Roasted Apples & Brussel Sprouts

This is a great recipe; the combination of the savory onions and brussel sprouts with the sweetness of the apples it awesome!  It makes a great side dish for roasted pork or poultry.

I found and adapted this recipe from allrecipes.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

-16 oz. frozen brussel sprouts {I think fresh would be fantastic too!}

-2 apples, peeled, cored and cubed {I actually used 4 apples}

-1 to 2 sweet onions, cubed

-2 tbsp olive oil

-salt, pepper and garlic powder, to taste

-zest and juice of 1 lemon, optional {I didn't use because I didn't have any at the time}

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Toss onions, apples and frozen brussel sprouts together and arrange in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet.

3. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

4. Toss to coat.

5. Roast veggies in preheated oven about 20 minutes.

6. Toss veggies and roast another 20 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Banana Yeast Bread

We usually end up with just a couple extra bananas no one will eat so I like to either freeze them, make banana bread or banana cake/bars.  

Well, I have gotten bored with basic banana quick bread.  So, I found this recipe from Patty's Food.  Its a keeper!

Ingredients:

- 2 tsp yeast

-3 tbsp honey

-3/4 cup warm water

-3 cups flour {you could use 1 cup whole wheat plus 2 cups white}

-1 tsp salt

-1 tsp cinnamon

-1 tbsp canola oil or other vegetable oil

-2 ripe bananas, broken into pieces

Process:

1. Place water, honey, salt, cinnamon, oil and bananas into breadmaker pan.

2. Top with flour and yeast.

3. Set breadmaker to the dough setting and allow cycle to run, check on dough throughout the first 30 minutes.  If the dough is too liquidy like the picture below add more flour.

4. Once cycle is completed, remove dough, form into a loaf and place in a grease loaf pan.  Allow to rise about 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake bread for 35-45 minutes.

6. Enjoy!  

*This banana bread makes fantastic toast and french toast!

Homemade Taco Sauce

I adapted this recipe from joyofkosher.com; its a great one and it really tastes so much better than the store-bought stuff.

A single recipe makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Ingredients:

-8 oz. tomato sauce OR 1/4 cup tomato paste + 1/4 cup water + 1/8 tsp salt OR 16 oz. crushed tomatoes

-1/3 cup water {omit if using crushed tomatoes}

-1/4 tsp chili pepper

-1 1/2 tsp cumin

-1 1/2 tsp dry minced onion

-1 tbsp white vinegar

-1 tsp garlic powder

-1/4 tsp paprika

-1/4 tsp sugar

-1/4 tsp cayenne

Process:

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.

2. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

3. I used crushed tomatoes I canned from last summer's garden; so I ran the sauce through the food processor.

4. Cool and place in an airtight container and use or refrigerate for up to 1 week {or freeze and thaw as needed}.

If you have any extras, it would be great mixed in taco meat, pasta sauce, used as pizza sauce or in a mexican style soup!  Enjoy!

Lazy Daisy Oatmeal Cake

Someone posted this recipe on facebook, it was one of their grandmothers recipes; so of course I had to try it!  And it is an awesome recipe!

Ingredients for Cake:

-1 1/4 cups boiling water

-1 cup oatmeal

-1/2 cup shortening or butter, softened

-1 cup sugar

-1 tsp baking soda

-3/4 tsp cinnamon

-1 cup brown sugar

-1 tsp vanilla

-2 eggs

-1 1/2 cups flour

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/4 tsp nutmeg

Ingredients for Caramel Frosting or Glaze:

-1 1/2 cups brown sugar

-2 tbsp butter

-3/4 cup milk or cream

-1/2 tsp vanilla

Process:

1. Pour boiling water over oatmeal, cover with a towel or a plate and allow to sit for about 20 minutes.

2. In the meantime, beat shortening/butter with sugar until fluffy.
3. Add vanilla, eggs and baking soda, beat well.

4. Beat in salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

5. Beat in brown sugar.

6. Add soaked oatmeal and flour, mix well.

7. Pour batter into two 8 or 9 inch  greased cake pans or one 9 x 13 greased baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes.
8. Cool at least 30 minutes or completely before cutting.

