Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup

1 lb. sweet Italian sausage
1 c. coarsely chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. water or however much you need for the size pot your using
1 pint canned tomatoes left whole or blended up
8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 c. celery chopped small
1 c. thinly sliced carrots
1 med. green pepper, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 1/2 c. zucchini, chopped small
8 oz. frozen meat or cheese filled tortellini or small ravioli
1/2 tsp. basil leaves
1/2 tsp. oregano leaves
3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Grated Parmesan cheese

If sausage comes in casing, remove casing; cut into bite-size pieces. In a 5 quart Dutch oven brown sausage. Remove sausage from pan; drain reserving 1 tablespoon of drippings in pan. Saute onions and garlic in reserved drippings until onions are tender. Add water, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce and sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered 30 minutes. Stir in green pepper, simmer another 10 minutes. Add zucchini, tortellini and parsley. Simmer covered an additional 25 minutes or until tortellini are tender. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of each serving.

Pomegranate Jelly Recipe

I had some organic pomegranate juice that my husband had bought and I decided to use a jar to make some jelly. It was really easy to do and turned out great. This is the recipe that I used.

The process of canning jelly is specific to what fruit you are canning, the type of pectin you are using - whether natural, liquid, powder - and the ratio of juice to sugar to pectin. If you plan to store your jelly on a shelf, and not in the refrigerator, you need special canning equipment to ensure against spoilage.

Ingredients

• 4 cups pomegranate juice
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 package powdered pectin
• 5 cups white sugar

You'll also need:

• 4 pint jars
  

Method

1 Make the Juice. There are two basic ways to make pomegranate juice from fresh pomegranates. The first is to cut open a pomegranate and submerge it in a large bowl filled with water. Remove the seeds underwater; they will sink to the bottom while the white membrane holding them together will float. Discard the peel and membranes. Strain the seeds and put them in a blender. Pulse the blender only a few times so that the seeds are broken up. Place a mesh strainer over a bowl and pour the seed mixture through the strainer. Use a rubber spatula to help press the pulp against the strainer as to extract as much juice as possible.

The second way to juice a pomegranate is to use a juice press. I have an old fashioned press that I use. I wash the pomegranate and cut it into quarters or halves, depending on how big the pomegranate is. I then crush the sections with a press and strain the juice through a mesh strainer. I have found that this method takes half the time or less of the first method, but the flavor can be a little more bitter because you are squeezing the peel as well.

2 Prepare canning jars. Seep the clean, empty canning jars in boiling water for several minutes. Boil a few cups of water in a separate kettle and pour over the lids in a small bowl to sterilize.

3 Measure pomegranate juice and lemon juice in a 6-quart pan. Add pectin, stir and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Reach a full rolling boil, that cannot be stirred down, and add sugar. Boil hard for exactly 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand for a minute and skim off foam.

4 Fill jars to 1/2" of the top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids.

5 Finish canning. This step you need to take if you plan to keep the jelly unrefrigerated. Place the jelly jars, not touching, on a rack in a tall pot of boiling water. The water should cover the top of the jars by at least an inch. Boil for 10 minutes and then remove from the water. Let the jars cool. Check seals, the lids should be sucked down (you'll hear a popping noise as the jelly cools).

Yield - 4 pints

Summer Squash.....
We have had a couple of suppers with some simple fried summer squash. Pretty soon I am going to have more squash then I am going to know what to do with. I am planning on trying this Cheesy Summer Squash Casserole recipe when I get enough to make up a dish. I will also be looking for other creative dishes. I'll be checking out some recipes from here and here. Does anyone have a favorite they would like to pass on to me??

Banana-Zucchini Bread Recipe

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
  
• 2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

• In a bowl, beat eggs. Blend in sugar, vanilla and oil. Add bananas and mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; stir into egg mixture. Stir in zucchini and pecans just until combined.
• Pour into two greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 2 loaves.
  

Almond Biscotti....


