Crock Pot Applesauce

I am a total Pinterest junkie and I really think I need help! ha ha I have been finding a TON of great ideas and recipes on there and I found another crock pot recipe for applesauce. I had about 6 apples that were going bad fast and needed something to do with them and I didn't want to heat up the oven since we are having 90 degree weather. I came across this recipe and thought why not try it, I really have nothing to loose. I put all the ingredients in the crock pot, when to bed and in the morning I had some really good applesauce! Plus this is great for Weight Watchers as it only has 1 point per 1/4 cup.

 

8 medium apples (Use a combination of Golden Delicious, Honey Crisp, Fuji, Gala, etc.)

1 strips of lemon peel - use a vegetable peeler 

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

3 inch cinnamon stick

5 tsp light brown sugar (unpacked) - or agave

1.  Peel, core and chop the apples.

2.  Add the sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice and cinnamon stick.

3.  Set crock pot to low and cook for 6 hours. Stir apples occasionally, apples will slowly become a delicious applesauce. Remove cinnamon stick and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth or if you prefer a chunky sauce, leave sauce intact. (I used a food processor.)

4.  Can and process as you would other recipes or keep refrigerated up to 3 weeks.

I didn't have a cinnamon stick so I just sprinkled some cinnamon in there and I didn't have a lemon so I used and orange peel and it turned out great. I didn't have the best apples for sauce, as they weren't very juicy,
so when I processed them in the processor I added some apple juice to thin it out and it worked great.

I took some of this in to my Guinea pigs at work (co-workers) and they thought it was fantastic!

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes

Here's a great way to have baked potatoes in the summer without heating up your oven! Why not do them in the crock pot? I have and they worked out great!!

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes 

Scrub your potatoes and dry them off really good and using a fork prick each potato.
Wrap them in foil and put in the crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high
for 4 hours.

You can make these without the foil, spray your crock pot with cooking spray, rub your
potatoes with a little oil and sprinkle sea salt on top. Cook using the same times.

Taco Macaroni Skillet

My friend Jo made this for her husband and he gave her the thumbs up on it so she copied the recipe and brought it to work for me. Of course I had to make it right away and it was GREAT!!! Not only is it easy it's a one pot dish and no oven required! Thank goodness for the no oven part because the day I made it, it was 90 degrees!!!

Taco Macaroni Skillet

12 oz lean ground beef, I used 1 lb
2 c water
1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes, un-drained
1 4 oz can diced green chilies
1 pkg taco seasoning
2/3 c evaporated milk
1 c cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
1 1/2 c elbow macaroni noodles

Cook beef in a large skillet that has a lid, stirring frequently until brown,
drain. Stir in water, tomatoes, chilies and taco seasoning. Cook until
mixture comes to a boil. Add pasta and return to a boil. Reduce heat
to low, cover and cook stirring occasionally for 14-16 mins or until
pasta is tender. Stir in evaporated milk. Remove from the heat and
stir in 1/4 c cheese. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top, cover and let
stand 5-10 mins before serving.

Tex Mex Chicken Salad

Here's another great salad that I took to work and everyone loved it!

Tex Mex Chicken Salad

1 1/4 lbs cooked diced chicken
1/2 c light mayonnaise
1/4 c light sour cream
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 can corn, drained and rinsed
1 c black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red pepper, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced

Mix all together and let chill for at least an hour.
Serve and Enjoy!
You can use full fat mayo and sour cream if you wish

If you use fat free mayo and sour cream this would make it 6 pts
per 1 cup serving.

Top Secret Recipe!

Have you ever eaten at Stuart Anderson's Cattle Company? If you have you have enjoyed their garlic bread and let me tell you it was the BEST!! I have been craving that garlic bread for some time and came across a recipe for Stuart Anderson's Black Angus Cheesy Garlic Bread and thought Oh my gosh I finally found it! So I set out to make this great recipe, now while this is not the garlic bread that I remember it is awfully good and I thought a keeper! So until I find the true recipe, I will be making this one again, and again!

Stuart Anderson's Black Angus Cheesy Garlic Bread

4 Tbsp finely shredded cheddar cheese
8 Tbsp finely shredded monterey Jack cheese
8 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
4 tsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp minced green onion, the white part onlyh
salt to taste
8 Tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 loaf of French or Italian bread

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Mix all the cheeses, parsley, onion and salt to the
cheese blend. In a pan melt the butter over low heat and add the garlic. Be sure
the heat is very low so you don't burn or scorch the garlic. Slice the loaf of bread
in half and brush both sides it with the garlic and butter mixture until completely coated
and butter is all gone. Make sure you add the garlic pieces too. Put the bread on a
baking pan and spread the cheese mixture over. Bake the bread for 8-10 mins or until
the edges begin to turn brown.. You can broil your bread for just a few minutes to
make it crispier. Slice, serve and enjoy!

