Menu Plan 11/11/12 thru 11/17/12

Well, after taking a look at the amount we have spent on groceries this past month I have come to the conclusion that it is time for me to begin menu planning again.  Things have been hectic lately, but I can no longer use that as an excuse.   Here's our plan for the upcoming week:

Sun. - Pork loin, rice, gravy, steamed broccoli, sourdough bread

Mon. - Leftover Rice and Chili from the freezer, tortilla chips

Tues. - Meatloaf, peas, squash, sweet potatoes, turnip greens, cornbread

Wed. - Leftovers or soup made from leftovers :-)

Thurs. - Chicken Enchiladas, Salad

Fri. - Soup (Taco & Potato), cornbread and sourdough bread

Sat. - Leftovers


Breakfast - crockpot oatmeal, biscuits w/turkey sausage, cold cereal, yogurt, smoothies, fruit, pancakes

Lunch - leftovers, sandwiches, fruit w/cheese & crackers,  soup

Snacks - popcorn, fruit, cheese/crackers, yogurt


As always our menu plan is subject to change.  Hopefully, I will be able to stay on track and "shop" our freezer and pantry for a couple of weeks which will really help get our grocery budget back on track.

Have a great week!

Strange, but it Works!

As I have mentioned in previous posts, my family and I have had quite a few unexpected (and unprepared for) things going on over the last year or so.  As a result, our finances have become even tighter than usual.  AND as often happens, when things get tight, it seems like one thing after the other comes up that requires a cash outlay.  Well, we are in the midst of the one thing after the other cycle at the moment.  One of the "things" is the central unit in our home has gone out.  I had the "air conditioner repair guy" out this past week to check it out and it will take close to $600 to replace the part that needs to be replaced, which is totally out of the question for us at this time.   As a result, we have been trying to find ways to reduce the amount of heat we are generating in our home.  Some of the things we have been doing are: hanging all laundry outside (which we usually do anyway), using the crockpot more, have more cool/cold meals, keep lights off, and not using the stove except when absolutely necessary and then only in the early morning.

Today, my youngest son and I took aluminum foil and covered the windows on the back of our house and two of the windows that get a lot of sun on the front of our house.  I know that sounds strange and is probably not something most people would consider, but it really doesn't look as bad as it sounds and it immediately lowered the temp a few degrees. Since we live in a mobile home, located in a sunny location in the south,  I think, that the appearance of aluminum foil on the windows is definitely something I can live with until we can get our unit replaced.  Hopefully, that will happen sooner, rather than later ;-)

Since I have not been feeling well the last several days, and am having a few "hysterectomy related" issues I am not going to attempt a menu plan as such, for the week.  We will most likely be having quite a few salads (pasta, potato, lettuce), sandwiches (pulled pork, chicken salad, ham, turkey, etc) on a variety of breads (homemade, hoagie rolls, hamburger buns, etc.), grilled meats and veggies, crockpot potato wedges, and fruit and veggie trays.

Hopefully, I will begin to feel better soon and can step things up a bit around here.  There are soooo many things that need attention in the VERY near future.

Hope ya'll have a great week!

Satisfying Saturday and Sewing Projects

Saturday was a very satisfying and productive day for us here at home.  My oldest son left on a motorcycle trip to North Carolina to ride the "Tail of the Dragon."   He pulled out about 5:30 a.m. so of course I got up to see him off.  After he left I went back to sleep for a little while and then got up to officially start the day.  

We were able to get most of the yard work done and I was also able to do the sewing I've been trying to get done.  I made two dresses for the girls (one each) and also some diaper inserts to be used with Ellen and also the new baby when it arrives.   

The diaper inserts are made from an old towel cut to the correct size and doubled.  I also made some from and old micro-fiber dish towel that I had.  The new inserts are working just as well as the ones we purchased when Amanda was pregnant with Rachel and they were free.  It doesn't get any better than that. 

