Slow Cooker Strawberry Rhubarb Jam ~ Recipe

So last week the kids and I went strawberry picking. We picked a ton of beautiful strawberries and I have really been wanting to try my hand at making some freezer jam. I was searching around for some recipes and couldn't quite find what I was looking for. Many recipes called for fruit pectin, which I didn't have on hand and some of the others required you to cook the jam on the stove-top all day. Nope.......I don't have all day around here with three little ones. And then it dawned on me.......how about using my trusty slow cooker! So that's what I did.........

Slow Cooker Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Ingredients:

3 lbs. fresh strawberries

2 lbs. rhubarb

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Step 1: Grab your strawberries and rhubarb and start cutting them into large chunks. The farm where we went strawberry picking sold rhubarb as well so it worked out perfectly for this recipe.

Step 2: Place half the strawberries and rhubarb in your slow cooker and sprinkle with half a cup of sugar. Then add the other half of the strawberries and rhubarb and sprinkle with the remain sugar and cinnamon.

Step 3: Set you slow cooker on low for 6 - 7 hours. After four hours of cooking, remove the lid but allow the mixture to continue to cook. This will cause some of the liquid to evaporate out.

Step 4: Around 5 hours cooking time, get out your potato masher and mash up the mixture as best you can. I like the jam to be nice and chunky, but if you prefer a smoother consistency then you could always transfer the mixture to your blender.

Spread your strawberry rhubarb jam on toast or serve it warm over vanilla ice cream or add it to your favorite yogurt and granola.

I put some of the jam in our refrigerator in glass jars (it will save for 1 - 2 weeks) and the rest of it I put in freezer safe containers in the freezer.

Also, I really love the tart and sweet taste of strawberry rhubarb jam; however, if you prefer things on the sweeter side, then you will definitely want to add more sugar to this recipe. My oldest daughter Savannah tried this and she said it was 'JUST right!'. She's a pretty tough critic, so I'll take that to mean that it's pretty darn good. 

Enjoy!

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Goat Cheese & Mozzarella Tomato Toast Recipe

I am a savory kind of girl. What about you? When it comes to breakfast, I much prefer something on the salty side rather than the sweet. This easy little breakfast or lunch is perfect for when you want something nice and satisfying to get your day started off right!

Goat Cheese and Mozzarella Tomato Toast

Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 slices multi-grain bread (good quality, grainy bread)

4 vine-ripened tomatoes

1/2 -3/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella (more, if you like)

Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Garlic salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Lay out your multi-grain bread on a cook sheet. Try to purchase a good, quality bread in the bakery section of your grocery store.....that makes a big difference. Drizzle your bread with extra virgin olive oil.

Slice four tomatoes. Place tomato slices on top of bread. There should be one full tomato per slice of bread. Season with garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top of tomatoes and then goat cheese. You can use more or less cheese depending on how much you like. Season again with garlic salt and pepper and another little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Place in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes until bread is crunchy and the cheese is melty and bubbly. Once you've taken your toast out of the oven, feel free to add any fresh herbs on top.

 

Serve two slices per person for a hearty breakfast or lunch or one slice per person if you are serving this with eggs for breakfast or a salad for lunch.

Enjoy!

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Ham, Onion & Cheese Quiche ~ Recipe

I love a quiche. Always have and always will. What's more comforting than warm eggs and melted cheese baking in a buttery, delicious pie crust? Not much. Oh wait, it's January? We are supposed to be eating healthy now, right? I know, I know, but I just had to share this recipe with you right now! You can save it for later if you are trying to be good right now, but you should try it.....you're going to love it.

When I was in high school there was a special occasion dress shop that my mom and I would go to whenever I was shopping for a homecoming or prom dress. It was this really unique shop because it was in an old house. The whole house was lined with gorgeous, fancy dresses. There were no men allowed in the shop (except by special appointment) because of all the young ladies just trying on dresses in each room. It was a magical place.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up, is that this was a special time for my mom and I each year and after we had found 'the dress' we would head over to Le Madeleine restaurant for some soup and quiche. Every time I have quiche it makes me think of those special mother daughter times we shared growing up.

This past sunday I was kind of missing my mom (you know she lives in Texas and we are in Chicago), so I decided quiche would make a nice sunday breakfast for our family. I came up with this recipe from what we had on hand and I think it turned out really great.

Ham, Onion & Cheese Quiche Recipe

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 onions, sliced

4 pieces of deli ham, chopped

8 eggs

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded sharp white cheddar (i.e. cracker barrel)

Prepared pie crust (or make your own)

1-2 tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large saute pan, melt better and saute sliced onions over medium heat until tender. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, milk and salt and pepper together in a large mixing bowl. Add the cheese and ham. Once the onions are soft and tender, add them to the egg, milk and cheese mixture. Stir to combine.

