Apple Picking

Went on our annual apple picking trip last weekend.  Not only do they have a fun kids area but great apples!  We ended up with $50 worth of apples and all I've made with them is homemade applesauce.  Last year I made lots of different things (apple pie muffins, apple bread, cross cross apple buns, apple turnovers, and apple pie of course) but this year I think I'm sticking with applesauce and a pie or two.  My husband and I absolutely love homemade applesauce.  I don't even eat any other applesauce.  So it doesn't last long.  I've found I can put it in my jam jars and freeze it and we can enjoy it a little longer.  What have you made with apples?

Homemade Lemonade

Lemons were cheap enough so I bought a small 2lb bag today and tried out some homemade lemonade.  I used the ratio of 1 cup sugar: 1 cup water: 1 cup lemon juice.

Mix 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan and boil gently until sugar is dissolved.  Meanwhile, squeeze lemons until you have 1 cup of lemon juice.  Combine lemon juice and sugar water.  Add 3-4 cups of water. 

We got about 1 1/8 cups of lemon juice and just used that with the 1:1 ratio of sugar and water.  It was a little tart so the 1:1:1 ratio is probably good.  I also read that if you use Meyer lemons they are naturally sweet so you may want less sugar. 

What We're Eating Wednesday

We're in a local produce co-op and we had the option last week of getting 8lbs of strawberries for $10.  I couldn't pass that up of course and figured what a great way to get ahead on my freezer jam.  I think I had about 12 jars, maybe 15, that I ended up making last summer but they were gone so quickly!  I didn't realize that my sisters and dad liked it so much and my husband fell in love with these fruit bars that just aren't the same without homemade strawberry freezer jam.  So this year I've decided we have the freezer space so I might as well stock up.

Can't wait to see what you're all making this week.  Please share!

Homemade Vanilla and Oreo Ice Cream

I've been experimenting with ice cream but it's always eaten so fast I don't get a picture!

I started with this base for a Homemade Oreo recipe I found.  The first time I made it I thought maybe I got too much vanilla in it because something just didn't taste right.  The second time I put hardly any vanilla in and still didn't think it tasted right.  After the second batch sat in the freezer overnight however it was pretty darn good.

Homemade Oreo Ice Cream

3 cups half and half
6 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
12-15 double stuffed oreo cookies, roughly chopped

Heat the half and half in sauce pan, over medium heat, until bubbles form around edges.  Do not boil!  Just until you see tiny bubbles start to gather around the edge of the pan.  Beat the egg yolks and sugar, on medium high speed, until combined and forms yellow ribbons.  Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add half and half to egg mixture until well combined.  It is important to pour slowly to prevent the eggs from curdling.

Pour the combined liquid back into the sauce pan and cook over medium low heat.  Stir constantly for about 5-8 minutes until thickened and coats the back of the spoon.  Pour the liquid through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl.  Add the vanilla and chill in the refrigerator until completely cooled.

Pour the cream into the ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions.  In the last 15 minutes of the churning process, add the chopped Oreos.  Spoon into a lidded container and freeze until completely hardened.  The freezing should take about 2 hours.  Makes about 1 quart.

As you can see this recipe required a lot of work and took a lot of time before it was ready.  I decided to look for a different recipe, preferably an egg-free one.  This is what I found, which I adjusted to 8 servings:

Vanilla Ice Cream

2 cups half and half
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup plus 2 Tb white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 pinch salt

Combine half and half, cream, sugar, vanilla and salt in freezer container of ice cream maker.  Freeze according to directions.

Some Notes on this one:  Do not mix in the freezer container!  Mix in a seperate bowl and then pour into the container of the ice cream maker.  I put the sugar in a little dish and mixed with some water.  Then I microwaved it until all the sugar was dissolved so that it wouldn't be grainy.  I set that mixture in the fridge for a little while to cool before adding to the cream mixture.  Mix it up and then put in the ice cream maker.

We liked this second recipe MUCH better!  I think I've found my vanilla base.  We've done Oreo and tonight we're doing caramel pecan.  My next ones to try are peanut butter cup and cookie dough.

