{Simple} Cranberry Sauce

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Cranberry sauce is a staple at our thanksgiving table, and I’m not going to lie…I really prefer the can. I know, I know, but it just works on so many levels, as wrong as it is and I think about it every time I turn the can over and just hear it fall out on to the plate.  This year I decided to play around a bit and come up with a new cranberry sauce that could be used at the table…in addition to the can of course.

This only uses a few fresh ingredients, and is really quick to prepare. You could adjust the sweetness to your liking, you could even add nuts if you like a little crunch.

1 bag fresh cranberries, rinsed
1 cup tangerine juice (about 6 tangerines*)
1 apple
4 tbsp. honey
¼ cup raw sugar (more or less depending on your tastes)
*1 tsp. xanthan gum (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a pot, along with ¾ cups of water. Bring to a simmer. Simmer until you have the texture you would like. Stirring occasionally. If you would prefer a thicker consistency, add the xanthan gum. Mix well. Sauce will thicken slightly as it cools; can be eaten warm or chilled.

*You could use store bought juice or any type of orange. I just happened to have a lot of tangerines on hand.

Cornmeal Peach Cake

The summer has come to an end, which means the end of summer fruits and veggies...a sad time for the freshness of summer. However, bring on all the fall goodness!

Towson Farmers Market

Walking through the farmers market the other day, amongst all the apples and the squashes...still remained a few peaches. The last of the late summer peaches. So it wasn't hard for me to decide to pick some up. I will admit, I don't like just eating peaches; the fuzz drives me crazy. But I will bake with them! I haven't made anything real sweet as if late, and a sweet treat was due. This cake is not overly sweet, I believe you could easily make it sweeter by adding a peach glaze...yeah, a nice sweet glaze would make this cake even better. I'll need to get on that.

Making this cake dairy free is easy, I was going to attempt to make it vegan but I have not attempted egg whites and egg yolk replacers...if the eggs were not separated it would be easy to swap them out. If you know a yolk replacement I'd love to hear what you use!

Cornmeal Peach Cake

adapted from Lulu's Sweet Secrets

1/2 cup butter (or coconut oil)

1 cup coconut milk (I used vanilla)

4 large eggs, separated

1 cup sugar

1 cup GF Cornmeal (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1 cup brown rice flour

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 tbsp baking powder

2 cups peaches, peeled and chopped

zest of one lemon

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter (or coconut oil), add the milk and simmer over low heat. Keep warm. 

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, slowly add the sugar. Mix cornmeal, flour, gum and powder in a bowl. Alternating, slowly add the milk mixture and the cornmeal/flour mixture. Combine well.

By hand, stir in the peaches and lemon zest. Pour into a greased and floured cake pan. Bake for about 40 minutes at 450 degrees.

Enjoy! What are some of your favorite ways to use peaches?

Fruit & Nut Bars

Sorry!

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{GF} Fruit and Nut Muffins

Today is Easter so you would think I would post something Eastery...well, as much as I would have loved to write about homemade peeps, cream eggs, peanut butter eggs, etc.  (Which it is my intention to make every year.) I just never get around to doing it.  This year I felt like Easter snuck up on me...so even though I am making dinner today I decided that I was going to raid my pantry and fridge.  I like having things I can grab in the morning for a quick breakfast. I decided on muffins, I had a mango that needed to be used and various other fruits and veggies.  There are two major changes I would do with this recipe that I wasn't really paying attention to while I was adding all the ingredients.  The first one is the sugar, I would substitute some of the white sugar with some honey or just cut it back all together, depending on the fruit you use you may not need so much. And two, the oil...oh my, as soon as I poured it in the batter I thought "What the hell am I doing!?!" a cup of oil is A LOT, and I have apple sauce and bananas...shame on me!  So at the end of the directions I will let you know the substitution quantities.  

Asking the family what to call these muffins, since Trash Muffin didn't sound so great, I got GFG Muffins. So, here is the recipe..

