Crockpot Sliders = Messy Goodness!

Here's another Pinterest find.  I made these to celebrate Matt's last basketball game of the season and coincidentally it was a cold, rainy day, so what a wonderful thing to come home to!  I think I said it before, but warm, delicious smelling crock pot food is the BEST thing to come home to!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast Sliders

1 3-4 lb beef roast (we used 2 smaller beef arm roasts)
1 cup water
1 cup salsa

1 envelope onion soup mix
1 envelope Italian dressing mix
1 envelope Au Jus mix (I couldn't find  this in the stores so I added another envelope of Beefy Onion Soup Mix and a cap full of Worcestershire)

Whisk together water, salsa and seasoning packets. Place roast in slow cooker. Pour seasoning mixture over roast. Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 4-5 hours.

To make the sliders, we sliced a regular bakery hamburger bun and laid 1 slice of either Swiss or Provolone cheese onto 1 side then broiled the bun, open-faced, and broiled for a few minutes on a pan.

Then add a few fork fulls of the roast, grab a BUNCH of napkins, and enjoy!!!

Homemade Granola and Bars

My husband is a big granola and granola bar fan - I think he learned how to make homemade granola in high school and that's where I got this idea.

We love to add granola to our yogurt for lunches and we often buy boxes upon boxes of granola bars for afternoon snacks, lunches, and such - so why not try making my own???

I found this granola recipe on Pinterest and it was very simply - you can basically add whatver you want.  I doubled the granola recipe but then made the mistake of baking it all together - make sure you bake the granola in a SINGLE LAYER on a baking sheet or pan.

Applesauce Granola - (I doubled the recipe to last us longer - this is the single recipe below)

2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds) - I used sliced almonds.

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/3 cup raisins

 

Preheat oven to 300F.  In a large bowl, mix together oats, nuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, warm the applesauce with the honey and oil over low heat.

Mix the applesauce mixture into the oat mixture and stir to coat everything. Spread the mixture onto a 9 x 13 baking pan - remember, SINGLE LAYER works better.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until the granola is a deep brown. Remove from oven and stir in raisins. Cool completely before enjoying.

Simple right? - After I made the granola, I used some of it to make granola bars.  You could also buy plain granola to use in the bars, which is what i'm going to do this week because I don't have any more homemade granola left.

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 cups plain granola

1 cup rice cereal (Rice Krispies, etc.)

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used the mini-chocolate chips)

Optional: 1/4 cup peanut butter chips (didn't have these so I didn't use them)

Line two 9×5 loaf pans with foil or parchment. Lightly butter or spray the foil. Set aside.  I used only 1 loaf pan and the bars were just a little too big but I though 2 pans would make them a little too small - it's your call what you want to do.
Combine butter, honey and brown sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter is melted.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.

Add the granola and rice cereal into the saucepan and fold them into the sauce until evenly coated.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pans and press firmly with a spatula to evenly fill. Sprinkle the chocolate and peanut butter chips onto the top of the granola and gently press them down with the spatula.  (I used a large potato masher - shown in the pics - to press the bars - I thought it worked really well!)

Let sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes or until mostly cooled and set; lift out of the pan and cut into bars.  I wrapped them individually in cling wrap - you could put them in plastic baggies or find some brown paper - parchment paper and wrap them a little cuter with twisted ends - whatever works for you.

Now aren't those simple recipes!? - besides baking the granola, it takes no time at all!  Delicious and healthy - I prefer making my own granola bars now because I know exactly what went into them and can design them to my taste! :)