Peanut Butter Thumb Print Cookies

Like most families dessert is a staple in our Thanks Giving traditions and this year I decided that instead of doing the traditional pumpkin pie that will end up having all weekend that I would do a bunch of cookies instead this year. We can bring some with us when we go to our families' dinners and the left overs (if there are any) are perfect for lunches. My family really doesn't complain about having too many cookies. In fact they usually doubt I have made enough so for this post I decided to share my recipe for Peanut Butter Thumb Print  Cookies. They are awesome in the fall because the peanut butter cup centre isn't melting and getting chocolate all over little hands. They are also fun for my son to help make because he loves that we put a mini chocolate in the middle, he just loves squishing things. My recipe makes about 2 dozen but that will vary depending on the size of your cookies.

Ingredients
11/4 cups  flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening,
room temperature
2/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
11/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 dozen miniature chocolate peanut butter cups (more if you have more than 2 dozen cookies) or your choice of jam or melted chocolate.

You will also need a large mixing bowl, a wooden spoon and cookie sheets. I highly recommend using parchment paper just so that your cookies don't stick and fall apart when you try to take them off your cookie sheet.

Steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix your flour, baking soda, salt and sugar in your mixing bowl.

    2. Add in your egg and vanilla to your dry ingredients. In a separate bowl combine your peanut butter and shortening. As you can see my son was helping me make the cookies this time.



 



    3. Combine the 2 mixtures until completely combined.

 

 

    4. Roll tablespoons of the dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper 1-2 inches apart. Than if you are using the mini peanut butter cups press them into the centre of the balls. If you are using jam or melted chocolate press your thumb into the centre and fill the hole with your choice of ingredient.

    5. Bake the cookies at 325 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes or until the bottom edges of the cookies turn golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes than move to a rack to cool the rest of the way. 

 

I am not responsible for any injuries or bad batches that you come upon while following my directions it is up to you to use your own discretion at all times. Good Luck and Happy Cooking.

Easy Stove Top Apple Butter (canned)

So tis the season of apples and what a more tasty breakfast than apple butter on fresh bagels. Yum!!! So for this post I decided to dedicate to making a tasty but easy apple butter recipe on the stove, not the slow cooker. I love apples and as I have mentioned my boys (my son and my partner) do as well so they were completely on board when I suggested we make some this year. As this was our first time trying this recipe I only made a small batch but I suspect we will be making a much bigger batch in the not so distant future.
This recipe uses apple sauce but you can use fresh apples if you prefer, I posted directions for applesauce in an earlier post. Using fresh apples just takes a little while longer as you have to make them into sauce before they become butter.

Ingredients
5 cups of apple sauce (or 5 lbs of apples if preferred)
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp allspice

You will also need a large sauce pan, a wooden spoon, 6-7 sterilized caning jars and I highly recommend a wide mouth funnel and a canning set (large canning pot, jar tongs, magnetic lid grabber, etc).

Instructions

1. If you are using fresh apples make them into sauce according to my instructions in a previous post if not just put your apple sauce into your sauce pan and continue to step 2.
2. mix your water, sugar, lemon juice and seasonings in well with your sauce so they are completely combined.

3.  Bring your mixture to a boil and let simmer stirring frequently for approximately an hour or until you can scoop a little out and it stays on the spoon without running off.

4.  Scoop into warm sterilized jars and turn lids until hand tight. Boil in water up to top of the jar for 20 minutes. Remove the jars let cool

I am not responsible for any injuries or bad batches incurred while following my instructions and I recommend following USDA recommendations for canning. Good luck and happy canning!

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Hey so I am sorry about the fact that I have no pictures for this post and the last my camera has been malfunctioning but this recipe turned out way too well not to share it and thank you to Google Images for the strawberry image. Like many other people out there I have SO MUCH fruit in my freezer just sitting there because I didn't know what to do with it. So I am finally running out of room and decided I need to do something with it so why not jam? The recipe I used was originally for just strawberry jam but I didn't have enough for the full recipe so I used rhubarb to make up the volume difference.


Ingredients
5 cups strawberries (or 3 cups strawberries and 2 cups rhubarb)
7 cups sugar
1 (4oz or 57g)  package of Certo or Pectin
1 tsp margarine
4 Tbsp lemon juice

You will also need a wooden spoon, a large saucepan or pot, canning jars, and I highly recommend using other canning tools, you can buy kits that come with a variety of tools including jar tongs, a metal top grabber, a wide mouth funnel etc.

