Today's advent activity was to make a Christmas treat. Check out what we made today...
We made these cookies a week or so ago but I never did get around to telling you all about them. They are sinful. It's a cookie in a cookie. Sorry I didn't get a picture of the inside, they just didn't last that long. Each cookies is the equivalent of three cookies. Two chocolate chip cookies with an Oreo cookie sandwiched in between. These cookies are HUGE and so very very yummy.
The cookie idea's came from here and here....once again, Thank you Pinterest.
And because I was taking pictures of the cookies, this boy thought he should have his picture taken too. I love this boy, snotty nose and all.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Food Friday: Quinoa...if you haven't tried it, you should try it like this
I've heard so much about Quinoa(pronounced 'keen-wa'). But until recently I haven't tried it. I was afraid. I didn't know what to do with it. If you don't know what it is you can read about it here. You cook it just like you would rice. It is high in protein and is said to be the new super food. It can be used as a rice substitute, but that is not all, it can be used in just about any kind of dish.
Last week we made it into a kind of "oatmeal" using this recipe(I hate real oatmeal so this was brave for me). It was quite tasty, and I would absolutely eat it for breakfast like that.
But then I found this picture when I searched "quinoa" on Pinterest.
It looked absolutely yummy! So of course I pinned it and then added the ingredients to my shopping list. Tonight I made them. They. Were. Delicious.
Everybody loved them and wanted seconds. I didn't change anything about the recipe so you can just go over to Eating Well...Living Thin and get the recipe yourself.
To go along with it we also had these deliciously sinful cheesy ranch potatoes and a very healthy green salad. The meal was delightful all around.
Now seriously, you need to go out and find yourself some quinoa and try these, you won't regret it, I promise!
Last week we made it into a kind of "oatmeal" using this recipe(I hate real oatmeal so this was brave for me). It was quite tasty, and I would absolutely eat it for breakfast like that.
But then I found this picture when I searched "quinoa" on Pinterest.
It looked absolutely yummy! So of course I pinned it and then added the ingredients to my shopping list. Tonight I made them. They. Were. Delicious.
Everybody loved them and wanted seconds. I didn't change anything about the recipe so you can just go over to Eating Well...Living Thin and get the recipe yourself.
To go along with it we also had these deliciously sinful cheesy ranch potatoes and a very healthy green salad. The meal was delightful all around.
Now seriously, you need to go out and find yourself some quinoa and try these, you won't regret it, I promise!
Friday, November 18, 2011
Food Friday: My favorite meal this week
On Monday I made the bestest meal of the week. It was a hit with everyone at the table.
On the menu was ( I didn't think to take actual pictures, so you'll have to live with someone else's this time)
-Oven Fried Drumsticks(the original recipe I found on allrecipes.com but see below on how I have changed it)
-Roasted dill potatoes
-Chili Almond Asparagus (I found this recipe on Pinterest...really are you surprised?) And let me tell you this was to DIE for!!!! This kids didn't eat this, they opted for a regular side salad. But veggies are veggies so let them have the salad.
-Baked apples with sweet vanilla milk for dessert.
Oven Fried Drumsticks
For dessert we had baked apples. I didn't have any ice cream or whip cream to go with them so instead I made some sweet vanilla milk( I just made this up on a whim but it turned out really nice)
On the menu was ( I didn't think to take actual pictures, so you'll have to live with someone else's this time)
![]() |
Chili Almond Asparagus |
-Roasted dill potatoes
-Chili Almond Asparagus (I found this recipe on Pinterest...really are you surprised?) And let me tell you this was to DIE for!!!! This kids didn't eat this, they opted for a regular side salad. But veggies are veggies so let them have the salad.
-Baked apples with sweet vanilla milk for dessert.
