One vegan mom's dislike of slow cooking

Slow cooking, not my strong suit. You think it would be! Mom + busy + home + healthy family = slow cooking simple
Think again... I have had a recipe for weeks that I bought all the ingredients for, got the recipe and had it on my menu for the week . It just sat there, waiting, staring at me. Why? You ask?

A typical night for dinner means I get my 'alone time' while cooking. Yes you read that right!! Once my hubby comes home I start thinking about what item on my menu I will cook tonight. Curry? Italian? Rice? I don't feel like cooking? So that means in under an hour dinner will be prepped, cooked and ready to eat. All in a relative silence of my kitchen while the kids and daddy play in another room.

Slow cookers on the other hand require me to start thinking about cooking around say noon, the peak of mommy and kid time. They get cranky for lunch, I'm breaking up fights, teaching how to share every 5 minutes and you want me to think about dinner too???? Right......

There sits my slow cooker, all by itself....

Don't get me wrong, I like the concept of having dinner done in plenty of time and making it in a large batch so that leftovers are a sure thing. But the time frame is what gets me! My days are busy enough and cooking/prepping a meal just does not fit there.

How can I change that? I want to be more 'ready' for dinner and not have to think about it. But I don't want to have to do it at lunch time or mid afternoon. For now the slow cooker is a game I won't play to often. I won't sell it at our next garage sale, but it sure is going to be lonely in the cabinet.

Kid Friendly No-Bake Peanut Butter Pretzel Balls

Super easy quick snack! Very kid friendly! Our oldest did all the work mostly himself :) minus the stove top part

Special equipment: Nothin!
Level of difficulty: 0! Super easy!!

• ½ cup vanilla-flavored protein powder
• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ cup creamy peanut butter
• ½ cup sugar
• 3 Tbs. brown agave nectar 
• 2 cups crushed mini pretzels
• ⅓ cup sweetened flake coconut, chopped, or unsweetened

1. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Whisk together protein powder with 2 Tbs. water in bowl. Stir in vanilla.

2. Warm peanut butter, sugar, and agave in saucepan over medium heat 2 minutes, or until smooth. Stir in protein powder mixture. Stir in crushed pretzels and coconut until evenly combined. Pinch off 1 Tbs.-size chunks of dough, and place on prepared baking sheet to cool. Cool cookies 10 minutes before serving

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut butter Pie (yes its vegan)

This pie will bring out the toddler in you. "No I don't want to share!" "This is mine!" "Mom! She looked at me eating!"   You get the point.

It is delicious and SIMPLE! And of course as everything is on here... VEGAN.  But the other great thing is that those 'nay-saying-anti-vegan-food-eating' friends you still have will be forced to eat their words when they try this. Ready?

Special equipment: Blender or food processor
Level of difficulty: Super easy! The kids can help and the baby on the hip will be delighted to stick their fingers in the peanut butter mix.

10oz Chocolate chips (or chocolate of your choice)
12oz silken tofu drained
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup almond or other non dairy milk
1 tsp agave nectar (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 9-inch graham cracker crust

1. Melt chocolate chips in bowl in the microwave half power for 30 sec, stir, repeat until all the chocolate is melted smooth.
2.Combine all the rest of your ingredients (not the crust of course) into the blender or food processor and process until smooth, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into crust. Refrigerate at least 2hrs before devouring.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Sea Salt Oatmeal Cookies

Ok wipe the drool off your face and get ready to bake! The name is a mouthful I know, but the taste is so so good! The large sea salt chunks make all the difference in the world. Its a marriage of sweet, salty, chewy and crunchy.

Recipe adjusted and tweaked from here.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2/3 cup peanut butter
• 2 Tablespoons canola/vegetable oil
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/3 cup of nondairy milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup of rolled oats
• 1/2 cup or so of vegan chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Mix the peanut butter, oil, sugar, nondairy milk and vanilla together.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.
4. Pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture and combine. Add oats and chocolate chips.
5. Place spoonfuls of cookie dough on a lightly oiled baking sheet. 
6. Bake for 8 -10 minutes and let cool on baking sheet before transferring.