GFG Fruit & Nut Muffins
(Gluten Free Goodness)

1 1/4 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups gluten-free all purpose flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum*
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup carrots, grated
1/2 apple, peeled and shredded (I would have used a whole, but the one I used happened to be half eaten)
1 mango, diced
1/2 cup blueberries
3/4 cups craisins
1/2 cup zucchini, shredded
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil**
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
ground flax seed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, prepare a muffin pan with either liners or cooking spray.

Mix together the sugar, flour, xanthan gum, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Combine all the fruit, veggies and nuts in a bowl. (You could use any combination of what you have on hand, but try to keep the moisture levels similar)

Add the fruit and nut mixture to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Add the eggs, oil**, and vanilla. Mix well.

Pour batter into the prepared muffin pan filling about 3/4 of the way full.  Sprinkle muffins with about 1/4 tsp of flax seed.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Notes:
*Only add If your flour mixture does not already includes xanthan gum or guar gum.
**Oil substitutions that would be great in these muffins:
   Use 1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
   Use 3/4 cup mashed ripe banana (about one banana)
   Use 3/4 cup of any other fruit puree or butters
   Use 3/4 cup drained crushed pineapple

**Featured on Gluten Free Tuesday Linky 8/13/2013 with Easy Green Mama**

   

Cranberry Mango Millet Salad {via Healthful Pursuit}

It's spring, well at least it's technically spring...we are currently in a winter weather advisory, so yay! {enter sarcasm} I am ready for warmer weather! I'm ready to be outside, take a hike, go camping, and just BBQ'ing with friends. I'm ready for the brown to change to green and the flowers, I'm ready to start my garden and eat fresh foods...yeah, I definitely ready for the warmer days.

Yesterday I attended my first Goddess Gathering, I met new women, ate good food and came home with a few "new" clothes. A couple baby girls were blessed and it was just a very positive and fun day in the Hollow. It was a potluck so I wanted to make something that I new I could eat as well as something good. I figured there would be a few vegetarians and others with food restrictions...plus when ever I go to anything like this I make some thing new that other people may like and I may like but knowing that my household probably won't eat it. (That way I know it won't be wasted.)  I wish I took some pictures...not only was it a potluck we also did a clothing swap...there were SO many clothes!

I have had millet in my pantry for a while and have been trying to find different ways of using it. I came across a salad recipe from Leanne Vogel, from Healthful Pursuit, it is a Cranberry Mango Millet Salad. It was really good...the salad was a combination of millet and quinoa mixed with mango, dried cranberries, almonds, onions and spinach all tossed in a lemon poppy seed honey Dijon dressing. Delish!

To see the recipe click here.

Pies for Pi Day!

This is an old post that I am bringing back just for National Pi Day, yes we all know it's not Pie day but still why not celebrate with a pie you can eat?  So, since I am wishing for warm weather here are some of my past summer pies... Note: the original recipes were before I went GF so therefore are NOT Gluten-free.  To make them gluten-free, you have a few options; substitute regular flour with a gluten-free version (a nut flour would be really tasty , you could buy a pre-made crust, or use could use a nut or GF cracker crust.

Blueberry Pie

1 basic pie crust, homemade or store bought

I added a dash of almond extract to my homemade pie dough, this is optional.

Filling:

5 cups fresh blueberries

3/4 cup sugar, more or less depending on the sweetness of the berries

3 tbsp cornstarch

Zest of one lemon

Juice of one lemon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl toss all the filling ingredients. Set aside. Roll out the dough for a 9" pie crust. Lay in pan and crimp edges. Pour filling into pie crust. Bake for about 50 minutes.

Strawberry & Hazelnut Cream Galette

1 basic pie crust

Filling:

2 cups fresh strawberries

2/3 cups blueberries (optional)

2/3 cups sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup hazelnut cream cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out dough to about a 12" diameter circle. Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet.

Working from the center, spread the cream cheese out leaving about two inches around the edge. Pour the berry mixture onto the center, keeping about two inches around the edge.

