Five Minute Marmalade

Five-Minute Marmalade

Melissa L.
(Source: Rhonda Hair, Chameleon Cooking)

1 orange, washed well

sugar or honey

Cut the orange into quarters, put it, peel and all, in a blender or food processor. Chop as fine or coarse as you want the chunks in your marmalade. Measure your puree, then add an equal amount of sugar or honey. Put in a pan, bring to a boil, and simmer 5 min, until everything is translucent. That's it!

Pour into jars, seal them if you like. Unsealed jars will stay good in the fridge for at least 8-9 months, if the jars were truly clean.

Lemons, limes, and grapefruit make delicious marmalade, to. Lemon is my favorite, especialy with a touch of salt and vanilla: 1/8 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. vanilla per cup of puree.

For variety, you can combine citrus fruits, or add some fresh or candied ginger to it.

Ways to use marmalade:

-on toast or on sandwiches.

-spread on top of or between layers of cake.

-stir 1/4-3/4 c. into muffin batter, reduce sugar by that much.

-stir 1/4  c. into cheesecake batter, or swirl on top before baking

-stir 1/4 c. with 1-2 cups cut-up fruit, to coat it with a shiny glaze. Use on top of pancakes, waffles, cake, cheesecake, or as a simple salad.

-roll up inside bread dough to make orange rolls. Top with orange icing, made with vanilla frosting with some marmalade stirred in.

-Use as a glaze over pork, chicken, salmon, or ham: 1/2 c with 1/2 c soy sauce, OR 1/2 c. with 1 T. water and 1 1/2 tsp. ginger or curry powder, OR 1/4 c with 1/4 c. mustard and 1/4 t ginger, or what else sounds good

-stir 1/4 c into any frosting. Especially cream cheese frosting! Or chocolate

-stir 1 c into 2 c fresh cranberry sauce

-on ice cream or banana splits.

Lemonette Dressing

Melissa L.

Lemonette Dressing

1/4 c. fresh lemon juice

1/4 t. ground black pepper, or to taste

2 t. Dijon, creamy white, or stone-ground mustard

1 to 2 garlic cloves (1/2 to 1 t) minced or pressed, opt

1/8 to 1/4 t. salt, opt

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 t. finely ground, unrefined sea salt, opt

1 T. warm water

1 t. minced or grated lemon zest, yellow part only, opt

Combine ingredients except water and citrus zest in blender or small food processor. Cover and blend. With machine running, add 1 T warm water and blend until smooth.

Taste, adjust as needed, and pour into small jar. Add grated citrus zest if desired. Cover, shake, and serve or refrigerate. Use within 2 weeks for best flavor

GREAT IDEAS-Using our Abundant Produce

Melissa L.

Using our Abundant Produce
(Ideas Taken from September RS Activity Night)

 

Citrus(lemons, oranges, limes...)

                lemons: juice and freeze in ice cubes

                                -use for baked chicken or fish

                                -use in smoothies

                                -use in place of vinegar in recipes

                               
                                -lemon curd

                                -lemon sauce

                                 -can make for freezer with sweet rice flour/tapioca starch

                                lemon salad dressings

                                marmalade

                                lemon basil sorbet

                                lemon gumdrops

                               

Oranges: fresh juice. peeled, if whole drink immediately.

                peels, lemon or orange: lemon sugar or orange sugar in place of zest.

                                - dry (in this climate with low oven?)

                                -blend into powder with sugar. To bake with in place of zest. (easier to prep).

                orange peel- use a halved orange rind as a planter for growing produce.  The whole planter can go into the ground! (Bev Bertino's idea)

               

Herbs(Green Onions, Rosemary, Italian Basil, Thai Basil, Oregano,...)

                Green onions : eggs, stir fry

            Rosemary:

                                potatoes

                                roast beef/pork/chicken

                                 simply salt/pepper, and rosemary

                                homemade bread, especially rosemary  french bread

                                *google "how to prepare fresh rosemary," ehow* has very helpful page

                                  -potato wedges and rosemary/garlic; steak with rosemary/garlic... yum!

               Oregano:

                                fresh in salads

                                 fresh leaf whole with mozzarella and tomato on top

                                cooked in spaghetti, eggs  

 

                Italian Basil

                                spaghetti sauce

                                quinoa chicken stir fry

 

                Thai Basil               

                                quinoa chicken stir fry

                                lemon basil sorbet

                                Thai curry

 

Mango/Papaya/Guava

                salads- want ideas for throwing these foods in salads(green salad or fruit)

                 smoothies and popsicles

                 mango- pure puree popsicles, or mango and evaporated milk

                waffle/pancake syrup

                sauce or freezer jam   -bagel and cream cheese, bread and jam, muffin...

                salsa, chutney, salad dressings         

                jello 

                                guava and yogurt gelatin

                                http://www.thequeenguava.com/recipes/yogurt_gelatin.html  

                                                site completely for guava recipes!

                puree for baking in muffins/cakes?

