World's easiest peach butter

I don't know if you have noticed or not, but I like easy.  This isn't one of those blogs where I make something that looks perfect and then create a perfect looking label, with a link for you download your own.  Don't get me wrong I'd love to make perfect stuff with perfect labels.

This blog is about life.  REAL life. My house is a mess and I still don't have time to make a peach butter label.  Pass the sharpie.  Link to sharpie

Wait! I just changed my mind. This is a perfect blog, and I have the link to the best label ever.  This label is completely 100% customizable.  No more printing labels out for all your projects. This is a one size fits all job.  It isn't free though.  Sorry.  It's $1.64.  I know killer price.  BUT I'm not asking you to print stuff out all the time on special sticker paper and use up all your ink.  So actually, you're welcome.

Here it is:  link to most perfect ever label no printing required

Okay, on to the world's easiest peach butter.

1. Pit all your peaches, don't skin them, and no it doesn't` matter how many peaches you have.

2. Put all your peaches in a pot with some water and cook for a few minutes.  I used an immersion blender and chopped it all up.  Now you can't even tell you didn't waste loads of time skinning your peaches. And peach skins are really good for you.  Now the world's easiest peach butter is also a major health food.  Again, you're welcome.

3. Once it's all blended pour it all in a crock pot.

4. Add sugar till it tastes good.

5. Add cinnamon, cloves and/or nutmeg til it tastes good, or none at all. I added a little bit of all of them.

6. Cook in crock pot until you like how thick it is.  If you like how thick it is after you blend it you could just skip the crock pot altogether.

7.  Ladle peach butter into hot jars and top with hot lids.  Screw the lids on tight and set upside down for 5 minutes and then right side up.  The lids will seal.

8.  Use your most awesomest ever label AKA the sharpie to label your jars.

9. Remember we used the skins in this peach butter and therefore is a health food so be healthy and eat some everyday.

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Pumpkin Smoothie

We have started a new family tradition! Pumpkin smoothie while carving pumpkins.  Greatest idea ever! I didn't have all the ingredients for any of the recipes I looked at, so I winged it.  I'm good at winging it, I have a habit of trying things out without even reading the tutorial.

1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, I had canned pumpkin chunks a year ago and used that)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2  teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
ice
Whipped cream for topping

Blend it all up and drink it down. Delish!

 I would of added vanilla ice cream too if I had some but I didn't, so it's health food instead.

 

My little ladies, had a ton of fun this afternoon, and now they want pumpkin smoothies everyday, and so do I. I'm going to have to get more pumpkins to can.

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Bacon cheeseburger salad

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Roman bread pudding

I'm so proud of Harlee, she is so smart.  I'm also so thankful for her new homeschool curriculum, sonlight, it really caters right to her learning style.  She just soakes up everything that is read to her and it is mostly reading to her, it's perfect for us.

Sometimes when I'm not sure if she paying attention I'll ask her to tell her Dad what she knows about xyz and she will rattle off all kinds of things.

In history, which is me reading her a story type book and not a text book type book, (because text books are boring!)  she is learning about the Romans.  As a project we decided to make roman bread pudding.

As I looked at the recipe I thought it looked pretty good, then I was making it and I thought it was going to be awful. But was not.  It was just good enough to eat an entire piece, once.

 

Slice the crust off your bread.  Soak it in milk for a second, and I do mean 1 second! Or else you will have a bowl with small chunks of bread floating around.  Fry in olive oil, til it isn't mushy anymore.  Drizzle on some honey and eat.

It mostly tastes like a weird crunchy french toast but it was a great homeschool project. But only once.

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Thousand island dressing

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Pomegranate-chokecherry jelly

One week ago...

Chokecherry jelly is the best jelly in the world. The perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich is made with homemade bread, creamy peanut butter, and chokecherry jelly. Any other kind of jelly and it's just not the perfect pb&j.

Present day...

I'm dazed and confused. I feel like someone pulled the rug out from underneath me. And that rug is called life.