Carefully fold over the edge of the pie crust. Sprinkle with sugar. Place in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes.

Citrus Pie

For the crust:
2 cups Graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup melted butter

For the filling:
Juice of 2 limes (about 1/4 cup)
Juice of half lemon
Juice of 1/4 grapefruit
(there should be a total of about 1/2 cup of juices combined)
About 2 tablespoons lime and lemon zest
1 - 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yokes
Candied lemon for garnish

Mix together the graham cracker and melted butter and press into a 9" pie dish. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes. Let cool.

Beat egg yokes. Add the milk and citrus juice and zest blend until smooth. Pour into cooled pie crust and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.

Candied lemon: add 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar into a small sauce pan. Add sliced lemon. Let simmer for about 4-5 hours.

Enjoy!

Starting A Week Dairy-Free and Wholesome Sweeteners Review

One of the blogs I follow, Healthful Pursuit, started a 7-Day Dairy Free Challenge and as you may already know I have been on and off about trying to go dairy free for good for awhile now.  However, I have a cheese weakness; I love it.  It is because of cheese that I have never fully gone dairy free, I don't really drink milk unless I am using it for baking/cooking.  So seeing this challenge I jumped right on it, we will see how it goes.  (I am starting a little late due to the fact I kept putting milk in my coffee out of habit.)

I started this morning, and today has been fairly easy other than I really wanted real butter on my pancakes this morning.  The spread I have just doesn't cut it, but I can easily get a different dairy-free spread.  Today I also hosted a Mom's Meet, we sampled Wholesome Sweeteners Agave Syrups.  And since I can't just sample what they give me, I needed to figure out something to make that (1) was gluten-free, (2) dairy-free and (3) had to use Agave.  I checked out the Wholesome Sweeteners website for some ideas, and a few other sites I tend to linger too long on and decided on the Wholesome Sweeteners Strawberry Sangria and Berry Bliss Bars. {Notice the berry theme}

First, I want to say that the Agave Syrups were REALLY good.  We sampled 6 different flavors, Raw Blue Agave, Blue Agave, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Maple and Strawberry.  Our favorite by far was the Vanilla, if would be really good in teas, oatmeal, smoothies, or by the spoonful. I would recommend checking out their website for a lot more information but Wholesome Sweeteners is Fairtrade Certified and all organic, they agave syrups are also low-glycemic.  The only flavor we didn't really care for was the strawberry, it tasted too artificial.  The other flavor that we probably wouldn't buy, was the maple.  The flavor wasn't bad but we all agreed that we would rather just buy real maple syrup.  I would guess if you needed something low-glycemic then it may be a good substitute but if not then I don't see a reason to switch. We also sampled their Organic Stevia Packets, we didn't really care for them they just tasted like all the other artificial sweeteners out there. (If you use artificial sweeteners, let me know if you can taste a difference.) 

Now, on to the bars...Berry Bliss Oat Bars. I first saw pictures of these bars on the Healthful Pursuits blog, it was a guest post that then gave the link to, Oh How She Glows, which is also one of those blogs I tend to linger too long on too, she writes vegan recipes.  The original recipe uses Maple Syrup, I substituted with the Blue Agave Syrup; I also used gluten-free oats.

To see the original recipe check out; Oh How She Glows, Berry Bliss Oat Bars

Now on to the beverage...Strawberry Sangria. This was from the Wholesome Sweeteners recipe page. I made just a little tweak and used just the Blue Agave Syrup.

This is how I made it...really simple. In a pitcher, add 1 750-ml bottle of Rose` Wine, 1/4 cup of Agave Syrup, 1/3 cup of Raspberry Lemonade, 1-2 cups sliced strawberries and 2 cups ginger ale, stir and refrigerate. 

Enjoy!

My First Gluten-Free Thanksgiving (with recipes)

I have to admit I was kind of dreading and excited for this thanksgiving. I love thanksgiving, all the great food that usually triggers memories. I love spending the day with my family, kids running around, drinking wine and eating too much.

