50 Pounds of Delight...Welcome to Autumn!

We took the family to the Orchard today for a day of picking. Go figure it was a smolteringly hot day...but, we survived! We managed to pick 50 pounds of delight! We went nuts; it was a BLAST! We picked 25 pounds of courtland apples, 15 pounds of yellow peaches, 10 pounds of pears and 5 pounds of nectarines. I told you we went a little crazy! I wanted to pick the veggie garden also, but the boys ran out of steam. The best part...all this fruitastic delight cost about $25! I know, I can't believe it either!

So, on the menu:
Applesauce
Apple Butter
Apple Turnovers

Peach Butter
Peach Cobbler
Peach Salsa
Frozen Peaches

Pear Sauce
Vanilla Pear Muffins or Pear Cranberry Bread
Canned Pears

Nectarines- not sure th plan for these yet, but we will see if they make it into anything or if I eat them all...they are my absolute FAVORITE!

Plus, I am going to back a few mini loaves of bana bread since I have some super ripe bananas.

I am thinking it is time for some Welcome to Autumn Baskets! for the neighbors! I figure...win them over now before winter comes and I need to make use of their snow blower! Hee hee!

Soy Ginger Back Ribs

Today, we found a particularly good deal on beef back ribs. There were packs of 4-5 big back ribs marked for approximately $2 a pack. I picked up the last 4 packs and knew exactly what was for dinner...

Soy Ginger Back Ribs
1/4c soy sauce
1/2c orange juice (or apple)
1T olive oil
1 1/2t ginger (I forgot to get fresh ginger at the store!)
1/4t chili powder
1/4t red pepper flakes

Put the ribs in a casserole dish. Whisk everything together and pour over the ribs. Bake for 2-2.5 hours at 300 degrees. Baste ever hour for added flavor.
***This would be super easy in a slow cooker too. Mine was in the process of making apple butter so stove it was! Just cook low for 3-4 hours.

Served over a Basmati Pilaf. I made a rice in the rice cooker and added very finely diced zucchini and yellow squash. It was a delicious meal!

Homemade Peanut Butter dip

The Farm close to our hose has this amazing assortment of homemade peanut butters. They always have samples out which I love to try. So, with that in mind, I decided to whip up some yummy homemade peanut butter dip for a snack for the boys served with organic apple slices! Yummy!


Homemade Peanut Butter Dip
4 T homemade peanut putter (I used chocolate hazelnut butter...like Nutella but better!)
2 T plain Greek Yogurt
1 T applesauce
dash of cinnamon (what is better with apples)

Whisk together and Serve...with apples of course!

A Healthy Cookie...Is It Possible?

I struggle with giving my sons sweets. I want to be able to give them sweet treats, but that usually means feeding them sugar laden junk sure to stick them to the ceiling. I am not sure about you, but I get tired of peeling my kid off the ceiling or dealing with the sugar breakdown after! So, I knew I had to come up with some other alternative my picky, sweet loving kid would indulge in. Enter the Chair-We Banana Coo-coo as my son calls it. You can call it a breakfast cookie, scone, healthy bar...I just call it good!

Cherry Banana Cookies
1 c Flour- wheat if you have it
1/2 c Ground Oat- I food processed quick oats
(you can use 1 1/2c four)
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
2T sugar (totally optional)
1/4 t cinnamon and nutmeg
1/2 c cherries (I used fresh, you can use dried)
1 egg
1T Olive oil
1t vanilla (optional)
3 bananas mashed

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all the wet ingredients in one bowl and all the wet ingredients in another bowl. Add the wet to the dry. Scoop out golf ball sized scoops onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. (I used an ice cream scoop) Bake 15-20 minutes.

***Need a bit more umf, or have a craving for a bit of chocolate. Add 1/4 c white chocolate chips and 1/4 c chopped macadamia nuts!

Ameri-terranean Pita Sammies

Today was a hungry craving/clean the fridge day. I needed to use up my left over pitas and had a few random bits left in the fridge that I didn't want to just toss, so, this is what I created.

Ameri-terranean Pita Sammies
1 pita cut in half
hummus
a few slices of avacado
a few slices of roasted red pepper
chopped up roasted chicken
a slice of tomato

Pile them in a pita and voila...a healthy yummy lunch. Oh and I had apple slices on the side... totally works...right!?!?

Perfect Brown Rice

My version of the Perfect Brown Rice!!!

2 cups rice
3 1/3 cup water
1 T EVOO
dash of salt

1. Bring water with oil to a boil and preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. As soon as water is boiling, put it , the salt and rice in a pyrex. (Make sure you lid is tight!)
3. Bake for an hour covered. Then, fluff and bake 5 more minutes.

***The key to great rice here is to pull the water off the stove as soon as it starts boiling so the water doesn't evaporate. I also pour everything in and put a layer of aluminum foil between the dish and the lid just to ensure no steam leaks out!

To freeze the perfect brown rice. Allow to cool, then place in a very thin layer on a cookie sheet and freeze. Once frozen, break up and place in a ziplock bag!

Goulash Style Stuffed Peppers

I traditionally do not partake in stuffed peppers. I find they to be just down right boring. If I want a meat filling, I would prefer meatloaf. At least with meatloaf I can ensure it does not turn out to be a dry, overcooked meatball! So, that got me to thinking....why do stuffed peppers have to be made with ground meat? Why not goulash??? Hmm...

Goulash Style Stuffed Peppers

1 lbs beef (I used beef cubes which I cut into even smaller chunks)
3 red bell pepper
3 shallots (So, I can hide the onion from my hubbie)
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 cups beef broth
2 T tomato paste
1 T oregano
1/2 tsp chili
olive oil
4 T red wine
salt & pepper
(def. could add veggies here very easily without the family knowing!!! Maybe next time!!!)

1. Saute garlic and shallots until tender in olive oil. Then, add your small cubes of beef. Saute for another 5-6 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, 1cup of broth, wine and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and allow to simmer until tender.

2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the peppers by slicing in half and removing seeds. Place in a pan with 3T of broth and bake for 10 minutes. Stir remaining broth into the meat and spoon into peppers. Cover with foil and bake an additional 15-20 minutes.

I LOVED this version! Plus, it was a great excuse to enjoy a nice bottle of red wine with dinner! I served with a ricotta brown rice. I figured since stuffed peppers traditionally have cheese and rice, this would make for a nice (deconstructed) side. I just prepared the brown rice as usually and then added 2-3 T of ricotta. Delish (easy) dinner!

These could easily be frozen before the final bake for an easy re-heat meal!