I am planning to use some older receiving blankets to make a few more diapers for Amanda as well, since many of the cloth diapers she got with Rachel are getting very threadbare.   We will probably purchase a couple of new "bum genius" diaper covers, but I think that the receiving blankets, coupled with the inserts should work very well and eliminate the need to purchase more cloth diapers.  

I thought I would share a picture of Rachel in the dress I made for her.

Notice the matching flip flops.  That was a total coincidence, but they looked really cute with the dress :)

Our Thursday

Thursday is payday for my husband, so that is typically my "town day" if all goes according to plan.  Yesterday started off as usual with milking, clean-up, quiet/Bible time with coffee on the porch, etc.  

After the morning chores and quiet time were complete I went over to help my daughter "bug bomb" her trailer.  She has been having lots of ants and spiders recently and it seems that no amount of cleaning can get rid of them, so it was time to get aggressive :).   We covered what needed to be covered, packed the girls things for the day, and got busy. 

After bombing the house she had to be out of it for four hours, sooo, since sweet Ferrell volunteered to babysit, we decided to go on to town as usual for groceries and a few other errands.    One of our stops was the local produce house where I was glad to purchase a bushel of butterbeans, some squash and a few tomatoes.  I have been literally CRAVING a good tomato sandwich.  I bought tomatoes there last week and they were really good, so I decided I had to have some more.  I think I could survive the whole summer eating nothing but tomato sandwiches.

By the time we got home from town it was time to start airing out Amanda's trailer and get it cleaned up.  We spent most of the afternoon washing bedding, couch covers, mopping floors, washing counter tops, tables, bookshelves, toys, re-washing dishes, towels, and anything that those babies could crawl on, touch, or put into their mouths.   It took several hours to get it all done, but she now has a very clean, hopefully, bug free home. 

After we got her trailer cleaned, I went ahead and canned the butterbeans, because I knew that I had several other things I want to work on today.  I ended up with seven quarts of butterbeans canned and I froze two quarts for my mother.  She doesn't liked canned vegetables, because they don't taste as close to fresh.  She's right, of course, she usually is, but I don't have enough freezer space this year, so I will be canning and dehydrating most of our produce when it's possible. 

Since, I do have a lot to do today I guess I better hop to it.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Clean out the Refrigerator Mexican Casserole

Usually when I plan our menu for the week I make sure there is enough for us to have leftovers for lunch and quite often I make enough to freeze for another meal.  Since last weeks menu plan sort of got "tossed" and this week I didn't make a menu plan we have had a "hodge podge" assortment of meals.  Last night is an example.

As supper time approached I was trying to decide what to make for my family.  I found myself doing what I frequently fuss at my children for doing and that was standing in front of the refrigerator with the door open while I blankly stare at the contents.   I finally decided that I had enough leftovers to make a casserole.   I did and it was delicious.  So here's the recipe.

Since I was using leftovers I didn't measure, but am listing an approximate amount of each item.

Clean out the Refrigerator Mexican Casserole

3 cups cooked rice
1 cup corn (with liquid)
1 pound ground deer meat (browned) (you could use beef or chicken)
Salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, (really any spices that you like)
3 cups give or take gluten free picante sauce

I put all of this into a casserole dish and mixed it with enough picante sauce to make it as "liquidy" as I wanted.    Bake at 350 degrees until everything is heated through.

If I didn't have dairy free family members I would have topped this with cheese before baking, but instead those of us that eat cheese added grated cheddar to our serving.   We also had leftover baked beans and chips with homemade salsa.  

My refrigerator is now clean and we had a tasty (if somewhat strange), frugal meal as a result. 

An Unusual Toy

Years ago when my children were young my Dad had to replace a culvert in one of  the creeks on his place.  He bought a large plastic culvert and cut it to fit the area where it was needed.   After cutting it to the desired length there was a four foot section left.  Daddy gave that to my children to play with and I have to say that piece of culvert has been the most played with and unusual "toy" my children ever had. 