Since I have been married we have tried to alternate holidays with both our families, sometimes it works well and sometimes things come up that make it a little harder. There have been a few years where my husband has had to work on thanksgiving and he always has to work the day after so traveling is usually out of the question. This year we did something different and spent the day with our good friends.

Our wonderful hosts!

We didn't realize where we were going to go until a week before, I knew out of our options what I would be able to eat would be limited and therefore had it in my head what I was going to make no matter where we went. Stuffing and gravy. There ended up being about at least 30 people (including kids) so I made two different stuffing's  one that was gluten free and the other was not, but both were very similar.  I also can't do a Thanksgiving without a pie, so I also made a GF Apple Pie. (Recipes below)

GF Apple Pie and GF Pear & Raspberry Cobbler

Buffet Table

The menu included the normal staples for a Thanksgiving meal (or at least what I am used to); there was a 25 lb. turkey, two hams, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, stuffing, a broccoli casserole, mac-n-cheese and of course pies. The only thing that I missed, that I thought I wouldn't ever miss was cranberry sauce. There was a lot of food, I knew that I couldn't eat most if any of the casseroles but I did taste the sweet potato.  I also brought along my own gravy, which was not the same as homemade with the drippings. 

GF Stuffing with Sausage

Gluten-Free Stuffing with Sausage

(Both stuffing recipes were adapted from my dads traditional stuffing recipe) 

For the gluten-free stuffing:

1/2 loaf GF bread (I used Rudi's)
1 box of GF Cornbread prepared (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 pound pork sausage (make sure GF, I bought mine from a butcher)
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
1 tbsp. fresh thyme
1 tbsp fresh sage
3-4 cups GF chicken broth
3 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the cornbread, (I only used half, save the other half just to enjoy), cube the breads and place on a cookie sheet, bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes just until dried out, but not brown. Set aside to cool.

Brown the sausage in a large skillet, once it is cooked through carefully remove the sausage to let drain.  Add the celery and onion to the sausage drippings and cook until tender. Add the sausage back to the pan and stir to combine.  Add the thyme and sage.  Add about one cup of the broth and stir picking up any bits that may be left on the pan.  Put sausage mixture aside to cool, just until it can be handled with out burning your fingers.

Once the sausage mixture is cooled, add the eggs and about another cup of the broth, mix well.  I used my hands.  Pour over the bread and toss to combine, depending on how moist you like your stuffing, add a little more broth over the whole dish.  Bake covered at 375 degrees for about 35-40 minutes, uncover and cook for an additional 20-25 minutes.

For the Regular (non-GF) Version; do all of the same except use a whole loaf of old old white bread, or your favorite type of bread, instead of the GF bread.

GF Apple Pie

GF Apple Pie

This is my recipe, it is never the same because I never really measure anything, I will do my best, but the flavors can be adjusted to your liking.

For the GF Crust

2 cups GF All Purposed Four Mix (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 tsp. Xantham Gum
1/2 tsp. salt
1 and a half sticks of cold butter (3/4 cups), cut into cubes
ice water (about 2-3 tbsp.)

Put the flour, xantham gum and salt in the food processor (feel free to do this by hand but the food processor makes it so easy), add the butter and pulse until the butter in combined. Slow stream in a little of the water, add just about a tsp at a time.  Keep pulsing until dough is formed, remove and separate into two flattened balls, cover in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.  (You can make this a head to save time)

For the Apple Filling

8-10 medium apples, I usually use a mix of different apples, I have even added firm pears, use what you like.
juice of half a lemon
1 cup white sugar
3 tbsp. ground cinnamon, (more or less depending on your taste)
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 cup apple cider or juice (optional)

Peel and thinly slice the apples. Place the apples in a large bowl, squeeze the lemon over the apples (to keep from browning).  Sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg over the apples, toss to combine.  If you plan on doing this the day before, add the cider.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.  

