The Apple Cookbook

"An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away"

I'm sure you've heard that saying a time or two. Apples are a great fruit that's not only healthy, but also very versatile and frugal. 

I can almost always find some great apples on sale at the store. Occasionally we'll also buy a big box of apples from a local orchard and store them for use in the winter. Apples keep well in a dry, cool place, but with all the cooking and baking, the never last very long at our house. 

In this apple cookbook, you'll find recipes that range from sweet to savory including:

• Apple Walnut Salad
• Blue Cheese and Apple Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Chicken Apple Skillet
• Delicious Stuffed Cornish Hens
• Apple Stuffed Pork Chops
• Baked Pork Tenderloin with Apple Glaze
• Cranberry and Apple Pork Tenderloin Medallions
• Pork Chops with Caramelized Apples
• Old Fashioned Apple and Sausage Stuffing
• Crockpot Pork Roast with Apples and Sauerkraut
• Easy Apple Butter
• Quick and Delicious Apple Streusel Pastry
• Crockpot Apple Cobbler

Order the Book on Amazon

Tracy is a busy homeschooling mom who loves to create meals from scratch, but also relies on simple, easy meals frequently. 

There's nothing easier than throwing ingredients in a slow cooker and, a couple hours later, putting something delicious on the table that everyone in the family loves.  

She put this ebook together to help women achieve the success of feeding their family real food that doesn't require hours of slaving over the stove to make. 

It's a great guide and ebook full of helpful tips and yummy recipes.  Take a look at 

Simple Crockpot Dishes For Busy Moms

Each year 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkin are grown. Sadly a lot of that ends up in local landfills and compost piles after Halloween. Why not change that this year by roasting and freezing the pumpkin to make some delicious pumpkin soup or pumpkin pie later on?

Plan Ahead

If you're thinking of cooking and freezing your pumpkin, consider either using the pumpkin as a decoration as is or painting it. It'll last longer than if you don't cut it. If you do turn it into a Jack O' Lantern, cook it as soon as possible.

Roast Your Pumpkin

Next you want to cook the pumpkin and turn it into puree. The easiest way to do it is to roast the pumpkin. Allow the pumpkin to cool enough to handle, then puree the cooked pumpkin flesh. You can add some seasonings if you'd like, but I prefer to keep it plain and add either sweet or savory seasonings once I've decided what to make with each batch.

Few decorations herald the season like carved pumpkins. You don't have to do the traditional jack-o-lantern face; you can get really creative and carve all kinds of designs. Here are some tips for pumpkin carving.

1. The Perfect Pumpkin

The perfect pumpkin may not be what you think. Round and flawless may seem like the ideal shape, but think a moment about the more oddly-shaped ones. They can inspire interesting designs, and may result in a very unique pumpkin!

Regardless of shape, look for a firm pumpkin without any soft or rotten spots.

2. The Right Tools

This is one of the most important tips for pumpkin carving. Not only do you get more attractive results with the right tools; it's also safer to have tools that are designed for the purpose. Here are some of the tools for pumpkin carving:

Knives - First, you'll need a large knife to cut the top off the pumpkin. A large carving knife or a serrated bread knife - both as sharp as possible - are good choices. You could also use a small saw, such as a coping saw or keyhole saw. For carving, a small paring knife with a thin, sharp, flexible blade is helpful. A box-cutter or X-acto knife can also work well.

Spoon - A large spoon is essential for scooping out seeds and pulp. Some of the pulp can be stubborn, so a metal spoon is a better choice than a plastic or wooden one. If you have a fruit spoon with a serrated edge, that might come in handy for scraping out stubborn bits. Also, a small fruit spoon with a serrated edge can help if you want to scrape some of the pulp thin for a glowing effect without actually cutting through the flesh.

Toothpicks - Having some toothpicks handy can help if you cut off a chunk you meant to leave in! For example, if you are carving teeth and cut one of them off, you can use a toothpick to re-attach the "tooth."

Cutting Techniques

When you cut the top off of your pumpkin, think of a bathtub plug shape. These plugs are wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, so slant your large knife slightly inward so that the base of the cut-off top will be narrower than the top.

When you carve out your design, sources recommend going slowly, and making sure that the blade of the knife never comes out of the pumpkin flesh when you're cutting with it. Starting with the center and working outward also tends to work better than going from the outside inward.

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