Apples, Apples Everywhere!

Oh Fall, you bring so many wonderful things, and that includes an abundance of apples!

Last Sunday my mother-in-law sent me home with 3 dozen apples. She had a huge box full from a friend and she shared some with me. She wanted me to take more but I figured 3 dozen would do it for us.

I wanted to try making homemade apple sauce sweetened with maple syrup! And I found a recipe that did just that. This one Here! Of course though I didn’t fully follow the recipe.

I didn’t use the kind of apples it called for. And honestly I don’t even know what kind I did use. I also blended the apples before cooking them instead of mashing them at the end.

It made for a very smooth apple sauce! At least my second pot was, the first pot was a little chunky because I hadn’t quite got down the blending technic. But by the second round it was perfect!

I also used a little less maple syrup then it called for and I skipped the cinnamon, because personally I like my apple sauce without it. Which I have heard makes me crazy. Haha but hey what do you do? I was very pleased with how it turned out. I got to freeze 5 cups of it for future baking use. And we have had a couple jars in the fridge that we have been enjoying.

What about you? Do you make home made apple sauce? With or with out cinnamon? And what is an excellent dessert to make with apple sauce? Let me know! I have never done it before but am looking forward to trying it out!

   

The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:9

Our Dinner Plates: Monday- Friday

This week I decided to keep track of our dinners. Both to show what we have been having and possibly inspire someone to try something new!

-Monday-

Buttery Garlic Rice & Baked Vegetables! 

I don’t know why I never thought to do this as a side before, but I will again! All I did was make brown rice then I added some butter, garlic powder, salt, and a little bit of pepper. It was delicious and made a great side to the baked broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.

-Tuesday-

Baked Red Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts & Bananas and Nectarines!

This was my first time making red potatoes and brussels sprouts. They were fabulous together and I will make them both again, together and separately.

-Wednesday-

 
Parmesan Noodles & Green Salad!

Both of these were simple but complimented each other very well. The salad was a spinach, kale, chard mix with a homemade dressing.

-Thursday- 
Fried Potatoes and Eggs! 

I had a pretty busy day so we had an uncomplicated and quick dinner. But even though its super easy to make it was so good! Its actually one of my favorite foods. I just fry potatoes in butter with seasoning and then scramble in some eggs.

-Friday-

 
Chicken and Veggie Pizza! 

This was so delicious! The crust was home made, the white sauce was home made, and it was topped with lots of mozzarella cheese, baked chicken, bell pepper, and sautéed mushrooms, red onion, broccoli, and cauliflower! This meal definitely took the most work but it was worth it! And it made a great start to our weekend!
I really enjoyed trying a few new things the last couple of days. What have you tried new this week? Or has it been a week of making all known and loved meals? Either way I hope it was tasty!

There is a time for everything,and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Whole Wheat Olive Oil Biscuits

Its not often we run out of butter, but because of a delayed shopping trip we are out! Which is sad because butter is awesome! But it has led me to a new discovery. I started coming up with a meal idea. I was picturing a vegetable chicken gravy over biscuits. Then I remembered the lack of butter. I figured there were other options so I searched for no butter biscuits. I found a recipe for super simple olive oil drop biscuits. Before today I never thought to use olive oil instead of butter in my biscuits. But I decided to give it a try, with the proper real food changes to make a new no butter biscuit recipe. And here it is!

 

-Whole Wheat Olive Oil Biscuits-

1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

2 or 3 teaspoons Raw Honey

1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3/4 cup Whole Milk

And for super simple directions because anyone who has made biscuits gets the idea.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Mix all your ingredients together. Drop 12 spoonfuls onto your baking sheet. Bake for 9-10 minutes and enjoy!

 
They turned out really good, although I will probably still use butter most of the time. This is a good back up!

And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
2 John 1:6

Meatless, Real Food, Biscuits and Gravy!

    
Ahh Saturday morning. After a long week finally a day to sleep in a little, relax, and have a delicious breakfast!

This morning I made biscuits and gravy for the first time. Ive always had them with sausage in the gravy, but decided to make a meatless one. As well as a real food one. It turned out really good and I will definitely add it to the Saturday breakfast rotation. Or possibly even for dinner sometimes. Im a big fan of having breakfast for dinner. Leaving the sausage out actually made them a little less breakfast like anyway. So it can really work for any meal.

What you’ll need

4-6 biscuits (Preferably whole wheat)
2 T. Butter
2 T. Whole Wheat Flour
Salt
Pepper
Italian Seasoning
Onion Powder (optional)
1/3 cup Chicken Broth
2/3 cup Whole Milk (or a bit more for a thinner gravy)

Servings: 2 -plus enough to share with a baby-

To start with I had left over whole wheat drop biscuits from last nights dinner. I planned this out on purpose to make breakfast easier this morning. You can make whatever biscuits you’d like to go with the gravy. Or if anyone is interested I can add my biscuit recipe to this post.
For the gravy I melted the 2 T. Butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Once it was fully melted I whisked in the 2 T. Whole wheat flour and the seasonings. I didn’t measure them, but I did mostly salt and pepper, with some italian seasoning and onion powder. Next time I think I’d do more of the italian and less onion. But the seasoning is up to you. Once that was mixed together well I added the 1/3 c chicken broth, ( I use Kirkland’s Organic chicken broth ) and 2/3 cup milk. I whisked that for a few minutes until it looked thick enough and then it was done! I poured it over the crumbled up biscuits, and we enjoyed it with a side of bananas and blueberries. It was fantastic and I am already looking forward to making it again!

 Let me know if you give it a try, what you did different, or what your favorite go to Saturday morning breakfast is!

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9

Creamy Potatoes with Red Onion!

Last week I got these adorable little potatoes at the fruit stand.

I don’t know what they are called but they are little and yellowish. Most importantly though they were the base of a fabulous new meal I created! I was thinking I wanted something kinda creamy for dinner but I didn’t want to make pasta. Then I thought, who says creamy sauces only go on pasta? And thus the idea came to me!

What you will need for this meal
10 Small Yellow Potatoes
1 Small Red Onion
1/4 Cup of Butter
1 Cup of Grated Parmesan
1/2 Cup Half&Half
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Italian Seasoning

Chop all potatoes into four pieces. Put them in a 3 quart pan and cover with water.

Boil for 10-15 minutes. While they boil chop up your red onion. Once the potatoes are soft you should be good. Drain them and keep them in the pan.

Put back on the stove on a medium heat, maybe right under medium. Add your chopped onion and butter.

Add 1 teaspoon each of Salt, Pepper, Italian Seasoning, and 1 1/2 teaspoons Garlic Powder. Mix up and let cook for 5 minutes. Stirring about once a minute.

Then add your Parmesan, (I like to grate mine fresh but pre grated would work too.) and half and half. Turn off the heat and mix well. Then move your pot to another burner, cover and let sit for 10 minutes.

Then serve it! My husband and I really enjoyed this meal, as did our daughter. We had it with raw corn on the cob but a green salad would also make a nice side. I’d say this made enough for 3-4 servings, and only took around a half hour to make. I wasn’t timing myself though. 😉 If you decide to give this one a try let me know what you think! Or what you did different!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.
Psalms 118:1