Christmas Jam & A Lesson Learned

It's that time of year... I've only been waiting only since mid-end of winter, 

when I couldn't find any fresh cranberries in the grocery store anymore!!!

I was shopping last week and I SAW THEM!! 

They were beautiful! 

I could NOT resist and I bought 5 bags of fresh cranberries!! 

(Then of course, I HAD to buy 4 pounds of fresh strawberries and 5 giant oranges!)

I made Christmas jam for the first time just before Christmas last year and saved only 

2 small jars for our consumption! 

That was a mistake... for it is truly delicious, and I had no clue that fresh cranberries 

were only available seasonally! 

I set out yesterday to make 5 batches of my new favorite!

I bought 4 dozen jars to use as gifts ... 

the store only had 2 dozen of my 'tried and true' beloved, Ball jars... 

so I opted to get 2 dozen of a different 'off' brand. 

They were pretty enough and would make for great gifts!

It's a good thing that I water bath my jams... because 

I couldn't really tell if the seals took or not before!

 In case you are wondering about the recipe.... here it is! 

SUPER EASY, SUPER DELICIOUS 

and a 

SUPER CHRISTMAS GIFT! 

 My lesson learned...  stick with Ball Jars!! 

Bread Bowl Pizza

There was a short video that made its way around Face Book a little while ago.... 

it showed how to make a pizza like dinner using a round loaf of bread!

I have tried it TWICE actually and plan to again! 

It was DELICIOUS and easy to make!!

I used a hard, artisan bread ... 

Cut the top off and scoop out the bread from the bottom part.

It will look like an empty bread bowl!

 Now for the fun part!! 

Add what would be the toppings... but in this case

it's the filling!! I used spaghetti sauce, a mozzarella block of cheese

cut into slices, chunks of ham, peppers, fresh basil and fresh spinach!

Layer the toppings and sauce ending with the 

mozzarella cheese and put the top on!!

At this point, the original recipe called for wrapping it in

tin foil and putting something weighty on top for about 

half an hour, but I skipped this part!! Top the bread with

a grated cheddar blend (or whatever kind you like).

Bake in an oven preheated to 350* 

for about 30 minutes!!

Cool just a bit and cut it up for serving!!

I found cutting was the most difficult part, HOT and messy

but well worth it! It is sooo yummy!!

My second time making it I sauteed up some 

home made sweet sausage, vidalia onions and sweet yellow

peppers. I used the traditional spaghetti sauce and sliced mozzarella

cheese along with some sliced black olives!! That combination 

was very good too!! 

My NEXT time making this I will use an Alfredo sauce with the mozzarella

cheese and sautee' up some bacon, boneless chicken, vidalia onions and 

broccoli!! I can't wait to try this!! It is a great combo for regular pizza, so 

I'm thinking it will be fantastic in this pizza bowl too!!

That's all for tonight.... 

Hope you are enjoying whatever you

are doing! God bless you!

Sausage - Sweet Potato Bake

I tried a new recipe tonight! I was looking through some of the postings on the Simple Lives Thursday and saw this one....  I was intrigued as the post writer said she found it in one of the cookbooks that I have right here on my bookshelf! Kinda funny how we all see different things when when we are looking at the very same thing!!

 

 

Well, I made the casserole and it was pretty good!! Naturally, there are things I'd change next time... like, I'd probably cook up 1/4-1/2 of a sliced Vidalia onion in with the sausage, and I'd cut down the added sugar even more then I already did!! :)



Actually, I would only add a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar to the top... and nothing more! The flavor was quite good and everyone said they liked it! Pete suggested using a more sour apple, it would help to balance the naturally sweet flavors. I may have to do that next time too!

Tomatoes

I wanted to try something different this year with the tomatoes! I started out making spaghetti sauce, but looking at the quantity that I'd have to can it was not all that much... maybe one quart and one pint. So after thinking about what to do, I decided to turn it into pizza sauce. I froze it in quantities for ONE pizza each! So many times now there are just two of us at home for dinner on the weekends, so why open a full quart or pint of sauce? I froze 10 containers approx 1 1/4 cups each! (We made pizza that night.... it was pretty good and quantity was perfect!)

