Cinnamon Applesauce

As a child I always marveled over the pink applesauce on the grocery store shelves, but mom would never let us buy it. She said it was plain applesauce or none. I'm not really sure on her reasoning behind that...

So when I found this recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook I decided to whip up a batch. I should take a side street here and mention that I can no longer stand store boughten applesauce of any kind. I had a jar in my refrigerator a few weeks back and poured some to go with my lunch and I just wasn't satisfied. I guess once you go homemade you just can't go back. So I guess I have no idea how this version of homemade "pink" applesauce compares to the boughten kind...but I'm guessing it's probably better.

I was pleasantly surprised by how the red hots weren't "hot" once they were cooked into the applesauce. Only a nice cinnamon flavor shone through. And of course the pink color. This applesauce is a great change of pace from the regular stuff, and what a fun twist, being pink and all!

Ingredients...

...8 tart apples, peeled and quartered
...1 c. water
...1 c. sugar
...1/4 c. red hot candies

Directions...

Place apples and water in a large saucepan. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Mash apples once simmering is completed, and stir in sugar and red hots over heat until both are well disolved.

To see more delicious recipes, be sure to check out Friday Food over at Mom Trends, the Recipe Swap going on over at And Baby Makes Five, Foodie Friday over at Designs by Gollum and Food on Fridays over at Anne Kroeker!

Tangy Cranberry Pork Chops

I have had a lonely can of whole cranberries sitting in my cupboard ever since Thanksgiving. I've actually been really eager to use them in something, because I really do enjoy cranberries, but it seems that every recipe that I've found calling for them also calls for a meeelion other ingredients that I don't have on hand, so I'd end up buying all kinds of stuff just to use up that one stinkin' can!

While flipping through a Quick Cooking cookbook the other day, I found this recipe and decided to give it a go since I had everything on hand, and had actually been wanting to prepare pork chops for supper anyways sometime soon.

I was really happy with how this recipe turned out! I was really nervous that the catalina dressing wouldn't pair well with the cranberry sauce, and even breifly considered leaving it out. I thought better of it though, and just (sort of) followed the recipe like a good little girl. I'm glad I did, because I'm sure this would not have been nearly as good with the cranberries on their own...

I will warn you, however, that this recipe makes waaaay more sauce than you'll need for the recomended 4 chops. So I urge you to either make mashed potatoes with this, and use the leftover sauce as a gravy, or scale back how much sauce you make...by like half.

Ingredients...

...4 boneless pork chops
...1 T. vegetable oil
...1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
...1 c. catalina salad dressing
...4 tsp. dry onion soup mix

Directions...

In a large skillet, cook pork chops in vegetable oil for 15 minutes per side, until no longer pink in the middle and the juices run clear. In a large, microwave safe, bowl combine the remaining ingredients. Cover and microwave on high until heated through, about 3 minutes. Cover chops with sauce before serving.

To see more great recipes, be sure to check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap going on over at Life as Mom and the Recipe Swap going on over at The Grocery Cart Challenge!

Irish Lamb Stew

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm by no means Irish, and I don't even really enjoy "pretending" to be Irish around the holiday, but I do love me some Irish Lamb Stew! I attended college in a very small, very Irish town, and St. Patricks Day was a bigger deal than any other day of the year! Actually, the weekend before St. Patty's Day was the biggest deal of the year, but you get the picture  :) Anyways, my first year living in this small Irish town, I worked as a waitress in an Irish Pub located inside the casino in town. One of our menu specialities was Irish Lamb Stew. For the first portion of my employment there, I was scared to try this stew. The whole "lamb" thing kind freaked me out. I'd never eaten lamb before! One night, I was tired of eating the same thing day in and day out so I decided to give this stew a try! Mmmmm! It was love at first taste! This stew was so thick and rich! The meat and veggies were in large chunks and the seasonings were spot on!

I was the only server there that liked the stuff! I really wanted to recreate that recipe on my own, with the exception of using lamb, as I don't have access to any around here, just beef. I didn't really succeed in creating an exact replica of said stew, but I did created a mighty great tasting alternative! This stew wasn't as thick, I think the "sauce" needs work, and I chose to chop the veggies and meat into smaller, bite size, chunks.