Prepare the pie, remove the dough from the refrigerator   Roll one dough ball out to about a 1/4 inch thickness, and place on the bottom of the pie pan.  Add the apples, there will be a big mound. Roll out the second dough ball, place on top of the apples and pinch the edged sealing both the top and bottom crust together.  Poke a few hole on top using a fork, you can brush the top of the crust with egg yoke or butter if you would like, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 375 degrees, for 60-70 minutes.  Cover loosely with foil, remove the foil for the last 20 minutes just to make sure it browns.  You don't want to burn the crust!  Note: You may want to line the bottom of the oven with foil, in case of juice drips.

Now for some random pictures...

My wonderful husband after dinner

Me and my son

First round of after dinner wrestling

Round two

Strawberries!

We have a small strawberry patch that has just been bearing so much fruit; and it is awesome! Last year I bought two plants, which quickly spread, but before we were able to pick anything something else got to them first. So, this year I put up some chicken wire and it has done wonders, except for the few eaten by bugs and possible chipmunks I have been really surprised how many strawberries these little plants are yielding.

Strawberries are super easy to grow, you just need to make sure you keep critters away. My son has really enjoyed helping pick/gather the berries. Because of the fence I pick the berries and hand them off to my son who then either piles them up or puts them in a container (and he sneaks one or two every now and then also, I can't blame him sun warmed berries freshly picked are the best).

The first batch of strawberries we just ate, the next batch I wanted to do something with, we ended up with over a pound of berries so I wanted to make sure we would use them before they went bad. And they just keep coming.  So, with help from my son we cut the berries in half (he used a dull butter knife) and we put them in a pot to make jam.  I have never made jam, but have always wanted to so we gave it a shot.

Strawberry Jam - (for one 16 oz jar) 1 pound strawberries & 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar

Cut strawberries in half or quarters if they are large, and put in a non reactive pot.  Add about a 1/2 to 3/4 cups of sugar and cook on medium heat until just starts to simmer.

Using a potato masher, mash the strawberries. I like some larger chunks, but if you wanted to make it smoother mash longer and strain through a sieve.

Continue to cook down the strawberries, stirring occasionally.  The berries will thicken up, and once it coats the spoon and leaves a trail when you stir it should be ready.  At this point you can either put in a container and put directly in the refrigerator or can the jam. 

Yum...

Strawberry Coconut Ice Cream (Dairy Free)

Finding a good dairy free ice cream isn't too hard to find, I have always been fond of Rice Dream, but since I now have my own ice cream maker I decided that I wanted to make my own.  I thought of all the dairy free milks out there now and decided that almond and coconut would probably make a for good flavor.  Yes, soy and rice would be good too but I was looking for something just a little different. I settled on coconut.  I debated if I was just going to do straight coconut or add some fruit. Since strawberries are in season right now, it just seemed like a good pairing.
This is such an easy recipe, you could use the coconut milk in the dairy section but I used the canned because there isn't much more added to the milk. Honestly I didn't even look at the ingredients in the refrigerated version but I am sure there is at least sweeteners added.

The recipe:

2 cans coconut milk, full fat (about 3 1/2 cups)
3/4 cups white sugar
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)

Mix the milk and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved. (I mixed together and then placed it in the refrigerator for a few hours for the sugar to really dissolved, then stirred again) Mix in strawberries and coconut.  Add to your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions.  The ice cream is still very soft right out of the machine, so transfer to a container and freeze for at least 2 hours or overnight.

OK so I had to look it up...

Here is the nutritional information for Silk Pure Coconut Milk and Taste of Thai Coconut Milk, I used Taste of Thai.  Taste of Thai is not as healthy, but is is the full fat version (comparable to 2% regular milk), if you were to buy the Lite Version it only has 50 calories and 4.5 grams of fat. Silk is a lower fat version with some extras added.

