Apple Cider Pork with Cabbage

Today's recipe comes with a little story... Last week paps and grandma Kay took our boys to the orchard to pick some apples. Tis the season! They recently rehabbed a family apple press and wanted to make home pressed apple juice with the boys. It is very good stuff but its amazing how many apples it takes to make a gallon of homemade apple juice. We've been drinking the juice, but I've been inspired to use some of the juice in our fridge to cook with as well. So today I made pork braised in apple juice with cabbage and apples.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. Plus both boys liked the apples in it quite a bit. I suggest not getting an apple press and making you're own juice. It's a mess and totally unnecessary. (Did I mention that paps is putting the press on Craigslist this week?) Substitute some fresh apple cider or store bought juice in its place.



Sorry for no picture but we were hungry and ate it all before I could get a picture. ;)  Thats a signs of a good dinner!



1 1/2 pound pork shoulder cut in 1" cubes

2 cups apple juice or cider

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1 bay leaf

4 cloves garlic

2 medium tart apples chopped into 1" cubes

1/2 head cabbage shredded

4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar



Start by browning the pork shoulder in a little vegitable oil for 3-5 minutes until browned then remove from the heat. Sauté the onions, garlic, bay leaf, carrots and celery until softened. (About 5 minutes) . Reincorporate the pork and add the chicken stock and apple cider. Place in a 285 degree oven for 2 hours then add apples, vinegar, and cabbage. Return to the oven for 30-45 minutes until cabbage is soft.



We served it with corn bread muffins and it was excellent.

Posted with Blogsy

Kid Friendly Quiche

My boys like to watch cooking shows occasionally.  They love the preschool version, Tasty Time with ZeFronk, on Disney Jr.  They watch the episodes online repeatedly and then ask to go shopping for ingredients, so that they can make the same dish as ZeFronk.  That's where this quiche recipe came from.  It easy, kid friendly and delicious.


Use a glass or biscuit cutter to cut circles of bread that will fit in a muffin tin.  Place a bread circle in the bottom of each muffin in a well greased muffin tin.  Add toppings of your choice on top of the bread: cheese, sausage, spinach, bacon, or ham, whatever you like.

Placing the bread in the tin

Add toppings

In a bowl mix eggs, milk, salt, and pepper.  For best results, you want an extra runny  scrambled egg mixture.  Pour the egg mixture over the toppings and bread. Bake at 325 degrees until toothpick comes out clean.

Mixing up the eggs

Ready to go in the oven

Viola, quiche muffins!

Try this with your kids and let me know what you think!

Loaded Twice Baked Potato Surprise

I'm normally the baker in the family, and I'm the one that strictly follows the recipe.  Well, I've been experimenting and I've come up with a great healthier version of twice baked potatoes.

Ingredients
4 medium sized potatoes, peeled and diced
5 slices of bacon, fried and chopped
1/2 c. skim milk
3 T of fresh chives, finely chopped
6 oz of plain Greek yogurt
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 t. salt
pepper to taste
Balsamic Glaze

Boil potatoes and smash with a fork.  Combine potatoes, milk, yogart, salt and pepper in a medium bowl and stir.  Add bacon, cheese, and chives.  Spread into shallow baking dish and bake for 20 mins at 350 degrees or until warm all the way through.  Top with balasamic glaze, if desired.

Surprise!  No butter or sour cream.  If you use low fat or fat free cheese, then the little bit of bacon is the only fatty item.    The Balsamic Glaze really sets this off, so try some for the first time if you'v never had it.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Do you ever end up with bananas that look like this? 

We frequently have one lone banana left that starts to turn before we eat it.  I hate waste food, so I put bananas that are starting to go bad in the freezer.  This will turn the skins very dark, but the insides stay in their perfectly over ripe state.  Once I have enough bananas, I will make the following Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.

These muffins are delicious, easy to make, and I don't feel guilty about letting the boys eat them, because they are fairly healthy.  The boys love to make these and really enjoy eating them too!  Enjoy!

This recipe is from All Recipes

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup mashed ripe bananas

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Mix dry ingredients together.  Mix wet ingredients together and combine with dry ingredients.  We like to make these into mini muffins.  Bake at 350 degrees about 12 minutes for mini muffins or 20 minutes for regular muffins.

Cucumber Melon Salad

We live in Posey County, Indiana which is known for it's fantastic melons.  We also have lots of cucumbers growing in our garden. So we thought we might use whats fresh and here for a refreshing summer salad. Here is the recipe for the Cucumber Melon Salad that we will be taking to our Independence Day cookout.  Enjoy!

