Apple Butter Pork

I got this recipe from allrecipes
I needed something that I could put in the oven and walk away for a few hours and then come home to a ready to eat dinner.  I really should have done a crock pot dinner (which I think you could do with this) but I didn't think about it soon enough.  We all loved it and the kids thought it tasted like a dessert!  I made a few modifications because we didn't have any apple butter - I am excited to try it again using apple butter.

The Ingredients

2 (2 pound) boneless pork loin roast - I used boneless country style ribs
seasoning salt to taste
2 cups apple juice
1/2 cup apple butter  (I didn't have this so I put one cup of apple sauce in a pan with 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp cloves - and brought it all to a boil until it thickened up a little - and I used the whole cup)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I added this on top of what I added to the apple sauce)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions
1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.Season the pork loins with seasoning salt, and place them in a 9x13 inch baking dish or small roasting pan. Pour apple juice over the pork, and cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.

3.Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven. While the pork is roasting, mix together the apple butter, brown sugar, water, cinnamon, and cloves. Remove pork roasts from the oven, and spread with apple butter mixture.

4.Cover, and return to the oven for 2 hours, or until fork-tender.

So yummy!

Spagetti Carbonara

I keep forgetting to take a picture when I make this meal, and we NEVER have left-overs!  So I am going to post it anyway because it is one of our family's new favorites.

It is from the book Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl.  Most of the instructions are in her words.

1 pound of spaghetti
1/2 lb thickly sliced bacon
2 cloves garlic, peeled (I just use minced garlic)
2 large eggs
black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  When it is boiling, throw the spaghetti in.  In the 9-10 minutes it takes to cook you can make the sauce.

Cut the bacon crosswise into pieces 1/2 wide (mine are more like an inch).  Put them in a skillet and cook for about 2 minutes until the fat begins to soften.  Add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes, until the edges of the bacon just begin to get crisp.  Do not overcook.

Meanwhile, break the eggs into the bow you will serve the pasta in, and beat them with a fork.  Add some shakes or grindings of pepper.

If you used whole garlic, remove it from the pan.  If it looks like too much fat, discard some, but you're going to toss the bacon with most of its fat into the pasta.  (I drain about 3/4 of the fat off).

When it is cooked, drain the pasta and immediately throw it into the beaten eggs.  Mix it thoroughly.  The heat of the spaghetti will cook the eggs and turn them into a sauce.  Add the bacon with its fat, toss again, add the cheese, and serve!

According to Ruth Reichl, "Contrary to the recipe used so often in restaurants, real carbonara contains no cream.  The real thing also uses guanciale, cured pork jowl, but to be honest, I like bacon better."

Baked French Toast

*Tastes like "Kneaders" french toast. Best served with strawberries and whipped cream (and bacon and oj).

1 loaf French bread cut in 1 inch (or thicker) slices
7 eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup half and half

2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup butter
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
3 Tablespoons light corn syrup

Butter a 9x13 baking dish (you can also use an 8x8 too). In a large bowl beat together eggs, milk, cream, vanilla, and cinnamon. Dip bread in mix (both sides), and arrange in baking dishes. Pour/spoon remaining mixture into the centers of each slice of bread. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.

You can also put together the sauce the night before and keep it in the fridge for quick prep the next morning. In a small saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup ( this is the "caramel" part). Refrigerate this in the pan overnight.

The next morning preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Bake bread and egg mixture uncovered for 20 minutes; take out turn slices over. Heat "caramel" mixture until bubbling. Pour on top of bread and egg mixture (only use half of the caramel mix if you want to use buttermilk syrup), and place back in oven uncovered for 20 more min.

(the recipes and photos are from my friend Natalie Malan)

Vanilla Buttermilk Syrup (tastes just like Magelby's & Kneader's)

3/4 cube butter

1 1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoon Karo syrup
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
*make sure to make this in a high sided pan

Mix butter, sugar, buttermilk, and Karo syrup. Bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes then TURN DOWN and add baking soda and vanilla STIRRING CONSTANTLY. This will foam tons right away and every time you heat it up again in the microwave or stove!

(It makes more than you think it will!)

Tortellini Soup

This is a delicious recipe I got from Kim!   Thanks for sharing it!  We love it and I am always sad when it is gone.

Ingredients:
1 lb. mild Italian sausage
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
2 - 13 ounce cans Beef broth
3 carrots sliced
1 can crushed tomatoes (28 ounce)
1 tsp. Basil
1 tsp. Oregano
1 Cup zucchini
4 T. fresh parsley
1 green pepper (diced)
1 Cup water
1/2 cup apple juice
Tortellini - 8 ounces

Directions:
Cook Sausage and add onion and minced garlic.  Then add remaining ingredients except tortellinis.  Let simmer for 30-40 minutes on low.  Add tortellinis 5-10 minutes before you are ready to serve it.