I found this recipe over at Allrecipes and it reminded me a lot of my crockpot beef stew recipe that I already make (and apparently haven't shared with you, shame on me!), with a few changes. To make it "Irish" I suppose. I'm going to continue to make this recipe and play around with it a bit. I really want to try and get the thicker, rich sauce like the first Irish Stew I ever tried!

Ingredients...

...1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and diced

...3 lb. of steak or roast, cut into 2 inch pieces (or lamb, to be traditional)
...1/4 tsp. salt (not pictured)
...1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
...1/4 c. flour
...1 tsp. garlic powder
...1 large onion, chopped
...1/4 c. water
...2 c. beef broth (I used 2 cups of water and 2 beef boullion cubes)
...2 T. sugar (not pictured)
...2 c. carrots, sliced
...2 c. celery, sliced
...4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
...1/2 tsp. dried thyme
...1 bay leaf
...1 c. water (or you can use white wine in place of this water)
 

Directions...

 
Coat steak/roast/lamb (whatever you choose to use) with salt, pepper and flour. Place in a skillet with some oil and cook until meat is cooked through. Place in greased slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients and stir well to mix ingredients and evenly distribute spices. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

To see more great crockpot recipes, be sure to check out Crockpot Wednesday over at Dining with Debbie!

Irish Soda Bread

St. Patricks Day is tomorrow, do you have your Irish meal all ready to celebrate? I shared a most delicious cupcake recipe that is in no way, shape or form Irish, on Saturday, and now I've made some Irish Soda bread. This bread would make a great side to the dish that I've made for tomorrow...Irish Lamb Stew...yum!

This bread was...different. It appears to be a yeast bread, but it is actually a quick bread. It also appears to have the density of a yeast bread, but it actually eerily reminds me of cornbread. Very much so. It also doesn't bake up "pretty". As you can see in the picture, it's a pretty lumpy loaf of bread. Now, I realize that you're just going to slice it up and slather it in butter, so looks don't really matter, but I'm just weird like that. I like my loaves of bread to be smooth and pretty :)

Despite the lack of "pretty" in this loaf of bread, it really did taste very good. Once you get used to the cornbread consistency, this bread is quite enjoyable! Next time, I think I'm going to try and make this bread in loaf pans though. While the round loaf is fun and different, it makes for some really hu-uge long slices of bread! I found this recipe over at Allrecipes and was very eager to try it! You should whip up a loaf or two for St. Patricks Day, it's always fun to celebrate a holiday with the appropriate foods! 

Ingredients...

...4 c. flour

...4 T. sugar (not pictured)

...1 tsp. baking soda

...1 T. baking powder

...1/2 tsp. salt (not pictured)

...1/2 c. butter, softened

...1 c. buttermilk (I made my own by adding 1 T. lemon juice to 1 c. regular milk)

...1 egg

Directions...

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir to evenly distribute all ingredients. Cut in softened butter. Stir in buttermilk and egg until all ingredients are moistened. Knead dough lightly until everything is evenly incorporated. Shape dough into a round loaf and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cut an "x" in the top of the loaf and brush with milk and butter if desired. Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes. 

To see other really great recipes, be sure to check out Tuesday's at the Table over at All the Small Stuff, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at BlessedwithGrace and Tasty Tuesday over at Beauty and Bedlam!

Thin Mint Cupcakes

I'm typically not a huge mint fan, but when it comes to Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies I just can't get enough! I ordered two boxes this year, and then instantly regretted it. Two boxes of Thin Mints sitting in my cupboard? Do you know how hard it is to resist eating them ALL myself?!?!? 

Must.

Show.

Restraint.

In all honesty though, I'm very proud of myself. In the first week of having these two boxes of cookies in my posession only 1 sleeve of cookies disappeared. With the exception of the 1/2 3/4 sleeve that I used in this recipe. So I guess that means that almost a whole box disappeared in the first week. But only half of that box was because I ate them. How's that for restraint!

