Slow Cooker Apple Bread Pudding

August 6, 2013 Sonte Leave a comment

When Ryan goes to the shops to get a few things to make lunches with, he invariably comes home with way to much bread! He bought two packages of lovely panini rolls because they were on sale…well, we can only eat so much fresh bread between the three of us. The lovely panini rolls were growing older by the day; on Day Three I simply had to rescue the remaining 6 rolls. And not just to the freezer where they would be forgotten and probably thrown out 4 months down the road!
I also had some apples that were becoming less and less eye appealing by the day; the answer to my problems, Apple Bread Pudding but with summer temperatures preventing me from wanting to turn the oven on…haul out the slow cooker. I found this recipe for Slow Cooker Apple Bread pudding with many thanks to Google. However, I didn’t want choc chips in my bread pudding and I skipped the Yogurt Sauce found in the original recipe.

6 cups Crusty Bread, torn into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup Steamed Apples (peel, core and thinly slice apples; microwave in covered microwave-safe dish for 1Min30Sec.)
1/2 cup Sultanas
1/2 cup Pecans, chopped
4 large Eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup Milk
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 1/2 teaspoons ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground Ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground Cloves

Coat slow cooker insert with butter or margarine.
Add 1/2 the cubed bread; spread with half of: the steamed apples, sultanas, chopped pecans
Add remaining bread, top with remaining steamed apples, sultanas and chopped pecans.
In a medium bowl combine eggs, milk, condensed milk, and spices; pour over bread, fruit and nuts, pressing down with a spoon to completely moisten all the bread.
Cover and cook on LOW setting for 3 – 4 hours, or until knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Start checking the bread pudding after three hours and check every 15 minutes afterwards until cooked through.
Serve with fresh whipped cream or ice cream.

Serves 8

FYI – This is sort of like having French Toast for breakfast right? I put the leftovers in the freezer and pulled out a serving out each day for a week for my instant breakfast!

Pork

Slow Cooker Pork Chops

August 6, 2013 Sonte Leave a comment

Fall off the bone Pork Chops. ’nuff said. I found the recipe on Yummly for Slow Cooker Pork Chops but found it lacking in flavour…going on a guess here because I have not eaten meat in over thirty years but the recipe just screamed out for some sort of seasoning and herbs. This is what I did to enhance the flavours.

6 bone in Pork Chops (about 2 lbs)
1 medium Onion, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, crushed
1 can (300ml) can each Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Celery
2 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon dried Sage
1 teaspoon dried Rosemary
1/2 teaspoon Celery Salt
Fresh ground Pepper

In a small bowl combine the soups, dried sage and rosemary, celery salt and freshly ground pepper; set aside.
Place a layer of pork chops in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Top with 1/2 of: sliced apple, chopped onion, crushed garlic.
Add remaining layer of pork chops.
Top with remaining apple, chopped onion and crushed garlic.
Pour soup mixture over all.
Cover and cook on LOW for 8 – 9 hours or until the pork is fork-tender.
Serve with Steamed Rice.

Serves 6

Squares and Bars

Not So Rocky Road Bars

August 6, 2013 Sonte Leave a comment

When I was straightening out the cupboards the other day I came across a box of Graham Wafer Crumbs which was purchased to make Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries back in July; what to do with the remaining crumbs?

Yes, I have been wanting to make a Cheesecake but was not in the mood to get into something that time consuming. I saw the recipe for Rocky Road Bars on the box and thought, “Meh, why not?” even though I don’t eat ‘mallows. (tried to find a link to the original recipe but it is not listed on the HoneyMaid site)

1 1/2 cups Graham Wafer Crumbs
1/2 cup Butter, melted
1 1/2 cups shredded Coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped Nuts (Walnuts, Pecans, Peanuts)
300 g Chocolate Chips
1 1/2 cups Mini ‘Mallows, if using
1 cup Dried Cranberries
1 can (300ml) Sweetened Condensed MIlk

Topping
1/2 cup Milk Chocolate Chips, melted
1/4 cup smooth Peanut Butter, melted and with 1 Tablespoon Icing Sugar stirred in

Preheat oven to 350F

Pour crumbs into 9X13 baking pan.
Pour melted butter over crumbs, mix well then press evenly and firmly into pan.
Layer coconut, nuts, chocolate chips and ‘mallows (if using), dried cranberries evenly over base.
Drizzle condensed milk evenly over top.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven, drizzle with melted chocolate.
Drizzle or pipe melted peanut butter.
Allow to cool for a few minutes, cut into bars and cool completely.