This post is linked to:
Meatless Mondays at My Sweet and Savory
A Southern Fairytale
11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven
Show Me How at It's a Blog Party
Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar & Gluten Free
What's Cooking Wednesday at Turning the Clock Back
Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty & Bedlam
Recipe Swap Thursday at Prairie Story
Tip Day Thursday at Around My Family Table

Cut Out Shortbread Cookies

We're in a playgroup and every year we do a cookie exchange around the holidays.  This was one of the recipes I tried for this year and I thought they were pretty good.



Cut Out Shortbread Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

1 Tb vanilla extract

2 2/3 cup all purpose flour

granulated sugar for decorating

Beat butter, powdered sugar and vanilla.  Gradually beat in flour until well blended.  Divide dough in half; flatten each into 1 inch thick disk on 2 pieces of plastic wrap.  (Dough will be soft.)  Wrap and refrigerate several hours until firm.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  On a lightly floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll half the dough at a time to 1/4 inch thickness.  (I added quite a bit of extra flour in order to work with this dough.  It was way too moist and was sticking to everything.  The cookies still came out just fine.)  Cut with floured cookie cutters.  Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets and sprinkle tops lightly with granulated sugar.  Bake 9-10 minutes or until set and lightly browned on bottoms.  Gather scraps, roll into ball.  Refrigerate if needed, while you repeat rolling and cutting process with second disk.  Remove from oven and immediately prick cookies randomly around edges with fork.  Remove to a rack to cool.

Makes 6 dozen.

Linked to:
Mouthwatering Mondays at A Southern Fairytale

Nachos

I've been craving nachos and decided to make our own for dinner the other night.  Don't these just look divine?!  And they couldn't be more simple.

I took a small thing of velveets, 1/2 lb I think?  I heated it in the microwave until mostly melted then added some salsa to it.  That was our cheese sauce.  I know, I know...velveeta?  I've got to find a good homemade sauce to try.

I put some sauce over my chips and added some scallions, black beans, tomato, and jalepenos to mine.  The hubs only put ground beef and cheese sauce on his.  Boring!  They were so good and will be made again, probably on a Sunday while watching football.

Homemade Pizza: Garlic Veggie and Pepperoni

I'm weird and don't really like traditional pizza all that much.  So tonight we made homemade versions of whatever we wanted.  The one here used the following:

Bread Machine Pizza Crust

Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic made into dip

Alfredo sauce

zucchini

yellow squash

red onion
red pepper
broccoli
mozzarella cheese, freshly grated
paremesan cheese

I spread the Garlic Garlic dip onto the crust in place of pizza sauce.  Then I spread a little alfredo sauce on and placed the veggies on top.  Pour a little more alfredo sauce on top of the veggies and then top with mozzarella and parmesan.  Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees until hot and cheese is melted.  This was SO good I couldn't stop eating it.  I think next time I may not use quite so much alfredo sauce though, and will use more garlic garlic spread.  Also might add garlic into the crust.

 The kids wanted cheese and the hubby wanted pepperoni so here are their versions.

Bread Machine Pizza Crust
pizza sauce (tried making a homemade version that was a flop)
freshly grated mozzarella
parmesan cheese
pepperoni

Spread crust with sauce, top with cheese and pepperoni.  Cook for 10 minutes at 425 degrees until hot and cheese is melted.

And of course let the kids help make their own!







This post is linked to:
Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative Party Blog
My Meatless Mondays at My Sweet and Savory
Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
Homemaker Monday at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven
Delicious Dishes at It's a Blog Party
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free
Tuesday Night Supper Club at Fudge Ripple
Tasty Tuesdays at A Beautiful Mess
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff

Homemade Applesauce

My kids love applesauce but most things I make homemade they don't like.  So I wasn't surprised that my husband and I both liked this better than the store bought but neither of my kids liked it.  My daughter took one bite and wouldn't eat it and my son wanted to know why it wasn't white.  So next time I'll be using white sugar and less cinnamon to see if he'll eat it.

Cut up 2 or 3 apples.  Put in a pan on medium heat with 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and a dash of cinnamon.  Cook until apples are very soft.  Cool.  Mix in blender until consistency of applesauce.

Homemade Granola

I've been trying to eat yogurt with granola and thought it would be more healthy, and cheaper, to make my own.  Found this recipe in the Food Network magazine but I must say I don't like how it turned out at all.  It got a little burnt and wasn't as sweet as I like it.  So I'll be trying a different recipe soon.