Our next adventure was when Audrey wanted to dehydrate some tomatoes! She cut them up and lightly salted them then put them on the racks...  (since I've tried this before, I knew to suggest that she spray the racks with an oil to keep the dried tomatoes from sticking!) She set the heat to 140* and let them go!! She also sprinkled them with some basil for yummy flavoring!! This took maybe 8 hours since some of the pieces were of good size! After it was all said and done...  they fit in a small freezer container! Yikes.... hard to imagine three racks of tomato pieces all fit in here... but they did!! And, I added some oil to it for storage.... not needed, but an experiment on our part! We'll use these in our favorite pesto chicken recipe! YUMMY!

Then on to making tomato soup!! I've never attempted anything but store bought canned tomato soup for some reason. I searched for a good recipe online and found one called "Mom's Best Tomato Soup Canning Recipe". I can't go wrong with that kind of a name, right?!

After reading some of the comments (a few times) I started....  Of course, if you know me at all, you know I almost NEVER make a recipe exactly as it is written. And, you won't be disappointed to know, the same holds true for this one! The recipe called for 6 onions, chopped... well, onions aren't always a favorite around here, so I opted for 1 VERY big Vidalia onion and instead of a whole bunch of celery, I cut up about 3/4 of a bunch! (Keep in mind... the goal is for flavor and a bunch depending on where you live will vary in size. And as for the onions, I think the author must use regular yellow onions which would be way to strong for my family.) I cooked this all down in a little bit of oil and then added the tomatoes and they cooked over low heat for a while! I used my immersion blender since I really didn't want to lose the onions and celery  only the skins & seeds of the tomatoes. I added a few more cut up tomatoes, allowed it to simmer and then used my Foley food mill to rid the pot of seeds & skins!! It worked like a charm!!

Here's where the next change comes...  I used 3/4 cup of sugar instead of a full cup and I did NOT add the flour/butter (rue) to thicken the soup. Instead, I decided to wait as some of the comments suggested, for when I actually heat the soup up to eat! A few of the comments were similar in saying:

"If you're following current USDA/NCHFP (US National Center for Home Food Preservation) recommendations for shelf-stable food storage safety (updated in 2009), they no longer recommend canning things with flour as a thickener. Likewise, butter and dairy products."

The remedy is to use a pressure canner for 30 minutes at 10 pounds for pints... that would have worked fine for me too, but being in a time crunch, I opted to use the water bath method and thicken later! 14 pints of tomato soup all ready for the shelf! I can't wait to try it! Next year...  I just may try it with the thickener in!

Next up, diced and canned tomatoes... 10 pints! They're awesome to add to soups, chili and to beef up the spaghetti sauce!! The tomatoes are still turning red out in the garden! I'll probably do up some more of the diced tomatoes when there are enough ripened.

 

Shared on Simple Lives Thursday!

Go look for other awesome ideas!



Dehydrating Pan Drippings

Here's a new one for you...

(Or rather, it's a new idea to me!)

 

Pan drippings and what to do with them!

 

After the pot roast was finished cooking

and I used as much of the dripping as I needed

for making gravy, I continued cooking

down the extra juices/dripping in my crockpot.

(I left an air vent when putting the cover on)

 

After refridgerating, I scooped off the

fat and those left behind carrots.

It is LOTS easier to 

remove at this point... 

 



 

 and then I poured

it onto the solid plastic 'fruit roll sheet'.

This has a lip so nothing will spill out and

nothing will leak through!

 

 

 Here's the chicken broth left over from

roasting a chicken ...  I did not cook

this down. I put it into the fridge so that

I could remove the fat easily.

 

 

One minute in the microwave and

then poured out onto another

solid sheet for the dehydrator!

 

(I did them differently to see which

way works the best for me!)

 

It's suppose to take about 6 hours...

but, I'll let you know!

 

STORAGE:

This is suppose to look kinda like

jerky when it is done. After it's dry,

it will be cut up into roughly, 1 1/2 X 2 inch

strips and stored in Mason jars in the freezer.