When they were little they would play inside of it by crawling and making it roll.  As they got older they would walk on top of it and roll it around the yard.  They have crawled through it as a tunnel on a homemade obstacle course and turned it up on end when playing hide and seek.  The possibilities for play were limited only by their imaginations.

Yesterday, my youngest son Ferrell, took the time to clean that old section of culvert and brought it to the front yard for Rachel and Ellen to play with.  It brought back so many memories to see them crawling through that "tunnel".  I can honestly say that scrap piece of culvert has been the most loved play thing my children ever had.

Lists

I'm sure that most of you have figured out by now that I'm one of those people that does not function well without a list to keep me organized.  I make lists for just about everything.  I have lists for cleaning, shopping, cooking, gardening, homeschooling, band records, you name it and I've probably got a list for it.  

Making lists helps me to stay on track and organized.  There are so many distractions throughout the average day that making a list helps me to prioritize.  Even if I don't complete everything on my list for the week I at least know what needs to be done and where I need to focus my energies first. 

For me, lists are an essential tool.  So here's my TO DO list for this week. Thankfully I have quite a bit of it done already.

Make broth and jello for Caleb (that's all he can eat the day before his colonoscopy)


Make yogurt & kefir 

Make cinnamon rolls for the freezer (gluten free & non-gluten free)

Make poultry stock (I have both chicken and turkey carcasses)

Cook ham bone for ham broth

Make bread for Caleb

Make basic soap for laundry detergent

Make laundry detergent

Clean my desk (It is continously piling up.)

Review several subjects with Ferrell

Sew up two nursing capes for a friend

Place order to food co-op

Pick up order from food co-op (about 1 1/2 hours away)

Regular household chores (laundry, cooking, straightening, bathrooms, sweeping & mopping)

Work on goat pasture fence

Make some freezer meals for my parents

Garden and yard work

Clean off front porch (Again!)

Weekend Cooking

Amanda and I spent most of this past Saturday cooking for her freezer.  She has been having a good bit of "morning sickness" with this pregnancy with the exception that it's been in the evening instead of the morning.  I only had "evening sickness" with one of my children  and I thought it was so much worse than morning sickness.  The reason being, with morning sickness, when I was finally able to be up and moving I was good for the rest of the day.  With evening sickness I would start feeling bad around 4:00 in the afternoon and it would get worse until bedtime.   Amanda's "evening sickness" seems to be working the same way that mine did. 

Having great sympathy for any pregnant woman dealing with "morning or evening" sickness I decided that I would help Amanda get a good supply of meals in the freezer that would eliminate the need for her to spend much time in the kitchen.  (At least until the sickness passes (hopefully).  With Ellen the morning sickness  lasted the whole pregnancy). 

We made nineteen meals (or parts of meals) for her freezer and did several individual size containers for the girls.  That gives her something quick and easy, besides sandwiches for their lunches. 

Some of the things we made are sphagetti sauce, hamburger steak w/gravy, turkey rice soup, potato soup, hamburgers, precooked meat for stir fry, ground meat for casseroles, pancakes and applesauce muffins.  Most of the things we cooked were meats that needed to be cooked on top of the stove instead of the oven.  Those are the things that seem to bother her the most right now.  Amanda has a wonderful vegetable steamer/rice cooker that she uses a lot for side dishes which is really nice since they don't require her to stand over them while they are cooking.   

This week I am planning to make some banana muffins, broccoli rice casserole, freezer mashed potatoes, baked ham and turkey for the freezer.  That should give her a good supply of quick and easy meals to get her through the worst of the morning sickness.  After that we will begin working on meals she can have in the freezer for after the baby comes. 

If you haven't started keeping pre-cooked meals (or parts of meals) in the freezer I highly recommend it.  It is such a blessing to not always have to start from scratch after a busy day.  It also helps the family budget, because by having meals in the freezer it isn't as tempting to eat out after a tiring day.