Crack-tastic Crackers

Here's another great find that I saw on Pinterest. These are horribly addicting and everyone that tried these thought they were fantastic!!!

Crack-Tastic Crackers

1 to 1 1/4 cup canola oil, I used only 1 cup

1 packet Ranch dressing mix

2-3 Tbs. red pepper flakes, I used 1 1/2 Tbsp and it was plenty hot

4 sleeves of Saltine crackers

1) Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl for a good long while (5-10 minutes), to really get the crackers coated. Eat a few if you want.

2) Lay them out on a cookie sheet and drizzle the yummy, ranchy, peppery oil that’s in the bottom of the bowl, over the top of the crackers.  Bake at 250 degrees for 15-20 minutes, stirring them around about halfway through.

Raspberry Cheese Spread

I found this recipe on a blog called Mish Mash, which is more of a stamping blog then a cooking blog. She had this recipe along with a photo of it and it looked amazing. I copied this photo off of her blog so you could see just how great this really looked. The best part of all it not only looks great but tastes great too!

Now Doesn't that look fabulous? It really is just that good it's a must try!!

Raspberry Cheese Spread

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 c mayo
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 c chopped pecans
1/4 c seedless raspberry preserves

In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and mayo until blended. Beat
in the cheeses and onions. Stir in pecans. Spread into a plastic wrap-lined
9 inch round dish. Refrigerate until set, about an 1 hour. Invert onto a
serving plate; spread with preserves. Serve with crackers.

Note: the 1/4 c preserves is a little skimpy go ahead and add more so that
you ensure that each scoop gets some raspberry goodness!

Patsy's Rib Roast

Here's a fool proof way to make Prime Rib! Dave and I had our family over for Christmas and paid $96.00 for a prime rib because we got the great idea to try something new. Well after spending that much money we surely didn't want to ruin this and not be able to eat it. Gloria, a girl that I work with, gave me this recipe and told me that it was fool proof and worked out every time. So being the trusting person I am tried this recipe and it was the BEST Prime Rib I have ever had. The first time you make this you will sit on pins and needles and you will want to open that oven door but heed the warning when it says DO NOT OPEN THAT DOOR do not open the door!!!!! 


Patsy's Rib Roast

Start with a 5 lb roast. Start at 11 am, salt and pepper the roast. Heat the oven to 375 degrees, roast your meat for one hour. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR!!!!! After one hour turn off the oven and then at 3 pm turn the oven back on and cook the roast at 300 degrees for 45 mins DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR. Take the roast out of the oven immediately, it's done.  I let mine rest for about 7-10 mins to let the juices redistribute.

Put the bones to the bottom of the pan and DO NOT ADD WATER!

Au gratin Potatoes and Ham

I was searching the Internet for something to do with my leftover ham from Christmas and I came across this recipe and it is awesome and easy to make.

Au gratin Potatoes and Ham

1 lb chopped ham

3 1/2 lb potatoes, peeled and sliced thin

3 1/4 c milk

1/4 c butter

6 tbsp flour

8 oz sharp cheddar cheese*

4 oz smoked cheddar cheese*

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 9x13 pan. Layer ham

and potatoes. In a sauce pan melt butter, add flour and cook 1-2

minutes. Add milk and cook 4-5 minutes until thick, add cheese

mustard and cayenne pepper. Stir over low heat until cheese melts.

Season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over potatoes and ham.

Bake uncovered 90 minutes, stirring once or twice so top does not

become too brown.

*I didn't have the sharp cheddar cheese or the smoked cheddar cheese so I used

8 oz of mild cheddar cheese and 4 oz pepper jack cheese. I also didn't have any

cayenne pepper so I used some Siracha (Chinese pepper sauce) I also salted and peppered

each potato layer but be careful, ham is salty so you must go easy with it.

Texas Caviar

Here's a recipe that gets better the longer it sits, so make it a couple of days in advance.

Texas Caviar

1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can whole kernel corn
drain, rinse and then add
1 green, red or orange pepper, diced
1-2 seeded, diced jalapeno
2 stalks celery, diced
1 c red onion, diced

In a sauce pan add
1/2 c oil
1/2 c cider vinegar
1/2 c sugar

Cool and pour over mix.

This keeps 2 weeks refrigerated. Server with tostitos
or freetos chips.