Crisscross Applesauce

I made applesauce today. PE's coworker was so kind to share a box full of apples from his apple tree. I made one batch of Crock Pot Applesauce, three batches of unsweetened applesauce, and one batch of cinnamon sugar applesauce (mainly because the kids let all the water boil out and some of the apples were a bit brown).For lunch Moo made Corn Dog Muffins and then for dinner we had another freezer swap meal. We ate the Hash Brown Quiche and it is basic enough I can share my best guess at the recipe.

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Corn Dog Muffins
from Sparky
Print Recipe

1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
5 hot dogs

Preheat oven to 400. Place muffin papers in muffin pan(s) makes 15 or so. Combine corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Combine milk, oil, and egg in small bowl; mix well. Ad milk mixture to flour mixture, stir just until blended. Add hot dogs and stir until combined. Scoop mixture into muffin papers; filling 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

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Crock Pot Applesauce
from A Year of Slow Cooking
Print Recipe

12 large apples, skinned ,cored, and cut in quarters
juice from 3 lemons or 3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp brown sugar
3/4 cup water

Skin, core, and cut your apples into quarters. Plop the pieces into your slow cooker. Add the juice from the lemon (or lemon juice), and the water. Pour in the vanilla, and add the cinnamon and brown sugar. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. When the apples are super tender, mash with a potato masher or large fork.

++I put mine in the blender and made it very smooth. It is tasty; however, I prefer plain unsweetened applesauce.

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Unsweetened Applesauce
from Sparky
Print Recipe

2 cups water
6 lb apples quartered, unpeeled, uncored
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

Pour the water in a large heavy pot that has a lid. Add the apples. Add the lemon juice. Cook covered apples on a high until the apples are soft. Remove lid and let some water cook away. Using a food mill, or a colander, press the cooked apples through to separate the puree from the skins and seeds. (I used an old school cone sieve to make the applesauce. If you would like to see what one looks like click here.)

++The peels and cores supply pectin to give the cold sauce a good consistency.

++As I said, I made one batch of cinnamon sugar applesauce. After putting the apples through the sieve I put it in a sauce pan, added about 1 Tbsp sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and heated it for about five minutes.

++I froze two batches of applesauce for later.

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Hash Brown Quiche
from Freezer Meal Swap
Print Recipe

3 cups shredded hash brown potatoes
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup diced cooked ham
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp seasoned salt

Preheat oven to 425. Press hash browns onto the bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie dish. Drizzle or brush with melted butter. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until beginning to brown. Remove from oven and layer ham and cheese into the crust. Whisk together eggs, milk, and seasoned salt. Pour egg mixture over ham and cheese. Reduce oven temperature to 350. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until filling is puffed and golden brown.

To freeze: Once hash browns are pressed into pie plate and brushed with butter, place in a plastic bag and freeze with ham and cheese measured into separate freezer bags. Defrost overnight then bake as directed above.

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There you have it. . . a day of applesauce and some yummy meals AND I was able to work on the recipe cards for awhile. Boy we sure know how to live it up in our house.

Memories of a Meal We Use to Eat

We ate a freezer meal from the freezer swap for dinner last night and since Cooking W. made a family favorite I am able to share the recipe. (Growing up we always enjoyed this meal and now we both make it for our families who enjoy it too.)

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Creole Franks
from Sparky
Print Recipe

5 slices bacon, diced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 cup pineapple juice
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp chili powder
12 franks or 1 lb. smoked sausage, sliced
1/2 cup chopped green pepper (optional)

To serve fresh: Cook bacon, add onion, stir in remaining ingredients—except green pepper. Cover and bring to a boil. Add green pepper and simmer 8 – 10 minutes. Serve over rice*.

To freeze: Cook bacon**, add onion, stir in remaining ingredients, place in freezer bag. Freeze. To serve, defrost overnight, pour into a pan with lid, simmer over medium heat until heated through. Serve over rice.

*We always use a rice cooker similar to this when cooking our rice and it comes out great every time. (I actually use a rice cooker that use to be my grandmother's.) One helpful tip if you own one or purchase one in the future is to spray the inside with cooking spray and clean up is easier.

**An option for cooking bacon is to cook it in the oven. Preheat oven to 400. Spray a broiler pan (some may call it a roasting pan) with cooking spray. Arrange bacon in a single layer on broiler pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes to desired crispness. Drain on paper towel. Put in zip top bag and store in the refrigerator or freezer.

++Leftover rice is great to use in fried rice--many recipes call for refrigerated cooked rice. Another way to serve it is with milk, cinnamon, and sugar--Moo LOVES this--or serve it with butter (PE's favorite).

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The past week I have spent a decent amount of time working on the recipe cards for the recipe swaps in which I am participating. Since I HAVE to work on the cards and I know I cannot cook/bake I think that has been helping spark my motivation to cook/bake. (Sort of like when you are eating healthier and you place restrictions on chocolate/soda/etc. What is the one thing you crave the most? The thing you have restricted of course.) I do get to have a fun day baking/cooking tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it. After tomorrow though, I will be working on cards and only cards (most of the time).

It shouldn't be too bad because I have the design for all 18 cards sketched out. Ten of the eighteen swaps go together and are due first so I am now concentrating on those. I have all 140 bases cut, most of the layers cut, and the recipes formatted and ready to print. Now I have the fun task of assembling all of them. I do have to add the month and some embellishments to ALL of them. 140 cards due October 10. 108 cards due October 17. 54 cards due November 10. That isn't too bad. Besides, I am hostessing the swap that is due October 17 so I have a few days leeway as I have 10 days from the due date to get them in the mail. Again, I ramble. The point of this explanation is to share the sketch files with anyone who might be interested. You can view and print them here. While they are designed for 6"x6" recipe cards, you could easily modify the size of the elements to fit a smaller square card or use a similar layout for making a regular 4 1/4"x5 1/2" card.

Let me know if you have any questions and make sure you go make the Creole Franks.