I would love to hear some of the meals that you cook for the freezer.

Beans

I know that there are a lot of people that have an allergy to beans, but "so far" that is not an issue for our family.  We love beans and eat a lot of them around here, so I thought I would share some of our favorite ways to eat them.

To start with I usually keep several quart bags of already cooked  and seasoned beans in the freezer to use in various recipes.   To cook the beans for the freezer I rinse them and then soak them overnight in water and kefir (or lemon juice, vinegar, whey, etc.) using 1 tablespoon of kefir per cup of water used for soaking.  After soaking I rinse the beans again and put in a stockpot with enough water to cover the beans.  I add chopped onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and any other seasoning that sounds good at the time.  I cook them until the beans are tender.  After cooling, bagging and freezing the beans they are ready to use in a variety of ways.

Some of the recipes I use beans in are:

Chicken, Rice, and Bean Casserole
Beans & Rice
Bean Dip
Burritos
Soup
Beans and Cornbread
Crockpot Baked Beans
Taco Salad
Stir Fry
Eggs, Rice & Beans

Beans are very economical and a really good choice for those on a tight budget.   Below are a couple of recipes that we like using beans.  Hope you enjoy!

BEAN DIP

I simply take a bag of precooked beans from the freezer and thaw.   I then take my stick blender and blend the beans until smooth.   At this point you can add different things to the beans before eating (cheese, salsa, sour cream, etc.).   The beans can be eaten with chips or spread on soft tortillas for a bean burrito.  

CHICKEN, RICE, and BEAN CASSEROLE

Amounts will vary depending on the size of your family.  This is what I used.

4 cups cooked rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup chopped chicken
2 cups cooked beans (drained)
milk (as needed)
Mozzarella cheese
salt & pepper to taste

I use leftover rice from the freezer, thaw and mix with chicken broth (you can use more or less), chicken, and beans.  Stir together and if too thick add milk (or more broth) to give a "juicy" texture to finished casserole.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Place in casserole dish and cover with mozzarella cheese (or whatever cheese you have on hand).   Bake at 350 degrees until casserole is hot and cheese is melted. 


*I usually mix several types of beans (pinto, red, kidney, and northern) together when cooking for the freezer.

Daybed Makeover

Cleaning and rearranging seems to be the story of my life lately.  I have spent a big portion of the past few weeks working on "finding" more space in my home and this weekend we began working on "finding" more space in Amanda's home.  That is especially important in light of the fact that she is about to make me a grandmother again. 

Amanda has decided that, with a new baby on the way, now would be a good time to start transitioning the girls into a new bedroom and sleeping arrangement.  We had a daybed in our barn loft that had been Amanda's before she married.  We decided that it would make a good bed for Rachel, so Saturday morning Ferrell climbed into the loft and got the bed down for us and we spent most of the day sanding and painting it for Rachel.  

Amanda let Rachel choose the paint for her "NEW" bed and of course being the "girly girl" that she is, Rachel chose PINK.   Below are a few before, during, and after pictures of the daybed's makeover.

If you look closely you can see where a large portion of the white paint has chipped off. 
Also the gold knobs were very faded and dull.

After sanding the flaking paint off, it was time to begin painting.

The finished project.



A happy little girl!



Surprises

I mentioned in yesterday's post that Amanda and I cleaned and defrosted our chest freezer on Friday.  When we did that we found several surprises.  One of those surprises was SEVEN gallons of frozen blueberries!  I knew that I had some blueberries out there, but I had NO idea it was that many.   Since our freezer is a chest type it's very easy for things to get shifted to the bottom and forgotten about (although, in my opinion, seven gallons of blueberries is a LOT to forget about).  I guess I must have been busy at the time we picked them and just put them in the freezer to use later and forgot.  Oh well, we are excited about finding such a pleasant surprise. 

