Crockpot Apple Butter

Well it's that time again!

Apple season!

YAY!  Who doesn't love the crisp fall air?!  It's my favorite time of year I must say.

If you find yourself with apples this year from the orchard, you should try out this recipe.  It is very simple and will make your house smell AMAZING!

 

 

Here is what you will need:

 

5 to 6 lbs. of apples peeled, cored and chopped

2 1/2 to 3 Cups Sugar

3 tsp. of Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

crockpot

peeler or knife

cutting board

 

 

First you are going to want to wash your apples and then peel them. 

 

 

 

Next cut them up into small pieces. 

In a seperate bowl, mix together your sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Now most apple butter recipes call for cloves.  I however can't stand the taste of them so I don't put them in mine.  If you want to, you can add 1/2 to 1 tsp of ground clove to this mixture also.

 

 

Add you apples to the sugar and mix well to make sure all the apples are coated.

 

 

Pour them into the crockpot.

 

 

Put the lid on your crockpot and cook on high for the next 10 to 12 hours.

The cooking time is going to depend on how hot your crockpot gets and how juicy your apples were.

 

 

Every so often, check on your apples and stir them.

This was taken about 2 hours after cooking.  You can see that there is alot of juice in there now.  Don't worry, this will all cook away.

 

 

About 8 hours into the cooking process.

 

 

This is 12 hours later for me.  If you have some chunks left, you can take a wisk and break them up.

 

 

From here, you can either freeze your apple butter in containers or can it for future use.  I always can mine for 2 reasons.  One is it stays longer and two I don't have that much freezer space.

 

If you have never canned before, I suggest doing a little research on the computer before you attempt it so that you do it properly.

 

 

 

These would also make great gifts for the upcoming holidays!

Just add ribbon and pretty label and you have a lovely gift that everyone would love!

 

 

Did you make this recipe?  Please share how it turned out!  I would love to hear!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Crockpot Pork Tacos

 

I love using my crockpot every chance I get.  It makes my life so much easier.  My husband is a HUGE taco fan.  He would eat them every night if I would let him.  It tends to get boring with the same old thing so when I came across this recipe over at Chef in Training, I knew I had to make them.  I changed it up a bit in order to fit my families needs and they turned out awesome!

 

What you will need:

3 lb. pork roast

2 4oz. cans of green chiles

1 package of taco seasoning

1 TBS cumin

Corn shells

Shredded lettuce

Mexican blend cheese

Sour cream

1 lime

Salsa

 

Place your pork roast in your crockpot along with 1 can of chiles, taco seasoning and the cumin.  Let that cook on low for about 6-8 hours.  Now my crockpot gets hotter than others so mine went a little faster.  Once that gets all yummy and tender, remove roast and shred with 2 forks.  Add back to the crockpot and add in your additional can of chiles.  You can use more cans of chiles if you would like but that would have been way to spicy for my kiddos so I stuck with 2.  Let that cook another 1/2 hour to hour on low.

Now you can build your tacos.  We used lettuce, cheese, sour cream and squeezed lime on ours.  They were so yummy that I will definately be making these again.  Plus this recipe makes alot so you can invite some friends over or just save it for leftovers!



Mexican Lasagna

The Holidays are finally over and I am able to slow down a bit.  It's been a very busy last 2 months.  My crafting has pretty much come to a hault but I can't wait to start creating again.  In the meantime I have tried out a few new recipes and I thought I would at least share those with you all.

 

So here we go.  First up, Mexican Lasagna.

I found this recipe over at Sugar & Spice and added my own touches to it.

 

What you will need:

 

Sauce:

1 TBS. olive oil

1 onion; diced

1 red bell pepper chopped and diced

1 small can green chiles

3 TBS. fresh green cilantro chopped

2 can diced tomatoes

1 TBS ketchup

1 cup water

1 package taco seasoning

1 lb. ground turkey

salt & pepper to taste

 

Filling:

1 can black beans drained and rinsed

1 can pinto beans drained and rinsed

1 can of corn drained

2 cups Mexican blend cheese

 

Other things needed:

Flour tortilla shells

1 1/2 to 2 cups Mexican blend cheese

13x9 baking dish

Pam spray

 

 

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Spray your cooking dish with Pam to prevent sticking.  Heat olive oil in pan.  Add in your ground turkey and cook through.  Add taco seasoning, bell pepper, onion, water and chiles to pan.  Let simmer for a few minutes.  Dump your tomatoes in and let simmer for about 10 minutes.  While that is cooking, get to work on your filling mix.  In a bowl, combine the black beans, pinto beans, corn and the cheese.  Mix them together well.

