Rhubarb Jam

So this is more of a summer recipe...making jam is just something you do in the summer. However, I made two batches on a chilly fall (winter?) day. I was taking inventory of my deep freeze when I noticed that we only have one container of the Strawberry Rhubarb Jam left from when I made it in June. So I pulled out some of the frozen rhubarb I had chopped up when it was fresh from the crop and made up this version. It's a bit more tart than the strawberry rhubarb version...but it's still ohhh so good! I love homemade jam!

Ingredients...

...6 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped
...1/3 cup orange juice
...1/2 cup water
...2 cups sugar
...Fruit Pectin (optional)

Directions...

Place rhubarb, orange juice, water and sugar in a large saucepan or stockpot. Bring to a rolling boil and let it boil for 15 to 20 minutes, or until thickened. At this point, you can add a half packet of fruit pectin if you wish, but the orange juice has enough natural pectin in it to appropriately thicken the jam on it's own. Adding pectin is up to each individual person and how thick they like their jam. Place into freezer containers and freeze until ready for use. Store in refrigerator in between uses.

Crockpot Meatballs in BBQ and Cranberry Sauce

It's at this time of year that I truly appreciate my crockpot. It comes in handy on so many occaisons! In all the hustle and bustle and running around that comes with the holiday season, it's so nice to have supper slow cooking at home so you don't have to worry about rushing through supper preparation when you get home! The slow cooker is also a great way to transport your delicious dishes to family get togethers! It's also a great way to free up some oven space for the other dishes you and family are preparing for family gatherings.

This recipe is sooo simple and amazingly delicious! At first I thought that the combination of ingredients was really weird, but then I figured that most meatball recipes call for a strange combination of ingredients, so might as well give this a shot! Besides, who doesn't have a can of jellied cranberries sitting in their pantry during this time of year?!?

Ingredients...

...1 lb. meatballs (I used homemade meatballs that I premade a week before and then froze until ready to toss in the crock...)
...1 can jellied cranberries
...1/2 cup barbecue sauce
...1 T. soy sauce

Directions...

Slice jellied cranberries into thin slices and line bottom of crockpot with the slices. Cover craberry slices with barbecue and soy sauces. Place (still frozen) meatballs on top of saues and cranberries. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3.

As a side note, you can use meatballs that aren't frozen for this recipe, just watch the cooking time, and shorten it some since the meatballs are already thawed out.

To see more great recipes, check out Mouthwatering Monday over at A Southern Fairytale!

Garlic Pull Apart Bread

We have pizza night once a week around here, and I like to have some sort of a garlic bread to go with it. I usually just whip up a batch of french bread and then toast it with some garlic powder and butter. I decided to go with something a little different this time around and made this garlic-y pull apart bread. This recipe is the exact same concept as monkey bread, except with garlic. I really like the concept of this bread and it was a great alternative to the normal garlic bread that I make. This picture does it no justice...it was much tastier than it looks, and it was even better dipped in marinara!

Ingredients...

...2 tubes of refrigerator biscuits
...1/4 cup butter
...1/2 T. garlic and herb blend spice (you can also substitute 1 T. parsley flakes, 1 tsp. garlic powder and 1/4 tsp. garlic salt if you don't have the herb blend on hand)

Directions...

Cut each biscuit into quarters and roll into a ball. In a small bowl, melt butter and then stir in seasoning(s). Cover each dough ball in butter/seasoning mixture and place in a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes.

To see more great recipes, check out the Recipe Swap going on over atr Life as Mom!

Chicken Tetrazinni

I have never tried chicken tetrazinni before. I have actually only even heard of it a handful of times before. I am super glad that I tried it though, this was fabulous! Plus, it's semi-healthy with only cheese and cream of mushroom soup being the questionably fattening ingredients. This is such a great wintery comfort food too. It's creamy and warm. Plus it's easy and it would freeze well and be a great make ahead meal to throw in the freezer for those crazy busy nights when cooking is the last thing on your mind.

Ingredients...

