PRETZELS... YUM

A little while ago, a few of my friends and I decided to have a pot luck finger food craft day,
and I had wanted to make soft pretzels for a while.



I figured this would be the perfect opportunity!!



I used a recipe that I found in my Woman's Day magazine, that can also be found here.

They turned out great!! I made 3 kinds, and loved all of them!

WHAT A GREAT DAY!!

ANOTHER RECIPE!!

So for the second day of my resolution, I decided to try and make Bajio's Green Chili Chicken Salad.  They turned out AMAZINGLY well!  It was a lot of different parts with a lot of work, but WELL worth the effort!!  We loved it, and had friends over and they couldn't stop saying how great it was!! I'm so grateful for all the kind words and support!

BAJIO'S GREEN CHILI CHICKEN SALAD

SO YUMMY!! I picked up the recipe here from the AWESOME blog "Our Recipe Garden." They also were kind enough to post links to the recipe of the green chili chutney, and salad dressings.

HAPPY EATS!!

GREAT START!!

So on the first day of my new resolution, I searched my old Better Homes and Gardens Magazines for one of those recipes that I had thought, "I should try that."  I found this recipe and decided to give it a try.

Slow Cooker Indian Chicken Stew

 It actually tasted pretty good, but I tired of it quickly.  Also, I did add the spinach which they said was optional and I wasn't a huge fan of that.  Here's the bottom line... Would I make it again? Probably not, but I am glad I tried it!

 Like my new graphic? It represents 3 1/2 stars.

UNTIL NEXT TIME...

STRAWBERRY RECIPES

Strawberries have been on amazing sales this year, and so we have bought a few more than usual.  I made some strawberry jam, which turned out amazing, and then I found a recipe for Strawberry Lemon Marmalade, which is super sweet.  And then I altered my applesauce recipe to add strawberries, which turned out an amazing new flavor of applesauce.  I have had some requests for the recipes... so here they are!

STRAWBERRY JAM

(I used the Ball Natural Fruit Pectin because that is what I had on hand)

(Recipe can be found on insert)

• 5 C crushed strawberries (about 5-1 lb containers)
• 1/4 C lemon juice
• 1 1.75-oz pkg Ball® Original Fruit Pectin
• 7 C sugar
• 8 half pint preserving jars with bands and lids.

Directions:
1.) PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.
3.) COMBINE strawberries and lemon juice and mix well. Gradually stir in pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling that can not be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.
4.) ADD entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off foam if necessary.
5.) LADLE hot jam into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.
6.) PLACE filled jars in canner.  Be sure water covers tops of jars by 1 to 2 inches.  Add hot water if necessary.  Place lid on canner. Bring water to a gentle, steady boil.
7.) PROCESS jars for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude.  After processing is complete, turn off heat and remove lid.  Let jars stand for 5 min.
8.) REMOVE jars from canner and set upright on a towel to cool, undisturbed for 12-24 hours. After cooling, test lids by pressing in the center. If lid does not flex, it is sealed.  If lid flexes up and down refrigerate immediately.

STRAWBERRY LEMON MARMALADE

(Recipe can also be found on Ball Natural Fruit Pectin Insert or on freshpreserving.com)

• 1/4 cup thinly slice lemon peel (about 2 large)
• 4 cups crushed strawberries (about 4 1-lb containers)
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 1.75-oz pkg Ball® Original Fruit Pectin
• 6 cups sugar
• 7 (8 oz) half pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

Directions:
1.) PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.
2.) COMBINE lemon peel and water to cover in a 6- or 8-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil for 5 minutes, until peel is softened. Drain and discard liquid. Return peel to pan.
3.) ADD strawberries and lemon juice to peel and mix well. Gradually stir in pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling that can not be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.
4.) ADD entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off foam if necessary.
5.) LADLE hot jam into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.
6.) PROCESS in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

Quick Tip
Use lime peel and lime juice in place of lemon for a Strawberry Lime Marmalade.

STRAWBERRY APPLESAUCE

(Baked not boiled.)

• Apples (any variety, any amount)
• Strawberries (about 1 1/2- 2 C per 3 Quart pan, adjust to personal taste.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Peel, core and coarsely chop apples into sections. (I use a vegetable peeler, and an apple corer/divider)
3. Place apples into a oven safe dish with a lid.
4. Bake for 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, prepare strawberries by washing and hulling them.
6. At 30 minutes add strawberries to the pot.  (The apples should have cooked down a little and made space for the strawberries.
7. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until when you look in the pot you can see a small amount of juice in the bottom and the apples are soft.
8. Remove from oven and blend or puree in sections. (I use an immersion blender, but a regular blender, food processor or food mill will also work.)
9. Mix all sections together for a uniform sauce, and if desired add sugar to taste and a few sliced strawberries to the top before serving. Serve warm or cold.(Baking the applesauce brings out the natural sugar much better than boiling, so I typically do not add sugar, because it makes it too sweet.)
10. Enjoy!

HAPPY EATS!!

WE LOVE TO COOK!

Recently, I don't know if I have been super bored, or I just want to try something new, but I have been wanting to cook. If you know me, you know sometimes it turns into a disaster... but I am trying!! :)


One day I was really craving bagels, so instead of running down to Einsteins, I figured I could whip some up. They actually turned out pretty good, just a little salty. I did find another recipe that I thought I could try sometime that I think will be a little tastier. We'll see...


A few days later Andy decided that he wanted to make corn dogs for dinner. I found a recipe that I had been wanting to try for a while now, and after we figured out that we needed to check the temperature of the oil, they turned out great!!


That same day Alisha called me from their drive home from New Mexico and told me that her daddy gave her 2 bags of peaches, and she would like to make jam. I had made peach jam before, but it was really fun to do it again! Tommy and Alisha came over one day, and we made 4 batches... we now have PLENTY of jam!! Thanks Alisha.


The next week, when I was at enrichment, a friend told me that there was a KILLER sale on raspberries. I talked Andy into letting me go and buy some, and was able to also make some killer jam out of those!! Yummy!!

Check me out being domestic!! ;)