Crock Pot Freezer Meals

Hello Fall!! I'm ready for you!  Here in the Pacific Northwest we have enjoyed a stellar summer.  I think I can count on one hand how many days were under 75 degrees this year.  This is rare in the PNW, often June is rainy, grey and mid-60's at best and we don't see the beginning of summer until July 5th (the day AFTER everyone has their parties and BBQ's for the 4th).  Before we know it, the rain and 60 degree weather turns into rain and 45 degree fall weather and we know fall has officially arrived.

This year we played hard and enjoyed every sunny minute of Summer.  Now that the kids are back in school, football is on TV, leaves are beginning to fall and we are ready for Autumn!

I went grocery shopping the other day and decided I needed to do a little food prep for these busy school nights.  Instead of shooting from the hip with my grocery list (which I usually do), this time I did a little planning instead.  I have a board on Pinterest where I have saved a bunch of crock pot freezer recipes.  I found several that sounded good and had easy ingredients and started writing out my list.  What took about an hour on a Sunday afternoon just saved me SEVERAL hours in 9 upcoming meals!

Click the link above and find some good recipes.  You will be SO HAPPY you did!

Enjoy!

Blackberry Bliss!

I will be the first to admit, I am not a gardener.  I grew up with parents who loved to garden.  I remember picking corn, peas, beans, raspberries - all sorts of fruits and vegetables from our garden as a child, but for some reason, all that stayed with me about that time are fond memories.  I have no garden at my house.  What I DO love about this time of year is the abundance of blackberries all around our property.  I don't have to plant them, weed them or even pick them if I don't want to, but when I want a big bowl of blackberries - I can get as many as I want! 

Recently I saw this article in Country Living Magazine.  It included a recipe for a berry crisp with homemade vanilla ice cream. 

It looked soooo good!  I picked a big bowl of blackberries, modified the recipe a bit, and made some Blackberry Crisp and Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream!

Here is MY recipe;

Topping:

1 stick cold butter

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

Cut in butter until crumbly - set aside.

Filling:

Blackberries (I used about 3-4 cups, enough to spread evenly over 9x13 pan)

Strawberries (I had about 1 cup frozen strawberries which I thawed and added to the blackberries.)

1/4 cup honey drizzled over berries

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

Toss together, taste for sweetness.  Spread evenly in 9x13 pan.  Crumble topping over berries. Bake @ 350 for about 30 minutes or until bubbly and starting to brown on top.

Ice Cream

I have one of those Donvier Ice Cream makers and keep the cold cylinder in my freezer at all times for those ice cream emergencies!  Here is a basic vanilla recipe; (best to make this while the crisp is baking)

Vanilla Ice Cream

2 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 3/4 cup milk

2 cups cream

2 tsp vanilla

Beat eggs till thick and cream colored.  Add milk, cream and vanilla.  Mix well and pour into cylinder.  Start cranking ice cream!

Enjoy!

Swedish Pancake Saturday!

Call them what you wish - Crepe's or Swedish Pancakes, either way they have been a Saturday morning tradition in our family for many years.  I tried to carry on the tradition with my girls, but it took years for them to acquire a taste for Swedish Pancakes.  Finally, when they were about 8 & 10, I tried again one Saturday morning, and much to my surprise I heard "Mom!  These are sooooo good!!  Why haven't you ever made these for us before??"  They were hooked.

It's one of those recipes I know by heart - right up there with chocolate chip cookies and banana bread.

Some people like to put lingonberries in them, others sprinkle powdered sugar over them, we like them with plain ol' butter and syrup.

They take a little time to prepare.  I usually warm the oven to 200* and keep them warm until the entire batch has been made and we can all eat together. 

The trick I have found, is to give a quick swipe of butter to the pan, pour in the batter, and be sure to let them cook long enough on one side to get slightly brown before turning them.  Otherwise they will rip and not roll up like you want them to.

Nothing beats a nice Saturday morning Swedish Pancake breakfast!

Hannah's Fruit Pie

Nana's birthday was approaching, and Hannah (my youngest) decided she wanted to make Nana a special birthday dessert.  She knew exactly what she wanted to make - one of those fruit tarts you see in the grocery store with the fresh strawberries, kiwi & blueberries.  Not knowing a recipe off hand and planning to be out of town for the weekend, when she asked if we could get the ingredients before we left I said "no - let's wait till we get home and can find a recipe".  We returned home from our mini vacation, and the night before the party I ran to the store at 10 o'clock at night and picked up the ingredients.  Not really knowing a recipe, I picked up a box of instant banana pudding and pie filling, a refrigerated crust and some fresh fruit.

Hannah go busy right away the next morning.  We pressed the pie crust into a quiche/tart pan and baked it till it was just perfect.  She whipped up the pudding, learning that runny pudding splatters quite a bit unless you cover the bowl with a paper towel.  Then she began topping the strawberries and peeling the kiwi.  She cut the kiwi into the perfect size sections and laid them carefully on the pudding.

 

Ta da!  The dessert was just as beautiful as the ones in the store, and was twice as delicious!  Great job Hannah!!  You are our little chef!