Homemade Applesauce

I bought a bag of apples really cheap at the grocery store, and I knew exactly what their purpose would be－applesauce just like Grandma used to make. 

Homemade Applesauce 

This is so ridiculously easy, it hardly needs a "recipe" to make it. Really, the hardest part is peeling and chopping all the apples. 

So, get a bag of apples...any kind will do. Peel them, core, and chop them. As you are working with each apple, place the slices into a pot with cold water, which will keep them from turning brown. Use enough water to almost cover the slices as they sit in the pan; but, you don't want too much water. 

Throw in some cinnamon sticks, and apple pie spice, if you choose. Add one little dash of salt, but you won't need any sugar. Simmer over medium-low heat until apple pieces break apart easily when you stir them with a spoon. At this point, you can use a potato masher to blend them into a smooth applesauce, but I like mine chunky. Serve warm with cinnamon sugar, and keep the rest stored in the fridge.

Pork Roast in the crockpot

This was not really a planned meal, so when I brought home a "pork butt roast" I just wanted to throw it in the crockpot and not have to spend a lot of time with it. It turned out wonderful!


Pork Roast in the crockpot

1 can baby butter beans, not drained

1 can light kidney beans, not drained

1 c. water

1 pork butt roast (this one was probably about 3 pounds)

1 T. kosher salt

Dry Rub Seasoning for Pork

Put beans in bottom of crockpot; add water. Rub pork with salt, then rub in the seasoning mix. Place pork on beans, and add water to the side of the dish (don't wash the rub off). 

Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours, until your mouth begins to water uncontrollably. Turn setting up to high for about 2 more hours. When it is done, it should just fall apart when poked with a fork. This would make great pulled pork sandwiches.

The beans were also amazingly tasty—sort of like a can of pork'n' beans...which, I guess is what they were! LOL!

















...and I scooped some of the "juice" into a small saucepan and made a gravy to go with it.

Chicken Waldorf w/ Sweet Potato

This is just a variation of the Chicken Waldorf I have made in the past. I'm not sure what inspired me to add the sweet potato...it just happened.

Chicken Waldorf w/ Sweet Potato

2 cans (9.75 oz.) white chicken meat (you can use fresh cooked chicken breast, if you have some handy)
1 medium sweet potato, peeled, diced and microwaved until fork-tender
1/3 c. mayo
1/3 c. sour cream
2 T. honey
1 RED apple, cored and cut into wedges, then diced
1 GREEN apple, cored and cut into wedges, then diced 1 stalk celery, diced
1 c. RED grapes, sliced (or diced)
1 c. GREEN grapes, sliced (or diced)
1/3 c. raisins
1/4 c. pecans, chopped
1/4 c. walnuts, chopped

1. In medium bowl, blend: mayo, sour cream, and honey.
2. Stir in other ingredients.
3. Eat.

Spinach Salad with Quinoa & Poached Eggs

I think this was originally an idea from Marcus Sameulsson, but I've made some edits to suit my taste. Still, a brilliant idea and flavor combination. It turned out excellent, in spite of my somewhat traumatic experience with poaching the eggs. I thought I was better with eggs than that, but they were giving me fits!

Spinach Salad with Quinoa & Poached Eggs

prepared quinoa (I made it with chicken stock, as opposed to water)
baby spinach leaves
4 eggs, poached
6 slices bacon, cooked crispy (I used turkey bacon)
Marzetti Thousand Island salad dressing
croutons

This isn't really a recipe...I just threw it together. :)

Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

This recipe originally came from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine (Dec. 2003). I finally made it to take to the neighbors' house for a post-holiday dinner. Everyone raved about it, so I made another cake to take to our kinship group. Again, it made a great impression. And, yet, it is pretty easy to make.

Cranberry Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients:
2 T. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon (I use Penzey's ground Korintje Indonesian cinnamon)
1/4 t. allspice
1 3/4 c. cranberries; either fresh, or thawed frozen

Cake batter:
6 T. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 egg
1 1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. heavy cream

1) Heat oven to 350˚.
2) In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup sugar with 1 t. cinnamon and 1/4 t. allspice.
3) Butter an 8" or 9" round cake pan with 2 T. butter, and be generous.
4) Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture onto bottom of pan in an even layer.
5) On top of the cinnamon sugar layer, make an even layer of cranberries.

6) In mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
7) Add egg & vanilla; beat well.

8) In another bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
9) With mixer on low speed, beat in dry ingredients, alternating with heavy cream.
10) Carefully spoon batter over cranberries, and smooth out top. (This batter will be very thick and frosting-like!)


11) Bake at 350˚ for 30 to 35 minutes, until top is browned very lightly.
12) ALLOW TO COOL 20 minutes on wire rack before attempting to unmold cake! Then, run a knife along the edge to make sure it is loosened, and invert onto serving platter. Serve immediately with whipped cream.

PB&J Protein Shake

So....what do you do when you can't decide what flavor of protein shake to have for lunch?

I looked in the fridge.

And saw an almost-empty jar of Low-Sugar Strawberry Preserves. (Smucker's, I think.)

