Slow Cooker Applesauce

November 14, 2014 / ktbuchs87

A while back, I went to an apple orchard with my family. I came back with a whole bushel of apples, which is way more than two people can eat because they start to go bad. There are so many things that you can do with apples, like pies, crumbles, apple butter, baked apples, apple donuts, the list goes on and on. While those are all fine and dandy one of my favorite, and easiest, ways to use up apples is to make applesauce. There are many ways that you can make applesauce, but I find the simplest way is to make it in my slow cooker. I can barely call this a “recipe” as it really doesn’t take much to make, but here is how I make my applesauce!

Slow Cooker Applesauce

2 to 3 pounds of apples (really as many as your crockpot can hold)
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 to 4 sticks of cinnamon
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
water

1. Wash and cut your apples into slices, making sure you get rid of the core and seeds. You can peel your apples, but I like to keep the skin on for extra fiber

2. Place apples in your slow cooker and add in lemon juice, cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add in 1/2 to 3/4 cups water depending on how many apples you have. You don’t want to cover the apples with water, just enough to add a little bit of steam while cooking.

3. Cover and cook the apples on low for about 6 hours. Remove cinnamon sticks and either using a hand blender (the easiest way) or blender/food processor, blend the apples to desired consistency. I like them smooth but you can leave in a few chunks if you like.

4. Let the applesauce cool completely and then move to a mason jar or other container and store in the fridge.

I like to use my applesauce to make baked goods like muffins, bread, or cookies. It also is a great topping for pork chops or even as a delicious and quick snack! Now go and cook up those apples!

How To Preserve Food For The Winter

November 12, 2014 / ktbuchs87

Winter is coming. Actually, it’s kind of already here in the midwest. If you haven’t been paying attention to the news or stepped outside, there is a huge cold front that is moving through the country bringing snow and wind and cold. Yay…. Anyway, as the winter season settles in the harvest season winds down. There aren’t many new crops popping up in the dead of winter and while I know that in modern grocery stores we can get any fruit or vegetable at any time of the year, the selection of in season produce is slim. I have been trying to make a push in our household to try and eat as seasonally as possible. There will always be a few fruit and vegetables, like bananas and sweet potatoes, that I will buy no matter the time of year, but otherwise I try to eat what’s in season. Now, just because there isn’t a lot to choose from in the winter time, if you take a little time to plan ahead, you can eat all your summer/fall favorites through the cold months ahead. There are many ways to preserve food, but the three that I’m going to share here are the ones that I use most often.

Pickling

Most people only think of dill pickles when the hear the word pickling, but you can pretty much pickle any vegetable. Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, beets, asparagus, summer squash, onions, garlic….. you get the idea. Pickling has been around for centuries and it is a fairly simple process so don’t be too intimidated. Pickled vegetables can be used on a lot of different dishes, from placing kimchi on a burger or making a pickled beet salad, and really add a unique flavor. On the health and nutrition side of pickled food, they provide a great source of probiotics that can help improve your digestion and gut health. All really good things! Check out a few of these online tutorials for pickling and get started. Experiment with different vegetables and spices and enjoy delicious vegetables all winter long.

Sauces, Jams, and Butters

This is my go to way to preserve fruit, especially the bounty of fruit that is available during the fall. If you’re like me you’re probably swimming in apples and a great way to save those apples (other than making a million pies!) is to make apple butter or apple sauce. You can pretty much use these two methods for all fruit. You can make sauce or jam from strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cranberries, any berry. Fruit butters are another great way to save fruit and many can be made right in your slow cooker. One of my favorite combos is a pumpkin/apple butter and I usually have a jar or two on hand. I have myself have never made jam, but I have made quite a few sauces like cranberry and tomato sauce. You can find a few good tutorials here for making big batches of jam and on Friday I’ll share a really easy way to make a big batch of applesauce, so check back for that!