Oven Fried Drumsticks
- 2 cups low fat sour cream
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 chicken drumsticks
- 6 bone-in chicken breast halves, with skin
- 4 cups crushed cornflakes cereal
- 4 tablespoons crushed dried rosemary**
- 3 teaspoons dried sage**
- 3 tablespoons garlic powder**
- salt and pepper to taste
- **Instead of using separate herbs and spices I used about 6 tbsp(maybe I didn't actually measure accurately) of poultry seasoning and a little extra garlic powder.
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place a cooling rack on top of a large cookie sheet. Spray the rack with vegetable cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, mix together sour cream and minced garlic. In another bowl, stir together the cornflake crumbs, rosemary, sage, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Coat the chicken with the sour cream mixture, then roll in the cornflake mixture. Arrange chicken pieces on top of the cooling rack.
- Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, until meat is no longer pink, and juices run clear.

This is a favorite at our house. It also makes really really yummy chicken fingers!!
The roasted potatoes are my kids favorite way of doing potatoes. Here's what I do, it's really very basic, but they are so yummy.
Roasted Dill potatoes(forgive me for no real measurements...and no picture)
6 potatoes, cut up in bite sized pieces
Splash of olive oil
Seasoning salt
Dill seasoning(I have a Pampered Chef seasoning that we love...but it is almost all gone)
Place potatoes on baking sheet. Add oil and seasonings and stir to coat. Bake in oven warmed at 400F for 30-40minute or until golden brown. I usually stir them after about 20 minutes or so so that they get nice and toasty on all sides.

Sweet Vanilla Milk
In a sauce pan over high heat bring 1 1/2 cups whole milk, 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 cup sugar to a boil, reduce hear and let simmer for 20 minutes. serve over baked apples.
It was the perfect touch.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Theme for tonight's dinner "Quick and Easy"
Here is another recipe I found on Pinterest.
It's called Mama's Amazing Ziti.
ingredients
It was quite yummy. The only thing I changed was to add a little bit of seasoning salt and a bit of Italian seasoning because I felt that it needed a little something. But the best part about it was how quick and easy it was to put together(especially if you have a food processor to shred the carrots and you already have ground beef browned and in the freezer). To go along with it I made some of my make shift, super easy, garlic bread sticks. I use a recipe I found in our Sommerfeldt family cook book for quick pizza crusts(it's really just a baking powder biscuit recipe).
The original recipe looks like this
4 cups flour
6 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup milk
2/3 cup vegetable oil(I almost always use butter or margarine instead)
Mix all at one until dough leaves sides of bowl. Knead until smooth. roll out into pizza crusts.
This is more or less what I do for the garlic bread sticks. First of all I cut the recipe in half

2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup margarine
2/3 cup milk(or just enough to make dough moist)
mix flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and margarine until crumbly. Add milk until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Roll out on to baking sheet as you would for pizza crust.(I have a pampered chef roller thingy that allows me to roll the dough out right on my pampered chef stone pan...LOVE both of them). Spread margarine over dough. sprinkle with garlic powder and some Garlic Plus seasoning. then sprinkle with your choice of grated cheese. Bake in oven at 425F for about 12-15 minutes. Cut into strips and serve warm.
OK, now honestly this is a really rough recipe...I'm terrible at actually measuring things. And I never set the timer for this....I just put it in the oven and pull it out when it smells done and the top is nice and toasted. The kids love this. Another note, the kids and I all preferred shredded mozza on top instead of fresh grated Parmesan.
It's called Mama's Amazing Ziti.
ingredients
- 1 pound 95%-lean ground beef
- 2 cups shredded carrot
- 2 10 3/4 ounce cans reduced-fat and reduced-sodium condensed tomato soup
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 8 ounces dried cut ziti pasta (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 2 tablespoons snipped fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (4 ounces)
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (1 ounce)

directions
1.In a 4-quart Dutch oven, cook ground beef and shredded carrot over
mediumheat until meat is brown. Drain off fat. Stir tomato soup,
the water, uncooked ziti, dried basil (if using), onion powder, and
garlic powder into meat mixture in Dutch oven.
mediumheat until meat is brown. Drain off fat. Stir tomato soup,
the water, uncooked ziti, dried basil (if using), onion powder, and
garlic powder into meat mixture in Dutch oven.
