Apples 2015

Here are my girls preparing apples for applesauce and dried apples. We used the apple corer/peeler and cut them into rings. The dried apples went on parchment paper on cookie sheets in the oven for 4 hours at 190. After 4 hours I left the apples in the oven for another 6 hours with the oven off. It worked well. Ashley says they taste like apple gummie bears. She is looking forward to taking them to school in her lunch soon. Our apple tree in the backyard is not quite ready but soon I will have lots of apples to freeze. Would also like to try applesauce fruit roll ups.

Weekly meal scheduale

Something Ashley and I figured out was a weekly meal outline. She heard of Taco Tuesday's and thought that was genius. So we were brain storming meals that she could make. it is great idea because if Ashley helps with the planning and cooking, Ashley is more excited to eat supper. So she thought she could make mini pizza's and salad. So Mondays are now 'Mini Mondays'. I haven't figured out exactly what the details are but tonight we ate mini pizza's. Maybe Mini Mondays is mini grilled cheese or mini hotdogs. Taco Tuesday's are skillet meals, sometimes taco's, taco salad, quesadillas, sometimes stir-fry. Wacky Wednesday are leftover night and breakfast for supper or maybe even pancakes. Throw it in a crockpot Thursday is some meal I have premade and frozen or a roast. Friday's is fish and chips Fridays or (chicken fingers). Speghetti Saturdays or any pasta dish. Studly BBQing on Sunday. I am hoping Gary will start making supper on Sundays. He did last night. Maybe this list will help someone else get a meal plan.

Freezer quiche

This is a new recipe I found on www.food.com. I have a left over ham and some broccoli in the freezer so I cut them up and made 2 bags of this recipe to put in the freezer. Hopefully it turns out good one day when I need a meal and go looking in the freezer. Servings 6-8 Units US 1 cup meat, any diced and browned (such as bacon, ham, chicken, sausage etc) 3⁄4 cup vegetables (thawed chopped spinach, broccoli, chopped green pepper) 1 cup cheese, shredded 1⁄4 cup onion, diced 2 cups milk 4 eggs 1⁄4 teaspoon salt 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper 1⁄2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (use 1 tsp for a spicier kick) 1⁄2 cup whole wheat flour 2 teaspoons baking powder Directions Combine meat, vegetable, cheese, and onion. Place this mixture in a labeled 1-gallon freezer bag. With a mixer or blender, combine the milk, eggs, Tabasco sauce, flour and baking powder. Pour into the bag with the meat/vegetable mixture. Seal and freeze. To serve, thaw completely. Shake bag well and pour into a spray-treated or greased deep dish pie plate or quiche pan. Bake at 350º for 35-45 minutes, until lightly browned on top and well set in the center. Cool about 5 minutes before serving.

Chicken in a crockpot with salsa

I use the crock pot A LOT. I like it. I do stuff in the morning and as the day goes on, I do less and less til by supper I am tired and Hangery. So hot supper all ready made? Yes please. These photos tell a story. I put frozen chicken breast in a bag with a small jar of salsa. I labeled it 'Chicken taco's'. I froze it to use for a future day. Then one day I took it out of the freezer the night before. Left it in the fridge overnight to thaw. Put it in the crock pot in the morning. There was very little touching of the raw chicken. Some people I know don't like touching raw meat. (You know who you are). Also some people say 'don't cook raw meat in the crock pot.' So don't then.... but I do. I cooked it 8 hours on low. Chopped it that night when I got in. Made quesadillas. They were delicious. Am I a genius? Probably

Sept harvest time

I hear popping in the kitchen as I write this. It has got to be one of my favorite sounds. I made my 4th batch of salsa this morning and the hot cans are doing their job. We put a new garden in this spring behind the garage. I planted pumpkins and cucumbers out there with tomatoes and green peppers. The pumpkins took over everything but I did get a few extra tomatoes and one huge cucumber. Our garden in the back plus our side tomato garden has produced a lot of tomatoes this year. I tried a new speghetti sauce recipe to freeze. Here it is: 14 blanched, peeled and crushed by hand in the crock pot. 1 large onion, 1 large pepper, 4 cloves of garlic, pureed in food processor. 1 bay leaf whole, 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper, pinch of crushed chili's. 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp of oregano, fresh basil chopped, plus one can of tomato paste. - Cook in crockpot on low for 10 hours (over night works good) Freeze in containers.

Crock pot Mac and cheese

Today I made Mac and cheese in the crock pot for lunch. Try this : 2 cups of milk, 4 cups of mostly cooked macaroni noodles, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 1 tsp of mustard, 1/2 cup of sour cream and pepper. Cook on low for 3 hours. Stir in 2 cups of shredded cheese when it is time to eat. This is enough for 4 people. Great to pack in a lunch the next day.

Meal planning

Meals for this week are: Yesterday I put a round steak in the crock pot. I mostly followed this recipe from Crock-pot Ladies. It turned out really good. This morning I cooked one pound of ground beef up and mixed it with the leftover juice from the meat, also a 1/4 cup of Ragu. I layered that in the bottom of a 9x9 casserole dish. I made shepherds pie with corn on top of the meat. I made mashed potatoes and put it on top to finish the sheppards pie. Tonight when I bake the casserole I will whip up cupcakes with a box cake mix. Easy peasy. Tomorrow I will bake chicken legs with the Parmesan baked potatoes and a bag salad. The next night is spaghetti with another pound of ground beef and use the leftover can of ragu. With the leftover spaghetti sauce I will make a chili for the weekend. -- If you buy bacon and romaine lettuce you could make a Cesar salad and bacon and eggs for another meal. 2lbs ground beef, 1 - large round steak, 10 lb bag of potatoes, 1 3lb bag of carrots, 1 3lb bag of onions, onion soup mix, 2 jars of ragu, 1 can of kidney beans, 1 box of cake mix, eggs, veg oil, chili powder, salsa, Frozen corn, Chicken legs, Parmesan cheese, Bag salad, http://crockpotladies.com/crockpot-steak-potatoes/