Tag Archives: crock pot

Apple Butter

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Apple butter is a deliciously, thick, dark sauce that was a huge treat when I was growing up. We put it on pancakes, waffles, toast, probably my mom’s homemade bread fresh out of the oven if the two ever happened at the same time. I love the stuff. The first time I ever went grocery shopping for just myself, I found some and enjoyed the entire tiny, little bottle. My mom made it just using applesauce, but I had a box full of Jonathan apples, the best apple on the planet, and I wanted to turn them into the best tasting sauce on the planet. My husband said I made the whole house smell like wassail.

10 apples, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 T cinnamon
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t nutmeg

Put apples in crock pot, and cook on high for 2 hours. Stir every 30 minutes or so to keep the apples from burning. Mash the apples with a potato masher. Cook on low for 6 hours. Continues to stir every 30 minutes. In the last hour, mix spices in with a whisk. Makes about 4 cups.

After mashing, the apples will look very similar to applesauce, you could probably stop there and have applesauce. As the apples cook, they go from the yellowy cream of an apple, to a pinkish, to a brown, and then when you add the spices, you will get the very dark brown color.

While, in the picture it shows that I put them in glass jars, I did not properly can them, so I will be freezing them after the 24 hour waiting period. The sauce was hot enough to seal the jars, however, so be careful to let it cool down before putting it in anything plastic.

Four New Wonderful Recipes

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Last night, for Easter dinner, I made Pan-Seared Pork Tenderloin with Rosemary Balsamic and Orange Sauce, Skillet Bacon Mac and Cheese, Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto, and for dessert, Crock Pot Cheesecake.  My mom made a salad to go with it, because that was a lot of meat.  Overall, the meal was delicious, though I overcooked the pork, which is sadly very easy to do.  Pork, like chicken and fish, doesn’t need very long to cook at all.  I will definitely make the mac and cheese again, and since I still have some prosciutto left, I’ll probably make the asparagus again.  I may even try to make the pork again, however pork tenderloin is expensive.

The whole meal took three and a half hours to complete!  I will probably never make all of these things at the same time again, but it was totally worth it.  I started with the Crock Pot Cheesecake, because it took two and a half hours to cook in the crock pot, and then about another hour to cool down.  Then I started working on the Skillet Bacon Mac and Cheese.  This dish probably took the longest amount of time, because there are a lot of steps involved.  I, also, used glassware instead of a skillet to cook it in the oven, and I cooked it at 350°F so that I could leave it in the oven longer, while I worked on everything else.

Next I made the Pan-Seared Pork Tenderloin, which I should have marinated while we were at church, but I totally forgot.  It got at least 20 minutes to marinate, though, so it had good flavor.  The sauce was not as thick as I thought it was going to be, and I’m not sure if that’s because I used cranberry juice (not the cocktail) instead of red wine, or because it’s just not a very thick sauce, but it still tasted amazing.  Despite being overcooked, the pork tasted good, because of the marinade and the sauce.

The Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto was amazing.  I wish that I had made more.  The prosciutto was just a little crispy, and the asparagus was tender and moist.  I could have easily eaten more of this.  It was really easy to put together, too.  I probably could have made this without the sauce, and it would have been even faster.

All in all, this Easter dinner was delicious.  I had fun making it, and we all enjoyed eating it.  I might do it again next year, but that seriously depends on what’s going on in our life at the time.

Super Easy Crock Pot Chicken

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I have learned a new recipe for my 101 goals in 1001 days!  I found it on Pinterest, the wonderful site of sharing everything good in the world.  It originally comes from The Larson Lingo.  Michael really loves this, and I think it’s very tasty.  On top of that, it’s a crock pot recipe, so it’s super easy to make.

4-6 frozen chicken breasts
1 – 8 oz package of cream cheese (full fat)
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of corn, drained
8-12 oz of salsa
Salt (optional)

Place the frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot.  Put the cream cheese on top.  Add the black beans, corn, and salsa.  And add as much salt as you think is necessary.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Shred the chicken and let sit for about 30 minutes.  Serve over rice or in soft taco shells.

Originally this recipe doesn’t have salt, but we found it necessary to add some to bring out all the delicious flavors.  When I make this, I take my 1 pound container of salt and just pour some over all the food.  I suggest making this first without the salt to determine if you really want to add that much salt.  It is easily added after you serve.  I was worried about the chicken being hard to shred, but after cooking for so long, it was super easy.  The only thing remotely challenging was finding the chicken in the soupy mess.

I don’t have a name for this yet, so if anyone wants to suggest one, I’ll take the best name that comes.