Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Drumsticks and Vegan Chocolate Cake

It’s already February?! Did ya miss me? The inevitable flu/cold monsters snuck into our house and infected us all. YUCK. But for the most part we’re back up and running! I didn’t have much to work with this past week since grocery shopping clearly was not going to happen. Luckily, I had some organic Ginger Tea that my sister had given me. Made a cup of that with some honey and 1/2 tsp of raw organic apple cider vinegar and the difference in how I was feeling was truly dramatic! It’s great to have staples in your house like those especially the ACV. Check out this great blog, “Eating Bird Food” she has written a fab blog about ACV and it’s benefits!

So, since we were all under the weather I was going to whip up some sort of chicken soup so we could all get the benefits of my homemade chicken stock I had made and froze last month. Did you know that homemade chicken broth is INCREDIBLY healing? The vitamins and minerals found in the bones and marrow of the chicken bones are extraordinarily beneficial to your gut which is where about 70% of your immune system is. So when mom says “soup’s on!” when you’re feeling like crap – listen to her!! Want to know more? Check out another great blogger, “Nourish to Flourish” who goes into more detail about the benefits and uses of chicken stock.

Well, since I was feeling so awful and basically ZERO motivation to do anything I grabbed the huge package of frozen chicken drumsticks out of the freezer, plopped them onto the counter after my husband left for work and forgot about them. I also grabbed one of my little bags of frozen broth in hopes of some inspiration coming my way. Luckily, I remembered the chicken and found some energy around lunchtime! I decided that I wanted something with a little spice and totally didn’t want soup. I didn’t have any BBQ sauce but I did find a steak marinade. Literally, I threw the small bag of chicken broth, 5 or 6 still frozen drumsticks and the whole bottle of marinade into the slow cooker, turned it on high and came back 5 1/2 hours later to the sweet n spicy aroma of delicious drummies. YES!!

Of course, then there was the dilemma of dessert! OK we don’t usually have dessert but sometimes you need a little something to sweeten your day, am I right? Well, earlier in the week I had a birthday cake order at my business, Kim’s Sweet Treats that was for a little boy who had dairy, egg and nut allergies. They wanted  a chocolate cake and I needed something super yummy to make sure this freshly 2 year old would just LOVE. I found the most perfect recipe EVER over at Cake Appreciation Society on Facebook. It was a user submitted recipe so naturally I was skeptical but after a complete failure of a recipe prior to finding this one it was worth a shot! It came out so, so good – moist and chocolatey. It may be my new go to chocolate cake recipe!

Simple & Sassy Slow Cooker Drummies

Ingredients

5-6 chicken drumsticks, frozen

1 bottle of your favorite steak marinade or BBQ sauce

about 1 cup of homemade chicken broth (optional)

Directions

1. Pour chicken broth (if using) into slow cooker. Place drumsticks in single layer in slow cooker. Pour marinade over chicken.

2. Turn slow cooker to HIGH setting and cook for 5-6 hours. If using thawed drumsticks, cook for 3-4 hours on HIGH setting.

Serve with rice and veggies and you’ve got yourself a meal!

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup cold water

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (non dairy, I used Enjoy Life)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and line with parchment paper an 8×8″ baking pan, an 8″ or 9″ round cake pan or line a 12-muffin tin with baking cups.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Mix well with a fork, then stir in oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract. When dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened, pour in cold water and stir until batter is smooth. Stir in chocolate chips and pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on a rack.
4. Frost with favorite buttercream recipe. (Need it to be vegan? Check out Earth Balance Buttery Sticks as your butter substitution in any buttercream recipe!)

That’s it! SO simple and it comes out great!! Make sure you use the parchment paper in your pan – it will make a world of difference! And also keep in mind this will only make ONE LAYER. So if you’re looking to make a 2-layer cake (or 24 cupcakes) you’ll need to double the recipe! The chocolate chips in this recipe really add to the chocolatey-ness of the cake. You can also chop up your favorite chocolate bar – I’m thinking I’d like to try Green & Black’s Organic Dark Chocolate with Ginger. YUMMM!

Stay well everybody!! And for those of you in New England – stay warm and be safe during the upcoming snow storm!! <3