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Taste of Thai Coconut Milk

Nutrition Facts SERVING SIZE: 1/3 cup (80ml) SERVINGS: 5 per container

Amount Per Serving Calories: 120 Calories from Fat: 100

%Daily Value* Total Fat: 11 g 17 % Saturated Fat 10 g 49 % Trans Fat 0 g 0 % Cholesterol 0 mg 0 % Sodium 25 mg 1 % Total Carbohydrates 2 g 1 % Dietary Fiber 0 g 0 % Sugars 2 g Protein 1 g Vitamin A 0 % Vitamin C 0 % Calcium 0 % Iron 4 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

TRANS FAT FREE | MSG FREE GLUTEN FREE | PRESERVATIVE FREE

Ingredients: Coconut, water, guar gum (a stabilizer). Allergens:Contains coconut.

Shake Well Before Using. Any Solids Will Liquefy During Cooking. Store Any Unused Portions In Airtight Plastic Container In Refrigerator Up To 10 Days; In Freezer Up To 3 Months.

Silk Pure Coconut Milk

Brown Sugar Banana Bread (and muffins)

I have been trying to base my diet on a Low-Residue Diet (LRD), this usually is a temporary thing for me and it is to help with my colitis. But lately I have been trying to find ways to be on the diet and not lose flavor. So what is a LRD?

A low-residue diet is a diet in which fiber and other foods that are harder for your body to digest are restricted. Fiber is made up of plant material that cannot be completely digested by the body. High-fiber foods include whole-grain breads and cereals, nuts, seeds, and raw or dried fruits.

Eating a low-residue/low-fiber diet goes against what nutritionists tout as a healthy way to eat because it severely limits fiber intake and other important nutrients. A low-residue/low-fiber diet usually stays away from grainy, nutty foods that are loaded with fiber.  (webmd.com)

I also stay away from dairy, heavily spiced foods, and as much red meat as possible.  It is a very limiting diet, and frankly I am glad it is usually temporary!  I try to make sure anything I eat has less than 1 gram of fiber...it is difficult.  Especially when it is so ingrained to eat whole grains, fruits and vegetables.  So I have been do some research and finding combinations that are flavorful and work well with the LRD.

The first thing I made was Brown Sugar Banana Bread out of "Eating for IBS" by Heather Van Vorous.  There are a lot of things in this cookbook that would really good but it is written for IBS not IBD, there is a difference.  Anyway, to the bread...the recipe makes two loaf but I only had one loaf pan so I mad one loaf and 12 muffins.


Brown Sugar Banana Bread
(Adapted from Heather Van Vorous)

3 1/2 cups all-purpose white flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 egg whites (I used egg beaters 100% egg whites)
1/3 cup canola oil (I used vegetable oil)
1 1/3 cup brown sugar (I used Splenda Brown Sugar Blend)
1 Tbsp Vanilla
3 cups mashed ripe bananas (6-8 bananas)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift the first four ingredients together in a large bowl.  In a seperate large bowl mix together the remaining ingredents until creamy.  (I left a few banana chunks since I like banana peices in my bread.) Pour into greased pans, bake 50-60 minutes (for loaf), only about 20-25 minutes for muffins. Cool. Extra freezes well.

*If you aren't following any special dietary restrictions...walnuts and/or chocolate chips would be really good in this! 

Enjoy!

Homemade Applesauce & the Joy of Canning

Last Saturday my family and I went to Shaw Orchards to have our pictures taken, (by Gracie Jane Photography) and after we we finished walking around we went in the store. Gracie was telling me about the orchard's 'seconds' so I decided to buy some.

The 'seconds' are basically apple that just aren't as pretty as the rest, maybe have a bruise, but are perfect for making applesauce or butter. So when we got back home I decided to make applesauce. Because I didn't want to stand by the stove all day while the apples broke down I decided to make it in my slow cooker, which made it super simple. All you need is:

-about a dozen apples, peeled cored and cut into large chunks
-1/3 cup of sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp all spice

Put every thing in the slow cooker and cook on high for about 3-4 hours. Checking at the 3 hour mark for softness. I use a potato masher to mash the apples because we like chunky applesauce. If you like a smoother consistency, work in batches and purée in a food processor or blender.