...2 c. spaghetti, cooked
...1 chicken breast or hindquarter, cooked and chopped into pieces
...1 can cream of mushroom soup (chicken will work as well)
...1 c. chicken broth
...1/4 onion, chopped
...1/2 c. pepper (you can use any color. I used green and yellow)

...1 1/2 c. shredded cheese

Directions...

Place all ingredients in an oven safe casserole dish and stir well to combine all ingredients. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

To see more great main dish recipes, head on over to Cooking During Stolen Moments for the main dish of the Bloggy Progressive Dinner!

Cake Mix Cookies

Happy December! The Christmas season is officially upon us and I am having a blast with all of these Christmas recipes in the kitchen! Homemade cookies, candies, bars...all of it just screams Christmas to me! So, on every Tuesday from now until Christmas, I am going to share a different cookie recipe, so that way you and your family have a selection to choose from for Santa! Because we all know that you can't go to bed peacefully on Christmas Eve night without having that plate of cookies and glass of milk sitting out for Santa!

This week's cookie recipe seriously couldn't get any easier! Three ingredients and about a half hour of your time from start to finish and these cookies are done. And they're good too! So if you are a procrastinator, this is your last minute cookie for any occaison...Santa, a get together...or just a midnight craving :)

Ingredients...

...1 boxed cake mix
...1/2 cup oil (I substituted light sour cream. Applesauce or plain (or vanilla) yogurt would work as well)
...2 eggs

Directions...

Place all ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. Form dough into balls and bake at 350 for about 7 minutes. Let cool a few minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

I should note that my dough was still pretty runny and there was no way it was forming into balls. So I just dropped it on the cookie sheet by spoonfuls. They turned out just fine, but with a bit different consistency than other cake mix cookies I've tried in the past.

Head on over to The Finer Things in Life to check out the Dessert Edition of Finer Things Friday...yuuuummmmm!!

Thanksgiving Leftovers Casserole

I wasn't really sure what to call this one. It is 100% made up by me. I had no clue what I was doing while I was concocting it, I was just throwing random leftovers together. And then I got nervous, because what if it tasted awful and I just wasted all that food? That didn't even end up being a problem...this turned out really good! Kinda sweet, but not too much and lots of good flavor. So I'm really happy with how this turned out.

I may be the only one.

I'm okay with that.

Although hubs did have seconds. And thirds. Just sayin'...

Ingredients...

Totally ignore the crescent rolls and pretend they're not there. Add in leftover mashed potatoes in their place. I don't know what I was thinking when I was staging this photo...

...Stuffing Mix (yes. I used boxed. I ran out of the homemade stuff, and didn't have the time or ingredients to make more...)
...Turkey, shredded or chunked
...Mashed Potaotes
...Cranberries

Directions...

In a large bowl combine together the stuffing, cranberries and turkey. Place into an oven safe casserole dish, and then spread mashed potatoes over top of the stuffing mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until heated through.

To see more delicious recipes, check out Mouthwatering Monday over at A Southern Fairy Tale!

Turkey and Dressing for Sandwiches

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving! I'm sure that you were stuffed to the gills by the end of the day, and then had enough leftovers to make you sick at the thought of MORE turkey. Instead of choking down more, transform your leftovers into delicious sandwiches! This is a very simple recipe that calls for only things that were on your Thanksgiving table yesterday. This also freezes well...so if more Thanksgiving food really does make you sick, just whip up a batch of this and toss it in the freezer until your're ready for more! This is also a super simple recipe to whip up if you were out shopping this morning before the sun rose then you can make up a quick batch of this for your family before your collapse into bed in post shopping exhaustion :)

Ingredients...

...Gravy (I used 1 packet of McCormick gravy. You can use leftovers)
...Turkey
...Dressing

Directions...

The directions on this one are kind of hazy. Basically, all I did was toss in stuffing, some turkey, and 1 cup of gravy. I just kept adding each ingredient until the ratios seemed right and the mixture seemed the right consistency. I would say that the ratio of dressing:gravy:turkey was 3:2:1. Really, just experiment and keep adding until it is the consistency that you wish.