Spiced Apple Cider

CSN Stores has gifted me with a gift certificate to any one of their 200 stores on-line, where I look forward to shopping for whatever I want! I'm excited to choose from a bar stool, to a blender, to a blanket. Really, the choices are endless, but I think since I broke my crockpot this weekend, I'll be looking for one of those (which I could actually use tomorrow, when I take this wonderful cider to share at work)!

You know how, at work, people are expected to bring treats in on their birthdays? Well, I boycott that; it's against my principles to have a commitment on my birthday! That said, I do like to bring in a treat now and then during other times of the year, and when Kendall said she was in the mood for my mom's Spiced Apple Cider, I figured I'd make some. The recipe makes a ton, so I should have plenty to share all around.

Ingredients:

2 2-inch long cinnamon sticks

2 tablespoons whole cloves

1 1/2 quarts water

1 cup sugar(dang! just realized I could have used Splenda!)

1 gallon of apple cider of your choosing

1 12-oz can frozen orange juice (we buy it with pulp)

1 12-oz can frozen lemonade

I threw my 5-year old cinnamon sticks away and bought new ones. 

The cloves smelled wonderful.

 First, take the first four ingredients and simmer them on the stove for an hour.

Obviously, the water will be clear at first.

After a little while, it will look a little cloudy.

After an hour, it will be a beautiful, golden hue.

Strain it into a large pitcher...

...or, if you have a huge Tupperware bowl, strain it directly into that. 

The entire batch fits into the bowl, 

where you can gently stir it with the apple cider, lemonade, and orange juice.

Carefully fill the apple cider bottle, using a funnel.

The recipe makes a gallon and a half.

It also makes for a wonderfully-flavorful drink on a cool, autumn day.

For what it's worth, it also makes a fantastic accompaniment to leftover pumpkin and spice cake! 

(and can you imagine it with a shot of amaretto?!)

Yummmmmm.

Carol's Slow Cooker BBQ

Now I'm no Rachael Ray, but I definitely wouldn't call myself a "slow cooker," so let's assume that Carol here is referring to a crock pot in the title of her recipe for delicious barbecue. I got this recipe from SparkPeople, a website for helping people reach nutrition and fitness goals. So far, it's given me the structure and guidance that I needed to lose 6.5 pounds. I was looking for a recipe that had molasses in it (it's got lots of vitamins, People!) and found this and a recipe for low-carb homemade barbecue sauce. Both are relatively healthy but full of flavor. [If you'd like a more heart-hateful recipe that is sure to please, check out my Barbecued Beef for a Crowd.]

I'll warn you ahead of time that this is not a difficult recipe, though it will taste like you worked on it for hours (which, of course, you will, if you are the crock pot.) If you want to milk this for all it's worth, splash some water on your face, mess your hair up a bit, and smear a little sauce on your shirt. Then grab your favorite book and spend some time reading in the kitchen, but keep a cookbook handy, in case you have quickly switch. (Make sure it's right-side up, of course.)

Ingredients:

4lb boneless beef chuck, arm, rump or pot roast (yes, I know I forgot to photograph it. More on that later)

2 large onions, sliced into thin strips

4 stalks celery, sliced

4 cloves fresh garlic, minced

1.5 cup catsup (or ketchup, if you're a stickler!)

1 cup BBQ sauce (I made this!)

1/4 cup Grandma's Molasses

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar or your choice of other kind

2 tbsp prepared yellow mustard your choice of type

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

Confession Interjection: As you may have guessed, I was about out of molasses 

and turned it upside down to try and get every drop out.  

I ended up having to go borrow some from my sweet neighbor, Wendy.  

Also, because the barbecue sauce recipe reviews stated that it had a lot of kick,

I only used a sprinkle of the black pepper and chili powder this recipe calls for.

Anywho, all you have to do is whisk the sauce ingredients together til they are a nice, caramelly color... 

I followed this recipe backwards, mixing all of the "gravy" ingredients first, 

because I put off touching the meat until as late as possible; 

Mr.4444 usually cleans/cuts the meat for me, and he wasn't home. 

I don't know what it is about me and touching raw meat, but I find it quite disgusting.

I'm very proud of myself for preparing the meat all by myself; I didn't even gross out once!

(But don't tell Mr.4444, because I think he likes being my meat-prep hero :)

Put the veggies and meat into the crockpot..

The recipe said to put the meat in first, but you know what a rebel I am; 

I put it in second and mixed the stuff up a little.

Pour the sauce all over this culinary promise...

and fire up the crockpot on Low. Leave it alone for 8-10 hours.
Remove the meat from the sauce, and remove any fat you see.