Now, my adventures in canning. Well it wasn't really too much of an adventure, it was quite easy actually. This was my first time, but it won't be my last!

Keeping the applesauce on warm, I prepared my jars. I simmered the jars and lids in water to sterilize them. Once that was finished, I filled the jars leaving 1/2". (I looked on www.freshpreserving.com for times.) I then placed the lids on, finger tight and placed in boiling water for 20 minutes. Then let then cool and check the seal 24 hours later to make sure the seals were good. Easy peasy!

This was my first ever canning experience and I was pleasantly surprised, I was expecting it to take longer for some reason.  But come summer I hope to be a canning fool.

Homemade Blueberry Pop-tarts

When it is gloomy I tend to get on a baking kick, it has been super wet the last few weeks and finally it is sunny and nice. Fall.

Well this post is over due, I actually made these two weeks ago. I have seen recipes before but what finally gave me a push was the September version of the Food Network Magazine (FNM). My version is slightly different, FNM uses grape jelly and an orange glaze. I am sure that would be delicious, but I had some fresh/frozen blueberries so I made my own blueberry filling. My husband has been taking samples of my baked items to work for the guys. The next requested version of these will be with a nutella filling.

Here is the adapted version:

For the tarts:
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp shortening, cold and cut in small pieces
2 sticks butter, cold and cut in small pieces
1/2 cup blueberry purée (directions follow)
1 large egg
1/2 milk

Pulse flour, sugar and salt in food processor until combined. Add shortening and about one-quarter of the butter and pulse until they disappear in the flour. Add remaining butter and pulse until it looks like course meal with pea size pieces of butter. Add 1/2 cup ice water and pulse a couple times until dough comes together. Turn out on to plastic wrap, form into a disk and chill at least an hour up to one day.
While the dough is in the refrigerator prepare the blueberry filling.

Blueberry filling:
1-1 1/2 cups blueberries
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch

In a small sauce pan, on medium-low heat, heat the blueberries and sugar until the blueberries break down. About 30 min. Remove from heat and stir in cornstarch stirring consistently until the sauce is thick. Set aside to cool.

Roll out the chilled dough to about 1/4 inch thick and cut into 3 x 4 pieces. You should end up with about 12 total. Spoon out about a tablespoon of the filling and place in the center of one rectangle. Brush the edge with egg and lay another rectangle in top, using a fork press the edges. Brush with a mix of milk and egg. Repeat until all six are made. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Blueberries!

This is all about blueberries, and you can tell how behind I am since they really aren't in season anymore...but they were!

In my area of Southern Pennsylvania blueberries were just going out of season but were in full swing in Northern Pennsylvania when we took a long weekend trip to visit my father-in-law. After a morning of feeding the animals at Animal land, my father-in-law, husband and I took our son blueberry picking. The view from the orchard was just beautiful. I wasn't sure how well a toddler (or my husband) would do with picking blueberries for a couple hours but for the most part they did really well. (Until shortly before we left when there was a little too tired melt down.)

Blueberry Orchard

My son probably ate or threw more than what he actually put in the bucket but I sort of expected that. My husband seemed to be enjoying himself, or at least he acted like he was. He even disappeared for a little while, probably to sneak a smoke, but came back with handfuls. I think at the end of the day we ended up with more than 5 pints of blueberries, so we split them with my father-in-law and started thinking of what to make.

Once I got back home, I rinsed and froze all the berries (which are great to munch on frozen). I then decided on making Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins. As I was making these I was thinking of how good they will be and how I wanted to share the recipe with my father-in-law, well the only problem was he isn’t able to eat processed sugars. So below the original recipe, which is adapted from A Farm Girls Dabbles  recipe for Grandma Renelt's Blueberry Muffins with Crumble Topping, I have posted a couple links for sugar-free blueberry muffins.  It was my intention to make a batch of sugar-free (and still plan on it) I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

**These muffins are best eaten warm and within a day or two.

for the muffins:

1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 cup fresh blueberries (or frozen do not thaw)

for the crumble topping:

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 T. butter, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 400°. Line muffin tin.
Mix egg, milk, and oil in small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir. Do not over mix. Fold in blueberries. Spoon into muffin tin and let rest a few minutes while you prepare the crumble topping.