Head back over to the sauce.  Once you have let it simmer for awhile, remove from heat and mix in your cilantro.

Now lets start stacking your layers. 

Start with a ladle full of the sauce in the bottom of the pan.  Cover that with tortillas.  I ripped some up to cover the empty spots.  Do another layer of the sauce (about 1/3 of it).  On top of that, do half of the filling mix.  Add another layer of the tortillas.  Keep going until you reach the top.  Once you hit the top layer, put the last remaining 1/3 of the sauce on top.

Place lasagna in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes.  After 25 minutes, top the lasagna with cheese.  Place back in oven until the cheese melts then remove.

Let the lasagna sit in the pan for 10 minutes before cutting so that it doesn't fall apart on you.

This dish is even better the next day too!

 



S'mores Treats

These are so good and so addicting!

You've been warned. 

 

1/4 cup butter

1 (10.5 oz) bag of mini marshmallows

1(16 oz) box Golden Grahams Cereal

1 to 2 cups of milk chocolate chips

 

In a large microwavable bowl, melt butter.  Add in the mini marshmallows.  Heat at 30 second intervals and stir inbetween.

Once the marshmallows turn to a sauce, add in the cereal.  Mix well until all the pieces are covered.

Stir in the chocolate chips. 

Put mixture into a greased 9x13 pan.

Press them down. 

Allow to cool before cutting them. 

 

Enjoy!!!! 



Apple Cider Funnel Cakes

Yeah, I'm in trouble with this one but I just couldn't help myself.  These are so good.  I found the recipe over here at Heather's French Press.  I changed it up a little bit to go with what I had on hand.

 

Here is what I did:

 

2 Cups Flour

2 Eggs

3/4 Cup Milk

3/4 to 1 Cup Apple Cider

1 Tsp. Baking Powder

1 Tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 Tsp. Nutmeg

1 Tsp. Vanilla

1/2 Tsp. Salt

Oil for frying

 

Heat oil in pan.  Combine your dry ingredients.  Add in your eggs, milk, apple cider and vanilla.  Your batter should be like pancake batter.  If it's not, add in more liquid (I would suggest more cider for more flavor)  Once oil is heated, swirl batter in pan.  I just used a measuring cup and poured it in slowly.  Fry until they are golden brown.  Flip over and fry on the other side.  Drain them on paper towels.  Let cool a few minutes and then sprinkle them with powdered sugar and cinnamon.   



Ham and Potato Soup

Don't you just love this weather?

It's been nice and cool here which means it's time to make my favorite fall and winter recipes.

 

 

Ham and Potato Soup:

 

3 1/2 cups peeled & diced potatoes

2 celery stalks diced

1/3 cup onion

2 to 3 carrots chopped

1 clove garlic minced

3/4 cup diced ham

 4 1/2 cups chicken broth

4 TBS. flour

2 cups milk

1/8 to 1/4 cup instant mashed potatoes

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

1. Combine potatoes, celery, carrots, onion, garlic, ham and broth in a stock pot.  Boil until tender

2.  In a seperate bowl wisk together milk and flour until well combined and lumps are gone.

3.  Add milk and flour mixture to stock pot and stir until combined. 

4.  Add in instant mashed potatoes. 

5.  Cook until thickened.  (if you like it thicker, just add more instant mashed potatoes or more flour)

 

This is a very hearty meal and it feeds my family of 4 with leftovers.  I personally like to serve it with a sourdough bread or breadsticks.

 





Apple Fritters

Who doesn't love warm, yummy apple fritters on a cool Fall day? 

 

 

They are one of my all time favorites besides pumpkin pie so I went on a mission to find the best recipe I could.  I came across this one from Pioneer Woman.  I didn't use the glaze that her recipe calls for, I just sprinkled mine with powdered sugar.  Man are they to die for good!

They turned out perfect and were super easy to make.

This recipe makes quite a few but they were even better the next day when heated up in the oven.

 

Leave me comment and let me know what your favorite Fall recipes are!