2 Medium Cucumbers
1 Small Cantaloupe

1 Oz Mirin (Japanese Rice Wine)
1 Oz White Balsamic Vinegar
3 Tbs Sugar
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Garlic Powder
Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes
Fresh Basil Cut Fine

Mix Together Dressing ingredients and pour over diced melon and cucumbers.  Allow to sit for at least an hour before serving.

Zucchini, Zucchini, Zucchini

Right now our garden is over flowing with zucchini, so I thought I would post our top 5 recipes for using this great summertime vegetable.  Sorry I don't have more photos, we been eating these dishes before I can remember to take a picture.  Let me know what you think of these recipes, if you try them or feel free to share your favorite zucchini recipe.

1.  Zucchini Cakes -- We made these last week and they are our new favorite way to make zucchini.  They are very filling and even taste great leftover.  They are similar to crab cakes but with zucchini instead of crab.  The Old Bay seasoning gives them a little heat but not too much.
2.  Zucchini Coins -- This is the way my mom used to make zucchini. This is messy frying but very delicious.  These remind me a little of tavern food, when you get fried veggies as appetizers.

3.  Zucchini Slaw -- This is unique way to use zucchini for a sweet and sour slaw and no one will ever believe what the ingredients are when they taste it.
4.  Grilled Zucchini -- This is an easy way to make the vegetables on the grill while you cook your meat.  We actually put these in the refrigerator to chill and then serve them as part of an antipasti tray.  They are delicious warm to.
5.  Zucchini Bread -- This is the boys favorite way to eat zucchini.  I normally make these in batches and freeze the breads so that we can get them out for breakfast throughout the year.  This is a great recipe to use frozen grated zucchini in, so if you don't have time to bake and you have some extra zucchinis, just shred it and put it in a freezer bag in either 2 cup or 4 cup portions.  Just thaw and it will be ready to bake with.

Zucchini Cakes 

• 3 cups of coarsely grated zucchini (you may want to remove seeds first depending on how large your zucchini are)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 T yogurt or mayo
• 1 tsp butter
• 2 T oil for frying

Combine all ingredients (except butter and oil) in a medium size bowl.  You may need to add more breadcrumbs if your mixture is too wet to hold together in patties.  Make 8 patties the size of small hamburgers.  Heat oil and butter in a skillet.  Cook patties until golden brown on both sides and drain on paper towel.

Hints:  Zucchini gives off a lot of water, so grate it and cook immediately.  These patties could be fragile so let them cook a few minutes before trying to turn them.

(inspired by http://www.relish.com/recipes/zucchini-cakes/)

Zucchini Coins

•  sliced zucchini (as much as desired)
• 1 egg
• 2 T milk
• 1 cup corn meal
• salt and pepper
• oil for frying

Heat oil in skillet  (ideally you want it to be about 350 degrees). Slice your zucchini thinly into rounds.   Beat egg and milk in bowl and set aside.  Mix corn meal with salt and pepper to taste.

Dip zucchini rounds into egg mixture and then into corn meal mix until coated.  Deep fry in oil until golden brown.  You may need to turn them to brown both sides.

Zucchini Slaw

• 1 1/2 pounds zucchini, (3 medium), grated
• 1 medium sweet onion, grated
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (optional)
• Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste

Place zucchini and onion in a strainer or colander over a bowl. Add salt and toss to coat. Let drain at room temperature for 30 minutes. Rinse vegetables and squeeze to remove as much moisture as possible. I like to squeeze mine in a paper towel to get as much moisture out as possible.

Mix zucchini, onion, bell pepper, vinegar, apple juice and basil; toss well. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or chill until serving time.

 (inspired by http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/cool_zucchini_slaw.html)

Grilled Zucchini

• zucchini thinly sliced lengthwise (as much as desired)
• olive oil
• salt 
• pepper

 Drizzle zucchini with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Toss to coat them evenly.  Grill until soft to touch and warm through.  Serve immediately or chill and serve cold.

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 c grated zucchini (it's best to have a little water with the zucchini to keep the bread from being too dry)
3 tsp vanilla
1/2 c chopped nuts (if desired)

Beat eggs, oil, sugar until combined.  Combine flour, soda, cinnamon, salt, and baking power as dry ingredients.  Gradually add dry ingredient mixture to egg mixture and beat well.  Add zucchini and beat.  Finally stir in vanilla and nuts if desired.  Pour into 2 well greased loaf pans or  4 mini loaf tins. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from pans and cool.

