Homemade Apple Juice

I came across this by accident, but it is healthy and pure for you baby or child, or even as an adult. No preservatives, no added sugar. Plus, it is a fairly quick and simple recipe.

I was making some applesauce and was able to use some leftover juices with a little bit of water to make an apple juice that my 8 month old daughter adored. She is not picky when it comes to food, but she is picky when it comes to her juices, so you can imagine my delight when I offered this new kind of apple juice to her and she did not give me the scrunched I don't really like this face.

Ingredients:
1 Apple
About 1/2 cup of water

Wash and peal the apple, core it, and dice it.
Put the diced pieces into a small saucepan and pour enough water to just barely cover up the apple chunks. Bring to a boil and then simmer the apples for about 20 minutes or until they are nice and tender. Pour out the water into a cup and add a little bit of water to dilute it if desired. One apple (golden delicious) made me about 2-3 oz of liquid and I added another 1-2 ounces of water.

Now, with with cooked apples, you can feed them to a small child, eat them yourself, or puree them into an applesauce for any member of the family, making it as chunky or smooth as you desire. Of course, you may add cinnamon and sugar and what ever other spices that you want for the applesauce. Just be cautious if it is for a baby and do not add sugar to keep it naturally healthy. I will eat it myself and because I use a golden delicious apple, it is sweet enough for me.

Boiling fruit supposedly takes out a lot of the nutrients and good things out. So, if you save the juice and feed it to a member of the family or yourself, then you are still obtaining those good vitamins, and minerals.

*note: If you are making the applesauce, you may need some of the juices to make it thinner, depending on how you serve it and who you serve it to.

*avoid browning: You may also add a couple of drops of lemon juice (or soak the apple chunks in sprite/sierra mist before pureeing) in order to keep the fruit from naturally browning as quickly due to oxydation. 

*freezing applesauce for future use: pour the apple sauce into a freeze-safe container (like in ice cube trays which are about one ounce a piece) and place into freezer. They are generally good for up to one month after preparation or 72 hours if refrigerated. Place the apple cubes into labeled sandwich bags and thaw as needed or leave it as a frozen treat for you or your child.

Stuffed Manicotti Recipe

Okay, so last night we made a recipe we have not made in awhile and I forgot how yummy it is, so I decided to share it with everyone here. Stuffed Manicotti.........delicious.

Makes 3-4 Servings

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit

Ingredients:
1 jar of pasta sauce
About 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese (I use the powder version)
About 1/2 lb of Mozzarella cheese (shredded)
About 15 oz of Ricotta cheese
A small box of Manicotti noodles.

Line a deep dish baking pan with a small amount of pasta sauce and set aside.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the three cheeses. I usually put in the Ricotta, add enough Mozzarella to cover and then throw in enough Parmesan to make it into a slightly dry texture.

In a large sauce pan boil water and then add the Manicotti shells. Continue to lightly boil shells until they are soft enough to be pliable, but tough enough to not break too easily. They will finish softening in the oven.

Using a small spoon, stuff the Manicotti with the cheese mixture and place them side by side in the baking pan. Once the pan is full (you may have a few noodles left over that you may stuff with any spare cheese and meat and pasta sauce to make a kind of pizza roll if you desire), cover the noodles with pasta sauce completely to avoid drying out. Then top with some more cheeses of your choice and any seasonings (Italian seasoning is a favorite of ours). Bake until the cheese is well melted, I like mine slightly burnt for texture and flavor). Allow to cool for a few minutes and serve!

Try it and tell me what you think, have a Manicotti recipe that you usually use? Comment below your version!

Delicious Crepes

I remember in High School with the French Club would sell Crepes for $1 to raise money during lunch. I loved them! Luckily, I married a man who took French in his High School and knew of a good website for a good crepe recipe. We have been together for almost three years now and he FINALLY made me some crepes the other night for dinner for the first time (yes I'm the stay at home mom, but I do the cleaning and I enjoy his cooking too much to do all the cooking myself). The recipe tasted really good, plus he added his own twist to it, so I thought I would share it with you today.

1 Cup Flour
1 tsp Sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 cup milk
2 Tbs butter

Measure it and mix it together, put a small amount onto a skillet and as it cooks, help it spread out into a small, thin sheet. Put it onto a plate and add apple pie filling, cherry pie filling, or my personal favorite is fresh cut strawberries with that strawberry glaze all over the store this time of year. My husband also added cinnamon to last night's batch-he adds it to everything he can-and it added a really good flavor.

Liquid Marijuana Drink Mix

Alright, I said I was not going to post on a Monday, but really quick I had to share this drink my husband introduced me to. It is called Liquid Marijuana. We decided to drink it as a legal way to celebrate 4/20. Here are the ingredients:

• 1-2 oz of pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz Malibu Coconut rum
• 1/2 oz Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
• 1/2 oz Blue Curacao liqueur
• 1/2 oz Midori Melon liqueur
• a splash of Sweet and sour mix

We used Malibu Melon and it still tasted great. It is a bluish-green color. It is a smooth drink and way too easy to gulp down. And when it hit me, it hit me pretty hard. Since I got pregnant and had our child we do not get to drink nearly as often anymore but every once in awhile we will bust out a babysitter and enjoy some grown-up time.