Sooo, in addition to making plum jelly with the remaining two bags of plums we found, I will also be making blueberry jam, blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes, blueberry syrup, you get the picture, right?   Time to get to work!  Hope ya'll have a great day!

Plums, Plums and More Plums

This past summer a dear friend of ours asked if I would be interested in picking plums from the trees in their backyard.  Of course the opportunity for "free food" was too good to pass up, so Ferrell and I went two days and picked plums.  I didn't really keep track of how many plums we picked, but it was A LOT.  

At the time I had several things going on here at home so all I did was cook out the juice and put it in the freezer with plans to make jelly during the winter.  Well, I've just gotten around to using those plums during the last month or so and have been making plum butter, plum jelly and plum "leather."  Yesterday was spent making more jelly.  Doesn't it look good?

Oh, and those dear friends I mentioned?  They brought me four MORE gallons of plums that they had frozen this past summer and decided they didn't want to "fool with".   Needless to say I will be making more plum butter, plum jelly and plum leather in the very near future. 

I am so thankful for God's abundance!

Thrifty Toddler Skirt

Recently Amanda has been taking inventory of the girls clothes to see what is and is not needed for the summer.  She discovered that Ellen has an abundance of everything (due to being the one receiving hand-me-downs from big sister :), but Rachel still needs a few things.  One of the things she needs is skirts for the summer.  Amanda is in the process of potty training Rachel and skirts seem to be much easier than shorts or pants for this task. 

We decided that we would look through what she had and see how it could be adapted for summer wear.  Now understand, I do not claim to be a seamstress in any form or fashion, but I can usually come up with ideas that at least make suitable play clothes.   Here's is a picture of one of our weekend projects. 

Pair of Rachel's bluejeans that were too short.  I've already cut them off and ripped the seam out.

Another photo showing where the seams were ripped out.

Picture of the finished skirt being worn by a toddler that did NOT want her picture taken :)

After cutting off the jeans and ripping the seams out.  I found an old t-shirt that matched the green leaves in the flowers on the sides of the pants.  I laid the jeans down on the t-shirt and cut two triangle shaped pieces that would fit into the space between the legs of the pants.  After that I just sewed it in and it's done!  Extremely easy!

All in all I was pleased with how it turned out and Rachel loved it.  She wore that skirt all afternoon and showed everyone she saw what her "RoRo" made.  I found the idea for this while browsing the internet and also found several other ideas for "making over" other things for the summer.  If they turn out okay I'll be sharing more pictures.

Fried Dandelions

Since Spring is almost here, I thought I would share a "different" kind of recipe with you.  Last year was my first time to try these and I was pleasantly surprised by how good they were.   Dandelions are very good for you.  If you research them you will find that they are high in Vitamin C and also good for other things like the liver.  Anyway, we seem to have a natural abundance of them around here and so rather than kill them, I decided to put them to good use.  The first year I made Dandelion syrup which was very good.  It tasted a lot like honey, but it didn't last long before it became granulated, so instead of syrup I decided to make Fried Dandelion Blossoms last year.

RECIPE

Step one:  Go into your yard (or your neighbors if they don't mind :) and gather as many Dandelion blossoms as you think your family will eat.  You are looking for the yellow flowers, not the white puff balls :)

Step two:  Rinse them in cool water.  Handle them gently and don't let them stay in the water very long, because they will start to close on you and you need them to be open.

Step three:  Lay them on paper towels and gently pat dry and begin heating your oil for frying.

Step Four:  Lightly batter them just like you would okra, squash, or green tomatoes.  Since my son is gluten free I use cornstarch and salt & pepper.  If putting them in a milk & egg mix before coating remember to handle gently.

Step Five:  Fry them until they are golden brown, remove from heat, and drain on a paper towel. 

Step Six:  Eat and enjoy!

