Cranberry & Orange Relish

This cranberry relish is a perfect side dish for any holiday meal. I have been using this recipe for a couple of years and it has been a huge hit with my family. It is especially good on those left-over turkey sandwiches! Yum!

You will need:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
12 ounces cranberries
1 pinch cinnamon, ground
2 tablespoons orange zest
1/2 cup orange segments

1. Rinse cranberries with cold water. In a medium saucepan add sugar, orange juice, and water. Stir until the sugar dissolves.

2. Bring to a boil and add cranberries, cinnamon and orange zest. Return to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low. Cook until cranberries start to burst, about ten minutes.

3. Remove from heat and add orange segments.

4. Let cool to room temperature. Pour sauce into a serving bowl and chill in the refrigerator. Serve chilled.

Cranberry & Orange Relish

Homemade Applesauce ~ in the CrockPot!

I had several apples that needed to be used and after making and having such success with the Apple Butter last year, (which is something I find myself cooking every month now) I decided to try making applesauce....in the CrockPot!  Yummo!  A few weeks ago I ran across a delicious looking applesauce recipe posted by Gina's Skinny Recipes, so after tweaking it a bit and making a batch of this sauce, I don't think I will ever buy applesauce from the store again.  My kids are in love with it and I love the fact that I made it for them.  Plus, you home is filled with very delightful aromas for the six hours that the apples are cooking.  Awww...I love apples!

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You will need:

8 medium apples 

1 strip of orange peel (a vegetable peeler is the easiest way to do this)

2 tsp of fresh squeezed orange juice

3 inch cinnamon stick

6 tsp light brown sugar

Making the Applesauce:

1.  Peel, core and slice the apples.

2.  Place the apples in the slow cooker.  Add the orange peel, cinnamon stick and brown sugar.

3.  Turn the CrockPot setting to low and cook for 6 hours.  Stir the apples occasionally.  After the apples have finished cooking, remove the cinnamon stick and orange peel and use a food processor to blend until smooth. 

4.  Let cool completely, place in a jar or air tight container and keep in the refrigerator.

Makes 3 cups.

Homemade Applesauce ~ in the CrockPot!

Cranberry Relish

This recipe was given to me from a friend in Texas about two years ago.  She served this cranberry relish as a garnish for a pork tenderloin and it was absolutely delicious.  I most recently made this to serve alongside a glazed ham I cooked for my family and it added such a fabulous flavor.  Its bright red color is so festive and just simply beautiful.

To make it you need...

2 cups of cranberries

1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 cup onions, chopped

1 jalapenos, seeded and chopped (optional)

1/4 cup lime juice

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Combine all ingredients and blend in a food processor.  Chill for at least 30 min before serving.  Serve alongside a pork tenderloin, ham or meat of your choice.  

Add all the ingredients in the food processor to chop & blend.

A beautiful and delicious side, when spooned over pork is absolutely divine!

Cranberry Relish

Sweet Cornbread

Amazing!  Thank you, The Country Cook, for sharing this recipe.  The honey that you add to this cornbread mixture gives it such a delightfully sweet taste.  This will definitely be the cornbread recipe I use from now on. This, crumbled up in my Red Bean and Cabbage soup,...curtains!  I ate until I was stuffed and still went back for more!  Try it...you'll love it!

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What you need:
2 tbsp. honey
1 egg
4 tbsp. butter (melted)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

How to Make it:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray an 8x8 baking dish with nonstick spray.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the honey, egg, butter, milk and water.  In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.  Give it a gentle stir to combine.  While whisking, slowly add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until all are combined.  Batter may be lumpy.  Pour the mixture into the greased pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Mixing the wet ingredients

Mixing the dry ingredients

Pour into a greased pan and bake!

Sweet Cornbread

Pesto Pasta Salad

I love Pesto and one of my favorite side dishes to prepare is Pesto Pasta Salad with feta cheese and halved cherry tomatoes.  Yummo!

