Orange Carrot Jello Salad:

My Grandma used to make this salad and I always loved it!!!

If you have never tired it or heard of it, it may sound weird having carrots in your Jello, but trust me, it's really good!!! It couldn't be any easier to make, and it's super yummy!

I couldn't find grandma's recipe in our recipe boxes anywhere, so I'm not sure if this is the exact recipe she used, but it tastes identical to me and reminds me so much of her, with every bite I take!

I hope you'll give it a try!!

 

 

2 (3 oz.) packages Orange Gelatin

2 cups boiling water

1 (20 oz.) can Crushed Pineapple

2 tblsp. lemon juice

Cold Water

1/4 tsp. salt, optional

1 & 1/2 cups finely shredded or grated carrots

 

In a medium bowl, gently stir gelatin and boiling water until gelatin is dissolved. Drain the pineapple, reserving the juice; set the pineapple aside. Combine lemon juice and pineapple juice. Add enough cold water to equal 2 cups. Stir in salt, if desired. Stir into gelatin mixture. Chill until slightly set (1-2 hours). Stir in pineapple and carrots. Mix well. Pour into serving bowl and chill until set. Serve!

 

 

 

 

 

 



Peach Cobbler:

Sorry about the extreme lack of posting/recipes here! Between life and have trouble with blogger even working (which it isn't, so bare with me if something looks crazy!), its just been impossible to keep up with everything and blogging is just one of few things that has been pushed to the back burner!

But, even though I haven't been doing much with everything else going on, I have managed to cook a few times and even try one or two new recipes!!!

Someone gave us some fresh peaches, and although we enjoyed a lot of them just sliced, they started getting soft, and we knew had to make something with them or they would go bad. My sister found this recipe and it turned out amazing!!! We used to make peach dumplings, but they took a lot of work, so we didn't make them very much. This cobbler, however, tastes almost identical and is SO much easier!! 

Served as is fresh from the oven, or with vanilla ice cream, its good either way, so I hope you try it out!!

5 cups peeled, sliced fresh peaches

2 cups sugar, divided

1/2  cup water

8 tblsp. butter

1 & 1/2 cups self-rising flour***

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1 & 1/2 cups milk

Cinnamon

Additional sugar for garnish

Place butter in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Put the pan in your oven while it preheats to 350 degrees.

Combine the peaches, 1 cup of sugar and water in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Mix remaining 1 cup of sugar, flour, xanthan gum and milk together in a medium bowl. Whisk together slowly until no lumps remain.

Remove pan with melted butter from the oven. Pour that batter over the butter - DO NOT STIR!!!!

Pour peaches and syrup from peaches over the batter and again - DO NOT STIR!!!!! The batter will rise to the top, creating a crust.

Sprinkle with Cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Allow to cool slightly and then serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired!

Note:

-It's extremely important to use self-rising flour, otherwise the batter will not rise to the top properly. It's super easy to do, and you can click here for my RECIPE. 

Homemade Applesauce:

My grandma used to make the best applesauce ever!

I always loved whenever her and mom would make it

and then freeze it to have all year.

Unfortunately, there was no recipe.

So I went on a hunt looking for a good applesauce recipe

 and this one turned out super yummy and extremely easy.

We all really enjoyed it and I hope you like it as well!

8 cups apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 tblsp. lemon juice
1/2 - 1 cup sugar

Place apples in a large saucepan. Add enough water to just barely cover the apples. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until apples are very tender, stirring occasionally. Place in a blender, or use an immersion blender right in the pan to mash the apples to your preference - smooth or chunky. Add lemon juice and sugar. Taste to see if you need more sugar...it will depend on the kind of apple you use and how sweet you want it to be. Add more as needed. Cook and stir for another 3-5 minutes on low, to allow the sugar to dissolve and the flavors to blend. You can serve immediately, let cool a little or let cool completely.

Slow-Cooker Fried Apples:

My dad's favorite restaurant is Cracker Barrel, and whereas we rarely eat out,

if we go on a trip or something, we will most likely eat at Cracker Barrel.

And they have some yummy food that is gluten-free, too, so that's another reason we go there!

Anyways, probably my favorite thing at Cracker Barrel, is their fried apples. They are just SO good!

I have tried making different recipes a few times and they were usually good, but not GREAT.

When I came across this recipe, it sounded good and we had apples to use, so I decided to give it a try.

They didn't taste exactly like Cracker Barrel's, but they were awfully close and SOOO yummy!

I even heated up some of the leftovers for breakfast the next day and they were still amazing!

Since they are made in the crockpot, it's too easy, so I hope you give them a try!

Whether for breakfast, a side dish, or dessert....these are perfect!

