Sweet and Sour Pork (updated)

I know I've mentioned before that my mom used to bake goodies for a craft sale she put on with two of her good friends (they had 50 crafters at their sale!!). One treat she made was pepper jelly.



If you've never had pepper jelly... I urge you to give it a try. It's quite delicious, especially on a cracker with a little bit of cream cheese!!

This fall, my mom made her batch of pepper jelly, but somehow crystals formed in the jar :( Never fear, her ingenuity led her to a great new meal... sweet and sour pork!



Sweet and Sour Pork - Mom

1 pork roast, 4-5 pounds
1 jar (about 6-8oz) pepper jelly
1 jar (small) chili sauce
1 medium onion, sliced

Slice the onions and layer them across the bottom of your crockpot. Set the roast on top of the onions (this helps prevent the meat from sticking to the bottom of your crockpot).

Then, pour the pepper jelly and chili sauce over the roast.



Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, until the internal temperature of the pork reaches the proper temperature.



Serve over rice, and use the juice as a glaze.



Delicious.



And, way better than eating out!

Linked to:

• Tasty Tuesday
• Crockpot Wednesday

Crockpot Squash

When we visited our family, my mom took Thanksgiving to my grandparents. My mom made a delicious squash, and after baking it a little in the oven, kept it warm and cooking in the crockpot. It's a perfect make-ahead Thanksgiving squash!

Crockpot Squash - From My Mom's Kitchen
{Print Recipe}

1 large buttercup squash
1 large butternut squash
1/4 C honey/molasses {or brown sugar}
1 T butter
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds.

Cover the squash with tinfoil, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until tender when pricked with a fork.

When squash has cooled, scrape the flesh out of the skin.

In a large bowl, mash the squash together.

Add 1-2 T butter, salt and pepper to taste, and sweetener. Then, mash with a potato masher to mix.

Place the squash into a crockpot, and turn to low.

Serve right from the crockpot liner.

This post is linked to:
Crockpot Wednesday
URS\

Crockpot Recipes

One kitchen gadget I absolutely love is my crockpot! Just this summer, I discovered you can made desserts, good desserts, in your crockpot. If you haven't tried it, think about it -- delicious desserts without heating up your kitchen!!

Not only are they great for desserts -- but they make a warm meal ready when I walk in the door after a long day. Over the past year, I've discovered that I can make healthy meals in the crockpot to feed my family without relying on the traditional "packaged" foods that go into many crockpot recipes (i.e., canned and dried soups, etc.).

As part of Lindsay's Nourishing Crockpot Carnival today, I'm highlighting the recipes you can find on this blog that I consider rather healthy and nourishing for our family:

Main Dishes

Crockpot Minestrone



Lucy's Amazing Chili



Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce



Crockpot Apple Bacon Pork Chops



Crockpot Autumn Pork



Crockpot Broccoli Beef



Crockpot Chicken Parmesan



Crockpot Honey Lime Chicken



Crockpot Lemon Herby Chicken



Crockpot Mushroom Pork



Crockpot Philly Cheese Steak



Crockpot Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Crockpot Swiss Steak



Crockpot Ratatouille



Crockpot Zucchini Lasagna





Desserts

Crockpot Apple Cake (which just happens to be fat free)



Crockpot Apple Cobbler



Crockpot Berry Cobbler



This post is also linked to:

• Crockpot Wednesday
• Slow Cooking Thursday
  

Apple Honey Tea

Are you peeling a bunch of apples?

Save those peels!

You can make a delicious tea.



Apples with un-waxed peels work best, but you can make this with waxed ones too.  Prepare the tea as directed below, upping the quantity as you need.

You can freeze the tea, so make lots while you have the peels!

Apple Honey Tea - Finding Joy in My Kitchen

~6 apple peels
3-4 C water
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (or 1 cinnamon stick)
1 T honey
1 T lemon juice

Place apple peels in a sauce pan. Cover with water and lemon juice and cinnamon.



Bring to a boil for 10-15 minutes, until liquid is colorful and appley.



Strain out the apple peels using a colander positioned over a large bowl.

Then, add in the honey. Taste... add additional honey or cinnamon to taste.

If you are serving right away, you may choose to add a cinnamon stick in place of ground cinnamon.  Then, to keep the tea warm, transfer to a crockpot set to "low" or "warm".

To make ahead for a frugal holiday party beverage, just boil the apple peels and then freeze the liquid.

Add to your crockpot about 3 hours before serving, and heat through adding lemon, honey and cinnamon sticks to taste. Serve warm from the crockpot.



As a bonus, your house will smell amazing while simmering away this tea.

What do you do with your apple peels?

This post is linked to:
Fall into Flavor 09, Crockpot Wednesdays, URS: Anything Goes, Grocery Cart Challenge, Fall Season Recipe Roundup at the Krazy Kitchen, Rhoda's Recipe Party, The Progressive Dinner Party - Beverages Works for Me Wednesday URS Ingredient Spotlight

Crockpot Autumn Pork

Jane over at Frugal Fine Living posted a great looking recipe for Autumn Pork made in the crockpot that I thought would be delicious.  When pork loin went on sale this week, I thought it would be great to try.  This smelled great while cooking away all day.  Yum. 

Autumn Pork Roast - Adapted from Jane

4 lb. pork roast
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 apples, peeled and cored
3 T brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 C applesauce
1/2 C ginger ale (or apple juice)

Peel, core and cut apples into eights (or quarters).  Place in the bottom of a greased crockpot.



Place the pork roast over the apples. 



In a small bowl, combine spices, applesauce and ginger ale. 



Pour over the roast.



Cook on low for 8-10 hours, until pork roast reaches 170 degrees. 



This was excellent paired with sweet potatoes and sauteed Italian zucchini and mushrooms.

This recipe is linked to Foodie Friday and Crockpot Wednesday.

Crockpot Apple Cake

I'm just beginning to explore the wonderful world of baked goods make in the crockpot! Sure, I've tried my hand at a few cobblers and had some success, but I've never tried making a cake!! This cake was awesome -- moist, fully cooked, and full of the flavors I love so much about fall. We started the dessert, ran out to get the new David Crowder Church Music CD, went for a quick walk, and came back to enjoy a tasty treat!



Crockpot Apple Cake - Modified from Fix-It and Forget-It

1 C flour (1/2 C wheat, 1/2 C white)
3/4 C brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
3 large apples, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp. vanilla

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.



Peel and slice your apples (I diced mine fairly small), and then coat with the flour mixture.



Mix the eggs and vanilla in a small bowl.



Pour the egg mixture over the floured apples. Pour/spoon into a greased crockpot.



Yes, the batter is thick.

Cover, and cook on high for ~2 hours.





Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.



Slice and serve warm. Leftovers were great for breakfast too ;) And, since it's fat-free, I didn't feel too bad about eating cake for breakfast!



Here's Frog Prince enjoying it as we listed to David Crowder's new CD - Church Music.



I think that if David Crowder would have been joining us, he would have liked it too.



This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Mondays, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Save Room for Dessert, Crockpot Wednesdays and URS: Baked Goods.