2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. oatmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix these first six ingredients together and then set aside. In another bowl mix together:

2 eggs
3 Tb. oil
2 tsp orange zest
2 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 c. slivered almonds
1/4 c. water

Mix the wet ingredients together with a mixer and then add the dry ingredients and mix till everything is come together. If you need a little extra liquid then add a little. Then with floured hands transfer the dough to a baking sheet and form it into a rectangle shape that is about 1 1/2" thick. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Then take the biscotti out and little it cool for about 15 minutes. Turn oven down to 250 degrees. When the biscotti is cooled slice it into 1 inch stripes and lay the stripes on there side. Put them back in the oven for 15 minutes on one side and then turn them over and another 15 minutes on the other side or until they look browned. Then take them out and let them cool. Store in an air tight container.

If you want drizzled chocolate on top just melt down some chocolate chips and drizzle on the top after they have cooled.

Enjoy them with some coffee or tea:)

Cyclops Eyes.......
We checked out this cookbook from the library called, "A Monster Cookbook" The kids and I decided we wanted to make the Cyclops Eyes.

Ingredients we used:

1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. powdered milk
1 1/2. crispy rice cereal

Mix all the ingredients together and use a scooper to form balls. Then you take M&M's and put one right on top. Refrigerate for about an hour to firm up and store in the refrigerator. This recipe makes about a 1 dozen. If you want to make more just double the recipe.

New Recipe.....

This past week I printed off a recipe from Taste of Homes called, "Vegetable Beef Bow Tie The Skillet.". It looked easy and so I gave it a try. It was a huge hit with my husband and so it is now going into our favorites recipe book.

Now like most recipes I didn't follow it exactly because I didn't have all the items. I used ground turkey instead of hamburger. I also used my canned tomatoes that have peppers in them and added broccoli instead of zucchini. This is a great one pot Hamburger Helper kind of recipe. At the end I used some corn starch to thicken up the sauce a bit.

Scones.......
I have been trying to find a good scone recipe for awhile. I worked for Victor Allen's Coffee and Tea for about 8 years and they have the most delicious & moist scones. I wish I could get there recipe, but I found one that is pretty good and the kids loved them. Here's the recipe......

Cinnamon Scones
4 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 c. butter
1 egg
1 c. sour cream
1/4 c. milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then mix the first 6 ingrediants together in a large bowl. After they are mixed cut the butter into the mixture well. In a seperate bowl mix the egg, sour cream and milk. Then add to the first mixture and mix till combined. Then with your two greased baking sheets scoup out the mixture into good biscuit size scones. I think I got a total of 16 scones. I also sprinkled a cinnamon sugar mixture on top or you can make up a frosting to drizzle over the top when they are done. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until they look done. Eat and enjoy:)

To find more scone recipes go here.

A Couple Recipes.....

Tonight I made up a batch of Peanut Brittle for my mom, since she loves it. I also found out that my kids love it too except for Noah, which is surprising. I first tried to use a microwave recipe, but it ended up getting cooked to long and tasted a bit burnt. So Anna had fun throwing that in the garbage.

I have to say the best way to make brittle is on the stove with a candy thermomater. The recipe I used is called Grandma's Christmas Brittle and it turned out great. It also makes a good amount, so you probably only have to make one batch. That's if everyone doesn't eat in up in a couple of days. I guess I'll have to hide it somewhere saft.

I also decided to make up a recipe that I found in Cook's Country, which I love to read. It is called Crunchy Spiced Nuts. It's amazing how much some of these would cost if someone made them for you. They turned out awesome and I really think my dad is going to love them.

Crunchy Spiced Nuts

Ingredients:
1 large egg white
1 Tb. water
1 tsp. salt
1 pound unsalted pecans
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cloves

Directions:
Heat the oven to 300 degrees and spray baking sheet with non-stick spray. Then whisk the egg white, water and salt in a large bowl. Then pour the pecans in and coat them with the egg white mixture. In a smaller bown mix the sugar and spices and then pour it over the nuts and mix well. Then pour the coated pecans onto the baking sheet and put in the oven. Bake until dry and crisp, which takes about 40 to 45 mins. Let cool and enjoy:) These can be stored in an airtight container for 3 weeks if they last that long.

