Applesauce

Yes, it's another apple recipe.

And another crock pot recipe.

But it's super fun and easy.

Homemade applesauce in the crock pot. 

So, on Friday, I went to the school 

to help make applesauce. 

I have never done this, so I 

had no idea what to expect.

I walked in, and the whole room smelled

like apple pie.  I was excited!

 There were 2 crock pots full of apples.

My job was to help the kids turn 

them into applesauce.

So, I did my job, and I couldn't

wait to get home so I could make 

my own applesauce for my family!!

I had bought some apples last week

and they didn't get eaten as fast as I 

would like.  So, I thought this would be 

the perfect thing to do with them.

I took all that I had and washed them 

and quartered them.

I had 3 different kinds here.

I don't think it matters.

I sprayed my pot with non stick spray.

And threw all the apples into the crock pot 

seeds, stems, peels and all!!

Set on high.

It wasn't until after I had rushed home

and quickly done all this that I thought - 

this would have been a really fun 

thing to do with the kids!!

So, I made sure they were home to 

help me with the rest of it.

This is after 2 hours.

Smelling good already.

2 more hours (4 total)

done

I borrowed this from Mo's teacher.

I think it's a food mill.

I think you could also use a potato ricer

or something like that if you have one.

Basically, you fill this thing up

and squish all the good stuff through

the little holes with the wooden thing.

And all the stuff you don't want stays inside.

You'll need a helper.

Mo was my helper.

This is the part that I helped the kids at school with.

They each got to come and turn the handle

around a few times to squish the apples out.

See it squishing out?

It didn't make a whole lot.

My crock was almost half full of 

apples when I started, and

I only got a small bowl of sauce.

This is what's left in the food mill.

Seeds, stems, peels and cores.

Let's just throw this in the trash.

Here's a tiny cup of applesauce.

Here's Kailey and Mo enjoying their applesauce.

It all disappeared in about 5 minutes!!

Remember - there's only apples in this!!

No water, sugar or juice added.

*

Here's the recipe:

Easy Crock Pot Applesauce

apples

Take whatever apples you have.  (They can 

be different varieties). Wash and 

quarter them and put them in your crock pot.

Set on high for 4-6 hours.  

Pass through a food mill.  

Let them cool and enjoy :)

 

Crock Pot Apple Dessert

It's the season for apples.

And apple pie,

and apple crumble,

and apple strudel,

and baked apples,

and apple brown betty,

and every other kind of yummy apple dessert :)

I found an apple dessert for the 

crock pot that I wanted to try.

Aren't these pretty?!?
 

Apples and butter and sugar.

You can't really go wrong.

First, I sliced up about 6 medium

granny smith apples.

Then I melted some butter and added flour,

brown sugar, cinnamon, regular sugar

and a little ground ginger and nutmeg.

I mixed it up good.

This seemed really thick.  I expected it to 

be a little runnier because the recipe said to 

pour this on top of the apples.

But, instead, I had to spoon it on.

I set it on low for about 4 1/2 hours.

And this is what I got.

The top was cooked and a little crusty.

And absolutely delicious!!

We put vanilla ice cream on top and 

ate a whole bunch.

The apples were a little too soft.  

Next time (there will be a next time for this one),

I will add 3 or 4 more apples and cut them

in bigger chunks so they won't be as mushy.

Here's the recipe:

Crock Pot Apple Crisp

  4-5 cups apples, sliced

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup regular sugar

3 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger (optional)

1/4 tsp. nutmeg (optional)

3/4 cup butter 

Grease crock pot.  Line with apples.  Melt butter.

In medium bowl, combine melted butter with all remaining 

ingredients.  Pour over apples.  Cook on low 4-6 hours.

Chicken Curry

This is a recipe I got off of the Crock Pot Girls website.

My friend Kelly has made this 3 times and 

loves it, so I thought I would give it a try.

Here's what I learned about this recipe:

To make a dish with curry - you have to really like curry!

And I wasn't sure about it, but here you go...

 

I didn't have everything the recipe called for,

so I just made it with what I had.

But, I had to tweak it a bit at then end.

I'll see my friend Kelly tomorrow

and then I can ask her how she does it.

 

 This is what I started with.

Recipe said to use a ton of vegetables - 

whatever you have.  Well, this was

all I had.  If I had a green or red pepper,

and a zucchini, I would have used that too.

I had really big chicken breasts, 

so I cut them into big chunks and put

them in the crock pot.

Then I cut up the vegetables that I had.

I used some dried onion for flavor.

I don't like chunks of onions, but I love the flavor.

I dumped in the spices too.

Lots of cumin and curry.

The recipe called for tumeric, but I don't

know what that is and I didn't have any.

I saw it at the store, but I didn't want to pay 

$4 for it when I only needed like a teaspoon of it.

Then I poured a can of coconut milk in.

This really scared me!!! 

I have never used this before, and it

looked all milky and soupy and weird.

Then I added a cup of chicken broth

and a can of diced tomatoes.

Mixed it up and let it cook on low for 6 hours.

It smelled good.  It smelled like curry and milk.

It was very soupy.  I think I could have done

without the chicken broth.  I had to put 

a little cornstarch in to thicken it up.