 

USE:

These pieces become like bouillon

cubes only better!! NO SODIUM or

CHEMICALS!! Add a piece to

soup for wonderful flavoring or

add to a bit of boiling water

and thicken for gravy!!

 

UPDATE:

I re-hydrated the chicken pieces

to use in gravy...  very tasty!

One thing I would do differently

is to make sure that the pieces

are totally dried! Mine weren't

dried to the point of crispness... I think

there was still some fat in the drippings

so it didn't dry as well as it should.

Maybe I didn't have the temp. high

enough, maybe I just didn't wait long

enough. I will try this again!

 

 

This post is shared on

Simple Lives Thursday

Please go check out all

the awesome ideas!

Salt... the Cookie Reality Check!

I've been looking at the things I buy

for sodium content...

It never dawned on me to look at

the salt container to read how much

sodium is in each serving!

1/4 tsp of iodized salt has 590mg of sodium!

My chocolate chip cookie recipe calls

for 1 tsp. of salt which means I'm

adding 2360mg of sodium!!

AND... THAT'S NOT ALL!!

Have you ever checked out baking soda??

I've been baking since I was

about 10 years old.... 

and I've NEVER read the

nutrition facts of baking soda!

Serving size is 1/8 tsp and

the sodium content is 150mg.

Again, that same cookie recipe

calls for 1 tsp. which means I'm

adding another 1200mg of sodium!

YIKES!!!!

SO... for a recipe that makes maybe

36 cookies that is 3560mg of SODIUM!!

You do the math....  3560/36

means each cookie has

98.88888 (or 99mg) of

sodium per cookie!

(AND, that's only if there are NO other

ingredients with sodium in them!)

AND SERIOUSLY...

WHO EATS JUST ONE?!

Maybe I'm over reacting, but

that seems like a lot to me!

Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna

3 lbs. butternut squash, halved & seeded

3 TBsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 450*F Grease a baking sheet and put

the squash on it to bake... brush with the oil.

Bake 45-50 minutes, until the

squash can be easily pierced with a fork.

Set aside to cool.

 Cook up 9 lasagna noodles!

1 sweet red pepper, cut up

1/2 cup Vidalia onion, cut up

1 tsp. minced garlic

Saute in olive oil then set aside.

1/4 cup butter 

1/3 cup flour

1 quart milk

Melt butter in a large sauce pan. Add flour and mix quickly.

Add the milk slowly and whisk until it thickens.

After it thickens stir in the cooked pepper/onion/garlic.

Add a little salt & black pepper to taste.

Scoop the squash out of the peel, mash

it up in a bowl then add it to the thickened

milk, pepper, onion.

(ooops, I forgot to take a picture!)

 (fresh spinach & 1 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese)

Reduce heat in the oven to 375* F Grease a

9X13 baking dish. Pour 1 Cup of the butternut

squash sauce into the baking dish and place

3 lasagna noodles on top. (You can use either the

No-Cook noodles or the pre-cook ones)

Spread 1/2 of the remaining squash sauce,

top with freshspinach (optional) and

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

Place another 3 noodles on top, spread the remaining

squash sauce, more spinach (optional) and 1/2 cup of

Parmesan cheese.

Top with the last 3 noodles and pour

1 cup of non-fat Half & Half (or heavy cream) over the

top of the noodles and then top that with 1/3 cup of

Parmesan cheese!  Cover with aluminum foil.

BAKE in the preheated oven 375*

for 30 minutes then

remove the foil and bake another 15-30 minutes

until the top is bubbly golden brown.

Allow to rest 5-10 minutes

before serving!  ENJOY!

Apples....

Just when you think you're finished....  someone you love brings home a bushel of apples! No, I'm not complaining. I made applesauce, we ate lots of them fresh, I've made apple pizza, apple bread, apple cake...  and now, I'm trying something new to me!