                               

Avocado

                -what does it act like? creamy, smooth

                                add to homemade smoothies, shakes, homemade ice cream

                                pie(recipe), truffles, fudge, mousse

                                                http://voices.yahoo.com/avocado-fudge-6661514.html

                black bean/tomato/avocado/corn(Mom's recipe)

                guacamole- can freeze

                slices- freeze dredged in lemon juice . Use immediately out of freezer

                smashed fresh and spread on homemade bread!

                               

Not-so-good produce, spoiling, or partly eaten...

                kids/babies partly eat apples, bananas... oranges dry, flavorless, over ripe, or moldy;  peaches or                                                    pears hard yet bruised or spoiling...

                oranges - peel and juice whole. Drink fresh. Add OJ conc for more flavor. Sugar if desired

                apples partly eaten-

                                - instruct children to place apples on counter when they're done with them.

                                -keep partly eaten apples from home school lunch- child empties contents of bag at home.

                                slice and cook remaining apple in microwave w/brown sugar and raisins

                                for larger batches-

                                -place partly eaten apples in fridge for up to a few days, to bake with a few at a time. Bake apple                     crisp or a batch of applesauce. Probably need to use other unused apples to make batch worthwhile. (Target the apples that are starting to spoil or are too soft to like to eat)

                bananas partly eaten-

                                -keep in peel, tuck over peel and place in fridge. Only outside tip browns! Good for later eating!

                fruit not fully ripened but spoiling- cut out spoiled spots, slice or puree the rest; add lemon juice or orange                 juice to prevent browning, and freeze for smoothies.

                leftovers

                Janne S. "catch-all chili"

                                -kids love it. Tends to look funny : ) but tastes good! 

                                -any leftover thing: salad become limp; blended up; apples, even bananas...

Creamy Dairy Free Lime Pie

Melissa L.
Source: www.providenthomemaker.com

Toasty Coconut Crust:

2 Tbsp. honey

½ c. coconut oil

1/4 tsp. sea salt

2 c. toasted fine-flake coconut

 

Pull out an 8” pie pan, OR for tartlets, line 30 mini-muffin tins with paper liners (optional, for easier removal).  Stir together the honey, coconut oil, and salt.  Add coconut and mix until smooth.  Press into the pie pan or muffin tins.  For the latter, use 1 Tbsp. per mini muffin tin and press.    Put in the freezer for 10 minutes, while you make the filling.  For easiest removal, take the mini crusts out of the pan (still in the liners) when firm, before adding the filling.

 

Filling:

*2 small to medium avocados, about 4-5 ounces a piece OR 1 large avocado, about 9-10 oz total 

         *Avocados vary in size, so measure based off of total ounces, not total number of avocados

½ c. coconut oil

½ c. honey

½ c. fresh lime juice (or use the juice of 3 limes and make up the difference with water)

2 tsp. lime zest, or 6-8 drops lime essential oil

2 Tbsp. coconut cream concentrate (optional but softens the sharpness a little)

1 tsp. vanilla

Pinch of salt

Put all the filling ingredients in a blender or food processor.  Puree until smooth.  Pour into your prepared crust.  Chill at least four hours, until firm.  (To speed it up, try 30 minutes in the freezer.)  Let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes if you want the filling a little softer.

Garnish with a dollop of coconut yogurt (or sour cream if dairy’s OK for you) and a bit of lime zest.    Makes one 8” pie or about 30 tartlets.

Nutty Crunch Bark

Sharlynne H.
(sampled at our January RS Activity Night)


12 graham crackers (2 1/2" X 4 3/4" size)
2 cups chopped macadamia nuts
1 c butter
1 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 c (6 oz) chocolate chips, melted


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a 15" x 10" x 1" pan with foil; grease foil.  In the prepared pan arrange crackers in a single layer with edges touching.  Sprinkle macadamia nuts evenly over crackers. 



In a heavy small saucepan combine butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to boil.  Continue to boil syrup 3 minutes longer without stirring; pour over crackers.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until bubbly and slightly darker around the edges.



Cool completely in the pan.  Break into pieces.  Drizzle melted chocolate chips over top of candy; let set.  Store in an airtight container.  Recipe makes about 1 1/2 pounds. 

Chex Muddy Buddies

Rachelle U.


9 cups Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Chocolate Chex or Honey Nut Chex cereal
1 C semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 C peanut butter
1/4 C butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C powdered sugar


1.  Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.

2.  In 1 qt microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir.  Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth.  Stir in vanilla.  Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated.  Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag. 

3.  Add powdered sugar.  Seal bag; shake until well coated.  Spread on waxed paper to cool.  Store in airtight container in refridgerator. 

Cake Mix Cookies

Jenny J.
(sampled at our January RS Activity Night)


1 box yellow cake mix
1/3 C oil
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips


Grease a cookie sheet and drop by Tablespoonfuls.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.


*Kids can make these!