Tag: Recipes

Orange Apple Fruit Smoothie Recipe

Orange Apple Fruit Smoothie Recipe

Apples are in-season in the northeast during the months of September and October. Every year we head to our local apple orchard to go apple picking as a family. It’s always a fun family event. This recipe utilizes fresh apples along with a few other 

Mango Banana Fruit Smoothie Recipe

Mango Banana Fruit Smoothie Recipe

Two of my favorite fruits are mangoes and bananas. Combine them together into a fruit smoothie and I’m all in! This Mango Banana Fruit Smoothie Recipe only uses a handful of ingredients and is easy to make! If you want to bump-up the health benefits 

Ham and Bean Soup Recipe with Home Canning Tips

Ham and Bean Soup Recipe with Home Canning Tips

Ham and Bean Soup is a classic belly-filling soup that can be made on the stove-top or in your slow cooker crockpot. I like to make a huge kettle of it on the stovetop and can it for later use. For this home canning recipe you’ll need a steam pressure canner along with your basic home canning supplies. It will make 5-6 quart-size jars. If you’re not into canning, you can let it cool to room temperature and freeze it for later use.

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Canning Tips: Get all of your canning supplies out ahead of time. Wash jars, seals and rings. Inspect all of your glass mason jars for chips and cracks. Toss any inferior jars. You can season the soup any way that you like…below is just the classic recipe. If you want to fully cook the soup (allow for 35-45 minutes of time…cool to room temperature and then freeze in freezer safe containers or eat. When it comes to canning with a steam pressure canner you don’t want to fully cook the soup. Just get it nice and hot following the instructions below.

Ham and Bean Soup Recipe with Home Canning Tips

Classic Ham and Bean Soup Recipe

3-4 cups cooked and cubed ham
8-10 cups of canned Northern Beans
4-5 large white potatoes, peeled and cubed
2-3 carrots, sliced thin
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 to 1 tsp. ground black pepper
2-3 Tbsp. parsley flakes
4 cups of ham broth or ham concentrate

GOYA Ham Flavored Concentrate Bouillion

Note: I like to use the Goya Ham Flavored Concentrate that I purchase from Amazon. Follow the instructions on the box to make 4 cups of ham broth. This has been the best ham bouillion that I’ve found so far.

Use a large stock pot for this recipe. First pour in the ham broth. Then add-in the cooked and cubed ham. Follow the recipe listed above adding in all of the ingredients that are listed. The stove burner should be set on medium to medium high. Stir the soup after each addition.

Get everything to a simmer and simmer for 8-10 minutes over medium to medium-high heat. It shouldn’t be at a full boil…just simmering hot.

Ladel the soup into your prepared mason jars. You’ll want to use glass quart-sized mason jars made for home canning. Leave a 1″ headspace at the top. Make sure you remove any air bubbles or air pockets when you’re filling up the jars. Wipe the rim with a clean cloth. Add the seal and then screw-on the metal ring until it’s fingertip tight.

If you run out of broth you can quickly make another batch of broth using a packet of the Goya Ham Flavored Concentrate. It takes less than 5 minutes to make. If you think you’ve added too much of a ham flavor you can water things down by adding hot water. Everyone has their own taste-buds!

Your pressure steam canner needs to have at least 2″ of simmering water in the bottom of it. Place the jars into the canner following the directions that came with the canner. Place the lid on top. You need to bring the pressure up to 10 lbs. Once you have reached the 10 lbs. you need to process the jars for 90 minutes. Set a timer!!! Turn off the heat and let the pressure naturally return down to 0. Once it hits 0 set a timer for 10 minutes before you remove the lid. You never want to remove the lid before that time.

Lay a dry kitchen towel out onto your counter. Carefully remove the hot jars from the canner and place onto the towel. Let them cool naturally (no drafts) until they reach room temperature. It will take a few hours. Once cool you want to check all of your seals to make sure each jar sealed. If not, place that jar into the refrigerator and eat it within 2-3 days. Label all of your jars with the contents and date that it was made. Store in a cool, dry place.