Last night we attended a school picnic with the five year old and our last name fell into the 'bring a salad' category, so i opted to take a pasta salad.  I would say that it was a hit because the bowl was all but licked clean.

This is a REALLY basic and EASY recipe and it is so very tasty.  Sure to be a hit at any picnic or dinner at home.

slicing the tomatoes 

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here's what you need:
12 oz box of Tri-Color Rotini
1 jar of Pesto (Classico is my favorite because I love to re-use the little Mason jars when entertaining)
4 oz package of Tomato and Basil Feta Cheese (crumbled)
10.5 oz package of cherry tomatoes.

what to do:
1.  Boil pasta until tender and then drain. Let pasta cool. (i usually put in the fridge for about 30 minutes)
2.  While pasta is boiling cut the cherry tomatoes in half.
3.  Once pasta is cool, toss with tomatoes, feta cheese and pesto sauce.

Serve as a side dish or with garlic bread and a green salad.  It is fantastic either way.

Pesto Pasta Salad

Pesto Pasta Salad

Fried Rice

Easy Fried Rice

A dish that my family loves, but I have only made once.  Why?  Because it is Fried Rice and Fried Rice is hard to make, right?  No, I was wrong..(yes, this occurs every now and then), it is just the opposite.  Easy and delish! Excited I have a new dish to go along with my egg rolls!!

FRIED RICE
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What you need:

1/3 cup chopped, cooked chicken, Beef, pork of fish, if desired. (I didn't use any meat)

2 tBsp olive oil

3 cups cooked, cold Rice (white, brown or instant) *I cooked my rice the morning of and then placed it in a covered dish and let it sit in the refrigerator all day until I was ready to stir-fry it. 

3 green onions, sliced

2 tsp soy sauce

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup frozen peas (peas or carrots), cooked

1 packet of Sun-Bird Fried Rice seasoning (any brand will do)

Preparing it:

1.  In a large skillet, heat oil; stir-fry rice and green onions.

2.  Add seasoning and soy sauce; stir-fry 1 minute.

3.  Push Rice to the side, add eggs, scramble; stir into rice.

4.  Add peas and meat if desired.

Makes 5 servings, about 1 cup each as prepared above.

Fried Rice

Sweet Fried Summer Squash

This is a sweet, crispy coating for deep-fried yellow squash that is a tasty treat for all us veggie lovers!

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Basically you need:
2 yellow squash, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
2 cups shortening, melted

Directions:
1.. Allow squash to rest for 5 minutes after cutting to release its moisture.  Stir the flour, sugar, and salt together in a shallow bowl.  Dredge the squash slices in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess and set aside until needed.
2.  Melt the shortening in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Arrange the squash in a single layer in the skillet.  Cook, turning once, until golden brown, about five minutes.  Drain on paper towels.

Sweet Fried Summer Squash

Grilled Corn On The Cobb In The Husk

We love grilled corn.  However, we never grill it.  My kids beg for it when we go to an event that has it for sale.  Even the five year old is addicted.  So, after a quick Internet search on the best way to grill corn, I discovered it really isn't that hard.  So we tried it, and it was, in our opinion...DELICIOUS!

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Ingredients

• 8 medium ears sweet corn
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 
  

• Directions

• 1. Soak corn in cold water for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the butter, basil, parsley and salt. Carefully peel back corn husks to within 1 in. of bottoms; remove silk. Spread butter mixture over corn.
• 
  
• 2. Rewrap corn in husks and secure with kitchen string. Grill corn, covered, over medium heat for 25-30 minutes or until tender, turning occasionally. Cut strings and peel back husks. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 each) equals 178 calories, 12 g fat (7 g saturated fat), 31 mg cholesterol, 277 mg sodium, 17 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 3 g protein.