I took the chicken out and shredded it.

Then put it back in the pot.

It was a little thicker now.

I served it with some jasmine rice.

*

So, Russell liked it.  He likes curry :)

I tried it and decided I don't like curry :(

The girls wouldn't touch it.

They had a frozen pizza.

Jacob had a small bowl and ate it and said it was good.

And then he asked for frozen pizza.

*

Here's the recipe as I found it on the 

Crock Pot Girls website:

Chicken Curry

about 4 chicken breasts, frozen or thawed

tons of whatever veggies you like (I use squash, 

zucchini, carrots, celery, etc)

about 3 chopped tomatoes (or you can just use a can of diced)

1 onion chopped

1 can coconut milk (light or regular, doesn’t matter)

1 cup chicken broth

salt to taste

1 or 2 Tbsp curry powder (your preference)

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp turmeric

If you like you curry spicy, you can chop up 

a dried red chili or 2 and add.

*

There were no instructions with this recipe.

So, I just assumed you throw it in and mix it

up and cook on low for 6 hours or so.

Shrimp Cargot

I love shrimp.

I love seafood.

Unfortunately, I live in Oklahoma, 

and fresh seafood isn't something I see often.

So, I settle for giant bags of frozen

shrimp from Sams.

I love to go to restaurants and eat something

fabulous and then come home and recreate it.

This shrimp dish comes from a restaurant 

here in Tulsa.  Charlestons.  This is my 

version of their Shrimp Cargot dish. 

It's supposed to be like escargot, but with shrimp.

Snails scare me.  Why would we eat them?

And they're expensive too!!

My sister-in-law loves them.  There's a

restaurant in Panama City Beach that we like
 that serves them.  I tried it once.

It tasted like a snail :(

This is 24 large shrimp.

You need to peel and devein them.

I needed an escargot dish.

This is surprisingly hard to find.

I found 2 of these on ebay a few years ago.

If you don't have one of these - 

I don't know what to tell you. 

I was going to use a deviled egg dish,

before I found mine, but you need 

something that can go in the oven.

Havarti cheese.  This is what you need.

I asked the people at Charleston's 

and this is what they use.

Don't try to substitute.  It won't work.

I shredded about a cup for my 24 shrimp.

You need to melt some butter.
You might be thinking - that's a lot of butter!

Well, yes, it is a lot of butter.

But, that's one of the things that 

makes this dish so good!!

Add some garlic.

Then add a little of the butter-garlic

mixture in each of the holes.

Then I put a shrimp in each hole.

Spread 1/2 cup of the cheese around.

I broiled these on a lower rack for about 10 minutes.

It came out hot and bubbly 

and swimming in butter.

Calm down - you don't have to eat all that butter.

It's just for flavor!!  Although - at Charleston's,

they serve little toast things with it and it's

really yummy if you dip them in there.

Cheesy, buttery, garlicy shrimp.

yum

My kids LOVE this!! 

You will too, if you can find a dish to cook them in.

FYI - I doubled this recipe.  Because we love it so much

and because I have 2 escargot dishes!!

Shrimp Cargot

12 large shrimp

1/2 cup havarti cheese

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp or 1-2 garlic cloves

Clean, peel, and devein the shrimp.  Shred the cheese.  

Melt butter and add garlic.  Drop a little butter in each 

hole of an escargot baking dish.  Put one shrimp in each hole.  

Cover with cheese.  Broil on low rack for about 10 minutes.

Chicken Tacos

My family loves tacos.

Or anything that you can put in a tortilla.

This recipe is basically the same as the Mexican Pot 

Roast that I make, just with chicken.

Mmmmm.

Looks so good, I might warm up 

some leftovers for lunch today.

When I got out the crock pot this morning,

the kids started whining.

They said they don't like anything out of the crock pot!!

I told them they don't know what they're talking 

about, and then I took them to school.

I had actually planned on making curry chicken, but 

since the kids' complained, I thought I'd better make

something that I know they will eat and like.

So, at the last minute, I switched recipes.

I got out 4 big chicken breasts and trimmed the fat off.

Then I threw them in the crockpot with some

cumin, chili powder and a pack of taco seasoning.

 

Then I added a cup of salsa.

You could add a can of ro-tel instead if you want to,

but I just love this walmart salsa!!!

I put a little dried onion flakes in there too.

I set it on low and let it do it's thing.

This is what it looked like after 5 hours.

It kinds looks a little gross here.

But, wait....

 

Once you mix it up a little and shred the chicken

with a fork, it starts looking a whole lot better.

I barely had to touch my chicken and it fell apart.

There it is.

There was a lot of liquid in there, but after I 

mixed it, the chicken soaked most of it up. 

I made a hard taco.

(The chicken is in there somewhere)!

And a soft taco.

 

And I LOVE spicy.

So, I put some of this super hot salsa on mine :) 

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

  

4 large chicken breasts

1 cup salsa or 1 can ro-tel

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp chili powder

Spray the inside of your crock pot with non stick spray.

Put the chicken on the bottom.  Sprinkle spices and

taco seasoning on the chicken.  Pour salsa on top. 

Set to low for 5-6 hours.  Shred chicken with a 

fork and serve with your favorite taco fixins.