This Week's Menu

Thursday: FFY
Friday: Quesadillas, Corn, Refried Beans (all meatless for Lent)
Saturday: Out, we are babysitting the kids so I doubt we will have time or the desire to cook
Sunday: Pork Chops and Applesauce Remix, Broccoli
Monday: Fettuccine Alfredo, Baked Chicken Strips, Peas
Tuesday: Crock Pot Pasta e Fagioli
Wednesday: Jambalaya, Green Beans, Corn Bread

Homemade Applesauce

I love applesauce. I hate how much it costs in the store though. All it really is is apples, water, and maybe a bit of sugar and cinnamon. That's it. So, I decided to try to make some own. I am very glad I did! This stuff is good. It is a little bit sour but I like it that way so I'm happy. You can always alter this by the type of apples you use also. Next time I think I will try using a couple different varieties of apple to spice it up a bit. This is also a crock pot recipe so even easier to make. I doubled the recipe by using a Gala apples and doubling the rest of the ingredients.


Homemade Applesauce
Source: A Year of CrockPotting
Ingredients:
4 large apples, skinned ,cored, and cut in quarters
juice from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs brown sugar
1/4 c water

Directions:
Skin, core, and cut your apples into quarters. Place the pieces into your crockpot. Add the juice from the lemon, and the water. Pour in the vanilla and add the cinnamon and brown sugar.

Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. When the apples are super tender, mash with a potato masher or large fork. My apples were very tender after about 4 hours but my crock tends to cook a bit faster than others.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Wow are these good! I've had them starred in my google reader for quite a few months now and when I realized I still had a can of pumpkin in the cabinet from this past fall I knew just how I was going to use it. Mine did not turn out nearly as pretty as Annie's but they still taste fantastic! I did have trouble with the cream cheese filling. I couldn't get it to set up. I tend to have that problem with any cream cheese frosting also. Extra powdered sugar doesn't even work. So if anyone has any tips about that I'd appreciate hearing them!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Source: Annie's Eats
Ingredients:
For the muffins:
3 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tbsp and 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
1 ¼ c vegetable oil
2 c sugar
2 c pumpkin puree

For the filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c powdered sugar

For the streusel topping:
½ c sugar
¼ c and 1 tsp flour
4 tbsp butter, cubed
1 ½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip until smooth. Form into a log on plastic wrap or foil, making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan. Wrap the log up tightly and freeze until slightly hardened, 1-2 hours.

To make the muffins, combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Mix well and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, sugar and pumpkin puree. Mix until well combined. Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.

To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix together with a pastry blender or two forks until crumbly.

Preheat the oven to 350. Line two muffin pans with paper liners. To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well halfway with batter. Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 24 equal slices. Place a slice in each muffin well. Divide the remaining muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups, on top of the cream cheese. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

Italian Beef

We made these sandwiches in the crockpot. They were very good and we will definitely make them again. I used a recipe found on allrecipes.com.

Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches

Source: allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

3 c water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp onion salt
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1 bay leaf
1 (.7 oz) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1 (5 lb) rump roast

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except roast in a saucepan and stir. Heat to boiling.

Pour mixture over roast in crock pot.

Cook on low 10 to 12 hours or high 4 to 5 hours. When finished, remove bay leaf and shred with fork.

This Week's Menu

Tonight: FFY, I have class
Friday: Baked Mac n Cheese with Ham, Peas
Saturday: Tacos, Corn on the Cob
Sunday: Stuffed Buff Chick, Bread, Veggies
Monday: Hamburger Helper (I know, I know... it's Matt's night to cook :P), Veggies
Tuesday: Crockpot Chili, Cornbread Muffins
Wednesday: Fish Sticks, Potato Slabs, Salad

I'm also planning on making homemade applesauce and pumpkin cream cheese muffins so be on the look-out for those recipes!

Spaghetti Meat Sauce

Please excuse the bad pictures. This is a really good red sauce for pasta. I modified Giada's marinara to fit our tastes and I think this is a keeper.



Meat Sauce
Source: Modified from Giada De Laurentiis
Ingredients:
2 lb ground beef
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
64 oz tomato sauce
2 bay leaves

Directions:
Brown ground beef in large skillet. Drain.

While beef is browning, heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add beef to oil and onion mixture. Add salt and pepper, tomato sauce, and bay leaves. Simmer over low heat about 1 hour, until thick.

Apple Crisp

I love apple crisp. It's good for dessert AND breakfast! You can't go wrong with that. I got this recipe from my Big Red Cookbook by Betty Crocker.



Apple Crisp
Source: Betty Crocker Big Red Cookbook
Ingredients:
4 medium tart cooking apples, sliced or diced (I'm partial to Gala)
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c flour
1/2 c quick cooking oats
1/3 c butter
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions:
Heat oven to 375. Grease bottom and sides of 8x8 pan.

Spread apples in pan. Mix remaining ingredients and sprinkle over apples.

Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with fork.