Fork the meat apart, and return it to the sauce.
Refrigerate overnight or serve right away on your favorite rolls,

with some yummy potato salad and veggies, of course! :)

Per Carol: 
This recipe has so much flavor, no one will notice the Worcestershire sauce and the salt were deleted to reduce sodium (Shh! Don't tell Carol there's Worcestershire sauce in the barbecue sauce I made! It'll be our little secret!) Using molasses, instead of brown sugar and Worcestershire, gives a depth of flavor and authenticity, while reducing sugar and sodium.  (Don't worry--Mine didn't take fake at all.)
It is great to take to picnics, buffets, or tailgating. Freezes well. 

P.S. The potato salad was AWESOME and made with the following: red potatoes, pickled green beans, celery, hardboiled egg white, Miracle Whip, and mustard.  And BTW, that is a salad plate and a dinner roll, so don't go thinking I've been eating like a horse. This is just one of many healthy, reasonably-sized meals I've been eating since I turned over a new leaf (and lost six pounds!!)

Low-Carb BBQ Sauce

 I've been making healthier decisions lately, when it comes to eating and exercising, and I've found that using SparkPeople helps. I found this recipe there this week and decided to try it. It was great!

Ingredients

1 c tomato sauce
3 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T cider vinegar
6 packets Splenda
1 T chili powder
2 t Tabasco sauce
2 t garlic powder
1 t pepper
1 t liquid smoke

I happened to have some Splenda packets on hand, but I don't always, so I measured them out for you and found that 6 packets is about a teaspoon and a half.

I only used 1.5 tsps of Tabasco, since one of the reviewers said the recipe was not for the faint of tongue.

Simply mix the ingredients and "cook" them 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and turning the heat down when it starts to boil.

I made this sauce for Carol's Slow-Cooker Barbecued Beef, and it was wonderful.

Personalized Omelets for a Crowd

Saturday morning, at our family reunion, I'll be helping facilitate the making of breakfast, which is really fun!  I highly recommend it! (stay tuned for pics!)

Ingredients:
Eggs (2-3 per person)
Various diced ingredients: onions, green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, pre-cooked sausage, ham, turkey, shredded cheese, etc.
1 quart-sized Ziploc bag per person (must be quart)
permanent markers
large container of ice water
large pot(s) of boiling water
salsa (if you like)

This is a fun and easy breakfast that gets everyone involved. Great for company or even for camping! Here's where the fun starts: Give each person a bag and a marker and have them personalize their bags with their names (some will be more creative than others, which is half the fun.) In pairs, help each other crack 2-3 eggs into your bags, and "squish" them to mix up the eggs. Then add whatever ingredients you like, plus a teaspoon of water (unless you added tomatoes, which add enough moisture). Submerge each bag (just to the zipper) in the ice water, to force the air out, closing the top carefully. When everyone is ready, place the bags together in boiling water 10-12 minutes for 2-egg omelets, adding a couple of extra minutes for a 3rd egg. One time that we made these, we did not have the right bags, so we used gallon-sized bags; YIKES! They were so big, they flopped over the edges of the pan and melted to the sides. While it all worked out, we learned our lesson. Use the quart-sized bags, which are smaller than the gallon size and more durable than the sandwich size. Most importantly, have fun! Serve with salsa on the side, if desired.

Summer's Harvest Breakfast

It's that time of year; strawberries, other fresh fruit.  It's the perfect time of year for this delicious breakfast concoction I came up with a couple of years ago.  Looks yummy, doesn't it? Read on if you love fresh fruit and a healthy breakfast... (and sorry to you anal folks out there who are really bothered by that spoon not being straight. Just keep reading, and you'll forget about it.)

One of the things I love about summer (and no school) is that I have time to make breakfast for the kids (if I feel like it, haha). When I made this favorite for Kyle and me recently, I decided to share it with you. In classic Pioneer-Woman style, I took a photo of the ingredients. (That's where she and I part, though; this recipe is so simple, there is no need to lead you by the hand through every single step.)

The beauty of this "recipe" is that you can use whatever fruit you have available, and since summer has so many fruits to offer (think blueberries, mangos, necterines, grapes, etc.) the sky's the limit! For this batch, I used about 1 cup each of the oatmeal and the yogurt. This yogurt is vanilla, but I've used strawberry before, and it was great, too. If you can't tell, those are sliced almonds (Kyle and I like their nice crunch, but I keep them out for Kendall.)

Start by washing the fruit. I am grossed out by the thought of eating fruit that's been grabbed by Lord knows how many dirty hands. And at the risk of sounding like an infomercial, I'm going to add that I LOVE this product for washing fruit:

It's 100% natural, smells like citrus and gets the waxy coating off of fruits and vegetables beautifully. The store I first found it at doesn't sell it anymore, so I buy it on line. For $20, I bought a 32-oz bottle of concentrated product that makes EIGHT bottles like this (16oz) one, so I'm sure it will last me at least a few years.