Prepare Frosting or Glaze:
1. Cook sugar and milk/cream until it reaches 235 degrees.
2. Add vanilla and butter.
*for glaze: serve at this point

For Frosting:
1. Cool completely and beat until it reaches spreading consistency.

Enjoy!

Excellent Sweet Coleslaw

This is the BEST basic coleslaw recipe!  Its very easy to make and is always a huge hit.  I found this recipe on allrecipes.

Ingredients:

-16 oz. bag coleslaw mix {or the equivalent in thinly sliced cabbage and carrots}

- 2 tbsp diced onion {we like red onion and I usually add more than 2 tbsp}

-2/3 cups miracle whip

-3 tbsp vegetable oil 

-1/2 cup sugar

-1 tbsp vinegar

-1/4 tsp salt

-1/2 tsp poppy seeds

Process:

1. Combine coleslaw mix and onion in a large bowl.

2. Mix together miracle whip, oil, sugar, vinegar, salt and poppy seeds.

 3. Pour dressing over cabbage mixture, toss well to coat.

4. Cover and chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Notes:
*Sometimes I will just put everything in a bowl together and mix it all at once.
*Its also easy to mix the dressing ingredients in the large bowl then add the onion and coleslaw.
*I don't always allow 2 hours for chilling and its still great!

Enjoy!

Canned Blueberry Jam

This is such a super recipe, I actually made this one last winter when we needed jam but I just can't get myself to buy jam anymore since I am always making it homemade.  

The original recipe makes about 3 pints.  I doubled the recipe, so I used 8 cups of berries; listed below are the ingredients for a single batch.  It uses frozen fruit so its awesome for winter!  I found this one from Food.com, the original recipe says to thaw and drain the berries, but I didn't.  

I also think you could use any single or combination of frozen fruit too! Enjoy!  This jam can be used as you would any other jam, or get creative and drizzle warmed jam over vanilla ice cream or fresh fluffy angel food cake! 

Ingredients:

-2 pints frozen blueberries {4 cups}

-2 tbsp lemon juice

-1 packet liquid pectin

-5 1/4 cups sugar

Process:

1. Prepare canner, jars and lids.

2. Place frozen blueberries in a large pot.

3. Add sugar and lemon juice.

Stir to combine.

4. Turn on heat to medium-high, stirring occasionally until berries are thawed and the sugar begins to dissolve.

5. Stir in pectin and bring to a hard boil for 1 minute.

For a single batch you would use one of these pouches.

6. Remove from heat.

7. Ladle jam into prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Wipe rim, top with lid and ring.

8. Process in hot water bath for 10 minutes.
9. Remove to a wire rack or a clean kitchen towel.  Allow to cool.

Enjoy!

Canned Clementine Marmalade

This past winter the family and I were loving the abundance of affordable tasty clementines available in all of the local grocery stores.  Like consuming 10-12 pounds of clementines a week, loving them!  But there came a time when I bought them and they just weren't disappearing from the basket as quickly.  

So, I decided to make some Canned Clementines also known as mandarin oranges in the canned fruit section of the grocery store and then I thought, oooh maybe some clementine jam?  and then I found and adapted this recipe.  And this is a very easy recipe to assemble since you don't have to peel the clementines!

Ingredients:

-about 3 lbs. seedless clementines {it doesn't need to be exactly 3 lbs; just around there}

-2 3/4 to 3 cups sugar {depending on how sweet you like it}

-4 tbsp lemon juice

Process:

1. Prepare water bath canner and jars.

2. Wash all clementines.  Quarter the whole clementines, checking each quarter for any seeds {they are supposed to be seedless, but is a watermelon ever really seedless?  No, and neither are all clementines}

3. Place quartered clementines into food processor.  

4. Pulse clementines until they are the texture you'd like.

5. Place sugar and lemon juice in a large pot, top with processed clementines.

6. Cook mixture over high heat until boiling.

7. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 50-60 minutes, uncovered.  Stir occasionally.

8. Ladle mixture into prepared canning jars, leaving about 1/4 inch headspace.  Place in prepared water bath and process for 5 minutes.  Remove jars to a wire rack of clean kitchen towel to seal and cool.

Enjoy!