Biscuit Pizzas

One of the boys' favorite items to make is Biscuit Pizzas.  They are quick, easy and always a hit at meal time.  Adam helped me make these recently. 

1.  Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  

2.  The crusts are just canned biscuits flattened out on  pizza pan or cookie sheet covered in parchment or greased.  (We don't cook anything without parchment anymore because it significantly cuts down on our dish scrubbing time.)  Adam enjoyed flattening the squishy biscuits. 

3. Add pizza sauce and let your little one spread it out with a spoon as Adam does below.

Spreading the sauce

4.  Next add the meat of your choice.  We happened to have some leftover browned sausage on this day, so we did a combination of sausage and pepperoni.  We prefer Turkey Pepperoni, since it is significantly less greasy and healthier.  It truly taste the same if not better than regular.

Adding Pepperoni and Sausage

5.  Add pizza cheese. I like to try to let the boys 'do their thing' without a lot of fuss, when we are cooking.  As you can see, Adam had some trouble evenly distributing the cheese.  Since this was something I could easily fix after the fact, I just let him have a good time.

Adding cheese

Adam being very proud of his handy work

6.  We topped our pizzas with some Italian Seasoning and I mistakenly let Adam put that on one pizza.  I caution you against letting little ones spread spices evenly, because this is something that cannot be easily fixed after the fact.

Ready to go into the oven

7.  Bake the pizzas according to the directions on the biscuit can.  Ours took about 8 - 10 mins. 

Quick, easy well balanced meal when paired with broccoli and peaches

This is a great way for your little ones to get their own individualized pizza and you can have toppings of your choice too.  It's simple so they can help and they taste great as well.  Enjoy!

Griddle and French Toast

Camping on Memorial Day weekend is a tradition for our family.  We are very fortunate to have a great state park nearby with wonderful campgrounds.  This weekend, we camped with about 40 friends and family.   I would not describe our camping experiences as "rouging it".  We have a camper, which means we have an oven and full size refridgerator, not to mention air conditioning and hot water.   When we camp with a large group, Andy gets to make use of one of his outdoor cooking tools, his griddle.  He installed a wench in our barn so that he can load it in and out of his truck alone, and I think the griddle is one of his most prized possessions.

  We enjoyed some very yummy meals, this weekend, due in part to the griddle. Every morning you can find a group of guys all standing around the griddle taking turns frying breakfast, french toast, bacon, eggs, sausages, and pancakes.  We also used it to make steak sandwiches, onions, peppers, and fried corn for dinner.

Our friend Dave cooking on the griddle

French Toast and Eggs frying on the griddle

Here's my recipe for French Toast inspired by my Granny's version.

Granny's French Toast

Whisk the following together until well combined
Eggs
Milk
Salt
Sugar
Vanilla
Cinnamon

Dip Texas Toast into the egg mixture and fry on a griddle until golden brown.  Serve with syrup.

Granny's French Toast

Summer Block Party

This weekend we are kicking off summer at a block party hosted by our neighbors.  They have graciously offered to supply the main course but left it up to the rest of the neighborhood to bring something "unique" and creative as sides.  Since our street is full of young kids, we decided we better bring something fresh and healthy to go with all the great grilled meat.  I decided to make use of all the young leaf lettuce growing in our garden and put together a summertime strawberry salad. Its great to have a nice garden but I think I might have overdone it when planting the lettuce with our boys, as we have a HUGE patch of lettuce that I don't want to go to waste.

Summertime Strawberry Salad

1 lb strawberries cut into a small dice
4 oz of candied pecan pieces
1 large bowl of leaf lettuce
2 oz of freshly shredded parmigiana cheese

Dressing:
1 1/2 oz White Balsamic Vinegar
1 oz Honey
1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard
3 oz olive oil
pinch of salt

When you whisk the salad dressing together start with the first three ingredients and slowly pour in the olive oil.  The mustard will help it emulsify and shouldn't separate on you. Trust me its not enough to make it taste like mustard just enough to help the dressing hold together. This salad is especially good for summertime, since it doesn't include any milk or egg products it holds up to the warmer temperatures really well.   (special trick:  if it does separate on you whip out that blender you have and try mixing it in there.  That should do the trick.)  Dress the lettuce with the dressing and add the pecans and strawberries right before you eat.

Carrie is also working on a cake that I smell upstairs that she probably wants to share...  but I'll let her do that herself in her own post.  (and from the smell of things it deserves its own post.)