Last Christmas I decided to delve into the world of jelly making. I didn't have a clue but wanted to learn since I love jelly and biscuits. I wanted something different than the boring selection at the grocery store but didn't want to pay the prices being charged for the specialty jellies so I decided, why not make my own!

What pushed me to finally try it was my niece. For Christmas, we pick names in our family and the gift we give must be homemade. I picked my niece and on her wish list was jellies.

Blackberries happened to be on sale and I bought a bunch. I ended up with about 12 jars of blackberry jelly. It was good but I wanted something a little more special so I searched the web looking for ideas. I came across this site that mentioned Raspberry Jalapeno Jelly. That was it! I wanted to immediately try it. I made a batch and loved the taste. I vowed that next time, I would add a little more jalapeno since the kick needed to be a little stronger.

I have been waiting all this time for raspberries to go on sale but they haven't....until now. I finally got my chance to make my jelly. I went out this morning and bought 6 baskets of raspberries. We have jalapenos growing in our yard and I used those.

I can't wait until I crack open a jar and slather it over my homemade biscuits. I also like to pour it over a block of cream cheese and serve with crackers for snacking.

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Important to clean and sterilize jars, rings and lids.  I wash and dry the jars in hot soapy water, then sterilize them in boiling water.

Wash 5 cups of raspberries.  I used about 10 small jalapenos (our plant produces small chile's), or if they are large jalapenos, try starting with 5.  I placed them in a food chopper until they were tiny, tiny pieces and added the vein and seeds of 3 of them.  I also used about 4 cups of sugar and 1 pouch of the pectin powder.

While the jars and lids are sterilizing, I poured 1 cup apple cider vinegar into a large stockpot and let it heat up then added the raspberries, stirring until they started to break apart.  I then added the jalapenos making sure to add a little at a time so as not to overpower the raspberries.  I stirred it all together and then added the pectin.  Once it's all stirred together, I tested a small amount on a spoon to check the heat from the jalapeno.  This is where I add more jalapenos if I want it hotter.  If you add too much in the beginning, you're stuck with spicy jelly.  The last thing is the sugar.  Add and stir until dissolved and well mixed. 

Carefully take the jars out of the hot water and place near the raspberry pot.  I use a wide mouth funnel to fill the jars with the jelly mixture, leaving about 1/4" at the top.  Once all the jars are filled, wipe the rim of the jars with a damp paper towel to remove any jelly that is there. 

Place the seal on the jar and close with ring making sure not to close too tight.  Place jars back in the hot water, making sure the jars are covered in water and bring to a boil for about 10 minutes.  Carefully remove the jars from the water bath and let cool.  The seals should pop to ensure they are sealed properly.

If you don't hear them pop, just press down on the top.  If they give in the center, they are not sealed properly. You will need to reseal.  http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/531272  Once they are done and cool, just open a jar and enjoy!

Tori's Spring Rolls

I just discovered the world of spring rolls.  I've had and love egg rolls but never the clear rice paper wrapped spring rolls.  Until about a month ago when I saw my daughter's boyfriend eating some and they looked so good.

Our local Ralph's has a deli and they have a section where they sell sushi and spring rolls.  There is someone behind the counter making them fresh daily and as I reached for my normal cucumber and avocado roll, I saw the package of vegetable spring rolls with peanut dipping sauce and decided to try it.  I was hooked!

Craving these would normally dip into my budget but I decided to learn how to make them myself.  There's an Asian market that just opened around the corner and I decided to buy the rice paper wrappers.  I looked up a couple recipes and decided to give it a try.

I took red cabbage, green lettuce, cucumber, carrots, alfalfa sprouts and cilantro and used that as the stuffing, using my kitchen aid shredding cones to shred the cabbage and carrots.

The rice paper comes in a package and is firm and has a texture to it.  It almost looks like a round sheet of hard plastic.  Don't worry though.  Just fill a pie dish with warm water and place a sheet of the rice paper in the dish for a couple of minutes, turning to moisten thoroughly.  The textured design should disappear and the round should be very thin.  Be careful because they can tear easily.

Once the texture is gone and the paper is super thin and pliable, I laid it on a piece of paper towel to remove the excess water.  Remove from the paper towel, lay it on a plate and fill with your ingredients of choice and roll, tucking in the sides as you go.   The paper will seem a little sticky but that's normal.

For the peanut sauce, I experimented with smooth peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, warm water and sugar (dissolve the sugar in the water) and grated fresh ginger.

Shrimp Ceviche Tostadas

This is a recipe I made that is so refreshing when it's hot.  No cooking, except for the tostada shells, or you could purchase them already done although they aren't nearly as good as homemade.

For this recipe I used:

Large cooked and deveined shrimp
green onion
cilantro
avocado - cut into small squares
tomato - inside and seeds removed
lemon juice
lime juice
cucumber - remove seeds and cut into small squares
jalapeno chili - about 2 or 3 depending how hot you want it
salt
garlic powder
onion powder

I didn't give measurements because it depends how much you want to make.  I used a 32 oz. bag of large shrimp.  Remove the tails and cut into bite size pieces.  Chop 5 green onion stems, cilantro, tomato, cucumber, avocado and jalapeno and add to the shrimp.  Squeeze the juice of 2 lemons and 2 limes into mixture.  Add more if needed.  Add 1 tsp. garlic powder and 1 tsp. onion powder and salt to taste.  Mix and let sit in refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.