About, Salads

Black Bean and Pepper Salad with Avocado Dressing

July 20, 2013 Sonte 2 Comments

I subscribe to a few different recipe sites and this morning a very delicious looking Chicken, Bean, Pepper salad arrived in my inbox. The picture made the salad look so good, I just had to try it! Unfortunately my first swipe at it left me feeling a little flat so I jazzed it up a bit. The end result was pretty satisfying though I think there is still some room for tweaking…

It just so happens that we grilled Chicken Burgers last night and there were a few left over; for lunch today, Luke got a Chicken Burger with Avo Dressing and Bean Salad on the side!

This recipe was inspired by Kalyn’s Kitchen

Black Bean and Pepper Salad with Avo Dressing

1 – 420 g can Black Beans, rinsed and drained well
1 Pepper, chopped – Red or Orange
4 Green Onions, sliced, greens only
Fresh Ground Pepper and Salt, to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons Lime Juice
1/2 cup Salsa
3 Tablespoons Buttermilk

Avo Dressing
1 large Avocado
Green Onions, the white bits you have left from the first part of the recipe
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
Fresh Ground Pepper and Salt, to taste

Optional:
Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Fresh Cilantro
Grape Tomatoes

In large bowl combine black beans, chopped pepper, chopped green onion, lime juice, salsa and buttermilk.
Add salt and pepper to taste and stir well.

In separate small bowl. mash large avocado.
Stir in white portion of green onions, lemon juice, cumin, salt and pepper.
Pour dressing over prepared Black Bean and Pepper Salad and stir well.

Serve on a bed of Fresh Spinach leaves or Garden Greens.
Top with a bit of shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar Cheese.
Garnish with Fresh Cilantro and Grape Tomatoes.

Serves 4 – 6

I reserved a lil of the Avo Dressing and spread about 1 teaspoon on the bottom portion of a hamburger bun, topped it with a grilled chicken burger, dolloped on another Tablespoon of Avo Dressing, finished off with fresh spinach leaves and a few tomato slices.

Casseroles

Bean and Pasta Casserole

July 1, 2013 Sonte Leave a comment

I was feeling very tired and perhaps a little lazy when I googled “one pot vegetarian meal” and came up with this: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/r/quickbeanpasta.htm
A quick mental check of the pantry assured me I had all the ingredients necessary to make this happen. While the water was boiling for the pasta I had a closer look at the recipe and decided it looked rather bland. While the pasta was cooking I threw in a couple of cloves of sliced garlic;
added spices, spinach and parmesan cheese to the mix and voila! A tasty and satisfying vegetarian casserole.

1- 796 ml can Diced Tomatoes
1- 796ml can Crushed Tomatoes
1- 540 ml can Red Kidney Beans
1 cup Skim Mozzarella Cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
2 cloves Garlic, sliced
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons Chili Flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons each dried Basil and Oregano
Salt and Pepper, to taste
2 cups fresh Spinach Leaves
1 375 g package pasta

Preheat oven to 375F.
Lightly spray a 4l casserole dish with veg oil spray.
In large pot bring salted water to boil; add pasta and cook for 8 minutes.
Drain pasta, rinse and throw back into the pot.
Stir in diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, kidney beans, parmesan cheese, chili flakes, basil, oregano, S&P and chopped onion.
Spoon a third of the pasta mixture into prepared casserole dish, top with a layer of fresh spinach leaves and a third the shredded cheese.
Spoon another third of pasta into casserole, top with remaining spinach and another third of the shredded cheese.
Spoon remaining pasta into casserole, sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake in 375F oven for 40 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.

Serves 6 – 8

Aysontespli's Kitchen

Slow Cooker Apple Bread Pudding

Slow Cooker Pork Chops

Not So Rocky Road Bars

Black Bean and Pepper Salad with Avocado Dressing

Bean and Pasta Casserole

Welcome to my Kitchen where the most important ingredient is Love.