Grilled Corn On The Cobb In The Husk

Four Cheese Pasta Florentine



Four Cheese Pasta Florentine

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The Essentials:
4 cups Penne Pasta, uncooked
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, cubed
1 cup 2% Milkfat Low Fat Cottage Cheese
2 eggs
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Making It:
1.  HEAT oven to 375ºF.
2.  COOK pasta as directed on package, omitting salt. Meanwhile, cook spinach as directed on package; drain well. Place in large bowl. Add cream cheese; stir until melted. Stir in cottage cheese and eggs until well blended.
3.  DRAIN pasta. Add to spinach mixture with mozzarella; mix lightly. Spoon into a 13 x 9 baking dish and then top with Parmesan.
4.  BAKE 15 min. or until center is set.

This dish is DELICIOUS! However, for those of you out there like me who are counting calories or following a diet program, I am going to add the nutrition facts.  I'm not sure what a serving size is, but to be on the safe side, I am assuming 1/2 - 1 cup. This stuff is Amazing, so if calories don't matter to you, then I suggest just digging in. The flavor is great!

Nutrition Stuff:
Fat:  28 grams              
Calories:  690
Carbs: 69 grams
Fiber:  5 grams
Protein:   42 grams
Sodium:  950 mg
Sugars: 6 grams

Four Cheese Pasta Florentine

Fried Okra

this is a pretty basic recipe, but wanted to post it because i figured, like myself, there might be someone out there who wanted fried okra, but had no idea how to do it! my two oldest boys love fried okra and this recipe got their stamp of approval!

Ingredients:
10 pods okra, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces
1 egg, beaten
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions:
1.  In a small bowl, soak okra in egg for 5-10 minutes.  In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, salt and pepper.
2.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Dredge okra in the cornmeal mixture, coating evenly.  Carefully place okra in hot oil; stir continuously.  Reduce heat to medium when okra first starts to brown, and cook until golden.  Drain on paper towels.

that's it. simple, quick, and ridiculously delicious!

enjoy! 

Fried Okra

Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan

this is some simply sensational asparagus!

you need:

1 lb. fresh asparagus

2 tBsp olive oil

salt

freshly ground black pepper

grated Parmesan cheese

cooking it:

1.  heat oven to 450 degrees.  Trim asparagus, snapping off touch ends.  drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over the center of a rimmed baking sheet; spread asparagus evenly in the pan, in a single layer.  drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive  oil; sprinkle with sat and freshly ground black pepper.

2. roast 5 minutes for crisp-tender asparagus, 8 minutes for softer asparagus.

3.  transfer asparagus to serving dish.  sprinkle with Parmesan cheese; serve immediately.

yields 4 servings.

...even my kids like this!

enjoy!



Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan

Green Bean Stir-Fry

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Ingredients:

1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon peanut butter
3/4 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
4 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Directions:

1.In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, garlic, sesame seeds, brown sugar and peanut butter; set aside. In a large skillet, stir-fry the green beans in oil until crisp-tender. Remove from the heat. Add the soy sauce mixture; stir to coat.

This is a great side dish and the best thing about these is that my kids love them! The soy sauce/peanut butter combo adds such a great flavor to these crisp green beans.

This is a must-try recipe!

Green Bean Stir-Fry

Cinnamon Apples ~ Slow Cooker Style

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Ingredients:
6-8 apples - cored and sliced
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup whole milk

Directions:
1.Place apples in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir spice mixture into apples until evenly distributed. Fold in raisins and walnuts. Spoon into slow cooker. Pour milk evenly over apple mixture.
2.Cook in slow cooker until desired tenderness. I usually cook for approximately 1 hour on high and then switch to low for about another hour and a half to two hours.

Alternate:
These apples can also be baked in the oven on 350 degrees for approximately an hour and a half, or until bubbly and soft, in a 2 quart, greased casserole dish.
These are a perfect side to any breakfast or dinner dish.

Probably my favorite cinnamon apple recipe.

Cinnamon Apples ~ Slow Cooker Style