Freezing Apple Pie Filling

24 cups sliced, peeled baking apples (6-7lbs.)
3 TBsp. lemon juice
4 1/2 Cups sugar (I use half brown, half white)
1 Cup Cornstarch
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
10 Cups water

In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice and set aside. In a large kettle, over medium heat, combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt & nutmeg. Add water and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add apples, return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until apples are tender, about 6 - 7 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes. Ladle into freezer containers or freezer bags, 1 quart per container, and cool to room temperature before freezing! This is enough to make about five 9 inch pies!

After thawing, put it in a pie crust, dot with butter and seal with a top crust! I'm hoping it will be as yummy as it was smelling!

I made one and a half times the recipe, that's why there's more then 5 bags ready for the freezer!

Roots & Squash Soup

Here's an interesting soup I made for dinner tonight! 

After reading the recipe from "Stuff I Feed Brian"

and having been wanting to use butternut squash as a base

 for soup, I'm trying this recipe!! I used the recipe almost as

written... but made a few adjustments for our family's

 taste. It is a soup that will be making its

way into the regular rotation here!!

ROOTS & SQUASH SOUP

1 small to medium butternut squash (or winter squash of your choice)

2 medium to large sweet potatoes

3 medium to large beets

Dash of salt

Peel & boil these veggies with just enough water to cover them.

Sweet red pepper - diced

1/4 vidalia onion - diced

1/2 tsp. minced garlic

Continue to boil until the veggies are soft.

Using a slotted spoon, remove about 3/4 of the veggies and put them

into a bowl. Use a potato masher to mash them up and then

add back to the remaining veggies still in the water/juices.

Stir in well. (You could also put the veggies into a blender

or food processor to mash or use an immersion blender!)

Add a hand full of cut up kale and/or beet greens and

cook on low for a few minutes,  just until the greens are wilted.

Serve warm with optional toppings of

sour cream, grated cheese, parm. cheese or plain yogurt

and salt & pepper to your own taste!

 (Warm cornbread is yummy with it too!) 

Be prepared for a DELICIOUS SOUP!

Your taste buds will be very excited
with the combination of  flavors!!

(Next time, I think I'm going to add
some back beans to it! Maybe make
it ahead and keep it warm in the crock pot!)

OH, THE IDEAS ARE ENDLESS!

Have You Ever Tried Mincemeat?

I've heard of mincemeat.

 I've said no thank to mincemeat.

I've looked at recipes

for making things with mincemeat.
And then, I've put those recipes away!

And now, finally...

I trying my hand at MAKING mincemeat!

(I will admit, it is at my husband's request!)

OK, it is on the stove top.....

I just tasted it for the FIRST TIME EVER.

I have to admit, it wasn't bad!

Pete's 89 year old aunt shared this recipe

with me ... so I had to try it!

Green Tomato Mincemeat

2 Quarts ground green tomatoes

2 Quarts ground apples (firm apples)

4 Cups brown sugar

1 1/2 Cups vinegar

3 Cups raisins

3 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

3/4 tsp. allspice

3/4 tsp. pepper (I used 1/2 tsp.white pepper)

2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. mace (I used nutmeg instead)

3/4 Cups butter

Chop apples & tomatoes and drain.

Add this and the remaining ingredients

except the butter in a stock pot and

bring to a boil. Simmer for 3 hours.

Add the butter and stir in until melted.

OK, here is what I did. I read a few

other recipes, including the one in the

Ball Blue Book. In the Ball book, it

said to combine all the ingredients and

simmer for 15 minutes then ladle into

hot jars and PRESSURE CAN both

quarts & pints for 90 minutes!

So, I compromised... I used Pete's aunt's recipe

with the exception of mace. I didn't have any.

When I looked it up to see just what it was,

I discovered it was kinda like a peppery nutmeg,

so I used nutmeg instead!

Also, since I wasn't

sure about NOT at least water bathing the

jars, I decided to follow the Ball Book

instructions to be on the safe side and

used the pressure canner!

This recipe made

3 quarts and 3 pints

AND 3/4 cup that I held out!

NOW... to try this stuff in a recipe!