2.Bring mixture to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and cook about
25 minutes or until ziti is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in fresh
basil (if using) and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle individual servings
with Parmesan cheese.
25 minutes or until ziti is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in fresh
basil (if using) and mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle individual servings
with Parmesan cheese.
It was quite yummy. The only thing I changed was to add a little bit of seasoning salt and a bit of Italian seasoning because I felt that it needed a little something. But the best part about it was how quick and easy it was to put together(especially if you have a food processor to shred the carrots and you already have ground beef browned and in the freezer). To go along with it I made some of my make shift, super easy, garlic bread sticks. I use a recipe I found in our Sommerfeldt family cook book for quick pizza crusts(it's really just a baking powder biscuit recipe).
The original recipe looks like this
4 cups flour
6 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup milk
2/3 cup vegetable oil(I almost always use butter or margarine instead)
Mix all at one until dough leaves sides of bowl. Knead until smooth. roll out into pizza crusts.
This is more or less what I do for the garlic bread sticks. First of all I cut the recipe in half
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup margarine
2/3 cup milk(or just enough to make dough moist)
mix flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and margarine until crumbly. Add milk until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Roll out on to baking sheet as you would for pizza crust.(I have a pampered chef roller thingy that allows me to roll the dough out right on my pampered chef stone pan...LOVE both of them). Spread margarine over dough. sprinkle with garlic powder and some Garlic Plus seasoning. then sprinkle with your choice of grated cheese. Bake in oven at 425F for about 12-15 minutes. Cut into strips and serve warm.
OK, now honestly this is a really rough recipe...I'm terrible at actually measuring things. And I never set the timer for this....I just put it in the oven and pull it out when it smells done and the top is nice and toasted. The kids love this. Another note, the kids and I all preferred shredded mozza on top instead of fresh grated Parmesan.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Food Friday: Italian Wedding Soup
About a week ago I was wandering aimlessly through our local grocery store trying to think of something to make for supper. Something different. Something simple. Something tasty. AND something that I new my kids would eat.
A can of Campbell's Italian Wedding soup caught my eye. I stopped for a moment, picked up the can and thought. The only time I have had Italian wedding soup is at Eastside Mario's, and I loved it but I wasn't sure if my kids would like it. So I decided that I would have the soup and I would just make some boring soup for them. I paused and put the can of soup back on the shelf. I had a better idea. It was only noon, so I had plenty of time to go home and use my beloved google to find a recipe to make my own home made Italian wedding soup and time to come back to the grocery store to pick up what ever ingredients I didn't have at home. Before leaving the store, I bought some sausage and alphabet noodles(they were the cheapest and smallest noodles) because the picture on the can showed noodles and little meatballs, and I knew I had neither of those at home.
I headed home made lunch for the girls and promptly set out to find a recipe. I was surprised at how simple the recipes were. And that they actually sounded like something my girls would eat. I found this one and this one along with many others. And then I found this more complicated one that I would love to try sometime, but for that night I was looking for simple.
Using these recipes I ended up amending them as follows
Mandy's Italian wedding soup
8 cups chicken broth
2 cups finely shredded spinach
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup small noodles (like alphabets or orzo)
10 breakfast sausages(because they are faster than making your own, but one day I'll make my own)
fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Remove casing form sausages, break each sausage into about 5 or 6 pieces and shape into meatballs. Fry in pan, when almost cooked all the way through, remove from pan and drain on paper towel. Bring chicken broth to a boil. Add spinach, carrots, noodles and meatballs. Return to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes or until noodles are at desired doneness. Dish into bowls and top with fresh Parmesan cheese. Enjoy the yumminess!
Keep in mind that they only thing that I actually measured here was the chicken broth, which I started out with 6 cups, but then added about another two after I had added everything else.