My children were very skeptical about this and thought I was crazy for feeding them "grass", but I persuaded each one of them to give it a try.  Everyone of my children (even the most skeptical) ate several of them and actually thought they were good.  The taste really isn't that much different from fried okra.   If you use older, bigger blossoms there may be a slight hint of bitterness, but I really didn't notice it much and probably wouldn't have noticed it at all if I were not really paying attention to every detail so that I could argue (I mean persuade ;) my children into trying them.  They did not seem to notice any bitterness at all.

There are other ways that you can enjoy Dandelions this spring.  In addition to frying the blossoms you can also eat them raw in a salad.  The greens (when picked young and tender) are also good in a salad or cooked as you would turnip greens.  (The older leaves will be bitter.)   Look them up on the internet and you will find all kinds of interesting recipes and nutritional information.  Hope you get the opportunity to give Dandelions a try at your house this spring.  I definitely plan to.

Wonderfully Busy Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend here at home.  At least, I did anyway :)  Caleb and Murry both had to work so I'm not sure how wonderful their weekend was, but mine was great. 

Saturday was very, very busy, but busy doesn't necessarily mean bad.  This Saturday, busy was good, very, very, good.  I spent most of the day putting up plum butter and plum jelly from plums that I had picked in the summer and frozen.   My mother also gave me a ham so I sliced it and now have several bags of ham in my freezer.  In addtion to the plums and the ham, I washed  and line dryed five loads of laundry, milked goats (and fed baby goats) for my neighbor, ran a couple of errands, made preparations for Sundays lunch and supper, played with my grandaughters (always a priority) and went over garden plans with Caleb when he got home from work.  That kind of busy I take delight in! 

Sunday was quite uneventful, which is also delightful.  We went to church as usual and thanks to my wonderful programmable rice cooker/steamer, lunch was ready when we got home.   After lunch I sat on my porch with the laptop for awhile and then read for awhile.  Of course I'm sure you already know that I also had to squeeze in a Sunday afternoon nap :).  By the time I woke from my nap it was time to get ready for evening services.  We had two wonderful services yesterday and I feel "fired up and ready" for a new week.

Today's plan is to put up more plum jelly and plum butter, make some breakfast foods for the freezer, go over a few school items with Ferrell, and possibly move the chicken tractor again.  It's starting to look a little stormy here so I guess I better go check on the critters before it starts raining.  Hope ya'll have a great week!

I Couldn't Stand It Any Longer!

With all of this beautiful weather we've been having I have had a case of Spring Fever like you wouldn't believe.  I have been outside almost everyday working in the yard, moving the chicken tractor, cleaning in the barn, clearing out some of the raised beds, and cleaning and rearranging things on our front porch.  Anything that would keep me outside.   

Well, even with all of that, I have been "itching" to plant something.  I have held off due to not knowing if we would have another REALLY cold snap come through.  Yesterday I couldn't stand it any longer.  I went ahead and planted a few things.  Not many, but enough that I was able to get my hands in the dirt for a little while.  I planted a few cabbage plants, spinach plants, kale plants and basil (seeds).    I am so looking forward to gardening this year and am hoping to expand my garden quite a bit.  I love watching things grow and being able to grow things that will benefit my family is such as blessing.     Yep, I think I'm ready for SPRING!

Quick and Easy Lunch Ideas

Thought I would share some of the quick and easy lunches that we have around here.  Most of the time it's only me and Ferrell here for lunch, but some of these pack well for the other guys to brown bag it.