I found the concept for these cupcakes over at Real Mom Kitchen (she just has the best recipe ideas, doesn't she?!?) and decided to run with it. You have two options here, you can either use a box cake mix (which I did. mostly because I have 20 some boxes of cake mix in my stockpile, so why not, right?)  or you can make your own homemade cupcakes. I am also going to mention that this frosting recipe didn't work out for me. I wish better luck to you. I was hoping for a fluffy frosting that I could pipe onto these cupcakes. I somehow managed to create frosting water, despite that I followed the recipe exact. It actually tasted fab and I totally fell in love with the way it drizzled down the sides so for this time, I was 110% content with what should have been considered a flop. Someday I'll figure out how to make amazing frosting...

Someday.

Ingredients...

Cupcakes...

...1 boxed cake mix
...1/2 sleeve of Thin Mint cookies (I used 3/4 sleeve)

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Crush cookies and stir into batter. Bake according to package directions.

Frosting...

...2 c. powdered sugar

...3 oz. cream cheese, softened

...1/2 c. butter, softened

...1/4 c. milk

...1 tsp. vanilla

Beat cream cheese and butter on low speed until well mixed and there are no lumps. Slowly add powdered sugar and continue beating on low, switching to medium speed. Add in milk and vanilla and beat on medium speed until well combined. Add food coloring until desired shade of green is reached.

Banana Nut Muffins

Remember a few weeks ago when I was craving what I thought to be an apple muffin? Well, I learned with that recipe that maybe it wasn't an apple muffin I was craving at all. So I kept at making muffins until I discovered that what I was actually craving was a moist, chewy banana nut muffin. Yep. Not exactly apple muffins.

Darn you, pregnancy cravings. Why can't you be more clear?

You know those monster muffins that they sell at Perkins? The ones that you just know are so calorie laden that you shouldn't even look at them for fear of what will happen to your hips. But you still order one anyways and then proceed to enjoy every last crumb. Yeah...that's what I wanted. Minus all the calories.

Is it really possible to get the best of both worlds? Why yes. Yes it is.

I found this recipe in my trusty ol' hometown church cookbook and this recipe alone just goes to prove that little ol' church ladies really do know what they're talking about when it comes to making a tasty dish!

Ingredients...

...1 c. flour
...1/2 c. sugar
...2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
...1/2 tsp. salt
...3/4 c. quick oatmeal
...1/3 c. nuts (I used cashews and crushed them up)
...1 egg
...3 T. oil
...1/2 c. milk
...1/4 tsp. baking soda
...1/2 c. mashed bananas

Directions...

Mix together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nuts and oatmeal. In a seperate bowl, beat the eggs and then stir in the milk and oil. Add to the dry ingredients and then stir in the bananas. Stir only until the dry ingredeints are moistened. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling them 2/3 full. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

To see more great recipes, be sure to check out Friday's at the Table over at And Baby Makes Five, Foodie Friday's over at Designs by Gollum and Food on Friday's over at Anne Kroeker!

Bubble Pizza

This is an interesting take on pizza night. I actually quite enjoy it! Pizza in casserole form! This recipe is an old family favorite, we had this a lot growing up and I have loved it ever since. It seems like lately I've been falling back on a lot of old family favorites, mostly because they are all quick and easy...which is nice on busy nights when I'm too tired to cook when I get home from work (which, considering that I am in my third trimester, seems to be quite often lately...). I also like dishes like this because I can prepare them ahead of time and then just toss them in the oven when I get home and go about other things around the house. Like cleaning.

Except 9 times out of 10 I don't go about cleaning. I go about sitting in the chair with a mug of hot cocoa and watching Friends reruns until the oven timer goes off. And pray the whole while that hubs will offer to do the dishes. One of these nights he will make that offer....I hope...

Ingredients...

...1 lb. ground meat
...2 tubes refrigerator biscuits
...1/2 jar Ragu Sauce
...1/2 green pepper, chopped
...1/2 onion, chopped
...1 can sliced mushrooms, drained
...Pepperoni slices, you choose how many you want
...1 c. shredded cheese

Directions...

Brown the ground meat with the peppers and onions until meat is no longer pink. Drain. Combine in a large mixing bowl with all remaining ingredients and spread in a greased 9x13 casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

To see more great recipes, be sure to check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap going on over at Life as Mom and the Recipe Swap going on over at The Grocery Cart Challenge!