Pickled Peppers - My first time canning!

So this was my first year gardening AND canning.  Here is my crop of peppers, not even sure what kind they are - Chris thinks maybe pepperoncinis. Next to it is some fresh oregano from my garden too that I used in the canning recipe.  I meant to take more pictures but kept forgetting.

Please remember when working with peppers to wear rubber gloves (I've read that latex gloves are a bit porous and don't work as well).  I mention this mostly because about a month ago I was cutting jalapenos and got some of the juice in a hang nail I had - it was so painful, burned the entire day.  Coincidentally, that same day, Brooklyn got into my bowl of pepper seeds that I save on the kitchen window sill to dry out.  She kept telling me her lips were burning but when I asked if she had gotten into the seeds she said "No" because she thought she would be in trouble for getting up on the counter. By the time I got her to confess it was too late to remedy the problem with anything but ice wrapped in a wash cloth, poor kid.  So please be careful!

Quick Pickled Hot Peppers

3/4 c water

3/4 c vinegar

3 T sugar

1 T Kosher salt

1 clove crushed garlic

1/2 t oregano (or 1 sprig of fresh oregano chopped finely)

10 large peppers sliced (I'm still new to this but I think any hot/spicy pepper will work)

Combine all ingredients except peppers in pan on stove top.  Bring to a boil.  Pack peppers in canning jar (I used a 1 pint jar since I only had 8 small peppers), pour mixture over peppers and put lid on tightly and refrigerate until ready to eat.  I am going to wait a week or so to try mine so the flavors can fuse.

I'll let you know how it turns out!

Pumpkin Pie French Toast

Well it's that time of year again - pumpkin flavored goods coming out of my kitchen!  I love this Pumpkin Pie French Toast I came up with because it packs a healthy punch of pumpkin and my kids love it (not to mention it's super fast and simple!).

Pumpkin Pie French Toast
Yield 7-8 slices

1/4 c pumpkin
2 oz milk
3 eggs
1/4 t pumpkin pie spice (or use cinnamon if you like)
7-8 slices of bread

*I recently tried using the pre-made pumpkin pie mix in a can (sold right next to the regular pumpkin cans) and it was AWESOME.  If you use it you can omit the spice AND the milk (it's a bit runnier), probably less healthy but super good and it is sweet enough to eat plain on the go!

Add all ingredients to a blender cup.  Pulse until mixed thoroughly.

Pour mixture into shallow dish.

Dip in a slice of bread and cover both sides generously with pumpkin mixture. Spray pan with oil and heat to medium high.

Cook 2-3 minutes on both sides (or until golden brown).

Tip of the Day: When I am serving my kids french toast, waffles or pancakes I help them by easily cutting the food with a pizza slicer, so fast and easy!

We usually just put a bit of syrup on them, my kids gobble them up!  They would also be great with powdered sugar, cinnamon and sugar, fruit and whipped cream, or (dare I say?) ice cream! 

Easiest Mini Doughnuts or is it "Donuts"?

My kids love doughnuts, let's be honest, who doesn't?  But the ones from the store have tons of sugar and have to be bought the same day to be edible. So here is my solution - now I'm not saying these are super healthy, but they are not fried, and they have a lot less sugar than their store bought counterparts. 

You will need 

1 box Jiffy muffin mix (There are a lot to choose from: banana, apple cinnamon, raspberry, blueberry, etc.)

1 egg

2/3 c milk

1/2 t of cinnamon, if desired 

Use fork to mix egg and milk (and cinnamon if you choose) together. Add muffin mix and stir until mix is moistened. 

Pour into mini doughnut maker (no need to grease it). 

Let cook 3-4 minutes or until browned. 

Serve with fruit (to make it a bit healthier) or add whipped cream. My kids also like to dip them in syrup.  Yields 15-20 mini doughnuts.

Spanikopita

I have been wanting to make this for a while, it is one of my favorite Greek dishes.  I was a bit nervous about working with phyllo dough but it was not bad at all - so don't let that scare you away!

10 oz fresh chopped spinach

1 T olive oil

1 small onion, minced

1 clove minced garlic

1 egg

1/2 c crumbled feta cheese

1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 t salt

8 oz phyllo dough (1/2 package)

3/4 c butter, melted

In large skillet or wok sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. When the onions are cooked, and translucent, add the fresh chopped spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted. 

Remove from heat and transfer to colander to drain excess moisture. I used a spatula to press down on the spinach to get out as much water as possible. 

Combine cheeses, salt and egg, mix thoroughly, then add spinach mixture in. 

Arrange one sheet of phyllo dough on the clean work surface, cover the remaining phyllo dough with a damp towel. I used a plastic cutting mat, but a Silpat out would work great also, brush with melted butter. The 1st layer is more susceptible to tearing than the subsequent layers.  Be super careful with the first one and the others get easier.  No big deal if it tears a bit, just seal it with a bit of butter.  Place a second sheet of phyllo on top and brush with butter - repeat until you have four sheets. Cut into four strips lengthwise, I used a pizza cutter. 

Place about 1 tablespoon of the spinach mixture on the bottom of each strip. Take the bottom right corner and fold the dough over the filling to make a triangle. Fold the bottom left corner up to make another triangle. Continue folding until all the dough is folded.  At this point I usually put a little butter on the seem to "glue" it down. Lightly brush the rest of the triangle with butter. 

