Apple Torte and Harvest Hamburger Soup

I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the Harvest Hamburger Soup. After adding all the ingredients to my pot, I was unsure whether I'd like it or not. There seemed to be a pretty high ratio of potatoes in it. I don't like alot of potato chunks in my soup. It was pretty good though. The girls, Jared, and Jared's Mom all really liked it too. Jacob didn't eat much, but then again he never really eats anything.

The Bavarian Apple Torte was excellent. We thought the taste of the filling complimented the apples wonderfully. Our apples were juicy and tender. (Jenni- I wonder if the difference comes from using different types of apples. I used Fuji apples. I know some varieties don't bake as well as others) We also loved the way the almonds toasted on the top. Jared wasn't sure if he would like it or not, but it was a winner. This recipe will definately be made again. Both of the recipes have inspired Jared's mom to get the cookbook. She really enjoyed both dishes.

Lots of food. Little time to blog.

So...its been a while. The month of November flew by! We have made all of the dishes, even one several times, but have not been together with camera, computer, and blog technician. So where to start...

Pork and Baked Apples:

We loved the pork. It was so easy, and using the yogurt was a fantastic way to cut calories. In fact Martin used yogurt and crackers to bread his Parmesan Chicken. It turned out great as well. The Apples, we have made several times. I think we are coming to realize that with this cookbook, we just cut down on the sugar on pretty much every recipe. We cut back on the apples which made them just right. We really enjoyed this meal.

Squash Casserole and Applesauce Muffins

This has been one of our favorite recipes so far! We have made the squash casserole 4 times. It was even given a coveted spot on the Thanksgiving spread. Like all the other recipes, each time we made it, we cut back on the brown sugar. We actually really like it without any brown sugar at all. The first time we made this meal, it was our treat to host Terry and Joan and they loved our meal too! We had a great time. The applesauce muffins were excellent, and a great way to use our whole wheat flour (we have not ventured into making bread yet). Overall a great meal!

Hearty 6-hour stew and Pumpkin Bread

We should do more crockpot compatible recipes! We enjoyed being able to put this one in before church and coming home to a complete meal. We thought that it would be better with real onions instead of onion soup, but we still liked it. Martin made the pumpkin bread. He added way too many chocolate chips which in the end made it delightful! Any extra chocolate is fine with me. We really liked this meal.

Harvest Hamburger Soup and Bavarian Apple Torte

The soup was good. A great way to get in lots of veggies. I had never used consume before. What is it really? I'm afraid it made the soup a little greasy, but we enjoyed this warm entree. But it was super easy to just cut up all the veggies, open cans, and cook. The Apple torte was interesting--as Martin said. I have never had apple torte like this, so I'm not sure if it turned out as it was supposed to. The crust and fillings were of course very sugar heavy. I didn't leave out any ingredients though, cause, as I said, I had never had this before. Are the apples supposed to be a little dry? We both thought it would be better if they were more juicy. Maybe I baked it wrong or something. But, with that being said, sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, and fruit, still make a tasty combination.

YUM

Hello from Missouri.  I'm Elise Morrison (Jared's cousin's wife). Terra invited me to the group and we are so excited to have set menu plans for at least one day a week. :)

I made the beef stew on Sunday. I used ground beef, but it turned out heavenly. Usually a new recipe is met with such complements as, "We like when you cook things that we're used to," or "You really don't have to experiment in the kitchen."  Luckily, this one was a winner! SO GOOD! It was simple to make and we loved it.

Catch up!

Okay, so I've been a slacker when it comes to posting and taking pictures! I'm going to try to be better! Let's start back to the pork chops and sliced apples. We really liked the pork chops! It was very easy and I will be doing that one again. The apple slices were good, but if I'm going to take the time cutting the apples I would rather make apple crisp! The squash casserole has been my favorite dish so far! I LOVED it! Nick and Weston not so much. In fact Weston hardly touched it. I had to go to a couple stores to find the butternut squash. It was very easy. I even thought it tasted better the next day. I guess I will make it when Nick is gone on trips! The whole wheat muffins we thought were okay. But they were again very easy to make!

A Win/Lose week

The Whole-wheat Applesauce muffins were a HUGE hit. We even used homemade applesauce from the apples we had picked earlier this year. I made them before church for a morning snack. (A benefit of late church) The first batch was gone so quickly that I made a second batch after we got home. The squash casserole didn't go over as well. I really liked it, but the girls did not. Jared said it was tolerable but not a favorite. I once again had the advantage of getting sugar reduction tips from Jennie and Martin before I made my food. Maybe we should just automatically start reducing the sugar in recipes from this cookbook. These people really like their sugar! I'm not sure why my family didn't like this dish. It was very tasty! Oh well, I guess you win some and you lose some.

I'm not eating that

Those were the words out of Westons mouth when we finished putting the spider together. He thought that eating spider bread was so fun! We all really enjoyed this fun bread for the week of Halloween! I definitely will do this again for Halloween! But we had the same problem as you Marty and Jennie, too much for just the three of us! We will only use half of the bread that it calls for next time! That was a lot of bread! But FUN!
The Pumpkin Bisque was very interesting! Nick and I were not so sure what to expect. But we were pleasantly surprised! It was incredibly simple which I really liked! Nick agrees with Jared that it is not a great main dish. I'm not sure I will make this again. But it was fun to try!

Apples and Pork

The kids and I had picked a bunch of apples earlier in the month to make applesauce. I had made a couple batches but hadn't had the time to finish. This was a great way to use up some more of the apples that were becoming overripe. It was pretty quick and simple to put together. Personally, I wasn't a big fan. But then again, I'm pretty picky about my apples. I thought the topping/sauce was a too sugary. My family once again disagreed with my assessment. Everyone loved the apples. The girls were fighting over seconds before they even finished their first helpings. I've been trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into our meals and this is a great kid-friendly dish. (Although, I've yet to see apples served a way that my kids won't eat them.) It would also make a great after school snack or FHE refreshment. The girls were busy watching Twitches when I made it, but I think its something Katy and Xandy could make together without much help from me. They are getting to the age where they are asking to help cook and bake more often and like recipes they can do mostly without help.

I liked the idea of using yogurt to coat the pork instead of mayonnaise. I have a really good chicken recipe that is coated with a mix of mayonnaise and pesto. I think I'll try substituting the mayonnaise with yogurt for a healthy variation next time. Jared gave me the raised eyebrow look when he saw me spreading yogurt on the pork but in the end he liked it. I didn't realize that I didn't have any sage at home until I went to make it. Being as it was Sunday, we proceeded without the sage. I was going to borrow some from a friend until I realized it only called for 1/2 tsp. It hardly seemed worth the drive. I don't know how much of a difference the sage would've made, but we enjoyed the recipe just fine without it. I could see us making this recipe again. All of the ingredients are items we usually keep on hand, so it would make a great meal on those "what on earth should I make for dinner?" nights