My girls loved this! So I decided to make it again this week. To go along with it I made some tuna salad.
Sliced some croissants half way through, filled with the tuna and some cheddar cheese and baked them in the oven for an unknown amount of time(just enough time to melt the cheese and to make the outside of the croissant crispy). These too were a hit.
A can of Campbell's Italian Wedding soup caught my eye. I stopped for a moment, picked up the can and thought. The only time I have had Italian wedding soup is at Eastside Mario's, and I loved it but I wasn't sure if my kids would like it. So I decided that I would have the soup and I would just make some boring soup for them. I paused and put the can of soup back on the shelf. I had a better idea. It was only noon, so I had plenty of time to go home and use my beloved google to find a recipe to make my own home made Italian wedding soup and time to come back to the grocery store to pick up what ever ingredients I didn't have at home. Before leaving the store, I bought some sausage and alphabet noodles(they were the cheapest and smallest noodles) because the picture on the can showed noodles and little meatballs, and I knew I had neither of those at home.
I headed home made lunch for the girls and promptly set out to find a recipe. I was surprised at how simple the recipes were. And that they actually sounded like something my girls would eat. I found this one and this one along with many others. And then I found this more complicated one that I would love to try sometime, but for that night I was looking for simple.
Using these recipes I ended up amending them as follows
Mandy's Italian wedding soup
8 cups chicken broth
2 cups finely shredded spinach
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup small noodles (like alphabets or orzo)
10 breakfast sausages(because they are faster than making your own, but one day I'll make my own)
fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Remove casing form sausages, break each sausage into about 5 or 6 pieces and shape into meatballs. Fry in pan, when almost cooked all the way through, remove from pan and drain on paper towel. Bring chicken broth to a boil. Add spinach, carrots, noodles and meatballs. Return to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes or until noodles are at desired doneness. Dish into bowls and top with fresh Parmesan cheese. Enjoy the yumminess!
Keep in mind that they only thing that I actually measured here was the chicken broth, which I started out with 6 cups, but then added about another two after I had added everything else.
My girls loved this! So I decided to make it again this week. To go along with it I made some tuna salad.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Food Friday's: Yummy Breads
Alright, so I may be in a huge craft funk, but I have been having fun the past few days making delicious bread in my bread maker. About two years ago I picked up this free e-book with hundreds of recipes for all kinds of breads and muffins and such. It was terribly organized...and by that I mean that there was no rhyme or reason to how it was put together. Simply hundreds of recipes in all bread varieties thrown together in a pdf file. I spent hours sorting through and separating recipes so that I could more easily find them. I have a file for bread machine recipes, and every once in awhile I'll try a new recipe. It has been a really long time since I have experimented so the other day I figured it was about time. I decided to make some raisin bread using the following recipe
Whole Wheat Apple-Raisin Bread for bread machine
1/4 cup applesauce
1 1/3 cup Whole wheat flour
1 1/3 cup White flour
1 tbsp dry milk
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp margarine
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup Water
1 tsp dry yeast
3/4 cup raisins
Makes a 2 lb loaf
Add ingredients(except raisins) according to Bread machine directions. For example, me bread machine directions have you put all wet ingredients in first, followed by the dry ingredients and last of all to put the yeast in a little well you make in the flour. Use the regular bake function, when bread machine beeps to add extra ingredients, add the raisins. If your machine doesn't have this function you may add them with all the other ingredients. When done, enjoy!
This bread was so tasty, the girls just ate it up.
Today I am making this tasty treat, it is one that I have made before and love!
Hawaiian Coconut Bread, for bread machine
1 tsp yeast
3 cups flour
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup dry milk
1 egg
1/4 cup margarine
3/4 cup coconut, shredded
3/4 cup macadamia nuts, chopped(or almonds)
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, well drained
1/2 cup pineapple juice(from above)
1/4 cup warm water
makes a 2 lb loaf
Add all ingredients(except macadamia nuts) according to bread machine directions. Use regular bake. When bread machine beeps, add nuts.