Pasta salad  (pasta cooks up quick and we
                    usually have raw or lightly steamed
                    veggies in the fridge to add with
                    just a little Italian Dressing for a
                   quick and filling lunch)

Soup  (either leftovers from the previous night or
           one of the single serving containers that
            I keep in the freezer)

Sandwiches (we usually have some sort of lunch
                   meat in the fridge.  If not there is
                   usually some cooked and shredded roast,
                   chicken or turkey to mix with mayo, pickles,
                   boiled eggs, etc. to make a delicious
                   sandwich)

Muffins (I usually have some type of muffin or homemade
              bread baked and in the freezer)

Fruit or fruit smoothies

Scrambled eggs and toast  (Around here eggs aren't just for breakfast)

Cooked and seasoned beans from the
freezer (heated and run through the blender and
            served with sour cream, cheese, salsa and
             tortilla chips)

Leftovers from the previous nights supper

I guess that Sundays are the only day that we make lunch our "main meal" of the day.  For the rest of the week everyone is eating lunch in different places and at different times.  Having things that can be prepared quickly and easily is a big help for the guys that carry their lunches, but also for me and Ferrell since neither of us have to get "off task" for very long.  This is what works for us.  I would love to hear what you do for lunch at home.

Crockpot Chicken Pie

I had never made Chicken Pie in the crockpot until recently, but I knew there had to be a way.   This is what I did and it turned out great.

Crockpot Chicken Pie

If you spray the the crock of your crockpot before adding ingredients it should help with clean up later.

Chicken    (I chopped up a couple of uncooked chicken
                 breasts into small pieces, but you could use
                 turkey, beef, or whatever you have on hand). 

Vegetables (chopped) ( I used potatoes, carrots, onion,
                  and garlic, but you could use corn,
                  green beans, peas, etc.)

Seasonings - (I used salt, pepper, celery salt, and
                       onion powder)

1 can of cream of chicken soup (I used my homemade cream of turkey soup)

Milk ( I didn't measure, but it was probably about a cup of milk.)

Put all of this into the crockpot and cover with biscuit topping.

2 cups of gluten free baking mix
1 stick butter (melted)
Add milk until it reaches spreadable consistency. 

I cooked this for about six hours on low.  We usually eat our chicken pie over rice, but next time I will probably skip the rice and serve it with a salad for a complete meal. 

It was really good and so easy and by using the vegetables and meat I already had on hand it was very inexpensive.

Homemade Baked Beans

These beans are delicious and since I already have all of the ingredients on hand it's inexpensive for me to make.  I like to keep some in the freezer for a quick and easy side dish that's good with just about anything.

(I got this recipe from About.com Southern Food and adapt it as needed to the ingredients I have on hand)


Homemade Baked Beans

3 cups of dried white navy beans, soaked and simmered until tender (I also used mixed beans on occasion)
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup molasses
1 large onion chopped
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon salt
6 slices of uncooked salt pork or bacon, diced
1 cup brown sugar

Place all ingredients in slow cooker; cover and cook for 8-10 hours on low.  Stir a few times if possible.

(If you use gluten free bacon and ketchup then this also makes a delicious gluten free side dish)

Applesauce Muffins

I thought I would share one of my families favorite muffin recipes.

Applesauce Muffins

1 cup softened butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 (16 oz) can applesauce (You can use homemade)
2 tsp. soda
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. ground allspice

Cream sugar and butter; add eggs and vanilla.  Beat well.  Sift flour, cinnamon and allspice together.  Heat applesauce; remove from heat and add soda.  Add applesauce and flour alternately to butter and sugar, mixing well after each addition.  Place batter in greased muffin pans and bake for 15-20 minutes in 350 degree preheated oven.  When done, roll in powdered sugar.  This batter will keep in the refrigerator several days.  Makes 7 dozen miniature muffins.


This recipe is easily adapted to gluten free.  I haven't made it without eggs or using egg substitutes, but I do make it using the gluten free flour blend that I make.  My family cannot tell any difference between the muffins using the gluten free flour and the ones using "regular" flour.  I don't roll my muffins in the powdered sugar either.  Some of my children like them with the powdered sugar, but I don't like the fact that they get a little sticky with the sugar on them.    I usually end up with 24 miniature muffins, 12 regular muffins and one small loaf of bread from this recipe.   This is all that's left from the ones I baked yesterday!

Applesauce Muffins