So those are a couple of favorites around our household. We have also been busy baking cookies, which seem to disappear very quickly. I think I am going to wait till we get to grandma's house before we bake to many more.

YUMMY......

Yesterday at my mom's group we had a Christmas party and everyone brought a dish to pass. One friend brought this wonderful casserole and I had to share it with all of you. The best part is last night I was grocery shopping and they had cubed ham on clearance for $1.50 a package, so I bought up what they had. This will be a great Christmas morning dish don't you think????

Ham Hash Brown Bake
1 (32 oz) package of hash browns potatoes, thawed slightly
1/2 cup butter or margarine melted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 to 2 cups cubed pre-cooked ham or turkey ham (the recipe called for 1 12-ounce can of SPAM cubed, but I used turkey ham)
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
1/ 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups of crushed potato chips

Combine potatoes, butter, salt, pepper and garlic powder. In a separate bowl, combine ham (spam) soup, cheese, sour cream, milk, onion, and chilies. Combine both mixtures and place in 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with chips. Bake 45-60 minutes or until heated
Serve & Enjoy:)

Chocolate Cookies.....

I am planning on going easy on the cookies this year. I tend to eat too many of them (don't we all) especially if they are chocolate cookies. I have started to get the e-mails for the "12 Days of Cookies" and one of the first cookies posted was the Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies. These look really easy to make and would be a great recipe to use with kids. So what are your favorite cookie recipes to make with your kids during Christmas time???

Here is also another of my favorite Chocolate cookie recipes......

Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies

• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup chopped pecans, divided
• 6 (2-ounce) packages chocolate-caramel cookie bars, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 (2-ounce) vanilla bark coating squares

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugars, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla, beating until blended after each addition.

Combine flour, cocoa, and soda; add to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in 1/2 cup pecans. Shape 1 tablespoon dough around each candy piece, covering completely, to form balls.

Combine remaining 1/2 cup pecans and 1 tablespoon sugar. Gently press the top of each ball into pecan mixture. Place balls, pecan sides up, 2 inches apart on baking sheets.

Bake at 375° for 7 to 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 2 minutes. Remove from baking sheets; cool completely on wire racks.

Melt coating squares in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Drizzle over cookies.

*These chocolate cookies are my absolute favorite. If you don't want to go to as much work this cookie dough is also wonderful if you want to add just some white chocolate or peanut butter chips to the batter. Also you can just roll the balls in some red & green sugars and bake them. There are lots of variations that can be done with this batter. I have also cut up little bites of Snicker bars and wrapped the dough around them. Those are also yummy.

Sweet Potato or Squash Muffins.....

To read more about these muffins that I made yesterday you can go here.

Christmas recipes:
Here are a few new recipes that I would like to try out.

Vegetable Wreath Recipe

Easy Peanut Butter Cracker Cookies

Christmas Bark

Cleaning & Planning......
Today Brandon & I decided to rent a Rug Doctor. The carpets down stairs are cream and were looking so dirty that we just could not take it any more, so we spent most of the day working on cleaning the carpets. What a job it has been, but the carpets look awesome now.

I also went grocery shopping with Gabriel to get what I would need to cook Thanksgiving Dinner. We decided to not travel this year, since Brandon is working the whole weekend. It is also only a month until Christmas break and we will be heading out to visit family in Iowa & Nebraska. I'll be spending the weekend with the kids decorating the house for Christmas. I know they are going to be super excited.

