Crock Pot Applesauce

Are you scared of making your own applesauce?  I sure was.  Emphasis on the "was" part.  I found a recipe that was super easy and tastes good, too.  Because, you know I'm all about the easy recipes.

Ready for this... this recipe needs apples, water, and canning jars.  Woo hoo!  I peeled and cut enough apples to fill my 6 quart crock pot and added 1 cup of water.  I turned it on high and let it cook for a few hours until the apples were nice and soft.  I then threw the apples into my food processor and pulsed them until they were the consistency I wanted.  Actually, they could have been just mashed with a potato masher if I wanted them a little chunky.

I poured them immediately into 6 sterilized mason jars and sealed them.  You can see in my picture up there that I left a lot of room.  I probably could have put more applesauce in each one and I would have only gotten 5 pints of applesauce out of the 6 quart crock pot.  I immediately turned the jars upside down and let the heat from the hot applesauce seal the jars.  It only took a few minutes and the jars did seal themselves without a hot water bath.

Verdict: This applesauce is totally sugar free, preservatives and additives free, and completely paleo friendly.  I can't wait to serve this with dinner tomorrow night.  I tasted a little that I didn't jar and it was delicious, even sugar free.

**UPDATE: Once this cooled all 6 jars had sealed themselves just fine.  We opened the 1/2 pint jar to eat first and it is super tasty!  Everyone liked it, even without sugar added.

EASY CROCK POT APPLESAUCE

Makes 5 pints

INGREDIENTS:

Enough peeled and cut apples to fill a 6 quart crock pot

1 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place all apple slices in crock pot.

2. Add 1 cup of water.

3. Cook on high until apples are tender and mushy.

4. Mash with potato masher or pulse in food processor until applesauce is desired consistency.

5. Pour into sanitized pint sized mason jars.

6. Immediately seal and turn upside down while hot.

7. Keep upside down until jars have completely cooled.  Jars will seal themselves by the heat of the applesauce.  If any jars don’t seal, use those first.  All of mine sealed just fine.

Chicken and White Wine Sausages with Bacon Brussel Sprouts

My hubby has spent quite a few days over the last two weeks bow hunting for deer.  It's now bow and black powder season and almost rifle season, so today we went up to Bass Pro Shops to buy some new hunting clothes for me. The clothes I wore 2 years ago don't fit anymore - in a good way, they're way too big.  

We were a bit disappointed in the lack of options for ladies.  In fact, while I was able to get a ladies shirt, I ended up with a youth sized bib style pair of pants because all the ladies pants options (that were available in my size) were too light-weight or well over $150 a pair.  Thankfully, we found the youth pants that fit and there was one shirt that fit me that was the right thickness to wear in the cold weather.  So I'm all set to hunt.  I looked pretty good, too!

After we were done shopping for me, we went over to the guns and checked out all the black powder accessories. My husband has his father's black powder gun and he's never shot it.  He thinks it's been about 20 years since it's been fired so it is in need of a good cleaning before it can even be shot.  It took a while to figure out what to buy for cleaning the gun and firing it.  Then of course since we were near the guns, we decided to check out the rifles since we have a new hunter in the house.  Our son has a .22 that was gifted to him from my step-dad, but he and my hubby need to refinish the wood on it.  A .22 isn't great for hunting deer so we are considering options for a birthday present.  But that depends on a lot of other things down the road.  Definitely won't happen before hunting season this year.  

Why am I telling you all of this?  Because by the time we got back from all our shopping (we even had a stop at JoAnn Fabrics to price fabric to reupholster our wing-backed chairs) it was way too late to cook the dinner I had planned.  So, I whipped up something new based on what I had on hand.

This week at the farmer's market I picked up a new flavor of sausages, Chicken and White Wine.  I also got some brussel sprouts and yams.  I've also been using my cast iron skillets more and more because I'm finding I just like my meals cooked in them better.  I don't know why, but I just do.  I broke out 2 large skillets because I could see that 1 wasn't going to be enough and started cooking 2 pieces of bacon in each to get the fat going.  I cut each brussel sprout in half and sliced my sausage links.

Once the fat started rendering, I took the bacon out then I added the sausages in one pan and the brussel sprouts in the other.  I cut the bacon into pieces and threw it all into the pan with the brussel sprouts.  I probably could have cut it down before I started cooking, but oh well.  At the same time, I had 2 sweet potatoes (cut in half lengthwise and turned face down in a glass pan) cooking for 10 minutes in my microwave.  Once it was done cooking, I moved the pan to my broiler on high and cooked for 5 minutes face down and another 3 face up.

Verdict:  This was easy and tasty.  The brussel sprouts had a great flavor from the bacon and the sausages tasted wonderful.  The yams came out nice and tender which is what we all love.  The meal took a total of 20-25 minutes with prep time so it was nice and simple for us tonight.

CHICKEN AND WHITE WINE SAUSAGES WITH BACON BRUSSEL SPROUTS

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

4 chicken and white wine sausage links, sliced in pieces

2 pints brussel sprouts, each sprout cut in half

4 pieces bacon

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat 2 cast iron skillets to just over medium.

2. Add 2 pieces of bacon to each skillet.

3. When the fat begins to render, remove the bacon to cutting board and in one pan add the brussel sprouts and in the other add the sausage pieces.  Turn sprouts in pan to coat in bacon fat.

