Crock Pot Orange Marmalade

We were given several bags of oranges this week and since I have a few favorite recipes that call for orange marmalade,  I decided to make some.   As I was looking for recipes I came across one that was made in the crock pot. 

If you know anything about me, it is that almost everything I cook is in the crock pot as it is so easy and much less mess!  Because it said that it could be left overnight I started it last night at about 8 o'clock.

First I took four large oranges and quartered them, peeled them and removed any seeds.

I cut the pulp into pieces and put them in the crockpot. 

(Next time I do this recipe I will actually put them through the food processor.)

I then sliced the rinds into thin ribbons. 

(I found out later that I should have cut them thinner!)

I then added 4 cups of sugar, 4 cups of water and some lemon juice.

I stirred it all together and cooked on High for 2 hours. 

After 2 hours I stirred the mixture, turned it on Low and headed to bed.

When I got up at 5:30 it looked like this.  It tasted wonderful but did not look like marmalade.  I separated the orange pieces out and put them in the blender and also took all the orange peel and sliced them thinner.

After blending and slicing it looked much better.  I then took the lid off the crockpot and let it cook for a couple more hours on Low so it could reduce and become the right consistency.

The recipe made 6 beautiful pints which I'll tuck away in the pantry to use this winter in Orange Chicken and Orange Marmalade cake.  Yummy!



Quick Dinner After a Long Week

We left at 5 am this morning and made it back to Wyoming by early afternoon.  It is so good to be home after a long week away!

 

Chandler and Saraina were at our house when we arrived so I was able to scoop my little man up and get the cuddles I so missed while we were gone.  It seems like he grew so much in just a few days!

 

Mason was happy to see us as he said he was starving as he had to survive on only pizza, pizza rolls and pizza pockets while we were gone.  (Poor Boy!)  I decided that the best thing to do was to make Donairs tonight so we could have left overs after church tomorrow. 

I asked my dear sweet husband if would make up the meat so I could clean the house.  So as I unpacked and cleaned the house,
 Chep worked on the Donairs.

 

 

Take one pound of hamburger and add the following spices, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. ground oregano, 1 tsp. flour, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, 1/2 tsp. Italian seasonings, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder,  and 1/2 tsp. onion powder.  It is important is to mix, pound and throw the meat until the meat has broken down into a smooth texture.  (Yes, pick it up and throw it hard into the bowl!)  We love this recipe so much that we use four to five pounds of hamburger at a time and adjust the amount of spices. 

 After thoroughly mixing it, shape it into a loaf and place it on a broiler pan and cook at 350 F for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

 

 

It smells so good when it comes out of the oven!   

 

 

The sauce is the amazing and makes the Donairs so yummy. 

First measure 3/4 cup sugar and add 1 can of evaporated milk

 and 2 tsp. of garlic powder.

 

Slowly add four tsp. of white vinegar and stir.
 The vinegar will thicken the sauce.  

 

 

Our favorite toppings we use are shredded lettuce, onions, tomatoes and mozzeralla cheese.

 

 

Put everything into pita bread and enjoy!  So yummy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Banana Jam

There is nothing better than a peanut butter and banana jam sandwich.  

So when I was asked to donate to a bake sale this weekend,

I automatically thought of banana jam.

 

 

First I smashed up 4 cups of banana's and added 6 1/2 cups of sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice and brought it to a boil.  Actually I doubled the recipe, something I will never do again without a bigger pot.  When the jam started boiling it start overflowing and we could not stop it!  Saraina and I were laughing our heads off as jam went everywhere.  As we were trying to get everything under control again, Saraina spilt jam down her and onto the floor.  As she rushed to wash it off her toes Mason came in and stepped in the pile of hot jam.  Luckily no one was hurt

 and it was so funny but such a mess!

 

After it was boiling we added the pectin and boiled it the required time and then poured it into our prepared jars.

 

 

After a water bath we managed to make 12 jars of banana jam for the bake sale and of course I put a couple of jars away for ourselves!

 

We also made my mom's yummy peanut butter popcorn. 

 I used the canner and filled it with popcorn.

 

For the popcorn I mixed 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 cup maple syrup

and 4 Tablespoons butter.  After boiling it to soft ball stage I added 1/2 cup peanut butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla and then poured it over the popcorn and mixed it well.  It is so good!

 

 

First thing this morning the guys put up the first roof rafter.

 

Before they left for the day, all the roof beams were on and the frames for the doors were finished.  It is amazing to watch it go up so fast!

 



Of course, what would my day have been without a little shopping! 

One of our Sunday School teachers asked if we could get her a dry erase board for her room and we were thrilled when we found these big dry erase boards for $2.48.  I had a dollar off coupon too, so we paid $1.48 for each board.  All in all I spent about fifteen dollars for 3 dry erase boards, 5 pkgs of dry erase pens, 2 reams of construction paper, 2 things of Post-It notes, 3 binders and 12 boxes of Kleenex. 

Praise God for letting us find such great clearance deals

 to stock the church with!



Crockpot Week

My poor husband told me that he is starving!