Place your pie crust into a pie baking dish. Pour in the egg mixture. Place pie dish on top of a baking sheet and place in the oven. Cook for 45 minutes with the outer crust covered in foil. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the quiche comes out clean.

Slice, serve and enjoy!

You can change up the ingredients any way you like based on your family's taste preferences. Think about adding some vegetables like asparagus or broccoli. Or maybe use bacon instead of ham. Or smoked gouda or swiss cheese instead of the cheddar. There are so many options.

Please pay no attention to my crust crimping skills.......I am not a pro in the fancy baking department.

This recipe is perfect for entertaining, holidays or just a lovely sunday breakfast with the family!

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Recipe: Baked Apple Pancake

Looking for a delicious family breakfast or a new go-to brunch idea.....how about a Baked Apple Pancake? Easy and inexpensive, but packed with flavor. Not to mention the fact that it will make your house smell heavenly. Give it a try......you're going to like it!

Baked Apple Pancake

SERVES 6

Ingredients:

2 apples, thinly sliced

1/2 stick of butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1.5 teaspoons cinnamon

5 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

Melt butter, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.  Toss the apples into the butter mixture and stir to combine.  Place coated apples into a large pie dish.  

In a blender, combine eggs, flour and milk.  Blend well.  Pour mixture over apples in pie dish.  Place pie dish on top of a baking sheet (to catch any drips).  Bake for 45 minutes or until top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Dust with powdered sugar and serve with a drizzle of maple syrup.

YUM!

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Father's Day Brunch Casserole

Happy Father's Day to all the amazing daddies out there!

My husband, Brett, and his dad are out fishing this afternoon, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to share what we made this morning for my kids super-wonderful, totally awesome daddy for breakfast.

Father's Day Brunch Casserole

I wanted to make something hearty for my hubby but I also wanted it to be something the girls could help me with in the kitchen.  This casserole was perfect!  I gave the girls the task of tearing up a large french baguette of bread into chunks and they had a ball.

This casserole turned out to be so tasty!  I found this recipe here and tweaked it just a little bit.  The casserole has a whole loaf of crusty bread, bulk Italian sausage, red bell pepper, onions and is soaked with an egg, milk, heavy cream, cheese and chives mixture.  Are you hungry yet?  You should be because this is so good!  

I used Monterrey jack cheese instead of the swiss because I thought that would be more appealing to the kids.  But unfortunately the girls didn't even want to try it.  No biggie, though.....I'm sure my hubby and I will have no problem polishing this off all by ourselves!  I think next time I'll go with the swiss.  Italian sausage and swiss cheese is always a winning combination.

This is a great make ahead dish because you can assemble it the night before and just pop it in the oven in the morning.  It takes about an hour to bake and is ready to go when it is puffed and golden and when a knife inserted comes out clean.  I also garnished the casserole with extra fresh chives from our garden.

So, that's what was cookin' over here this morning.  I hope you all were able to make the special daddy's in your life something good to eat.  I firmly believe that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach and it's a great way to show him how much you care!

Happy Father's Day!

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Biscuit Corn Cakes with Goat Cheese and Blackberry-Thyme Sauce ~ Pillsbury Finalist Recipe

I know I've mentioned this before, but just in case you missed it, my mom (Grandma Jane) is one of the 100 finalists in the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest coming up at the end of March.  All the finalists' recipes have been made public, so I am thrilled to be able to share her recipe with you (it was a big secret until they officially published them).

Click here to read my original post about her becoming a finalist.

My little man (Caspian) and I will be flying to Orlando, FL next month to watch my mom compete.  We just found out this week that Martha Stewart will be announcing the $1 million dollar winner live on her show (oh, yeah, did I mention that the grand prize is $1 million buckaroos?!?!).  They will be setting up a set for her show in the lobby of the hotel where we are staying and announcing the winner from there ~ how cool is that?  She'll also be walking the floor while the contestants compete.  Usually the bake-off contest airs on the Food Network, but we've yet to find out the date for that one.

Who is going to win is anyone's guess.  All the top 100 recipes sound amazing.......I think it will totally depend on the judges tastes on the day of the competition.  But I have to tell you, I've tried Mom's recipe and it is awesome!  She will compete in the brunch category and the flavor profile she has created is incredibly complex.  You have the savory biscuit corn cake, the creamy goat cheese, the tart lemon and blackberry-thyme sauce.  I'm making myself hungry just thinking about it!

So here's her recipe if you would like to give it a try........