Mix 3 cups rolled oats, 1 cup mixed seeds, 1 cup chopped mixed nuts, 1/4 cup shredded coconut and a pinch each of salt and cinnamon.  Toss with 1 Tb vegetable oil and 3 Tb honey.  Spread on a baking sheet and bake 25 minutes at 325 degrees, tossing.  Cool; stir in 2 cups mixed dried fruit.

Homemade Tortilla Chips

I'm not sure about this recipe.  They turned out really good, however it would take me a long time to make enough to last a little while.  Not sure it's worth making homemade just because of the time, although I did like the taste and texture better than store bought.

Preheat broiler to high.  All you do is cut corn tortillas into triangles.  Place in a single layer on a pan.  Spray both sides with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. (or other seasonings)  Bake for 5 minutes, turn over, and bake another 5 minutes.

NOTE: I baked for five minutes on the first side and some of them were already done and starting to get a little too dark.  I think you could do 6 ot 7 minutes without flipping them and they would still turn out just fine.

Fish Sticks

Homemade Fish Sticks

4 filets of white fish (I used tilapia)
panko and/or bread crumbs
egg
flour
oil
seasonings

Put a couple tablespoons of flour in a bowl, crack one or two eggs into another bowl and beat, place bread crumbs and/or panko in another bowl and add seasonings as desired. (I used garlic powder, salt, and pepper.)  We like panko because it gets a little crispier but I didn't have quite enough so I used a mixture of bread crumbs and panko.  Normally I only use plain panko and season it up myself.

Cut fish into "sticks". Heat oil in skillet. Roll fish in egg, then flour, then egg again, then bread/panko crumbs.  Cook in oil for a few minutes on each side until browned and cooked through.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is an easy one that works well to double and freeze.  We don't really like the frozen veggies in casseroles because they're crunchy so I doubled this recipe and instead used one can each of green beans, corn, carrots, and peas.  I also don't roll out the biscuit topping.  I just mix it up and drop by spoonfuls on top.

Chicken Pot Pie

6 Tb butter/margarine, divided
3 Tb flour
2 cup chicken broth
1 1/4 tsp dried rosemary, divided
1/4 tsp tabasco sauce
1/2 lb cubed cooked chicken
2 medium carrots, sliced and cooked
1 cup frozen peas
1 1/2 cup dry biscuit mix
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In large pan, melt 3 Tb butter.  Stir in flour, cook 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Gradually add broth.  Stir constantly; bring to a boil for 1 minute.  Stir in 1/2 tsp rosemary, tobasco, chicken, and vegetables.  Spoon mixture into greased 2 quart baking dish.

In medium bowl combine biscuit mix and remaining rosemary.  Cut in remaining butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in milk.  On heavily floured surface pat out dough 1/2 inch thick.  Cut into 10 triangles.  Arrange on chicken mixture.  Bake for 25 minutes.

Shrimp Scampi

My brother made this for us when he came to visit one time and it's one of our go-to seafood recipes.

Shrimp Scampi

1 (16 oz) pkg linguine
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup butter
6  cloves garlic, minced
1 pound peeled, deveined medium shrimp
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 Tb chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
2 Tb grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 Tb chopped fresh parsley

Fill large pot with water and cook pasta according to package directions.  Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Heat olive oil and butter in large skillet over medium heat until butter is melted.  Cook and stir the garlic in the butter and oil for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add shrimp and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Stir in the wine, lemon juice, red pepper, basil, and salt and cook another 1 minute.  Mix in the tomatoes and cook 1 minute more; remove from heat and transfer to the bowl with the pasta.  Sprinkle with cheese and parsley; toss until well mixed.

Cheesy Chex Mix

This recipe I found in the Food Network magazine.  My daughter has been stealing chex mix from her friends so I thought I'd give it a try.  All it is is 2 cups of rice chex (or whatever chex you want), about a cup of pretzles, and about 1 1/2 cups of goldfish.  It called for cheese crackers so Cheez-its would be good too but my kids love goldfish so I used those.  Add a dash of worcestershire sauce, some garlic powder, couple shakes of parmesan cheese, and 1/2 stick of melted butter (or a little more depending on how much other stuff you have in there).  Mix it all up and bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes.  It turned out pretty good but I think next time I would leave out the parmesan and add a little more butter and worcestershire.