SOFT MINCEMEAT COOKIES

1/4 Cup softened butter

3/4 Cup brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 Cup mincemeat

1 1/2 Cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. salt

1 Cup Choc. chips

1/2 Cup chopped walnuts (optional)

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter &

brown sugar. Add the eggs & mincemeat

and mix well. Add the dry ingredients and

mix well before adding the chocolate chips

and walnuts. Bake on GREASED cookie

sheets at 350* for 10-12 minutes or

until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Yield: about 4 dozen.

I shared this on Healthy 2Day Wednesdays and
Simple Lives Thursday!
Go check out the other wonderful posts!

Sun Dried Tomatoes ... Who Knew?

Who knew it was this easy?!

We LOVE sun dried tomatoes!
(Ok, technically... dehydrator dried!)

It is nearing the end of the garden season and 

I am TIRED of canning tomatoes.

I never thought I'd say that...  but I am.

I think it is mostly because the more I can, the more space

I need to come up with to store it!

(But that's a discussion for another day.)

I decided to give the dehydrator a try. Check this out!

Saturday night was my test run was with 2 apples and

one tray full of fresh picked cherry tomatoes ...

washed & cut in half!

I sprinkled the tomatoes with a little bit of sea salt

(didn't do that for the following batch)

and I lightly sprinkled the apples with cinnamon sugar!

Can you say DELICIOUS!!! I AM SOOO ExCiTeD!

Sunday night I loaded up the trays with more cherry tomatoes

and left them overnight (roughly from 9PM to 5AM)

and they came out perfectly!

Storage for these little guys is a mason jars

with olive oil and in the back of the fridge!

There is a total of 7 dehydrator trays in these 2 jars.

It doesn't look like much... but it is!

You ask, 'now what?'... 

I can't wait to use them in pesto-chicken,

turkey sandwiches and can't you just smell

the bread cooking!?

Ahhh, I'm going to start drooling if I don't stop now!

I'll share pictures with you as

I figure out more recipes to use them in!

The apples came out awesome too!

I only did two apples... but everyone like them!

I'll definitely be doing more of these as well,

but, most likely without the sugar!

I need to do some more investigating,

but I've seen both tomatoes

& apples stored in zipper type bags (remove air)

and store on a pantry shelf or in the freezer.

 I'll let you know how that all works out!

Next up.... regular sized tomatoes. I'm going to try thinly slicing them and then adding a little basil & sea salt before dehydrating them!

(Posted on Healthy 2day Wednesdays )

A Crockpot Kinda Day

It's a rainy day....   a day with appointments to keep

and time to save! A perfect day to try one tried and true

and a brand new (to me) recipe....Have you ever made

Crockpot Lasagna?

No, well me either until today.

Ingredient list:

Spagetti sauce  (I used one can Hunt's, one jar of

home made and 1 can of paste)

Sweet sausage & grond beef

Package of frozen cheese ravioli

Fresh baby spinach  (optional)

Shredded cheese 

Crock Pot

(size depending on quantity you want to make!)

Directions:

Cook the sweet sausage and ground beef then

add the sauce to make a nice thick spagetti sauce. 

(I also added about 2 TBsp of my frozen pesto for added flavor)

I sprayed the inside of the crockpot with an

olive oil spray to keep things from sticking...

this is totally optional.

Put a little bit of sauce on the bottom then start layering:

frozen ravioli  (enough to cover the sauce)

a little fresh spinach

a little shredded cheese

top with sauce

Repeat until you've used up your ingredients... top with cheese!

Turn the crock pot on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 4.

Serve hot with garlic bread... DELICIOUS!

Now for desert, how about a little  APPLE CRISP

with vanilla ice cream.... yummy!! 

 I can hardly wait to come home and smell this all cooking!

Peel and cut up 6-8 good sized apples 

(enough for 6-8 cups) put into a large bowl add

3/4 Cup brown sugar

1/2 Cup flour

2TBsp water

1 Cup oats

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 TBsp butter   (cut up)

Mix all of this together and put into a 4 quart crock pot

(Previously sprayed with olive oil so it won't stick).

Cook on low for a few hours!! 

Seriously, most crock pot recipes are very forgiving... 

 if you cook it a LITTLE bit longer or

shorter length of time it will be ok.

You can also USUALLY cook on high for

almost half of the time.