Freeze

This is by far the easiest method of preserving your produce and the one that I use the most. During the fall when squash is super cheap I stock up and then freeze the extra. I either peel and dice the squash into cubes and freeze that way or I peel, dice, steam, and puree it and freeze the puree in batches. You can also freeze things like broccoli and cauliflower. Cut and steam the vegetables until brightly colored and then dunk them in a bowl of ice water. This is called blanching and it helps preserve their flavor. Once they are relatively dry, place them in freezer safe bags or container. When you want to use them just steam until cooked through. I like freezing produce because it is a great way to have quick meals on hands. I can use my purees for baking or soup or gnocchi and having vegetables on hand make an easy side dish or add nutrition to stir fry. Plus frozen foods can last for up to three month as long as they are properly stored.

These are my favorite ways to make the bounty of produce available during the warmer months last all winter long. There are other ways, such as canning, to preserve your food so find the method that works best for you. If you take just a little bit of time and effort you can eat well even if the weather is frightful!

Date and Almond Sauce

October 10, 2014 / ktbuchs87

I have been testing out a few new recipes for another project that I’m working on (details later), which means that I have 3 batches of different healthy frostings sitting around my kitchen. This has been a good thing for Adam because he gets to eat and try all the things that I have been testing, but I still haven’t totally nailed down what I am looking for. Don’t worry I’m close, and along the way I have made a really great sauce that can be used for a multitude of things. I don’t usually post sweet recipes here, but I want to make sure I have a good variety for whatever culinary mood you’re in. And yes, there is sour cream in this recipe. Trust me on this one. After the recipe, I’ll give you some ways to use this tasty sauce!

Date and Almond Sauce

6 large Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
2 tsp molasses
1 tbsp sour cream*
1 tbsp smooth almond butter

* I use a dairy-free, homemade version of sour cream but you can use whatever you normally have on hand. You can also use greek yogurt if you would prefer.

1. Soak the pitted and chopped dates in warm water for about 15 minutes. Drain the water, reserving a few tablespoons. Add the dates and the rest of the ingredients to a food processor or blender. Process until you have a smooth sauce, adding some of the reserved water to reach the consistency you want.

You can use this sauce right away, but I like it a little better after it has been in the fridge for a few hours. You can use this sauce in oatmeal, smoothies, ice cream, yogurt, spread on bread, muffins, cookies, or if you’re totally wild you can just eat it with a spoon. Get creative and see what else this sauce tastes delicious on! I hope you have a great Friday and an awesome weekend!

How To Start Cooking

September 17, 2014 / ktbuchs87

I am a big supporter of making your own meals. There is no better way to know exactly what you put into your body than to make a meal yourself. The home cook is starting to make a slow comeback. Things like food network and celebrity chefs, have helped make it “cool” to get back in the kitchen. I’m all for this, no matter what your reasoning to cook might be. Some of you though still avoid the kitchen like the plague because you just can’t cook. No matter how many times you try, you just can’t get a meal together. You never learned how to cook or you just never had any interest. But I am here to tell you, if you have decided to eat healthier, you’re going to have to learn how to cook. The good news is that it really isn’t that difficult. I’m going to give you a few tips on how to feel confident in the kitchen and put together some simple, tasty, and healthy meals all on your own.

Start Simple

You don’t have to be able to make elaborate dishes. You don’t have to spend hours performing complicated cooking techniques to put a meal on the table. Start with very basic meals. Things like dried pasta, grains, salads, and baked chicken are all very easy to make and very healthy. Try spaghetti and tomato sauce. All you have to do is boil some water and cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. For the sauce, all you need is a can of tomatoes, a can of tomato sauce, and some simple seasonings like oregano, basil, garlic, and salt and pepper. Heat that in a small saucepan until it bubbles and voila, you have a super easy meal that even a beginner cook can handle. The slow cooker is also the new cook’s best friend. It is easy to add the right ingredients and then let your slow cooker do the rest. It’s hard to mess up and you usually end up with a delicious meal. By choosing meals like this, you can start to build your recipe repertoire and start to feel more at ease in the kitchen. Once you get a handle on these simple meals you can start to expand to more complicated ones or start to play with different flavors and ingredients.

Watch Food Network

Watch any cooking show really. Many of the things I have learned how to cook, I have watched on cooking shows. One of my favorite shows is Alton Brown’s Good Eats. Each episode focuses on one ingredient or technique and then goes into simple ways on how to prepare that food. Alton really does a great job teaching the average Joe how to master some really simple dishes. If you don’t have cable, you can find a lot of cooking shows on YouTube or Netflix or Hulu. Find a show that you can watch and take some notes from the pros on how to cook some really delicious food.