I can't wait for this one to be done....my mouth is watering. Hope you enjoy! If you are interested in other fun bread machine recipes, I'd be happy to email you a copy of my file, it was a free e-book, and yes I am aloud to share. Just let me know.
Whole Wheat Apple-Raisin Bread for bread machine
1/4 cup applesauce
1 1/3 cup Whole wheat flour
1 1/3 cup White flour
1 tbsp dry milk
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp margarine
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup Water
1 tsp dry yeast
3/4 cup raisins
Makes a 2 lb loaf
Add ingredients(except raisins) according to Bread machine directions. For example, me bread machine directions have you put all wet ingredients in first, followed by the dry ingredients and last of all to put the yeast in a little well you make in the flour. Use the regular bake function, when bread machine beeps to add extra ingredients, add the raisins. If your machine doesn't have this function you may add them with all the other ingredients. When done, enjoy!
This bread was so tasty, the girls just ate it up.
Today I am making this tasty treat, it is one that I have made before and love!
Hawaiian Coconut Bread, for bread machine
1 tsp yeast
3 cups flour
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup dry milk
1 egg
1/4 cup margarine
3/4 cup coconut, shredded
3/4 cup macadamia nuts, chopped(or almonds)
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, well drained
1/2 cup pineapple juice(from above)
1/4 cup warm water
makes a 2 lb loaf
Add all ingredients(except macadamia nuts) according to bread machine directions. Use regular bake. When bread machine beeps, add nuts.
I can't wait for this one to be done....my mouth is watering. Hope you enjoy! If you are interested in other fun bread machine recipes, I'd be happy to email you a copy of my file, it was a free e-book, and yes I am aloud to share. Just let me know.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Food Friday's: Pumpkin pie in a Jar
Here's a great recipe that I came across in my trusty 4H cook book. Now you can easily make pumpkin pie at any time of the year with fresh pumpkin. I always use up the carved pumpkins after Halloween because I feel bad just throwing away perfectly good pumpkins.
Pumpkin Pie in a Jar
Peel, remove seeds and cut pumpkin into small pieces. Bake, steam or boil in small amount of water until tender. Then put through a sieve. Measure the pumpkin pulp and any juice remaining. Then to each 3 cups of pumpkin add the following:
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp molasses (optional)
Mix well together and bring to a boil, simmering until quite thick. Stir often to prevent sticking. Seal in hot sterile jars. May be put in hot water for 10 minutes to be sure that they seal.
TO MAKE PIE
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/4 cups prepared pumpkin
Beat eggs well. Add milk and pumpkin, mix well together. Put into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 375F until golden brown.
Pumpkin Pie in a Jar
Peel, remove seeds and cut pumpkin into small pieces. Bake, steam or boil in small amount of water until tender. Then put through a sieve. Measure the pumpkin pulp and any juice remaining. Then to each 3 cups of pumpkin add the following:
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp molasses (optional)
Mix well together and bring to a boil, simmering until quite thick. Stir often to prevent sticking. Seal in hot sterile jars. May be put in hot water for 10 minutes to be sure that they seal.

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/4 cups prepared pumpkin
Beat eggs well. Add milk and pumpkin, mix well together. Put into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 375F until golden brown.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Food Friday: Salsa
There was once a day when I didn't have a lot of room for food storage. We lived in a small apartment with a tiny kitchen. I hadn't yet ventured into the world of canning, not for the lack of knowledge or experience (I've done it with my parents for as long as I can remember), but mostly for lack of space and tools. Then one day I came across a canner at a second hand store for just a few bucks. I had to have it. Then I found some other basic canning tools on sale at the SuperStore. I was now set for some simple canning. One of the first things I decided to make was Salsa. One of our favorite snacks is nachos and salsa. I used a recipe from my trusty 4-H club cook book(the best wedding gift ever...just in case I hadn't mentioned that yet). I bought a 20lb case of tomatoes and all the rest of the ingredients. This was before my days of being able to grow most of the ingredients myself. The salsa was to die for. The only problem was that I hadn't made enough and when we ran out and had to buy salsa from the store we were so disappointed, and I vowed to always make enough salsa to get us through until the next fall.