"What goes with strawberry jam...?..." I thought to myself. "Peanut butter!"


PB&J Protein Shake

1 c. milk
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 T. low-sugar strawberry preserves
1 T. peanut butter (heaping!)
6-7 ice cubes

Put all ingredients in a blender, and.....do I really need to give you "instructions"? LOL.

Pumped-Up French Toast

I've been thinking about this for a while, and now I finally got around to trying it...because my husband was hungry following a workout.

French Toast w/ Protein Powder Added

1 scoop (13 g.) protein powder (I used ViSalus Vi-Shape shake mix)
1/3 c. milk (I used whole milk)
1 large egg
3 slices whole wheat bread

Mix shake powder and milk in a shaker bottle, so that there are no lumps. Pour into a shallow bowl and add milk; whisk together.

Preheat non-stick skillet; spray with a tiny bit of olive oil cooking spray.

Dip bread into mixture, then flip it over to coat both sides. Drop in pan. Repeat with remaining bread. Cook until browned; turn over and cook on low until it is done to your liking.

Serve as you would regular French Toast. ENJOY!

Maple Glazed Brussels Sprouts

(Original recipe from Stonewall Kitchen; some edits made by me)
http://www.stonewallkitchen.com/recipes/side-dishes/vegetables/R100222.html

Maple Glazed Brussels Sprouts

1 lb. fresh Brussels sprouts
1 t. salt
2 T. bacon bits
2 T. butter
1/3 c. Vermont Maple Syrup
2 T. pecans, chopped
2 T. slivered almonds

Trim ends of Brussels sprouts off. Remove any discolored outer leaves. If large cut in half.

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add salt and Brussels sprouts. Cook until they are just tender, about 5 minutes. Do not over cook. Drain well and set aside. Dry pan.

Fry bacon over medium to medium-high heat until crisp and brown. Set aside on paper towels. Discard bacon fat.

To the same pan add maple syrup over medium high heat. Add butter and simmer until sauce thickens. Add well drained Brussels sprouts and toss. Add bacon, pecans, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

My notes:

I had bought about 1/2 pound of fresh Brussels sprouts. Also, I used turkey bacon, and cooked it in the microwave.


I didn't parboil the sprouts first; I just threw them in my big wok, hoping to brown them up a little:


Then I added the bacon, and the maple syrup and the nuts. Do yourself a favor and buy some real Vermont maple syrup, because the cheap stuff will not truly bring out the flavors in this dish. The first time I made this, I used some REAL maple syrup that Uncle Kevin gave us, and it was much better.


We had this with some chicken stirfry...

Crockpot Chicken with Baby Limas

I saw something similar to this in a recent magazine (unknown at this time; not looking for it!)...I used baby limas, chicken thighs, celery, onion and carrots to make mine. It was super yummy, and a great belly-warming winter meal.

Crockpot Chicken with Baby Limas

1 bag dry baby limas
3 - 4 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. brown sugar
6 chicken thighs (I used bone-in chicken)
3 or 4 stalks of celery
handful of baby carrots
1 small sweet onion, quartered
1/2 t. marjoram
1/2 t. paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Cook in crockpot for about 6 hours, or until beans are tender. You may need to add more liquid, if the beans soak up too much of the broth as it cooks.

Sudden Apple Crisp

There's no recipe for this. I made it up as I went along. The only "different" thing about it is that I added some shredded coconut to the crumble topping.

Look at the pictures and see if you can follow along...

Calzones

This was a super-easy dinner to make. Use Pillsbury crescent rolls and add your own favorite pizza toppings as filling for "homemade" calzones.

Calzones the easy way

1) Flatten out the dough and press the seams together:


2) Don't ask me where I got this little dough press tool, because it has been many years, and I forgot where it came from. You can cut out a circle free-hand or use a bowl to measure and cut a circle:



3) Use pasta sauce, or mix some Italian seasoning into tomato paste:


4) Add whatever it is that you like in a calzone:
(sounds logical, eh?)


5) Brush edges with egg wash (whisk 1 T. water into a beaten egg), and seal well:


6) Poke some vent holes in the tops, or else they might burst when baking:


7) Slathering them with butter helps the dough to brown on top:


8) Bake according to the crescent roll directions, and give them a little extra time if they are not quite browned to your liking:


NOTES:
Smaller ones can be used as appetizers; fillings could include breakfast sausage & scrambled eggs; dessert ones can be filled with pie filling. Try being creative and see what you can come up with!!

Lemon Bowtie Pasta

This was really good. It was a recreation of a meal that Casey had at a restaurant downtown Chicago many years ago, and I just kinda made it up as I went along. I also ended up adding some chicken to it, which made it a little more tasty. The photo with the chicken added was blurry, so I didn't post it.

Lemon Bowtie Pasta

2 lemons + 1/2 a stick of butter...mouth watering already? LOL.

Zest the lemons...

Squeeze out the juice of one of the lemons...

Make a simple white sauce with butter, flour and milk...

Add the lemon juice and zest...stir and allow to thicken...

Serve over pasta... (add cooked, chopped chicken breast, and toss together [not shown in photo])