Chicken with Wild Rice Soup

I am simmering this as I post and my kids are begging for more.  I had them sample it and their mouths are watering!  This recipe is from allrecipes.com

1/2 cup butter
1 finely chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken broth (I used chicken stock concentrate)
2 Cups cooked wild rice (the grocery store was out of bags of wild rice?  So I bought the Uncle Ben's wild rice that cooks in the microwave in 1 minute.  Made it very simple)
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and cubed
1/2 tsp. salt (I didn't add this)
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. mustard powder
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 cup slivered almonds (I didn't add this)
3 T. dried sherry (I used 3 T orange juice)
2 cups half-and-half  (I used 1c. fat free)

Melt butter in a large sauce pan saute onions, carrots, and celery for 5 minutes.  Add mushrooms and saute for 2 more minutes.  Turn heat down to simmer and slowly add flour and whisk briskly until all flour is added.  Slowly add broth, stirring constantly until all is added. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer.

Next add the rice, chicken, and salt, curry powder, mustard powder, parsley, ground black pepper, almonds and sherry.  Allow to heat through at a low to medium heat.  Then add half-and-half and stir well.  Let simmer for 1-2 hours.  (Note: DO NOT BOIL or your roux will break.)

Yummy Lowfat Chili

I found this a couple of years ago when searching online for "yummy chili." This is a Weight Watchers recipe.  It says one serving is 2 points and the serving size is 1 cup.

1 lb. of 93% lean ground beef
1 can kidney beans
1 can Pinto Beans
1 can corn (We like white shoepeg corn.  It is crunchier gives a nice texture)
1 - 4 ounce can chopped green chilis
1 can fat free Refried beans
1 - 15 ounce can chopped-diced tomatoes
1 - 16 ounce can tomato sauce
1 large onion
1 cup water (I don't always add this....we like our chili thick.)
1 package taco seasoning
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch DRESSING mix (NOT buttermilk one)

Directions:
Chop onion and brown ground beef.  Add the rest of the ingredients (DO NOT DRAIN ANYTHING)
Bring to a boil over medium heat and then simmer for 15 minutes.  ENJOY!

Prep time -10 minutes  Cook time - 25 minutes    Serves - 8 to 10

White Chicken Chili

4 Cups Northern Beans (I used 5 cups)
2 lbs Chicken Cubed (I used 3 small breasts and cubed them while they were defrosting - makes it a lot easier)
1 1/2 Cups Chicken Broth (I use Chicken stock concentrate)
1 medium onion chopped
2 - 4 oz cans green chilis
2 T. cumin
1 1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 Cups Cream

Put it all in crock pot together on low for 6-8 hours.  SOOOOOOO YUMMY!  I doubled this and froze half of it.  When we defrosted it I added another can of beans and the green chilis.  I didn't add the chilis the first time because I was afraid it would be too spicy for our kids but it wasn't even spicy once I added them, just added a great flavor.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

I know that we've entered December, so maybe no one is still in the mood for pumpkin. BUT if you are like me and still have some in your garage....this might be my MOST favorite dessert EVER.

Bread Pudding

2 cups half and half

15 oz pure pumpkin

1 cup (packed) plus 2 TBS dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I never have this so I used half ginger/half nutmeg)

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

10 cups of 1/2 in cubes of egg bread

(I don't know where to find egg bread. Great Harvest Cinnamon Chip is the best in this recipe, but I have also used a dense loaf of cinnamon swirl bread from my grocery store.)

(And I just cut it up until it mostly fills a 9x12in pan, I've never measured 10 cups)

Caramel Sauce

1 1/4 cups (packed) dark brown sugar (I used light last time and it was fine)

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup whipping cream

For bread pudding: Preheat oven to 350*F. Whisk half and half, pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, spices and vanilla in a large bowl to blend. Fold in bread cubes. Transfer mixture to a 9x12in glass baking dish. Let stand 15 minutes. Bake pumpkin bread pudding until tester entered into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare caramel sauce: Whisk brown sugar and butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Whisk in cream and stir until sugar dissolves and sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes.

Serve bread pudding warm, spoon caramel sauce over individual servings.

I would say it serves up to 12 people. Pictured above are two left over slices, which we ate cold. It is also delicious cold from the fridge.

Fluffy French Toast

I got this recipe from AllRecipes website and it is the tastiest French Toast I have ever made.  My kids can't get enough of it and I make extra at breakfast so we can pop the left overs in the toaster for lunch.  Super Easy and SOOOOO worth it!

Ingredients

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 pinch salt
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon white sugar
12 thick slices bread

Directions
1.Measure flour into a large mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in the milk. Whisk in the salt, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla extract and sugar until smooth.
2.Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat.
3.Soak bread slices in mixture until saturated. Cook bread on each side until golden brown. Serve hot.