I also decided to make a couple "burrito type" pockets because that's how they served them at one of my favorite Greek cafés in Portland. For those I used 6 sheets of phyllo, and about 3T of filling, cut the sheets in half and folded as shown below. 

If you will be cooking them immediately, put them on a baking sheet that is lightly greased and cook for 20 minutes at 375°. If you are freezing them for later, like I did, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and place in the freezer for 30-45 min then transfer to a ziplock bag for freshness. No need to thaw them out when you are ready to use them, just put them in the oven for 20 minutes at 375°

And here they are, my triangles didn't all turn out perfect but it was my first try.  Also, I think the ones that didn't turn out great were due to me adding too much filling.  

The finished product!

This recipe was adapted from THIS spanikopita recipe.

Hole in One a.k.a. Egg in the Middles

I haven't made these in years, it was one of my favorite meals growing up. Most people call it a "hole-in-one" we always called it "egg in the middles"

If you haven't tried this you should!  Just use any shaped cookie cutter to cut out the middle of a slice of bread. Butter both sides of the bread, then cook an egg in the middle of the cut out part. Toast both sides of the cut out shape too. Enjoy!

Three bean quesadilla

Made this for lunch today - yum!

I used some leftover 3 bean salad to make this yummy quesadilla.  Just put a tortilla is a frying pan on medium heat, add 1/3 cup of shredded cheese and 1/2 cup of 3 bean salad (you may want to microwave the beans for a short time just so they are not cold) wait for the cheese to melt, fold over and voila!

Easy Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Pulled pork is one of my favorite easy crock pot dinners. 

What you'll need:

Pork shoulder roast

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

Salt and pepper 

BBQ Sauce (my favorite is Sweet Baby Ray's)

Hamburger bun or rolls

(Please excuse the nonprofessional pictures, I don't have a fancy schmancy camera, or super great photography skillz, lol)

Cut onion in half and place in the bottom of the crockpot. Rub pork with salt, pepper and minced garlic, place on top of onion. Cook 7-10 hours (depending on how much meat you have). Pork is done when it comes apart easily with fork. Remove meat from crockpot, empty grease and onions from crockpot. Separate meat with two forks then return to crockpot and add BBQ sauce. You'll need at least half a bottle in most cases. Maybe more if you've cooked a larger cut of pork. 

Put meat on buns and enjoy!  We had ours with potato salad on the side - yum!!

Kitties and Pancakes

Yesterday the kids wanted to be kitties - I think they are the cutest kitties I've ever seen!

Today is Saturday and I decided to start a new tradition of making homemade pancakes for breakfast.  I can't remember the last time I made pancakes from scratch (I don't count Bisquick as made from scratch, lol).  So I went to my favorite recipe go to website - www.allrecipes.com - they are the bomb.  Anytime you need a good recipe just search there, find the recipe with the most reviews and most stars and you're golden.  Make sure to read a couple of the reviews too, they often have helpful tips to make the recipe just that much better.  This particular pancake recipe has 5 stars and over 5,000 reviews.  You can find it HERE They are called "Fluffy Pancakes" and my whole family loved them, even the picky Hubbster.

I got this "Cupcake Batter Dispenser" at Bed, Bath and Beyond (you can find it HERE) and it is perfect for dispensing pancake batter as well!  I thought the $15 price was a bit steep for a plastic cup but I have actually gotten a lot of use out of it and it caters to my OCD type personality.  I like that it holds a lot of batter - it always surprises me when I fit an entire boxed cake mix in it.

Try making a new tradition of your own today :) Happy Saturday Everyone!

3 Bean Salad

This three bean salad is sooooo  good that I have a confession to make.  I made this yesterday to take to a party tonight and Hubbster and I ended up eating about 3/4 of it so there wasn't any left for the party.  Whoops.  This is super simple to make, although a bit time consuming because of all the chopping/veggie prep but it is so worth it.  If you make it the day before you eat it the flavors have more time to marinate and it is even better.  

Ingredients: 

1 - 15 oz can black beans

1 - 15 oz can kidney beans

1 - 15 oz can cannellini beans

2 peppers chopped (I used about 2/3 of a red, orange and yellow pepper, you can also use green)

1 red onion finely chopped

1/4 c olive oil

1/4 c red wine vinegar

2 T lime juice (fresh is best)

1 T lemon juice

1 T salt

1 clove crushed garlic

1 bunch of chopped cilantro

chili powder and pepper to taste

Rinse and drain beans.  I like to toss them in the colander to start to get them mixed together and get the excess water out.

Chop the cilantro and onions.

Chop the peppers.  Gently combine beans and vegetables in large bowl.  In small bowl whisk together the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, lime juice, salt, garlic, pepper and chili powder.  Pour over bean mixture, chill and enjoy!  Sometimes I eat this plain and sometimes with tortilla chips - either way is great!  

Easy Crockpot Potato Soup

I'm making an easy dinner for tonight - a simple crock pot potato soup.

In the crockpot whisk together pepper, 2 cans of chicken broth and one can of broccoli cheese soup (you can use cream of chicken if you prefer). Then add one bag of Potatos O'Brien and half of a chopped onion. Cook on low for 5 hours. Cube softened cream cheese and add in. Also add 1 lb cubed ham. Cook 30-45 min until cream cheese has melted and ham is warmed. Garnish with shredded cheese, green onions or whatever you have on hand. Great with homemade dinner rolls. Enjoy!