Since that day, we have never run out of salsa and often have enough to share with neighbours and good friends. We moved to Lethbridge the year after that. I had a small garden space and my neighbour let me use her space as well. With that I was able to plant tomatoes, onions and some peppers...my salsa garden. I started making salsa with a friend of mine who wanted to learn how to can. Together we tweaked the recipe from the 4-H cook book to create the recipe I use today, we called it Mandy and Toni's best salsa we ever made.
Here is the recipe for a 12 litre(3 gallon) stock pot
3/4 full stock pot of chopped peeled tomatoes(about 15lbs...I am totally guessing, I really have no idea because I don't buy my tomatoes I use the ones I grow in my garden)
3 red peppers (or orange or yellow I use what ever I have on hand)
2 green peppers
4 large onions
1 1/2 heads of garlic
6 stalks of celery
handfull of cilantro
1 good sized zucchini, grated skin included(again this is garden grown)
5-7 jalepeno peppers with seeds
1/3 cup pickling salt
1 cups sugar
1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper(optional)
2 cups vinegar
To easily peel tomatoes, place in boiling water for about 60 seconds and then put in cold water. the peels will split and can then be easily removed. Hand chop tomatoes for chunkier salsa. Chop all other vegetables in a food processor or hand chopper if you have one to save time. Combine all vegetables in stock pot with salt, sugar, vinegar and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for at least an hour. Fill sterilized jars and process for 15 minutes.
For the past 4 years, I've been making salsa with friends. We have a day long salsa making party. We divy up the ingredients, bring your own bottles and we simply spend an afternoon chopping and chatting. Then we all go home to our husbands smelling like salsa with our jars of goodness. It's a grand time. This year we got together a couple of times, we'll see if we ended up with enough salsa to last until next fall.
p.s. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into my random giveaway. click here for details.
Since that day, we have never run out of salsa and often have enough to share with neighbours and good friends. We moved to Lethbridge the year after that. I had a small garden space and my neighbour let me use her space as well. With that I was able to plant tomatoes, onions and some peppers...my salsa garden. I started making salsa with a friend of mine who wanted to learn how to can. Together we tweaked the recipe from the 4-H cook book to create the recipe I use today, we called it Mandy and Toni's best salsa we ever made.
3/4 full stock pot of chopped peeled tomatoes(about 15lbs...I am totally guessing, I really have no idea because I don't buy my tomatoes I use the ones I grow in my garden)
3 red peppers (or orange or yellow I use what ever I have on hand)
2 green peppers
4 large onions
1 1/2 heads of garlic
6 stalks of celery
handfull of cilantro
1 good sized zucchini, grated skin included(again this is garden grown)
5-7 jalepeno peppers with seeds
1/3 cup pickling salt
1 cups sugar
1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper(optional)
2 cups vinegar
To easily peel tomatoes, place in boiling water for about 60 seconds and then put in cold water. the peels will split and can then be easily removed. Hand chop tomatoes for chunkier salsa. Chop all other vegetables in a food processor or hand chopper if you have one to save time. Combine all vegetables in stock pot with salt, sugar, vinegar and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for at least an hour. Fill sterilized jars and process for 15 minutes.
