Apple Butter

You can find this recipe and many others for your kitchen at the Recipe Swap at the Grocery Cart Challenge.

What to do with 30 pounds of apples? (I can't resist a sale.) Make A LOT of apple butter. It was a bit of work, I'll admit, but my helpers were eager to mash and strain. And the cost savings is significant. A 12 oz jar of apple butter can be between $4-5. Our cost was around $1.75 for 12 oz. With this apple butter I plan on trying a few new recipes: Apple Butter Pie, Apple Butter Pancakes, Apple Butter Cake with Caramel Icing, and Apple Bread Pudding. Any requests on which one I should make first?

Prep Time: 10 minutes (using and apple corer)
Cook Time: 3 hours
More Prep Time: 1 hour (w/o food mill:(
Yield: 16 cups
Cost: Approx. $6.00

15 pounds apples cored and sliced ($6.00)
2-3 cups sugar
4-5 cups apple cider ($2.00)
Cinnamon to taste

Place apples in large pan or roaster. Cover with cider and desired cinnamon. Bake at 300 for 3-4 hours or until apples are soft and falling apart. Mash through a medium strainer (or food mill if you have one). Store in airtight container. Freeze or refrigerate immediately.

Creamy Stewed Apples

Last weekend I picked up a small cookbook entitled, "Old-Fashioned Apple Recipes". Knowing that I had 30 pounds of apples at home waiting for me was quite the motivating factor. I just couldn't pass up a 5lb bag of gala apples for $1.89 each. Here's one simple way to cook apples that is beyond delicious.

Prep Time: less than 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Serves: 8
Cost: Approx. $1.00

4 apples cored and sliced
bacon grease or 2 Tbsp butter
2/3 c brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbs flour
1/2 cup cream or milk
cinnamon

Cook apples in bacon grease or butter for about 2 minutes stirring constantly. Mix brown sugar, salt and flour into the cream/milk to form a smooth paste. Add to apples. Cook at medium heat until mixture thickens. Sprinkle with cinnamon before serving.

This would make a great side dish, but we enjoyed our served over cinnamon french toast. It made for a perfect accompaniment to spinach/bacon/cheese crustless quiche. Pretty good for a meal made from what was already on hand.

Banana Split Ice Cream Cake

This is one of Sean's favorite deserts. I love it because it is easy to prepare, serves a lot of people and keeps in the freezer for up to three months!!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 16-24 (depending on your generosity)
Cost: approx $6.00

Ingredients:

Graham Crackers ($.50)
1/2 stick of butter melted ($.25)
4 bananas sliced thinly-fresh or frozen ($.50)
1 quart strawberry ice cream softened($2.00)
1/2 jar of hot fudge topping ($.75)
1 small tub whipped cream topping ($1.00)
pecans ($.50)

Crush graham crackers until equal to 4 cups. Mix with melted butter and press into bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 325 for 10 minutes or until crust is set. Let cool.

Place layer of bananas over crust. Pour on warmed hot fudge topping. Spread an ice cream layer evenly over the hot fudge. Top with a layer of whipped cream. Sprinkle with pecans.

Cover and freeze for 3 hours before serving. Refreeze any unused portion and store for up to 3 months.

Grilled Pizza

In celebration of my beloved, Sean's, 37th birthday we celebrated with pizza. I seriously had doubts about putting raw dough on the grill, but it worked well and exceeded our expectations. Not only is this the easiest pizza ever, but there is no clean up. Got to love that!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 9
Cost: Approx. $2.25

3 1/2 cups flour ($.25)
1 envelope Yeast or 2 tsp bulk yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoons salt
1 1/3 cups very warm water
1/3 cup olive
Italian Spice Seasoning
Tomato sauce ($.50)
Mushrooms (0ther toppings as desired) ($1.00)
Shredded mozzarella cheese ($1.50)


Combine all dry ingredients setting aside 1/2 cup of flour. Add 2 Tbsp. of olive oil to warm water. Pour into dry ingredients and mix well. Knead dough adding in 1/2 cup of flour until no longer sticky. Separate into 9 pieces and roll flat.

Brush olive oil on both sides of dough and place directly on the grill. Allow to cook 3-4 minutes or until crust is easily turned. Add sauce, seasoning and toppings. Cook and additional 10 minutes or until cheese begins to bubble.