In a small bowl, blend all topping ingredients until crumbly. You want some pea-size pieces of crumble. Sprinkle over muffin batter.

Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

Yield: 12 muffins

Sugar-Free Muffins:

- Sugar Free Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins
- Sugar-Free Blueberry Muffins
- Primal Coconut Blueberry Muffins

Enjoy!

{Updated} Mexican Fiesta

*Updated: April 23, 2013 Since Cinco de Mayo is coming soon I thought I would update my very first blog post updated to reflect gluten free options!  Enjoy!

So I have been craving Mexican for a while now and was just looking for an excuse to make a great meal from scratch. My mom bought me The Ultimate Mexican magazine so I decided since my in-laws were coming over I was going to go all out Mexican.

I made Enchilada Suiza with sides of seasoned black beans and Mexican rice, along with a Tres Leches cake for desert. It was wonderful, so I wanted to share.

Enchilada Suiza (Swiss Enchilada)

I made this recipe the night before so I was able to just put it in the oven, I found that the corn tortillas got a little soggy and the sauce thickened up quite a bit. The flavors were great, and if made the day of I am sure it would have been even better. I think next time I will use flour tortillas, it will change the texture, but because I am big on making meals ahead of time so they become quick weeknight meals, I think the flour tortillas would hold up better. *Update: I was informed that if you lightly fry the corn tortillas before hand they shouldn't get soggy when made ahead. 

Ingredients

1 purchased roasted chicken (2 to 2 ¼ pounds)
4 large tomatillos, husks removed
½ medium onion, cut into thin wedges
2 jalapeno peppers
2 cloves garlic
1 14.5-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained
¾ cup packed fresh cilantro sprigs (I use less, because of the strong flavor)
1 cup Mexican crema or 8-oz sour cream
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour or rice flour
½ tsp. salt
12 6-inch corn tortillas
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 oz Chihuahua cheese or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (I use more, because I love cheese)

Preheat broiler. Carve or pull meat from the chicken. Using two forks, shred meat. Measure 2 ½ cups of the chicken for this recipe. (Save remaining for another use, like chicken pot pie.)

On a large baking sheet combine tomatillos, onion, peppers, and garlic. Broil 3 inches from heat for about 14 minutes or until tender, with black spots and pepper skin blisters, turning once during broiling. With gloved hands, use a pairing knife and peel as much of the skin off the peppers as possible; halve and seed peppers. Core tomatillos (I just squeeze as much out as I can). Reduce temperature to 350°; adjust oven rack to center of oven.

In a blender combine broiled vegetables, undrained tomatoes, and cilantro. Cover; blend until smooth. Add Mexican crema, flour and salt. Cover and blend until smooth. (I have used home made salsa instead of the vegetables and tomatoes listed and just added the sour cream, it may change the taste some but you can adjust per your tastes.)

In a medium bowl combine shredded chicken and ½ cup of the tomatillo mixture. Spread about ½ cup of remaining tomatillo mixture in a bottom of a 3-quart rectangular baking dish; set aside.

Lay tortillas on baking sheet. Brush both sides of each tortilla lightly with oil. Bake for 2 to 3 minutes or just until softened. Remove from oven; stack and wrap in foil.

Removing one tortilla at a time, divide chicken mixture among tortilla, spreading evenly over each. Arrange tortillas, seam side down in prepared dish. Pour the remaining tomatillo mixture of tortillas. Top with shredded cheese. Bake uncovered, about 25 minutes or until heated through and cheese starts to brown. Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 12 enchiladas. (Can be frozen, just thaw in the refrigerator than bake as directed.)