Meanwhile if you want the homemade tostada shells, heat cooking oil in a frying pan until heated to 350º or until the handle of a wooden spoon inserted in the oil shows bubbles around it.  Make sure your oil is not smoking or it will burn the shells.  Add a corn tortilla watching it to make sure it doesn't burn.  Let tortilla cook in the oil about 1-2 minutes then carefully turn it over.  Continue to cook the shell until it is just golden and crisp.  Drain on paper towels.

Serve with rice and enjoy!

Easy Lasagna

This lasagna is so easy and fast to make and taste great!  What I love about this is I assembled it at night and then baked it the next day.  It was Delish!!

1 small onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 package mild Italian Sausage (remove casing)
3 Italian zuchinni (cut into rounds)
1 jar spaghetti sauce any kind
1 egg
32 oz. Ricotta Cheese
8 oz. Mozzerella Cheese (grated)
1 pkg. Lasagna Noodles
Olive Oil

Mix the ricotta cheese with 1 egg and set aside. Grate the mozzerella cheese and set aside. Cut the zuchinni into rounds and set aside.

In a skillet pour 2 TBS. olive oil and add the chopped onion and garlic.  Saute until transparent in color making sure the garlic doesn't burn.  Add the Italian sausage and crumble with the back of a wooden spoon.  Cook until sausage is brown and add the jar of spaghetti sauce and 1/2 jar water.  Simmer over low heat and remove when hot. 

In a 9 x 13 inch pan, begin by spooning some of the sauce mixture on the bottom of the pan.  Next add a layer of lasagna noodles (uncooked) to cover the bottom of the pan and follow with a layer of ricotta cheese, mozzerella cheese, zuchinni rounds, meat and noodles. Repeat with the above layers and finish with ricotta cheese, zuchinni, meat and mozzerella.

At this point, you can either bake and eat or cover and refrigerate until next day. 

Bake at 350º for 1 hour. Let cool about 15 minutes and serve. Great with salad and garlic bread!




At this point I covered and refrigerated before baking

After baking

Oven-Baked French Toast

What a great breakfast this morning!  Another fast and easy recipe and very economical.  This receipe is taken from the Pampered Chef Stoneware Sensations Cookbook.  I will post the receipe, based on what I used, without the refrences to the Pampered Chef products needed.  This breakfast cost me less than $10 and fed my family of 6. 

Recipe for Oven-Baked French Toast

1 loaf French Bread ---$1.49
6 eggs --- ($1.00 - they were 1.99 per dozen and I used half)
1-1/2 cups milk
3 TBS. granulated sugar (for egg mixture)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Powdered sugar
Strawberries about 12 ---($1.00 - I paid $2.99 for 2 lbs. and I used about 1/3 of pkg.)
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. lemon juice
3-4 TBS. granulated sugar (for strawberry topping)

Spray 9 x 13" casserole baker with vegetable oil.  Using a serrated knife, cut the ends off the bread and cut loaf into 1-inch-thick slices (10-16 slices depending on the size of the loaf) and arrange closely in a single layer in prepared pan.  In a bowl, beat the eggs and add in milk, 3 TBS. granulated sugar, vanilla, salt and cinnamon; mix together and pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.


The slices in greased pan

Pour egg mixture over and at this point, cover and refrigerate

(At this point, I left it overnight in the refrigerator and set my oven for delay start for the morning)

Preheat oven to 400ºF.  Bake uncovered, 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven.  Top with strawberry topping and powdered sugar, or you can sprinkle with powdered sugar and top with fresh strawberries.

While the french toast was baking, I cooked the bacon and strawberry topping.  For topping, wash and slice strawberries.  I placed them in a small saucepan with 3-4 TBS. granulated sugar and 1/4 cup orange juice.  I let the strawberries break up and release their juices.  I cooked until they looked syrupy and poured that over the hot french toast and sprinked powdered sugar over that. 



Slice strawberries small for easy cooking



Sliced strawberries, sugar and orange juice



French toast out of the oven and ready for topping



Ready to serve

Ready to eat

Serve with bacon.  I used a pound of bacon that I paid $2.99 for.  Add this to the cost of the ingredients for the french toast and it cost about $8-9 to make.

Tip for the Day!

Sometimes I need just a little cheese grated but hate to bring out the large metal grater.  I don't like to cut the cheese in slices because it doesn't melt quick and even. 

I've discovered that when you want a small amount of grated cheese in a hurry, you can use a lemon zester.  This is the perfect tool and the cheese comes out in thin strips for easy distribution and melting.

I used the zester in my previous post "On the Go Breakfast" and you can see the picture of what the cheese looks like after being "zested."

On The Go Breakfast!

When we want breakfast quick but we don't have time to really get things out and cook, I like to make this easy, fast, microwavable egg and cheese burrito.

There are only 4 ingredients and no pans or no mess to clean up.  Just grab a small microwavable container with lid, spray with cooking spray really well, break open an egg or two and scramble with a fork.  Place the lid on top, (if lid doesn't have a vent built in, lay the lid on top of container without sealing so egg doesn't explode) and start microwaving at 30 second intervals, checking to see doneness of egg.  When egg is almost done, remove from microwave and break up the egg and add some shredded cheese.  Place back into microwave (without lid) and put the flour tortilla on top of the container and microwave for 20 seconds or until tortilla is hot and softened.

If bacon is desired, you can cook the bacon in the microwave before the egg is cooked.  Just put a couple slices onto a microwave safe plate covered with paper towels to absorb the grease.  Microwave 1 minute per slice.  When done, remove from microwave and cook the egg.

That's it. Remove from microwave, fill tortilla and roll into burrito and you have breakfast in just a few minutes.  So easy and with no clean-up!