kitchen? Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4  of my 1 Hour + 1 Mess = Crock Pot recipes.  If you would like to know when more recipes will be available you can sign up for my email newsletter. You will get an email that you will need to confirm you want the subscription. 

Don’t miss out on any deals – subscribe to my blog via email or a RSS feed. Also get updates on Facebook and Twitter!

 

This is one of my all time favorite recipes. I am not a big fan of leftovers – but this is one meal I can eat a few times. The problem is there usually aren’t very many leftovers. This is part of my freezer cooking crock pot series.Make sure you check out my 20 recipes for the crock pot for the freezer.

Delicious Pot Roast
(serves 4-5)

• 1 (2 ½  pound) boneless beef chuck roast
• 1 packet of Ranch dressing mix (dry seasoning mix)
• 2 packet brown gravy mix
• 4 Tablespoon dried onion flakes
• 2 cup of water
• baby carrots

Instructions

1. Add all the meat, Ranch dressing packet, brown gravy packet, dried onion flakes, baby carrots and water to the crock pot.  (You could add potatoes too but I prefer this with mashed potatoes.
2. Cook on high for 6-7 hours or low for 8-9 hours.

*Note – I  recently updated this recipe to make more gravy. This is one of my favorite meals!

Make some biscuits and you will have a very delicious and filling meal!

Everyone likes to save time and money. That is why I love crock pot recipes. It saves me time in the kitchen and it saves me money! Here’s a list of my Top 10 crock pot recipes.

Crock Pot Ribs

 

Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings

Southwest Chicken

Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore

Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken

Spaghetti Casserole

Delicious Pot Roast

Ranch Pork Chops

Beef Burritos with Cilantro Lime Rice

Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken (highly rated by my Facebook fans)

What are some of your favorite crock pot recipes? I have a few recipes ready for my next series and I am going to try a crock pot cheese cake recipe soon!