The last few weeks have been so busy that I really have not cooked at all. 

We have eaten out quite a bit and then just grabbed whatever we find in the fridge or freezer.  I told him that I would do better this week and make sure I cook every day this week!  I actually hate to cook because it takes so much time and makes too many dishes!  I do love to crock pot though as  all I have to do is throw some stuff in the crock pot in the morning and it is totally done but dinner time.  No mess and takes no time!

 

Sunday I put a chicken and potatoes and carrots in the crock pot.

 

 

It was done after morning services and was a wonderful lunch.

Church was great yesterday and we had a full house even with a few families sick or on vacation!  We had several visiting families come Sunday morning and we were thrilled to see them again that night!  We also had a family join our church.  So exciting to see the House of God so full of people wanting to worship Him!

 

In between services I worked on painting our Bible Adventure wall

and also cuddled our new little man!  He is definitely going to be spoiled but I could not pass up some grandma time!

 

 

He was so sweet and slept the whole time I painted! 

Still quite a bit to do on the wall but it is coming along quite well.

 

For dinner tonight I made barbecued beef short ribs which is simply short ribs with barbecue sauce poured over them.  They were so good and the meat was just falling off the bones!

 

  I also tried two new recipes, one which was Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

 

 

For the potatoes I simply put two pounds of potatoes in the crock pot, cut and quartered with their skins on, poured 1/4 cup water on them, added 3 tablespoons, 1 teaspoon salt, 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.  After cooking them on low for 7 hours I beat them with my beater and they were ready to go. 

These were really good and the bowl was almost licked clean!

 

Then I also tried Banana Loaf for which I mixed together 3 bananas,

 1/2 cup margarine, 2 eggs, 1 cup sugar,1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon baking soda.  I greased my 2 lb. coffee can and put the mixture in it and then put the coffee can in the crock pot.  I then put 6 paper towels over the coffee can and then put the crock pot lid on.  The paper towels absorb the moisture in the crock pot during cooking.

 

 

This is what is looks like if you forget to put in the baking soda! 

 I was trying to get the banana loaf in and talking to my husband on the phone who needed me to hurry and run an errand for him, so I was hurrying and totally forgot to finish reading the recipe and put the baking soda in.  Even without the baking soda, this was so good and we definitely will make it again!

 

Chep says he loved dinner and is looking forward to tomorrow night!

 

Pizza Soup

With VBS starting this week, it also means it is a nonstop crockpot week. 

We are so busy that I have no time to cook, but we still have to feed our evangelists every day.  Throwing everything into the crockpots to cook while we are at VBS is the only way to go!

Today we had one of our absolute favorites, Pizza Soup. 

This is so yummy and tastes exactly like a pizza!

Pizza Soup

1 lb. pork sausage (browned and crumbled)

3 (10 oz.) cans tomato bisque soup

1 (10 oz.) can French onion soup

2 teaspoons Italian seasonings

3/4 cup tiny pasta shells

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

In the crockpot combine sausage, soups, Italian seasonings and 1 1/2 soup cans of water.  Cover and cook on High for two hours on high.  Add pasta shells and cook for another hour or until pasta is cooked.  Serve topped with mozzarella cheese.

Tonight I browned a couple of pounds of hamburger for Crockpot Tostados which I will throw in the crockpot before I run out the door to pick up the kids on my bus route.  So excited for VBS tomorrow!



New Friends and Barbequed Green Beans

Yesterday, we were thrilled to have the chance to meet the Langley family.  Kevin and his family are from back East and are using their vacation time to bring a trailer load of doors and windows to several small churches here in the West.  They are such a wonderful family and we really enjoyed their fellowship.  Beth is such a sweet lady
 and I loved getting to spend some time talking with her about God and His goodness. 

One of the things I love about missionaries and people coming to visit is the chance I have to feed them.  There is no better place than sitting around the table eating and laughing and fellowshipping!  Truthfully I hate to cook but I love to Crockpot.  Throw a couple of items in the crockpot and come back hours later and everything is ready to eat!  A few of the crockpot dishes I love to make when we have people pass through is meatballs, potatoes and barbequed green beans.  It is such a yummy dinner and so filling!  Everyone cringes when I say barbequed green beans, but after they try them they want the recipe!
 Try them, I bet you too will love them.

Meatballs

  2 pkgs frozen meatballs

1 bottle barbeque sauce

1 jar apricot pineapple jam

Mix together and put in crockpot for 5 to 6 hours on low

Crockpot Potatoes

Potatoes

2 sticks butter

season salt, garlic salt, pepper

Cut potatoes in bite sized chunks, cut butter into pieces
and sprinkle over top, add seasonings to taste.
 Put in crockpot and cook 5 to 6 hours on low.

Barbequed Green Beans

1 lb. bacon

3/4 c. ketchup

1/2 c. brown sugar

3 tsp. Worchester sauce

3/4 tsp. salt

4 c. green beans

Crisp bacon and crumble, add all other ingrediaents and mix well.
  Put in crockpot and cook 5 to 6 hours on low.