For the past 4 years, I've been making salsa with friends. We have a day long salsa making party. We divy up the ingredients, bring your own bottles and we simply spend an afternoon chopping and chatting. Then we all go home to our husbands smelling like salsa with our jars of goodness. It's a grand time. This year we got together a couple of times, we'll see if we ended up with enough salsa to last until next fall.
p.s. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into my random giveaway. click here for details.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Food Friday: Apple Pie in a Jar
recipe
4 1/2 cups sugar
(variation 2 cups brown sugar and 2 1/2 cups white sugar)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pickling salt
10 cups water
1 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup lemon juice
10 lbs apples
(variation 1 1/2 cups cranberries)
Makes 7 quart jars
mix sugar, spices, salt and cornstarch in a large pot. Add the water and cook on medium heat until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Add lemon juice. Peel and slice apples. Fill prepared jars with apples and ladle sauce over top to with in 1 inch of top. Process for 20 minutes. When ready to use, dump into prepared pie crust, cover with top crust. Cut slits in tops crust, brush melted butter on crust and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400F for 40 minutes.
Or you can put it in an 8x8 pan and put the apple crisp topping on top and bake as you would apple crisp.
The cranberries added a little different twist to an already delicious recipe. You should give this one a try, It is delicious!


If you have an apple peeler and an apple corer slicer(like the one from Pampered Chef) or an apple/peeler/slicer combo it makes this really easy and fast. I have a peeler like the one on the left and a corer slicer like the one on the right and they work great. My mom has the combo like the one below which is also great.

p.s. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into my random giveaway. click here for details

p.s. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into my random giveaway. click here for details
Friday, October 16, 2009
Food Friday's: Crab apples... there is so much you can do

First I pick box after box full of beautiful red crab apples...
With my steam juicer (that I found on ebay for an amazing $45 including shipping)I get this amazing coloured juice...
I also make apple sauce with them, they are pretty tart on their own so I mix them with a sweeter apple like a gala and make this beyond amazingly delicious apple sauce that comes through the food strainer (again I found on ebay for only $40 including shipping)in the same amazing pink colour.

If you are ever planing on making apple sauce or tomato sauce you really need to invest in a food strainer. It makes your job so much easier! It looks something like this...
The steam juicer is also amazing. A friend of mine told me about how much she
p.s. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into my random giveaway. click here for details
Friday, October 9, 2009
Food Friday: Jam, Jam and more Jam
I love home made jams and jellies. And this year I had so much fun making a variety of jams.
Strawberry jam....
Raspberry jam...
Peach jam...
Bumbleberry jam...
Peach blueberry jam...
Crab apple jelly...
Apple cranberry jam(Mom's apple pie in a jar)
Raspberry jam...
Peach jam...
Bumbleberry jam...
Peach blueberry jam...
Crab apple jelly...
Apple cranberry jam(Mom's apple pie in a jar)
This is my favorite new jam that I made this year. I found the recipe in a Bernardin book when I bought a box of pint jars when I was desperate when I ran out while in the middle of making my relish...oh remember all that relish?
I've looked and looked on their site and can't find this recipe. So forgive me if I am breaking copyright laws this recipe is too good not to share.
Mom's Apple pie in a Jar
6 cups chopped, peeled firm apples
2 cups unsweetened apple juice
Juice and grated zest of 1 large lemon
3 inch stick cinnamon
1 pkg Bernardin No Sugar Needed Pectin
3/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins
1 1/2 cup sugar or SPLENDA No Calorie Sweetner
In a large deep stainless steel saucepan, combine apples, apple juice, lemon juice, zest and cinnamon stick. Simmer several minutes just until apples begin to soften. Remove from heat, gradually stir in pectin until dissolved. Add dried cranberries and 1/2 tsp butter or margarine(to reduce foaming). Return mixture to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Add sweetner and boil 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat, discard cinnamon stick and skim foam.
Ladle hot preserves into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace and following directions in product insert. Heat process in boiling water canner 10 minutes. let cool. Makes 4 or 5 half pint jars.
I just opened a jar of this a tried it on toast...oh my, I was in heaven! It was a huge hit with my kids. I would love to try this in mini tarts...but likely we will have it all gone before I ever get around to that.
p.s. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into my random giveaway. click here for details
Friday, October 2, 2009
Food Friday: Beets...and a confession
so here are the three recipes I put to the test...