-Sorry for the not so fabulous picture! They really taste amazing though!-

8 cups sliced apples, peeled and cut into eighths
2 tblsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tblsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
6 tblsp. butter, melted

Spray the inside of your slow cooker with some non-stick cooking spray and add the apples. Sprinkle with lemon juice and toss to coat all the apples. In a small bowl, combine sugars, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well. Sprinkle of apples. Drizzle with melted butter. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or until tender. If the syrup is too watery, I remove the lid and continue to cook for 30 more minutes, stirring occasionally, to allow excess water to evaporate and the sauce will thicken then. Serve as is, with whipped topping or vanilla ice cream!

Note:
-I used gala apples, but you could use any apple you want probably. I would not recommend Golden Delicious, though, because they are just too soft. They would cook down to sauce before you knew it!

Jello Yogurt Fruit Salad:

I hope everyone is having a great summer!

We are so far. The only bad thing is, it's been WAY busier and WAY hotter than we expected! 

But at least that gave me two very good reasons for trying out this super yummy salad! It was very quick to make and was so cool and refreshing! The perfect summer salad or dessert. Plus, it's not all that sweet or bad for you. I hope you try this recipe out and enjoy it as much as we did!!!

1-1/2 cups boiling water

1 package strawberry gelatin

2 (6 oz.) containers Strawberry yogurt

1 cup strawberries, diced (fresh or frozen, but if they're frozen, they need to be thawed and well drained)

2 small bananas, diced

In a bowl, whisk together boiling water and gelatin until gelatin is completely dissolved. Stir in yogurt. Fold in fruit. Pour into 6 (8 oz) custard cups. Chill for at least 2 hours or until set (the longer they sit, the better). Serve!

Note:

-Obviously from the picture, you can tell that the original recipe called for raspberries, but I didn't have any, so I used strawberries instead! But, that's the great thing about this kind of recipe. You can change it up however you want! For instance, I think the next I make it, I will try it with blue gelatin, blueberry yogurt and blueberries! There are several other options out there too, and I'm sure they would all be good! Let me know what you try! 

-You could probably make this in just one large serving dish, if you wanted. 

-This recipe could easily be halved, doubled or tripled, depending on the amount of people you are feeding.  

Strawberry Mousse:

My Aunt was here last weekend from the south and she brought us some AMAZING strawberries! They were so good! But there was also A LOT them, so by today, I cut up all that we hadn't eaten over the weekend and was searching the Internet for creative, yummy ways to use strawberries. This recipe was one that really stood out and it looked so good! Plus, it was super fast AND I had all of the ingredients on hand! So we gave it a try. WOW! Talk about good! This is so great for the summer and it's one I will definitely be making again! I hope you give it a try and love it as much as we did!



4 cups sliced, strawberries, fresh or frozen (if using frozen, they need to be thawed)
1/2 cup sugar
1 pkg. Instant Vanilla pudding mix
1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping, thawed

In a food processor, process the strawberries and sugar until smooth. Add pudding mix and process until well combined. Place whipped topping in a large bowl. Add strawberry mixture and fold into whipped cream. Place in serving dish or individual serving dishes. Refrigerate until ready to serve! Garnish with additional strawberry slices and a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.

Note:
-Although it wasn't TOO bad, I thought this dish was pretty sweet. If you are cutting back on sugar, I would recommend cutting the sugar in half. With the sugar in the pudding mix, it's plenty sweet. If you don't mind a slight tartness from the strawberries, you could probably leave the sugar completely out. It's up to you!
-The original recipe said to process the strawberries and sugar and then strain it and discard the seeds. I don't have a mesh strainer like that, plus we don't mind the seeds at all, but if you prefer no seeds, just strain it!

Fruit Pudding:

I love this stuff!!! It's so quick and easy, but so great for a cool, summer salad! Feel free to add any fruit you want, leave out what you don't - experiment!!! Let me know if you give it a try and what changes you made! I love to hear other variations to simple recipes like this!!



1 box instant vanilla pudding mix
2 small cans Fruit Cocktail, drained with juices reserved
1 small can mandarin oranges, optional, drain and discard juice
1 banana, optional, sliced
1 cup mini marshmallows

Drain the fruit cocktail and reserve the juices. In a small bowl, whisk together the juice from the fruit with the pudding mix, until smooth. Chill for at least 5 minutes, or until slightly set. Stir in fruit cocktail and mandarin oranges, if desired. Chill until ready to serve. Just before serving, stir in banana, if desired, and marshmallows. Serve!

Note:
-Other variations: Add chopped nuts, maraschino cherries, pineapple tidbits, chopped apples.