Red Beans & Rice

This is a recipe we grew on eating.  It's doesn't take too much time and is also a great freezer meal.  I always cook two batches and freeze one for later.

Red Beans & Rice

1 (16 oz) pkg smoked sausage

1 tsp salt and pepper

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

1 chopped onion

2 cloves chopped garlic

1 rib chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 (16 oz) can dark red kidney beans, UNdrained

1 (16 oz) can red beans, UNdrained

2 cup cooked rice

Slice sausage.  Place in large pan.  Cover with water.  Bring to boil and simmer 15 minutes.  Drain water, reserving 1/4 cup.  Add salt, pepper, onion, garlic, celery, and parsley to sausage; mix well.  Pour in undrained beans and cook 40 minutes over medium heat.  If mixture is too dry, add 1/4 cup reserved liquid.  Serve over rice.

Sloppy Jo

This is the recipe I grew up on.  It's from my mom and I have no idea where she got it because my grandma used the canned sauce.  But it's very good if you like that ketchup and mustard mixed together kind of flavor.

Combine in jar and shake:

1 cup ketchup

1 Tb sugar

1/2 cup water

3 Tb mustard

3 Tb vinegar (I use white)

3 tsp worcestershire sauce

Cook 1 lb beef, breaking apart.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Once meat is cooked, add sauce and cook slowly until thickened.

This freezes great.  I always double this and freeze for a meal later.

Grandma Fuemmeler's Mac n Chees

This is my grandma Fuemmeler's macaroni and cheese but I can never get it quite the same as hers.  It did turn out good, very creamy and tasty, just not the same flavor as Grandma's.  I'll keep experiementing though.

I don't really have any measurements.  Last night I used about 9 oz of pasta, 1/4 lb velveeta, a small handful of shredded cheddar and a shake or two of salt and pepper.  Probably 1/3 cup of milk.  It's pretty easy to figure out though so just add a little and see, then you can always add more milk or cheese as needed.

Mac n Cheese

some type of noodle...preferably the small shell ones
milk
velveeta
salt
pepper

Cook noodles according to package directions.  Drain; add milk and velveeta and stir until melted.  Season with salt and pepper.

Pepperoni and Meatball Calzones

I made these before if you remember with Ham and Cheese and they turned out so good we decided to try something else.  So I did pepperoni pizza ones with spaghett sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese.  Then I did meatball ones with spaghetti sauce, mozzarella, and meatballs.  We ended up with 8 of each so I froze 8 and we baked 8 for this night.  To see the recipe click here.

Homemade Crackers

These are supposed to be like wheat thins, which I think they would have been close with a few changes.

I suggest not using as much oil as it calls for.  They tasted quite oily to me and I think you could use a little less and just add water to get the consistency right.

I also suggest using whole flax seed.  I just had the ground flax seed so that's what I used but I think it would make it more like a store bought cracker if you did whole seed.

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
3 Tb flax seeds
3 Tb honey
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix the whole wheat flour, wheat germ, flax seeds, and paprika.  Add the oil, water, honey, and vanilla and mix until smooth.  This is much easier if you use your hands.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly grease baking sheet (which wasn't needed with the full amount of oil).  Divide the dough into 8 balls.  Take one ball and roll as thin as possible.  The thinner you get them the more crunchy they'll be.  Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt.

Put in oven for 5-10 minutes.  I tried 8 but they were still pretty chewy so I did 10 and they came out almost perfect.  You'll know when they're done when the edges are very lightly browned.  Once cool, store in air tight container.

Easy Guacamole

I just recently started eating guacamole after discovering how good it was at Chipotle.  My sister gave me this recipe and it was so yummy it was gone in two days...and I'm the only one that eats it!  The hardest part of this is mashing up the acacados!

I didn't really measure anything and I think some of this depends on your taste anyway so alter it to your liking.

2 avacados
1 lime (or 2 if there isn't much juice in the first one)
minced garlic
shake of garlic powder
chopped cilantro
green onion
dash of salt
salsa

Mash the avacados in a bowl.  Mix in everything else.  Eat with chips.

This post is linked to I'm Lovin' It.