Here are some links to a few recipes that I will be using for my Thanksgiving meal:

Good Eat Roast Turkey
Mama's Green Bean Casserole
Tart Cranberry Dipping Sauce
Pumpkin Pie with Streusel topping

Streusel Topping Recipe:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tb flour
1 Tb melted butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and bake pie for 15 mins. In the meantime mix up the crumb topping and then put on the pie after 15 mins. This makes such a yummy pumpkin pie.

Other items on the menu at the Kostman home are mashed potatoes, corn & homemade stuffing, which really is only the way to go.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Let me know what your plans are if you have time or share a special Thanksgiving recipe that is a must at your home.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie Recipe

It's been a while since I have posted a recipe. I guess I haven't made many new things lately. Hopefully now with the colder weather and fellowship each week it will give me more of a chance to try out some new recipes. To find out more about the recipe go here.

5 Star Brownies......

To read more and find the recipe go here.

New Recipe

I finally had a chance to post a new recipe over on my recipe blog. I made up some cinnamon rolls last night with a recipe that I got from a friend. To find the sweet dough recipe go here. Try it out and you will not be disappointed.

It is time for the May's Recipe Box Swap! This month's theme is no-theme at all, meaning you get to post any recipe that suits your fancy! This makes it easy for me to choose because I have rhubarb coming up in the garden, which is my favorite and makes such yummy deserts. I recipe I came across a few years ago was Rhubarb Custard Bars. Once I made it I was hooked & it's super easy,which is a bonus.

Rhubarb Custard Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 package (18-1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix
• 4 cups chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb
• 1 cup Granulated Pure Cane Sugar
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• Whipped cream and fresh mint, optional

Directions:

Prepare cake batter according to package directions. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Mix the rhubarb, sugar & cream together and slowly pour over top.
Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with whipped cream or refrigerate till cool and then spread the whip cream over the top. Yield: 12-15 servings.

Homemade Whipped Cream

1/2 pt. whipping cream
3 Tb. sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Whip cream with mixer. Be careful not to over beat or else will get too thick like butter. When it begins to thicken, add sugar and vanilla; stir. Refrigerate.

This month is a No-Theme Month meaning that anything goes. It was a hard decision to figure out what to post, but I decided to post our famous Haystack recipe from Brandon's family. This is a super easy meal to make for a small or large family. We usually make this when we have company and they all like it. I wish I had a picture to show you, but I don't. So here it is.

Haystacks

Ingredients:

Fritos
Chili
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Sour cream
Shredded Lettuce
Black Olives (optional)
Catalina dressing
hot sauce (optional)
salsa

Making up a plate:
Put a generous lay of Fritos on your plate.
Pour some chili over the fritos.
Dollop some sour cream over the chili.
Sprinkle cheddar cheese & lettuce on top.
Then you can choose the kind of sauces you want on top.
Sprinkle with black olives if you desire.

Then dig in and eat. These are so good and everyone go back for seconds.

This is the first recipe swap of 2009, which is hosted by I Have to Say. This month's theme is "Fun Foods". Fun foods are usually sticky, salty, sugary or fattening, and we all love them! To find more recipes a long this line click on the recipe box swap picture.

As I was thinking about what recipe to post it was clear to me that one of my favorite sticky, sugary, & fattening recipes is "Christmas Morning Rolls". Maybe most of you have made these before and if you haven't you need to try them. This recipe is great because you put it all together the night before you serve them. When you Wake up, simply pop them in a pre-heated 350 oven for 30 minutes and you have warm - delicious - home made cinnamon rolls. This is not a recipe that you only make at Christmas time, but can be made any time of the year so here it is.


Christmas Morning Rolls

1 bag (24) frozen dinner rolls
1 pkg. butterscotch pudding mix (not instant)
1 stick butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans

Arrange rolls in a greased Bundt pan. Sprinkle dry pudding over rolls. Cook butter and remaining ingredients over low heat until bubbles & pour over rolls. Cover tightly with foil and let stand on counter overnight. Next morning, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Let stand 5 minutes , then place large serving plate on top and invert carefully.
Serve & Enjoy:)