Ginger Waffles with Raspberry-Peach Sauce

The kids pooled their money and bought a waffle maker a few weeks ago. They've announced that Saturday morning is officially waffle day which works out well since they sleep in a bit and wake up in shifts. Waiting for the next waffle is just about as tortuous as having to wait for the bathroom around here. So I've been on the search for a a healthy, whole grain waffle. I think this morning we found it! This recipe is adapted from the Weight Watcher's Cookbook, Comfort Classics.

Ginger Waffles with Raspberry-Peach Sauce
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: Varies
Cost: Approx. $3.00
Serves: 12

Sauce
1 cup of frozen raspberries ($.25)
1 can of peaches drained ($.75)
2 Tbsp apple juice
3 Tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Waffles
1 1/2 cup flour ($.25)
1 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour ($.25)
6 Tbsp sugar
3 tsp ground ginger
3 tsp baking soda
3 1/2 cup milk ($.50)
4 eggs separated ($.50)
4 Tbsp butter melted ($.25)

Place all sauce ingredients in blender and puree until smooth. Set aside.

Beat egg whites until they form a soft peak. Set aside.

Mix dry ingredients well and set aside.

Whisk milk, egg yolks, butter and 1/2 tsp vanilla. When blended add dry ingredients slowly while mixing constantly. Finally, fold in egg whites gently.

Prepare waffles. Serve immediately with sauce.

Deep Dish Chicago Style Pizza

There's nothing quite like it. Can't drive to Chicago to get it. So here's my attempt. Using what I had in my pantry, I combined several on line recipes.

It wasn't bad for the first try. The crust was great, but I need to work on the sauce. I think there are a few people around who would be willing to try it again:) It was a great way to use the tomatoes from our garden, but next time I think it will be sauted mushrooms, garlic and onion.

Prep Time: 30 minutes (includes rising time)

Cook time: 25-30 minutes

Serves: 6-8

Cost: Approx. $5.00

Crust

1 cup warm water
1 package quick rise yeast ($.50)
2 eggs
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour

Place sugar, yeast and water in a bowl and mix well until dissolved. Let rest 5 minutes. Then add 2 eggs well beaten.

Mix dry ingredients. Stir in wet ingredients adding additional flour as needed until dough is no longer sticky. Knead for five minutes. Let rest in greased bowl for 15 minutes. Press into deep dish pan and add toppings.

Toppings

Pizza Sauce (I made my own from canned tomatoes and this mix) ($.50)
3-4 cups shredded mozarella cheese ($2.50)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese ($.75)
diced onion and minced garlic sauted in olive oil until tender ($.25)
Sliced tomatoes (from garden)

To assemble pizza:

Press dough in deep pan or iron skillet making sure that dough is covering the sides. Spread a thin layer of sauce on bottom. Layer 1/2 of onion/garlic mixture, sprinkle 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 3 large spoonfuls of sauce, 1/2 of mozzarella cheese and repeat.

Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes or until cheese becomes golden brown.

Yeast Problems

Let me tell you a little story.

Once upon a time there was a girl who needed extra credit in Biology. Since her class was studying yeast, the teacher told her she could bring in a loaf of bread made by her very own self. "No problem," she naively thought.

She followed the directions perfectly for making two loafs of simple white bread. She added and mixed and kneaded and waited. And waited. And waited.... Seeing that her dough didn't exactly double she figured out a reasonable solution. She decided to place all of the dough into one loaf pan to form a loaf and stuck it in the oven. Much later than anticipated the loaf was finally finished. She placed her five pound loaf of bread in a brown bag and took it to school the next day. Done.

Little did she realize that her loaf had not produced the yeast fluffiness desired until she saw her classmates' masterpieces. To avoid humiliation, she quickly threw her brown bag in the trash like and pretended that nothing had ever happened.

When her teacher inquired after class as to the whereabouts of her project, she fessed up. The teacher hysterically and promptly removed the loaf from the trashcan. The girl was dismissed.

The next day upon arrival to the classroom, she saw a group of students gathered around the door. To her horror, the girl saw there on the floor, none other than the teacher's new doorstop- a shellacked five pound loaf of bread.

And just to prove that some things never change here is what my children found today. They couldn't figure out what this disgusting thing was in the bowl on top of the TV in my bedroom (the warmest spot in the house).

This is wheat bread that I made last weekend which didn't rise and I forgot all about. *sigh*