My world is spinning and I don't know what to do or think.

There is a large possibility that I have discover a jelly that is even better than chokecherry jelly.

The loyal part of me wants to whisk this thought away and pretend I never thought it and say chokecherry is the best.

But until I make more chokecherry jelly and do the ultimate taste test there is no way to be sure. I'm going to go ahead and tell myself that the only reason this jelly is so good is because of the chokecherry juice.

While we wait on the official results of the taste test, I can say with 100% certainty that pomegranate-chokecherry jelly is defiantly a yummylicious jelly that should be consumed on a regular basis.

We bought a case of pomegranates from bountiful basket. After we got that lovely goodness home, I remembered something. I really do not like taking the seeds out of pomegranates, I'm highly irritated after doing just one. My kids always have to share a pomegranate because I would be impossible to live with if I had to pick all the seeds out of two.

And there I was, starring at a whole case of the things. It was not a lovely sight.  I almost cried just looking at them all.

My husband is fabulous.  Even though he really, really, really wanted to go organize his garage he took the seeds out of most of the pomegranates for me. I'm so blessed to have him.

After I made the juice I didn't really like the color or it, strangely enough it will a milky light pink.  It was still good tasting.  I had some chokecherry juice leftover in the freezer and I put that in with it and it made the color darker and less milky (don't ask me why it made it less milky, it just did).

Then I used the ball recipe for pomegranate jelly since there was a lot more pomegranate juice than chokecherry juice. My juice mixture is probably around 1/8th chokecherry juice.

3.5 cups pomegranate/chokecherry juice
5 cups sugar
1 package pectin

Mix the pectin in with the juice til it's all the way dissolved.  Heat to a boil. Mix in sugar, stir til dissolved and heat to a rolling boil. Boil hard for one minute. Ladle into hot jelly jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space.  Put on a hot lid and screw it on tight, set upside down for 5 minutes and then turn right side up.  The jars will seal and there is no need to process them.

If you prefer you can skip the whole upside down right side up business and process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

I have actually started putting my jelly into pint jars instead of jelly jars.  It looks a little silly, but my kids are pb&j monsters! They go through a jelly jar full every week.  So I'm saving money on lids. My kids would love me more if our daily menu was:

Breakfast: pb&j
Morning Snack: pb&j
Lunch: pb&j
1st afternoon snack: pb&j
2nd afternoon snack: pb&j
Dinner: Quesadilla (and by quesadilla, I mean tortilla with melted cheese)
Post dinner snack: pb&j
Once a week I will switch out one meal with either a hot dog or cereal just to spice up life.

Ha! They just can't understand why I bother to cook meals and make them eat something different for breakfast, lunch and dinner.


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Grilled peaches

Dessert or side dish, your choice. I like 'em for a side dish and then again for dessert. Grilled peaches are yummy yummy yummy.

You will need:
olive oil
halved peaches
brown sugar

I use an olive oil mister to spray the peach halves with olive oil, you could just pour a little bit on them.

Grill face down for 3-5 minutes.  Flip and sprinkle with about a teaspoon of brown sugar.  Cook til the brown sugar is liquified.

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Make and freeze breakfast burritos

2 lbs sausage
18 eggs
1 large onion, chopped
1 package hash browns
2 cans diced green chilies
2 cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
cheese
tortillas
saran wrap or foil

1)  Brown sausage and onion at the same time.
2)  Whisk eggs and add to skillet after sausage is browned.
3)  Once eggs are cooked add hash browns, green chilies, and beans.  Cook 5-10 minutes more til everything is hot.
4)  Put some of the mixture on a tortilla, top with some shredded cheese and roll up.
5)  Wrap in saran wrap or foil.
6)  Freeze.

When your ready to eat unwrap from foil or saran wrap, and heat for about 2 minutes in the microwave.  My husband likes to take them to work and he heats them on a Mr heater stove.  He only takes the ones wrapped in foil.