Beet Relish #1
2 pounds medium-size beets
1 small onion
1 sweet red pepper
2 cups shredded cabbage
1/4 cup prepared horseradish
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups vinegar
Directions:
Clean and pare the beets. Grind the beets, onion and red pepper, using the fine cutter of the food chopper. Add the finely shredded cabbage, horseradish, salt, sugar and vinegar. Heat to boiling and simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars and seal. This recipe yields 2 pints.
This recipe was so very tasty! I look forward to eating this with pork or on hamburgers. (I cut this recipe down a lot, I think I only used about 1/2 pound of beets and adjusted accordingly)
2 pounds medium-size beets
1 small onion
1 sweet red pepper
2 cups shredded cabbage
1/4 cup prepared horseradish
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups vinegar
Directions:
Clean and pare the beets. Grind the beets, onion and red pepper, using the fine cutter of the food chopper. Add the finely shredded cabbage, horseradish, salt, sugar and vinegar. Heat to boiling and simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars and seal. This recipe yields 2 pints.
This recipe was so very tasty! I look forward to eating this with pork or on hamburgers. (I cut this recipe down a lot, I think I only used about 1/2 pound of beets and adjusted accordingly)
* 1-1/2 cups (375 mL) grated cooked Ontario Beets
* 1 cup shredded cabbage
* 1/2 cup ground onion
* 1 jalapeno pepper, minced
* 2 tbsp (25 mL) each of red wine vinegar and prepared horseradish
* 1 tbsp (15 mL) granulated sugar
* 1/2 tbsp (7 mL) Dry mustard
Combine grated cooked Ontario Beets, minced jalapeno pepper, ground onion and shredded cabbage, red wine vinegar and prepared horseradish, granulated sugar and dry mustard. Bring to a boil and cook until all veggies are tender. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars and seal.
I loved the spiciness of this relish!! I will be eating this one alot!
BEET RELISH #3
6 c. beets
6 c. sugar
3 c. vinegar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
Blanch beets; peel. Grind beets; add sugar, vinegar, cinnamon and cloves. Cook for 30 minutes or until tender. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars and seal.
This one is quite sweet...almost like candy and would be tasty on pork roast. (I cut this recipe down a lot, I think I only used 2 beets and adjusted accordingly)
6 c. beets
6 c. sugar
3 c. vinegar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
Blanch beets; peel. Grind beets; add sugar, vinegar, cinnamon and cloves. Cook for 30 minutes or until tender. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars and seal.
This one is quite sweet...almost like candy and would be tasty on pork roast. (I cut this recipe down a lot, I think I only used 2 beets and adjusted accordingly)
OK, so I'll admit, I liked beets done up in these three relishes. So maybe the next time my husband cracks open a jar of pickled beets, I'll give them a try...maybe.
p.s. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into my random giveaway. click here for details
Friday, September 25, 2009
Food Friday: Sweet Relish
I used my mom's recipe, I haven't a clue if she made it up, if it was passed down to her, or if she got it out of a recipe book. But here it is
Sweet Relish - makes 17-20 pints
17 cups ground cucumber(about 50 cucumbers)
4 cups ground onion(about 8 large)
2 cups ground green pepper(about 4)
1 cup ground red pepper(about 2)
5 cups ground cabbage and/or cauliflower
6 cups ground green tomatoes (about 10 large)
Brine
9 cups sugar
3 tbsp mustard seed
1 1/2 tbsp celery seed
2 tsp turmeric
6 cups cider vinegar
3 cups water
green food colouring(optional)
Method 1
Mix all veggies together, sprinkle with 3/4 cup salt and let stand over night. Drain and rinse.
Combine brine ingredients and add to veggies. Bring to a boil and boil for 5-10 minutes. Pour into sterilized jars and process for 5 minutes after bath comes to a boil.
Method 2
Mix all ingredients together. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 hour. Pour into sterilized jars and process for 5 minutes after bath comes to a boil.
P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into my Random Giveaway! Click here for details.
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