Next, cut the fruit into small (cube-sized) pieces. I have to share my all-time favorite Pampered Chef product, too, because I love it for taking strawberry tops off and digging the top out of tomatoes. (It's also a gem for scooping out bad spots of any fruit or vegetable.) I call it a "doohickey," and I own two, because one is always dirty.


Put the fruit in a medium-large bowl and top with oatmeal, yogurt, and almonds. Then, just stir it up and eat it! This batch made two large, full bowls for Kyle and me.  It doesn't keep forever, but that's okay; we eat it too quickly to have any leftovers anyway :)

Barbecued Beef for a Crowd

I'm surprised it's taken me so long to post this recipe, as we've been making it for years, and it's always a big hit. As usual, it's a very easy recipe, so I think you'll be impressed. [I'm not sure how much this makes, but we serve it at our Halloween party every year, and I know it makes a ton. Count on feeding around 40 with this doubled recipe, and you should be good.)

Ingredients:

10 pounds beef *roast
2 small bottles of ketchup
2 small bottles of chili sauce
3/4 cup of mustard
7-8 T brown sugar
2 T of vinegar
4 T worcestershire (pronounced woostesheer, BTW)
4-5 diced onions
2 bay leaves

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place the meat in a large roasting pan.

In a large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients and pour over the meat.

Cover the pan tightly with foil, and put it in the oven. Bake for 4 hours.  (If you use the amounts here, increase that time about 30 minutes; the four hour time is for a single batch.)  When the meat is ready, you should be able to fork it apart with ease. This is a team effort in our house. Use a sturdy tongs to take a hunk of the meat at a time to a plate and fork it apart, removing the fat, and returning the meat to the pan. Continue until you've removed all of the fat solids and have the meat back in the sauce. Keep warm in a crock pot at your event. It works fine to make the night before, too (Mr.4444 and I will be shredding beef at midnight tonight! (For Kyle's graduation party tomorrow!!)  Any leftovers freeze perfectly, so don't worry about making too much.  Serve on potato rolls (our favorite) or whatever rolls float your boat!

By the way, this barbecue goes great with Theresa's Beans!

Hungry yet? 


*When choosing the roast for this recipe, look for some fat marbling throughout; that gives the best flavor. Too much fat and, well...you'll have too much fat and not enough meat. Not enough fat, and you have tough meat that doesn't pull apart easily.  So heed this warning, because nobody likes having to spit stuff in their napkin! :)

Easy Pasta Salad

Is there really such a thing as a difficult pasta salad? I actually thought twice about posting this one, because it's so easy, but then I figured that not everyone is an experienced cook, so I figured it's worth a post. This salad is a nice accompaniment to any summer meal. We're serving it with barbecued beef sandwiches (and ham, and guacamole, and taco dip, and....) for Kyle's graduation party.

Ingredients:
Pasta of your choice (I used rotini this time, but you can use any kind, including spaghetti.)
Veggies of your choice (cukes, Vidalia onion, celery, green pepper, red pepper, tiny tomatoes)
Cheese (optional) Note that I didn't think to add mine til after I took the photo
Olives (optional) I actually changed my mind and left these out (Mr.4444 said, "People hate green olives."
1 bottle of Italian dressing
1 bottle McCormick Suddenly Salad seasoning (not pictured)
pepperoni (optional)
shredded Parmesan (for guests to sprinkle on top)

(Note:  Although this recipe lists the ingredients for one batch, I actually doubled it, so you'll see a lot more at the end of the post.)

While you're cooking the pasta per box directions, dice your vegetables. (Of course, I washed that dirty celery!)  I took the next photo to show you one of my all-time favorite kitchen tools. You know how you get invited to Pampered Chef parties but hate to go for fear you'll spend too much?  Well, I highly recommend that you buy one of these babies, as it is worth it's weight in gold (about $10).

I've had mine for about ten years, and it will still take a finger off if you're not careful. When we're peeling potatoes for booyah, I can peel at least three times as fast as anyone with a old-fashioned peeler (and I don't have the waste I get with a knife.) But I digress, just like I did when I became enamored with this gorgeous red pepper and took this shot...

And now, back to the show!  When the pasta is done, be sure to rinse it in cold water (in a colander, Matty) right away (it stops the cooking and keeps it from getting mushy). Drain thoroughly and put in a large bowl. Add the vegetables, and pour the dressing over all.

Stir. Add salt and pepper if you want.  Chill for several hours, and don't be afraid to stir now and then to mix the dressing through.

 Off to make another dish for the party!!

[Update: Today, when I tasted the salad before serving it, I decided it needed something (it was a little too tame. My sister Mary brought some sliced pepperoni to add, and we also added a bunch of McCormick Suddenly Salad seasoning and some more Italian dressing.  That gave it the kick it needed.]