Recipe | One Hundred Dollars a Month

Old Fashioned Apple Crisp Recipe

April 25, 2013 10 Comments

If you are looking for a quick and easy to make for a crowd, I highly suggest making an apple crisp. Not only is an apple crisp delicious any time year, but is hands down the fastest dessert I know how to make.

But consider yourself warned, there probably won’t be any left overs.

Ingredients for the filling

6 tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced {I used Granny Smith}
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup all- purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chopped into bits
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Ingredients for the topping

2 cups old fashioned oats {I used quick oats}
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl combine apple slices, butter, flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Pour into a 9×13 buttered baking dish.

Place the ingredients for the oatmeal topping in bowl and using a fork, work the ingredients together for a minute or two until they are nice and crumbly. Sprinkle over apple mixture, cover with foil and back for 30 minutes. Remove foil and cook an additional 20 minutes or until the juices are bubbling.

Serve warm with ice cream.

For more rustic recipes, be sure and check out Rustic Fruit Desserts: Crumbles, Buckles, Cobblers, Pandowdies, and More. I own a copy of this cookbook and I love it!

Filed Under: Desserts, Recipe Tagged With: apples, desserts, Old Fashioned Apple Crisp, recipe

Spinach Salad with Cranberries, Walnuts and Feta

April 24, 2013 5 Comments

I was craving a spinach salad the other day so I picked some spinach up on my latest shopping trip and made this spinach salad with cranberries, walnuts and feta for lunch. The spinach in our greenhouse is just about ready to be picked and I couldn’t be more excited. The HH loves adding spinach to smoothies and I love it in a salad.

Here is my easy peasy {and delicious} recipe:

Ingredients for the salad

1 pound spinach leaves
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

Ingredients for the dressing

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper

Directions

Place the spinach leaves on a platter or in a large serving bowl. Sprinkle feta, dried cranberries and walnuts over the top of the leaves.
In a small bowl whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Drizzle over salad and serve.

Filed Under: Recipe, salads, Salads & Sides

Roasted Garbanzos

April 23, 2013 23 Comments

I spotted this recipe over on the Whole ~~Paycheck~~ Foods website and thought I would give it a try. The verdict? Tasty! Tasty! Tasty!

You need to make these.

Ingredients

2 {15 ounce} cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and toss until the garbazos are evenly coated.

Place the garbanzos on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 40 minutes tossing occasional so the garbanzos cook evenly and do not burn.

Cool slightly and serve.

Looking for more simple Whole Foods recipes? Check out The Whole Foods Market Cookbook. Amazon currently has it in stock and ready to ship!

Filed Under: appetizers, Recipe Tagged With: appetizers, garbanzo beans, recipes, whole foods

Easy Crock Pot Recipes – Sausage Lentil Soup

April 22, 2013 2 Comments

A big thank you to reader Tara who sent in her favorite lentil soup recipe. I adapted it a little so we’d have plenty extra for leftovers.

We love soup around here and I especially like using my crock pot so I don’t have to babysit the stove top all day long. Here is the recipe. I hope you like it, we sure did!

Ingredients

6 cups beef stock
2 cups lentils, rinsed
2 cooked kielbasa sausages, sliced
1 can {15 oz} diced tomatoes
3 carrots, chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cooked rice {optional}

Directions

Place all the ingredients in a crock pot {except the rice} and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. Stir in cooked rice right before serving.

**NOTE** If you are a vegetarian– you can swap out veggie stock for the beef and skip the sausage– you may want to add additional salt though. Thanks Tara, this recipe was awesome!

My favorite Crock Pot - Crock-Pot Cook’ N Carry 6-Quart Portable Slow Cooker

My Favorite Slow Cooker Cookbook - Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook: 1400 Best Slow Cooker Recipes!

Filed Under: Crock Pot Recipes, Recipe Tagged With: Easy Crock Pot Meals, lentils, recipes, Soup

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

April 21, 2013 Leave a Comment

Dear Diary,

It is 4 pm and I am still in my pajamas. Clearly it’s too late to get bother with a shower or putting real clothes on, so I might as grab a half dozen of these delicious apple cinnamon cookies I just made and pop in a movie.

Yee-Haw! I love lazy Sunday afternoons.

Ingredients
2 medium apples, peeled, diced {I used granny smith}
1 cup {2 sticks} unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 cup raisins
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 cup oats, old fashioned or quick cooking
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugars. Add the eggs and the vanilla. Stir until nice and smooth. Set aside.

In another bowl combine the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Slowly add the dry mixture into the wet and stir until just combined. Do not over mix. Next, stir in the raisins and apple bits. Chill for 30 minutes.

Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, drop cookie dough on to a lined cookie sheet {I use silpats} and bake for 11-13 minutes until the cookies are lightly browned. If you like cookies on the crisp side add another minute or two.

Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on a wire rack before placing then in an airtight container.

This recipe makes 4 dozen cookies.

Looking for more cookie recipes? Check out the Taste of Home: Cookies cookbook. It’s pretty awesome.

Filed Under: cookies, Recipe Tagged With: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies, apples, cookies, oatmeal, recipe

Top 10 Soup Recipes

April 18, 2013 5 Comments

Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli Soup {Copy Cat Recipe}

Baby it’s cold outside!

A heaping bowl of hot soup sounds good on a day like today. Here are my top 10 favorite soup recipes.

Stay warm,

Mavis

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Corn Chowder with Bacon, Potatoes and Chives

Black Bean and Corn Soup

Rustic Pea Soup with Ham

Vegetable Soup with Beef

Creamy Chicken Soup

Taco Soup

Fully Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Guinness Beef Stew

Filed Under: Recipe Tagged With: Easy Crock Pot Meals, one hundred dollars a month, recipes, Soup

Easy Recipes for Kids – Popcorn in a Bag

April 17, 2013 21 Comments

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this, but making your own popcorn at home is not only way cheaper but so much better for you than buying that crapity crap in a bag that’s filled with all sorts of fake butter and chemicals.

The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird is our chief popcorn maker and she has been using this recipe for as long as I can remember. Perfect for Friday Night at The Movies or any other day of the week.

Ingredients
1/4 cup good popcorn kernals
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Paper lunch bag
Stapler

Directions
Measure popcorn and toss it into the bottom of a plain brown paper bag. Add salt and olive oil and give it a good shake. Fold the top of the bag over and staple the corners closed.

Place the paper bag in the microwave and microwave on high for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, or until there are a few seconds between pops.

Filed Under: Friday Night at the Movies, Recipe Tagged With: Friday Night at the Movies, popcorn, recipes for kids, reicpes

How to Make Vegetable Stock

April 16, 2013 19 Comments

When life hands you more free vegetables than you can eat, make vegetable stock I say. If you’ve never made your own vegetable stock before, trust me, it’s super easy. You can totally do it!

Ingredients

14 quarts water
1 bunch green onions
1 onion, quartered
3 carrots, large, broken in half
5 celery stocks
10 mushrooms, halved
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Directions

Place everything in a large stock pot, cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Strain.

Once the vegetable stock has cooled, use a funnel and place the stock in mason jars until ready to use. The vegetable stock should keep for 5 days in the refrigerator or up to one year in the freezer.

Have you ever made vegetable stock from scratch before?

Do you add anything special, or just use what you have on hand?

~Mavis

Filed Under: Recipe Tagged With: recipe, vegetable stock

Easy Crock Pot Recipes – Savory Chicken with Tomatoes

April 15, 2013 Leave a Comment

I don’t know about you, but I love it when I only have to spend a whopping 5 minutes throwing dinner together. This chicken turned out unbelievably moist.

I hope you like it. We sure did.

Ingredients

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 15 oz can stewed tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Place the stewed tomatoes in the bottom of the crock pot, add chicken, then spices. Cook on low for 5 hours or high for 3 hours. Serve over a bed of rice. That’s it! Wahooooo!

Are you in love with your crock pot too? Then be sure and check out more of my favorite crock pot recipes.

My favorite Crock Pot – Crock-Pot Cook’ N Carry 6-Quart Portable Slow Cooker
My favorite Slow Cooker Cookbook – Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook

Filed Under: Crock Pot Recipes, Recipe Tagged With: chicken, Easy Crock Pot Meals, recipe

Recipe – Vegetable Scrambled Eggs

April 14, 2013 Leave a Comment

In the summertime when the zucchinis and tomatoes are plentiful, we will saute whatever we can gather from the backyard garden, add a few eggs and serve it up for breakfast.

In the winter, it’s a lot harder to make a fresh vegetable scramble for next to nothing. Unless of course you have a Mr. Produce Guy who saves you scraps for the produce department each week. Then, it’s pretty easy.

But even if you don’t have a Mr. Produce Guy, this hearty and nutritious breakfast is worth every penny.

Ingredients

4-6 Fresh Eggs
2 cups of assorted vegetables, chopped {broccoli, peppers, zucchini, onions, tomatoes}
3 potatoes, peeled, chopped
1 avocado
1-2 precooked chicken – apple sausages
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a small bowl, scramble the eggs and milk together and set aside.

Over medium heat, saute potatoes until fork tender with olive oil. Add pre-cooked sausage and cook until heated through. Set potatoes and sausage on a plate.

Saute the rest of the vegetables {except the avocado} until tender, add egg mixture and scramble until completely cooked. Top with avocado chunks. Serve with toast and honey.

Real food. The best stuff on earth!

Filed Under: breakfast, Recipe Tagged With: breakfast, Fresh Vegetable Scrambled Eggs, recipe