4. Cut the bacon into pieces then add all the bacon back to the brussel sprout pan.

5. Cook until the bacon and sausage is cooked through, turning sprouts frequently so they do not burn

Paleo Turkey Sliders with Avocado Slaw

I came across this recipe over at PaleOMG last week and decided to play with it.  We're not really "Southwest" and "spicy" kind of people when it comes to our food, so I tweaked the recipe a bit.  It was kind of nice to play with a recipe not because I had to but because I wanted to.

For this meal I used a pound of ground turkey, 1/2 of a red onion, some cumin, salt, pepper, and bacon fat.  That was just for the sliders.  I sliced half of that red onion and minced the other half.  I mixed them all together and shaped them into sliders.  This made 13 sliders.

For the avocado slaw I shredded 1 head of cabbage to start.  Well, I didn't shred it, I had my hubby shred it while I was shaping the sliders.  When he was done I used the food processor to blend together 2 avocados, salt, cumin, olive oil, lemon juice, and lime juice.  After that was nice and smooth, I poured it over my shredded cabbage and mixed it all together and used that as a bed for my sliders.

Verdict: This meal was liked by all.  I served it with some baked yams (not sweet potatoes) which are Paleo in moderation.  #2 decided that he loved the yams and ate all of his, which is amazing because I've never gotten him to eat a sweet potato before.  For the avocado slaw I omitted the red pepper and I wish I had left it in to give it a bit more of a kick.  Next time I'll use it.  Oh yes, there will be a next time.

PALEO TURKEY SLIDERS

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground turkey

¼ red onion, thinly sliced

¼ red onion, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1 TBSP fat (I used bacon fat)

Additional fat for the cooking pan

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add all your ingredients for your burgers in a large bowl. (Minus fat for the cooking pan.)

2. Shape small burger patties.

3. Heat up a large skillet under medium heat with a bit of fat in it (I used more bacon fat) and add your sliders.  Flip after 3-5 minutes or when you see the sides of your sliders begin to turn a white color (meaning they are cooking through.)

4. Serve on top of Avocado Slaw.  Yum!

PALEO AVOCADO SLAW

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

1 small head of cabbage or bag of cabbage, chopped

2 avocados

1 TBSP olive oil

1 tsp lime juice

½ tsp lemon juice

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp crushed red pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Shred your cabbage in a food processor or however you want.

2. Clean out your food processor and insert the S blade and add all the ingredients except for the cabbage and pulse until smooth.

3. Pour your avocado “mayo” on the cabbage and mix.

4. Put the cabbage on a plate and top with the Turkey Sliders.

Paleo Moo Shu Beef with Cauliflower Rice

Look at that, Chinese food that is Paleo?  Yes, that's right!  I've never had Moo Shu beef before but this tasted pretty darn good.  It also looked pretty close to some of the internet pics I've seen, so I'm happy there.  

It's Wednesday, so that means I used my crock pot.  This recipe took a little prep work, but it was fun prep work. This was the first time that I used the shredder blade on my food processor, so that was fun to work with.  For the most part though, this meal was pretty simple.

I chose the 4-quart size on my crock pot and put my beef roast in.  I used a 3ish pound roast and we will have some leftover Moo Shu for lunch tomorrow.  I shredded some cabbage and threw it all on top of the roast.  After that I added some minced fresh ginger and minced garlic.  I mixed up some Hoisin sauce with some apple cider vinegar and poured it all over the Moo Shu.  Cook it on high for a few hours and when there was 1 hour left I had my hubby add some mushrooms and sliced green onions.  I would have done it but I was still at ballet with #3.

When I got home I prepared the cauliflower rice.  I broke out the shredder attachment on my food processor again and went to town.  The shredder cut down the cauliflower into little pieces that look like rice.  It didn't exactly taste like rice, but it looked like rice and gave me the impression that I was eating it.  Just look at that picture up there, it really looks like rice.

Verdict: This was one tasty meal.  For a family that likes our Chinese food, I'm glad we were able to incorporate a meal back in.  Was it authentic?  Well, the Moo Shu certainly had the flavor of a good Chinese dish, the rice, not so much.  But it was a good way to prepare the cauliflower and it alone tasted good.  Hubby, kids and I all loved the meal and it will be a repeat.   

CROCK POT MOO SHU BEEF

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

3ish lb beef chuck roast

Sea salt to taste

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

½ head cabbage, red or green, cored and sliced thin or shredded

2 TBSP fresh ginger root, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup Paleo Hoisin sauce (or cheat like I did for one night and use regular Hoisin sauce, all the Paleo versions have coconut aminos)

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

8 ounces shitake mushrooms, sliced

4 green onions, white and green parts thinly sliced

½ tsp sesame seeds, optional

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Season roast with salt and pepper and place in the bottom of your crock pot.

2. Sprinkle cabbage over the top, then evenly distribute ginger and garlic.

3. Drizzle Hoisin sauce and vinegar over the top.

4. Cook on high for 5-6 hours.

5. One hour before meat is done, add mushrooms and half of the green onions.

6. To serve, transfer roast from the crock pot to a cutting board.  Cut into bite-sized pieces.  Add meat back to crock and stir together crock pot contents.

7. Divide evenly among bowls.  Drizzle with additional green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.

CAULIFLOWER RICE

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

1 head cauliflower

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Process fresh cauliflower in food processor until it is the size of rice, using the plain steel blade or the shredder blade.  You can shred it with a hand held grater or even a knife if you have the dexterity and patience to chop it very finely.

2. Place it in a microwavable safe dish with a lid.  DO NOT ADD WATER.  Cauliflower absorbs water and will become gummy if you add water.

3. Microwave it for 2-5 minutes or until it’s as hot as you’d like.