Other things I have considered adding into the burritos are:
bell peppers
salsa
mushrooms
black beans
jalapenos

I'm sure there are many other variations of burritos you could make and freeze.  If you have a great burrito recipe, please feel free to share!

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Homemade bread crumbs

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Homemade beef stew seasoning

1 Cup Wondra (regular flour works too but it will be harder to stir in)
1 Tablespoon oregano
1 Tablespoon basil
1 Tablespoon pepper
3 Tablespoons garlic powder
1 Tablespoon paprika
2 Tablespoons celery salt
2 Tablespoons onion powder
1 Teaspoon rosemary
1 Teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 Cup beef bullion

Put everything in a jar and shake shake shake.


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Grilled avocado

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Grilled quesadillas

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Three cheese tortellini pasta salad

This is my people pleasing salad. I make it for BBQs and family gatherings.  Best of all it's super easy to make.

Ingredients:
one package frozen three cheese tortellini (the dry ones are not even close to being as good!)
one head broccoli chopped
two large tomatoes chopped
one large can of olives sliced
lots of Italian dressing 

1. Cook tortellini according to package directions.
2. Stir in broccoli, tomatoes, and olives.
3. Saturate with Italian dressing.
4. Cover and refrigerate 2-24 hours. It's fantastic after its first chilled but it's best if you wait 24 hours and let the Italian dressing soak into everything.
5. Bring to your next pot luck event.
6. Take compliments graciously.

Mediterranean shrimp skillet

I have no idea where I got this recipe but it's one of my favorites.  I'm really not sure why I don't make it more often because it only takes about 20 minutes to make.

8 ounces angle hair pasta
1 1/2 pounds cooked shrimp
3 minced garlic cloves
1/4th teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh minced basil
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups chopped spinach

feta or parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top (optional)

Start your pasta cooking and meanwhile put the garlic, salt, pepper, 1 cup broth, lemon juice and basil in a skillet and start heating it up.  In a small bowl whisk up the cornstarch and 1/2 cup broth til smooth. Stir into skillet. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes or til thickened.  Add the shrimp and cook 2 minutes more.  Stir in spinach and cook til the spinach is wilted.  Drain pasta.

Serve shrimpy mixture over pasta.  Top with parmesan or feta cheese for extra yumminess.

Shaking up some ice cream in baggies

Five days ago, Cheyenner Nanners had her tonsils taken out.  She is my little rock star, she is doing so good.  I'm so proud of her for being such a big girl.  Her surgery didn't start til nearly noon and she did not complain or whine once about being hungry!  Which is really saying something. One time I had an afternoon surgery and I complained all day long.

The Children's Hospital was really great with her.  They even brought her baby a warm blanket and 'special hat.'  Her baby always got her temperature or blood pressure taken before she did.

Watching cartoons waiting waiting waiting.

Her diet is still leaning heavily towards the popsicles and ice cream side of the food pyramid.   So we whipped up some homemade ice cream in a bag.  We also did this at Cheyenne's 2nd brithday party.

I had already told the girls we were going to make it when I realized I had no vanilla. No problem we have done this before using chocolate syrup to make chocolate ice cream or strawberry syrup to make strawberry ice cream.

Fridge check.

Negative for either syrup.  Of course.  That's what I get for wanting more homemade and less store bought in our home.

The girls are about to go into a frenzy they are so excited for ice cream in a bag.

After a dig through my very in need of organizing cupboards, I manage to find several extract flavors. Success! If making cold flavored stuff is considered a success then yes we can do this.

The original recipe is:

2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup half and half or light cream or heavy cream (I use half and half because I have it around to make homemade sour cream)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup salt (I have used ice cream salt and table salt they both work the same)
ice
1 gallon Ziploc baggie
1 quart or pint Ziploc baggie

If you want either strawberry or chocolate change out the vanilla for 1 tablespoon (or more!) of the syrup.