Instructions

1. First you need to mash up all of your fruit, frozen or fresh.
2. add the margarine this is the best trick I have learned so far when it comes to jam some recipes call for butter but I found margarine worked so much better. The addition of margarine or butter reduces the foam at the end that needs to be scraped off.
3. Wisk in the Certo or Pectin until there are no lumps and it is completely mixed in.
4. cook the fruit mixture over medium heat until it reaches a rolling boil (it keeps boiling even when you are stirring) stirring often continue this for 5 minutes. You can continue to let it boil if desired this will break down the fruit further but if you like chunky jam take it off after the five minutes. Sterilize your jars and keep warm while you are doing this step.
5. Add your sugar and mix it in than bring it to a rolling boil again. Let it boil for another 5 minutes than remove it from heat.
6. Let cool slightly and scrape off the foam.
7. Put your jam into jars and seal the lids of the jars until hand tight. Seal the jars by boiling the sealed jars for 20 minutes than letting them cool.

I seriously recommend following USDA guidelines for canning and I am not responsible for any injuries or bad batches incurred by following my directions. Good luck and Happy Canning.

DIY Canned Applesauce

So I have mentioned before how much my family loves apples so obviously both of my boys (my son and my partner) LOVE homemade applesauce and rather than buying it at the store where you really do not know what you are getting I decided to give it a try this year. I was really quite surprised at how easy it really is. So I decided to put it up on here for those of you who have yet to try it but want to. So here it goes.

Ingredients

• Apples
• Sugar (optional)
• water 1 1/2 - 2 cups
• Cinnamon (optional)

You will also need canning jars, a large stock pot, a long spoon and I really recommend a canning kit the little tools it comes with like the magnetic wand, the jar tongs and the wide mouth funnel are really a big help as well as the canner pot is super useful.

I did my applesauce in two batches both half a bushel in size (or I filled one large stockpot a little higher than the top of the pot). For the first batch I used 2 heaping teaspoons of cinnamon and 2 heaping cups of sugar but the amount of this really depends on your preference. Just remember that you can always add more but you cannot take it out afterwards. The second batch I did unsweetened so I did not add any sugar or cinnamon.

Instructions

1. To start you need to peel and chop your apples. The size of the slices does not matter very much as long as you will be able to stir, you can soak them in water with some lemon juice so they don't go brown as your working on them if you prefer.
2. When your apples are peeled and chopped put them in your stock pot (without the lemon water if you chose to soak them in it). Than add your water so that your apples don't burn, I learned the hard way that they burn easily.
3. Cook your apples on medium heat stirring often until they are soft enough to mash with a fork, the time it takes to do this depends on the ripeness and type of apples you are using, I used a blend of Silken, Macintosh and Green Apples and they turned out really well. It took me about 2 hrs. While your apples are cooking you should sterilize your jars and tops there are a few options for this, some people have a sterilize setting on their dishwasher even the method you use is up to you really but keep them hot for the canning process. 
4. Once your apples are cooked you have a few options, 1) there are many tools out there to help with smashing your apples that can be both expensive and rarely used; 2) there is a food processor and 3) you can simply use a potato masher or a fork. I used a potato masher and mine turned out just fine.
5. Once mashed you can either put your apples back into the pot and add your extras like sugar or cinnamon and mix it in well so there are no chunks or you can simply add your applesauce to your hot jars and remove any and all bubbles from the applesauce using a fork. Bubbles will upset the setting process with your applesauce. When the bubbles are gone tighten the jars as tight as you can by hand.
6. To seal your jars put them in a pot of hot water up to the top of the jar and boil them for 20 minutes and remove them. If the tops are not popped do not worry they will pop as they cool down. Congratulations you have just canned applesauce.

Good Luck and Happy Canning!

I highly recommend that you follow USDA guidelines for canning to keep yourself and your canning in good standing and so that your canning is not ruined after all that hard work. I am not responsible for any injuries or bad batches attained while following my instructions your own caution should always be used when cooking.