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Shelly's Signature

Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting Recipe for Cupcakes

Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting Recipe for Cupcakes

My kids love eating homemade cupcakes…especially if they’re topped with a creamy peanut butter frosting. It’s their favorite with a buttery cream cheese coming in second. This peanut butter frosting recipe is perfect to top cupcakes, a single-layer cake or a batch of chocolate brownies. 

Watermelon and Banana Fruit Smoothie Recipe

Watermelon and Banana Fruit Smoothie Recipe

My family enjoys eating watermelon year round. Matter of fact, it’s one of their top five favorite fruits to eat. When I purchase a fresh watermelon it never lasts long…they’ll eat the entire melon in less than 2-3 days! Besides eating watermelon as a snack…we 

How to Make Classic Old-Fashion Apple Dumplings

How to Make Classic Old-Fashion Apple Dumplings

We have an apple tree in our backyard. It produces a semi-tart baking apple. When I make apple dumplings I like to buy Gala apples at our local Farmer’s Market and combine them with the baking apples from our tree. I will do half and half which I think produces an excellent taste! You can use any variety of apples that you like or combine them like I do.

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When making this recipe I like to make double batches. I will let them cool and freeze some for later use. You will find my FREEZING directions and tips to do that below the recipe if you’re interested in that.

How to Make Classic Old-Fashion Apple Dumplings

Classic Homemade Apple Dumplings Recipe

Apples:

4-6 large apples

Wash, peel, core and dice. Set aside. I highly recommend that you use an Apple Corer and Slicer when doing your apples. It’s quicker, safer and you waste less! Invest in a good one and it will last you for years!!! A lot of them are dishwasher-safe, but I choose to hand wash mine and air dry.

Dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. softened butter (not margarine)
2/3 cup milk
1 tbsp. shortening

In a large mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients together in the order that they’re given. I will use a spoon and them I get in there with clean hands and work the dough until everything is combined. Set aside.

Sauce:

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. softened butter
1 cup hot tap water

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer for 3-4 minutes over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat to low or warm.

You can use a rolling pin to roll out your dough onto a dough board if desired. I use a non-stick silicone baking mat on my countertop for rolling and pressing out my dough. It makes clean-up a snap! I separate the dough into 6 mounds. I then use my hands to flatten each mound into a round circle. Saves time and clean-up. Place some of your diced apple in the center of the circle. Sprinkle a little brown sugar and ground cinnamon onto the apples and then fold the dough up around them like shown in the photo.

Spray a baking dish with non-stick baking spray. Place your apple dumplings into the baking dish. Once you have them all completed you’ll want to spoon the warm sauce over-the-top. You can sprinkle additional ground cinnamon on them if desired. Don’t have any non-stick baking spray? Like your baking dish with a non-stick silicone baking mat instead!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place baking sheet into a preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove. You can serve them warm or chilled.

Freezing: I will let mine cool to room temperature. I then wrap each one in plastic wrap and place into a freezer storage bag. I can fit 4-6 of them into a one gallon sized bag, depending on how big I make them. Purge air out of the bag, seal and label. You’ll want to lay the bag FLAT on your freezer shelf…at least until they’re frozen. You can remove one, two or all of them when you’re ready to enjoy them again.

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Shelly's Signature

Home Canning Chocolate Pudding with Recipe

Home Canning Chocolate Pudding with Recipe

Homemade chocolate pudding is one of my family’s go-to snacks. Not only do they snack on it…often times it’s the dessert to a quickly-served meal. We don’t purchase or use boxed mixes or buy those pudding snack cups. We make all of our puddings from 

Easy Homemade Guacamole Recipe

Easy Homemade Guacamole Recipe

Making homemade guacamole is a lot easier than most people think. Not only is it easy-to-make it tastes 100% better than the stuff you buy premade at your local store. Fresh…is always best! Here is the recipe that I like to use when I’m making