Today though, Cheyenne wanted orange, Harlee chose root beer and I played it safe with mint.  I pretty much planned on giving mine to Cheyenne cause I was 95% sure hers was going to be less than desirable. We used a half a teaspoon of each extract.

Put your half and half, sugar and flavoring of choice in the small baggie.

Fill the gallon baggie half full of ice and salt. Put the small bag in the big bag.

Shake shake shake your heart out.  For 3-5 minutes. And ice cream!

It's awesomer in a bowl though, that way the salt from the bag can't get in your mouth.

Cheyenne's orange ice cream actually tasted a lot like a cream sickle.  This would be amazing with the vanilla and the orange flavoring.

Harlee's was a lot like a root beer float.  That was pretty expected.

The mint was, also, as expected minty. Next time I will add mini chocolate chips.  Mint chocolate chip is my favorite ice cream of all.

I was pleasantly surprised at how good all of our ice creams turned out.  Another fabulous day in the Chastain house.

Homemade sour cream

Sour cream is the king of all condiments.  We have a special place in our budget for sour cream.

We go through 1-2 tubs of sour cream a month and by tubs I don't mean tiny little things. I mean 5 pound tubs of sour cream.  Yes, I actually mean my family of 4 eats 5-10 pounds of sour cream a month.  We eat it on things you wouldn't even think about eating it on.

When we eat burritos, you can't see the burrito under all the sour cream.  When we eat quesadillas, you can't see the quesidillas under all the sour cream.  When we eat nachos...you get the idea.

Basically there is only one thing that can possibly ever be better than sour cream and that is homemade sour cream.  And if you can believe this, it's really really easy to make.

What a fantastic recipe!

Mix 2 cups half and half and 2 tablespoons buttermilk in a warm jar.  You can boil your jar in water or put it in the microwave for a tad bit.

Shake it up and let it sit on the counter 1-2 days til you like the thickness of it.

Store it in the fridge and eat it on everything.

By the suggestion from the blog I found this on, I made my own buttermilk by combining 1 cup milk and 1 tablespoon lemon juice and letting it sit for a few minutes.  Then I froze my buttermilk in 2 tablespoon increments so when I need to make more sour cream I just thaw out a chunk.

Homemade sweetened condensed milk

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Not so homemade pizza roll ups

Yesterday was one of those days.  One of those I don't have time to think about dinner all day and now it's 5:30 and my family is starving kinda days.

Pizza roll ups to the rescue!

Put a few slices of pepperoni and half a stick of string cheese in a crescent roll (the tube kind of course).  Roll it up and cook according to the crescent roll package.

Now if I don't get to it, today is going to be one of those days as well.

Snow ice cream

It snowed last night.  It doesn't snow as much here as it does in Utah.  It snows just enough to make the crazy Colorado drivers even more crazy and not enough to play in.  Which really is a waste.  I mean if it's going to snow then lets go sledding and make snowmen.

I watched the neighbors shovel their sidewalks and driveways and pondered the strangeness of this new state I live in.  In Utah it has to snow at least 8 inches before anyone even thinks of picking up a snow shovel.

By 11am ''the big snow storm'' had melted away and I did not have to shovel at all.  Whoopee for me!  I did manage to scoop up one bowl of snow for today's project.

This is not the way I made snow ice cream when I was a kid, but I've heard of it a lot, so I wanted to try it.  Since it snowed last night, today was the perfect day to give it a go.

First I whisked up a can of sweetened condensed milk and 1 tablespoon of vanilla.

Then I got a bowl of clean snow.

Then I poured some of the sweetened milk mixture over the snow.  

Then we mixed it up good, and sampled it.  

It was absolutely disgusting and terrible did not appeal to me.

It was like eating cold sweetened condensed milk.  Nothing like ice cream, and yes I used a lot of snow!  I really can't see why so many people make it like this. Or maybe I'm the weird one, hmm...

Then I made snow ice cream the regular way.  Snow with vanilla dribbled over it and dusted with sugar.  And you know what? It was pretty tasty.

Homemade coffee creamer

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