Apple Crisp

   
     First off let me start by saying I absolutely love fall... despite my allergies. But fall brings my favourite fruits and my favourite veggie. Apples, Watermelon and Pumpkin. We go through a lot of apples in my house and one of the favourite desserts by far is apple crisp. There are many recipes out there and while I personally prefer a different one this one is my little boy's all time favourite so it is usually the one I make.

Ingredients:                                  

 

• 6 cups apples peeled and chopped (6-12 apples depending on the size, any type of apples work)
• 6 tbsp. butter OR margarine
• 3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour

You will also need an 8" x 8" pan, a bowl, knife and a spoon.

 To start you peel and chop your apples you will notice my pieces are quite small but the size of the pieces are really up to you. Mine are small so they are easier for my toddler to handle but it really is personal prefrence. Put the apple pieces evenly spread across the bottom of your pan.

 Next combine your dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl melt your margarine or butter. combine the two until crumbly and spread over apples.

 

Bake at 350 degrees fro approximately half an hour or until the apples are soft and it is nice a bubbly

 

 

 

As a disclaimer I am not responsible for any injuries or burned meals sustained from my instructions, different ovens produce different results and not every outcome will look the same.

 

Making Lasagna

Hey there
I have noticed that people are extremely surprised when I tell them I can make lasagna. It is probably one of the easiest things I make on a regular basis and almost everyone likes it... go figure. So I decided that one of my first segments should be a how to for lasagna. I am making the instructions very simple for those of us who are not as cooking inclined as others. 

Ingredients

• 1lbs (pound) ground beef
• 1-2 cans/jar/bottle of spaghetti sauce (depending on size and preference)
• cheese (grated preferably)
• OVEN READY lasagna noodles 1 box
• (optional) summer sausage, spinach, onion, celery, garlic, etc.

You will also need a large frying pan, a flipper or spoon, a casserole dish, a cheese grater and possibly a knife depending on the optional ingredients you like.

So to start you should defrost your ground beef. When it is defrosted you should than put it in your frying pan on medium heat and cook it thoroughly. For those of you who don't know what fully cooked ground beef looks like see the picture below.



 You than should drain the excess grease from your ground beef (the leaner the ground beef the less grease there is). Add your sauce and heat it up until it bubbles. You may notice that your sauce does look different than mine and that's because I do make my own sauce, you do not have to any sauce that you like will work. Also as for how much sauce you add is up to your preference just remember that the sauce does need to cover your entire pan multiple times. Also at this time you can add optional seasonings like celery or onions but not the larger items like summer sausage or spinach.

 

Once your sauce mixture is hot spread a very thin layer over the bottom of your dish like below. This layer is just to protect your bottom noodles from burning.

 Than make a 1 noodle high layer over the sauce.

 The next layer is a thicker layer of the sauce mixture this layer will make the noodles soften so it is thicker than the previous covering.

After this layer you can add your optional toppings. Below you will see that this time I did spinach but I have also done many other combinations that have turned out well.

 You than add your cheese. They type and amount is completely up to you though this time I only used a small amount and it turned out well but I have also used much larger amounts that were good too. In the picture below I used marble brick cheese and some parmesan cheese but I have also used cottage cheese or mozzarella or cheddar cheese and they have all worked out well for me.

 After this step you repeat the layering until you reach the top of your dish or run out of ingredients. As long as you end with a cheese layer your noodles should be fine although if there isn't enough sauce on the top layer the outside may be a little crunchy still.

 You than bake it at 375 degrees F (Fahrenheit) for 45 minutes to an hour depending on your oven.



As A disclaimer I am not responsible for anyone injured or any meals burned based on my instructions. You are required to use your own caution and discretion while cooking anything and every person and every oven is different therefore settings, recipes and cook times may be different.

Hey there.
       I'm Jess. I'm a mom, a student and I am amazed at the things people of today don't know how to do but should. So I created this blog to make it easy to do some of the things that seem daunting at first glance but are actually quite fun and rewarding once you know how to do them. I will be posting anything from recipes, to tips on canning and "how to" segments as well as whatever you want to know about that I can help you with.
     Like many university students I am also addicted to Pinterest so I do get some of my inspiration from that website. Overall I am just a mom who like most wants to save money and take care of my family. By doing a lot of the things I will post about I can do both of those effectively. Sure, some things do take a little more time but they are so much better than all of the junk you can get if you aren't careful.
      Thanks Jess