Apple Butter

Apple Butter

Ingredients

• Apples
• 4 cups Sugar
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Cloves

Cooking Directions

1. This is the apple butter recipe from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving. I tweak it just a little bit to work with what I am making.
2. Turn your apples to applesauce. Core them, peel them if necessary (I don't, I think it is a waste of time) put them in a pot with a cup or two of water or apple juice at the bottom and simmer down into applesauce.
3. Then take 2 quarts (4 cups) applesauce and mix with sugar, cinnamon and cloves and simmer down until thick enough to round up on the spoon, or desired consistency.
4. Can.

Slow Cooker/Crockpot Steel Cut Oats

In our house we love Oatmeal we make a batch every night and in the morning everyone doctors it up to their taste.  We have a great method for cooking it so that it doesn't stick to the sides of the Crockpot.  Here are a few ways that it can be doctored.

• 2-3 Tbsp of sugar-free syrup, 2 Tbsp of PB2, and 1/4 cup of frozen raspberries or blueberries. When I am feeling like I need a little more comfort food I add a Tbsp of real butter.
• 1 scoop of protein powder, a splash of milk, and some frozen berries.

And here are a few alternatives for adding things when cooking it.  We add Chia seeds to our standard base to add a bit of protein to the mix and slightly boost the fiber.

• Roni makes hers with Pumpkin
• For Apple Pie, add 1 apple cored and diced into small pieces (with the peel on) and your standard mix of Apple Pie spices.
• For blueberry, add 1 cup frozen blueberries.  

Steel Cut Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1 cup Steel Cut Oats
• 4 Tbsp Chia Seeds
• 4 cups Water

Cooking Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl that will fit inside your slow cooker.
2. Place a towel in the bottom of your slow cooker and place the bowl with the oats on top of it.
3. Fill the slow cooker with water until the waterline outside of the bowl is the same as the waterline inside the bowl.
4. Turn on low and leave overnight.
5. In the morning use a turkey baster to remove enough water so that you can take the bowl out of the slow cooker.

Homemade Applesauce

Canning Applesauce

modified from the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving

Ingredients

• 2.5-3.5 lbs Apples per quart
• 1/4 cup of sugar per pound of apples (optional to taste)

Cooking Directions

1. Wash apples, drain. Core, peel and quarter apples (I don't peel). 
2. Fill a canner with water heat the water to boiling
3. Cook apples until soft in a large covered sauce pot with just enough water to prevent sticking. Puree using a food processor, stick blender or food mill. 
4. Return apple pulp to sauce pot. Add 1/4 cup sugar per pound of apples or to taste, if desired. 
5. Bring applesauce to a boil (212 F) stirring to prevent sticking. Maintain temp at a boil while filling jars. 
6. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2 in head space. Remove air bubbles. Put lids on. 
7. Process pints and quarts 20 min in a boiling-water canner.
8. Recipe Variation: Spiced applesauce can be made by adding ground spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice, to the sauce during the last 5 min of cooking. For a chunky sauce, coarsely crush half of the cooked apples; process remaining apples through a food processor or food mill. Combine crushed and sauced apple mixtures; continue as for Applesauce.

Grandma P's Zucchini Bread

A few years ago our grandmother passed away.  When going through her things we found a box full of recipes.  One of those was for her Zucchini bread which is absolutely delicious.

Grandma P's Zucchini Bread

Yield: approximately 15 Slices
Ingredients

• 2 c. Grated Zuchinni
• 1/2 c. Nuts
• 1/4 teas. Baking Powder
• 3 teas. Cinnamon
• 3 Eggs
• 1-1/2 c. Sugar
• 1 c. Oil
• 3 teas. Vanilla
• 3 c. Flour
• 1 teas . Salt
• 1 teas. Baking Soda

Cooking Directions

1. The recipe had no baking instructions but I am assuming it is 350 for an hour. 

Recipe Formatting Tutorial for blog post

Here is the tutorial on how we format our posts.

To format the recipes
1. Go to http://recipeseo.com/
2. Fill in as much information as possible
3. Click on "More options" and fill in any extra information there
4. Click Format Recipe
5. Copy and Paste the HTML from the top box into the HTML section of the blog post

To calculate nutrition information
1. Go to  http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
2. Copy and paste the ingredient list from above into the box and enter serving size
3. Click Analyze
4. Hit the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard
5. Open up Paint
6. Paste from your clipboard
7. Click the Selection square and select the nutrition information
8. Copy to clipboard
9. Open a new copy of Paint and paste into it
10. Save to computer
11. Upload image to bottom of blog post

Mambo Rice

image from scarlettabakes.com

Eating healthy delicious food is important to me.  One food that we eat quite a bit of are the sodium filled packets of rice that are so quick and easy to make.  In my quest to replace them I bought a 25lb bag of Jasmine Rice from Sams Club.  Now I have to figure out how to use it.  I found this recipe and tried it.  It is wonderful and delicious.

Guy Fieri's Mambo Rice

Original recipe from Guy Fieri on Food Network.com

Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients

• 2 cups Water
• 1 1/2 cups Chicken Stock
• 2 cups Jasmine Rice
• 1 cup Chopped Parsley
• 1/2 cup Chopped Cilantro
• 1/4 cup Minced Garlic
• 1/4 cup Fresh Lime Juice
• 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
• 2 tsp Ground Black Pepper

Cooking Directions

1. Add Water, Chicken Stock, and Rice into a rice cooker or a pan on the stove and cook accordingly
2. Combine Parsley, Cilantro, Garlic, Lime Juice, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper
3. Toss with Rice
4. Eat for days, it makes a ton and is delicious

Welcome

Everyone eats food.
Those that are lucky eat good food.
Those that are smart eat good healthy food.
Those that are awesome eat good healthy tasty food.

This blog is for my sisters and I to share the recipes that we use that are awesome.