Homemade Applesauce

 It is a family tradition to make applesauce and put our teamwork to work. There is something about washing, peeling, cutting and stirring that make the spirits rise.....and the aromas, no candles needed! Our biggest batch we ever made was 50 quarts, we enjoyed that for a long time. =)

 Yield: about 3-1/2 cups

• 8 cups chopped peeled tart apples (about 3-1/2 pounds)
• 2 T ground cinnamon
• 2 T water
• In a large pot place the water, combine apples and cinnamon. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 30-40 minutes or until apples are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Mash apples slightly if desired. Serve warm or cold.

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Tortillas

                  These are really good as tortillas or as crepes. My sisters and i can whip up a                                                           batch of these for a quick meal that is so good.

cook at medium low heat

• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour, sifted
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil, melted
• 2 cups arrowroot powder
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• Coconut oil or butter for pan

Whisk the crepe ingredients together in a bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes while the skillet heats so the coconut flour can absorb the liquid, then whisk again.
Heat skillet over medium-high heat.
Melt a small amount of oil or butter in the pan, swirling to coat the bottom and sides.
Pour ¼ cup of the batter into the hot pan.
Cook for 1 minute until the edges start to lift. Gently work a spatula under the crepe and flip it over. Cook on the second side for 15 seconds and turn out on a plate.
Continue with the remaining batter, stacking the crepes on a plate as you work. Add a little more oil to the skillet every 3-4 crepes or if they begin to start sticking.

Fall spirit

My pumpkin

It has been an amazing fall. I am blessed with an amazing family that is also an experienced tasting panel, they are always willing to try my new recipes (even if they sometimes don't work out). As you can see, i have been busy taking pictures. We have caned apple sauce, cooked pumpkin seeds and pumpkin, and had fun taking pictures. I had a wonderful thanksgiving with my family and we had a feast to remember, and, with everyone contributing, we had turkey(of course, i don't know how vegetarians do it), rolls(not grain-free), gravy, stuffing, broccoli, green beans, and pumpkin pie. Hope you all had a wonderful day!

Our Thanksgiving Turkey

Squash Boats

This is a very yummy fall treat(for anyone who likes squash). I love the combination of the sweet squash and the savory meat with the salty cheese, for me, it's irresistable(I've been dubbed the Squash Queen at my house). The added bonus is the grated carrot "hidden" in the meat, you could also add different veggies for variation. I hope you're enjoying fall!!

Yield: 6

bake @350 For about 1 hr.

• 3 acorn squash
• 1lb. ground pork (you can also use graound beef or whatver you have on hand)
• 1 carrot (grated)
• 1/4 diced onion
• 1 t salt
• 1 t sage
• 1 t garlic powder
• 1 t parsely
• 1 t thyme
• 1/2 C cheese (optional)

Cut the acorn squash in half and lay face-up on a baking sheet. Mix the spices, carrots, and onion with the beef (I like to use my hands to make sure the spices are distributed evenly).Devide the beef evenly and make little balls. Bake at 350 for  40 min.  put the beef balls in the squash and bake for 30 more min. When the squash is done cooking, add the cheese on top and bake for about 5 more min. or until cheese is melted.

Spanish Cauliflower Rice

This (cauliflower) Spanish rice is soo good, I like it better than regular Spanish rice because it's more moist and delicious. I have experimented with this recipe for a while, and it's turned out great every time, it's hard to make it turn out wrong.

yield: 6 servings
cook time: 15 min.




1 head of cauliflower
1 heaping T of chili powder
1/2 t salt
1/3 t cumin
1/2 C tomato sauce

Cook the cauliflower until tender about 10 min.Then transfer the cauliflower into a skillet and rice it(cut it into small rice size pieces, I usually do a combination of smashing and cutting). Add the last 4 ingredients and mix together, cook for about 5 more minuets until cauliflower is fully cooked. Enjoy!

Grandma's Fruit Bars

 I used to make these with my Grandma a lot, she would spend an afternoon with me and my sisters teaching us recipes(with us "helping" of course).  She passed on her love of baking to me and I love making the recipes she used to make(grain-free). She (and my mom) taught me how to put love into baking and cooking.

yield: about 30 bars

bake @ 400 degrees
cook time: 15-20min. 

5 eggs
1/3 C milk
1/3 C water
1 t vanilla
1/4 C molasses
1/4 C coconut oil (melted)
1/2 C + 2 T coconut flour (the two T of flour is to cover raisins)
1/2 t ground cloves
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1 T cinnamon
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 C raisins
1/3 C chopped pecans (optional)

Heat oven to 400 degrees and grease a large cookie sheet. In a medium size bowl mix the wet ingredients together(eggs, milk, water, vanilla, molasses, and oil).  In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients together(mix the raisins with the 2 T of flour).  Mix both the wet and dry ingredients together and add the raisins and flour mixture. Pour onto cookie sheet and bake for 15-20min.

Grandpa's Hotcakes

yield: a lot of hotcakes!

cook at: medium-high heat

 

 I re-created (my favorite word) this recipe from my Grandpa's ever-famous Hotcakes, I am still working on  it but this is the closest I've ever come. My family used to go up to my grandpa and grandma's house to have a hotcake and sausage breakfast, I used to watch him "spank"  the hotcakes(us kids got to wear their pajamas). It was like walking down memory lane to taste these. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

 

Grandpa's Hotcakes

yield: a lot of hotcakes!
cook at: medium-high heat

4 eggs
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup water
 1/2 cup arrowroot flour
1-2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar depending on how sweet you want them
1/2 cup coconut flour(you want the consistency to be like a thin pancake batter so you may need more or less)
1/4 teaspoons salt

Heat a cast iron skillet to medium-high heat( I use cast iron because non-stick has a Teflon coating which releases chemicals whatscookingamerica.net/Toxic Cookware), you could use non-stick but I would only use that once in a while). In a medium size bowl mix eggs and coconut oil together. Add yogurt, water, and vanilla. In another bowl mix arrowroot, sugar and salt together. add the dry ingredients to the wet. Slowly add the coconut flour until it reaches to consistency of pancake batter(you want it to be pourable but thick enough that they aren't super thin, it really depends on how thick/thin you like your pancakes). Turn the heat down (so they don't burn or cook to fast) and put some coconut oil or butter in the pan, then pour the batter into the pan. Enjoy!!