Biscuit Corn Cakes with Goat Cheese and Blackberry-Thyme Sauce

Serves 5 

(2 corn cakes per person)

If you try the recipe, let me know, I'd love to hear what you think.  This would be so good for Easter brunch if you are looking for something a little different to serve.  Also, if you would like a printer-friendly version of the recipe, you can print from the Pillsbury website by clicking HERE.

I think my little man has a pretty good resemblance to the Pillsbury dough-boy these days, so he just may be sporting a little costume for the competition.........you'll just have to wait and see!

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Strawberry Picking and Cinnamon Strawberry Muffins { Recipe }

Last week it was finally strawberry season here in Illinois!  My husband was out of town for the week on a fishing trip with his dad, so the girls and I decided to head to our local strawberry farm to pick some fresh berries.

At the farm they give each child their own small basket and then they give each adult a larger basket.  It's not a fancy place, but it was just the perfect place for this mama and two little ladies.

The girls were very busy picking their berries.  Savannah stayed very focused and picked a ton.  Matilda, however, eventually decided it was best just to eat all the berries she was picking that way her basket would be empty and she could wear it as a hat.

We ended up with a huge basket of berries.  Both the girls started just filling up mama's basket and we filled it to the brim!

Once we had all our berries picked, it was time to head home and figure out what to do with all these gorgeous little red berries.

Cinnamon Strawberry Muffins

Makes 18-24 muffins

So we had picked all of these berries and I knew we needed to make something with them because, especially with my husband being away, there was no way we were going to eat this whole basket.  I thought about strawberry scones and strawberry cake, but settled on strawberry muffins.  I added some cinnamon to make these a little different than your average muffin and oh.my.goodness - they are delicious.

If you have any berries lying around, give this recipe a try.  It's heavy on the cinnamon and heavy on the sugar - two of my favorite things.  And the tops get super-crunchy and delicious.  You're going to love it!

Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh strawberries, hulled and cut in half
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 sticks butter, melted
1 1/4 cup milk
2 eggs

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Prep your strawberries by taking the tops off and cutting them in half.  Some of our berries were pretty tiny so I just left those whole.

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, except for the sugar.  In a separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and combine.  Toss your strawberries with the sugar.

Add strawberry/sugar mixture to the muffin mixture and fold in gently to combine.

Spray two muffin pans with non-stick cooking spray (you could also use muffin liners, if you prefer).  Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup and fill each muffin tin just about to the top.

Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the muffins comes out clean.

Allow muffins to cool and then remove from pan.  If you do not plan to eat your muffins that day, I suggest freezing them.  Strawberries tend to make baked goods kind of soggy if they sit too long.

Place them in a freezer bag and lay them flat in your freezer for the initial freeze.  You can pull the muffins out one at a time when you are ready to eat them, microwave for about 45 seconds and they literally taste like you just pulled them out of the oven.  This is also a great technique if you have guests coming for a visit and you want to bake prior to their arrival or for a quick breakfast before work or school.

We only have one of these muffins left and looking at this picture is making me think, I need to walk immediately into the kitchen and pull it out of the freezer.  YUM!

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Homemade Veggie Cream Cheese

 

Now that my morning sickness seems to be entirely gone (knock on wood), I've been getting back into cooking.  I love flavored cream cheeses, but my favorite varieties are the savory ones - veggie, onion, sundried tomato, ect.  There's nothing better than making your own flavored cream cheese.  It's a fraction of the cost of the store-bought variety and is twice as yummy!

Make several different cream cheeses for a brunch party or keep a couple in the fridge to please your whole family.  This is my savory variety, but you could certainly make your own sweet flavored cream cheese such as honey walnut, raspberry or strawberry.

Veggie Cream Cheese

Ingredients:

2 packages cream cheese (8 oz. each - light or regular), softened

1 carrot, peeled

1 stalk celery

3 small green onions (or two large)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Grab your veggies.  Use whatever you like - if onions don't speak to you, then omit them.

Finely dice your vegetables.

Place all finely diced vegetables in a medium-sized mixing bowl.

Mix in softened cream cheese and add salt and pepper to taste.  Be sure to mix the cream cheese and the vegetables thoroughly.

Slice and toast your favorite bagel - mine happens to be Sesame with an Everything bagel following close behind.

Spread your cream cheese on top.  Be generous, you want to make sure you get in all your veggies!

Place cream cheese in a food storage container and refrigerate.  I find the cream cheese to be even better once it has had some time for the flavors to come together in the fridge.

Try this cream cheese on a whole wheat pita pocket with fresh turkey, cucumber and tomato for a healthy lunch option or spread it on some crackers for a tasty little snack for the kiddos.  The options are endless!

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