Talk To Other Cooks

You don’t have to start going around to restaurants and bugging the chefs for their secret recipes, but start talking to other people who cook a lot. Start with people in your family who tend to be the ones preparing the meals, whether it’s your mom, grandma, uncle, or cousin. Ask them what they like to cook and how they do it. Watch them prepare a meal and ask to give them a hand. Not only will they most likely appreciate the help, you can learn a TON from watching others cook this way. Almost all of the basic cooking skills I have are from watching my mom make dinner for our family. She wasn’t a 5-star restaurant chef, just a mom who wanted to feed her family well. She stuck with simple ingredients and meals that she knew we would like and to this day her food gives me comfort. Being around other people who cook can help you with your own kitchen adventures, so start talking!

Don’t Be Afraid To Mess Up

If you have never really cooked before, chances are you’re going to have a few mishaps in the kitchen. That is totally fine and most home cooks will tell you they have had their fair share of whoops moments. But it’s good to have those mistakes because then you know next time what not to do. Sometimes, you’re just going to make a meal that is totally inedible. That’s ok! Don’t give up after one bad meal. Keep trying and soon you will be able to avoid most of those missteps. Although, every once and awhile you will do something silly like try to steam vegetables without any water and wonder why your pot of broccoli is smoking. I swear I have never done THAT before….

Read Recipes

I know that I am probably a little bit of a weirdo, but I read cookbooks like they are novels. Sometimes there are tips and tricks written in the description of the dish that most of us skim over. By reading the whole thing, you might learn how to better prepare the meal. Take the time to read everything that goes along with the recipe and get everything you can out of it.

Don’t be intimidated by the kitchen, no one is expecting you to be the next Iron Chef. Getting some basic techniques down like cooking grains & meat, or roasting vegetables can be enough to get you started cooking your own healthy meals. Many of the recipes that I post here on the blog are simple enough for a beginner to handle and offer a lot of wiggle room for learning. Give any one of them a try and start getting more confident with your cooking!

Eggplant Lasagna

September 12, 2014January 29, 2016 / ktbuchs87

Just fair warning, this recipe will take some time to assemble. But it is VERY worth it. While it might not be a quick weeknight meal, you can make it ahead of time and just pop it in the oven when you’re ready to eat. It’s got a lot of flavor and a great way to get in some healthy vegetables.

Eggplant Lasagna

For the “noodles”

2 medium eggplants, washed and sliced lengthwise

For the tomato sauce

1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 tsp oregano
2 tsp basil
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste

For the ricotta “cheese”

1 cup white beans, soaked and rinsed (or one can, drained and rinsed)
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp Italian seasoning

1. Slice the eggplant lengthwise into thin noodle-like slices. Lay out onto a paper towel, sprinkle with salt and cover with another paper towel. Let rest for 15 minutes. If you’re cooking your own beans, cover with water bring to a boil, and then cover and lower to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the beans are soft.

2. Preheat oven to 350, brush the salt off the eggplant and lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove and let cool.

3. In a medium saucepan, saute the onion until soft. Add in the garlic, oregano, basil, and fennel seeds. Stir to combine then add in both cans of tomatoes and tomato sauce. If you want a thinner sauce, add in the vegetable broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring the sauce to a boil then lower to a simmer for 15 minutes.

4. While the sauce is simmering, place the cooked white beans into a food processor or blender and pulse a few times. Add in the rest of the cheese ingredients and blend until smooth.

5. Now it’s time to put everything together. In a 9 x 13 casserole dish place a thin layer of the tomato sauce, then a layer of eggplant noodles, then a layer of cheese, and then a layer of tomato sauce. Keep layering until you run out of ingredients. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Let it rest uncovered for 5 minutes, then cut and serve!

Whew! I know it seems like this is a lot of work, but it is really worth it. Make this over the weekend when you have a little more time and then have delicious leftovers for lunch during the week. To save more time you can use jarred marinara sauce, just make sure to read the ingredient list. Or make a few batches of these, put them in the freezer and then pull them out when you need a quick meal. Enjoy!