Raspberry Freezer Jam

I made some yummy freezer Jam the other day. Since I'm off sugar for a while I used 'Agave' instead of sugar. If you don't know about agave you should pick some up. It's the about the consistency of honey and it's 3 times sweeter than sugar so you use a lot less.

In a large bowl mash up

7 cups of Raspberries

3 small Peaches

10 Strawberries

1 cup Agave Nectar

2 tsp Vanilla (I think Vanilla cuts the tartness of the fruit but it's a personal preference, I add Vanilla to everything)

2 packets of Freezer jam Pectin

Follow the directions on the packet, which basically says stir, put in containers and freeze or refrigerate. Then eat it up Yum!

My favorite way to eat it which completely defeats the purpose of using Agave is putting it over Breyers Vanilla Ice Cream. I need to get some plain Yogurt and try it in that too. Plus it's just good on toast. Which reminds me I want to make whole wheat bread too. Shoot I'm hungry now.

Playground Granola Bars

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
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DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.

I saw these on Allrecipes.com and want to make them. There are alot of alternative suggestions. I'll make some and let you know what worked for me.

Popovers

I finally figured them out! I've made them a few times recently and they've always turned out like the ones on the left. Still yummy but not popped like they should. Then I looked up the recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/ and read a suggestion that said to put a little dallop of butter in each cup after heating up the pan in the oven for about 5-10 mins. So I put a little drop of butter in the six cups on the left and see what happened. Woo Hoo lovely popped Popovers. I've also tried making the batter as room tempature as possible which may help too, but my little experiment proves that a little butter is the key. So go make them, I've already made them twice this week and will probably make them Sunday morning too since Ryan said he's never had them before.

Ingredients:

2 Eggs (room temp if possible)
1 Cup Milk
1 Cup Flour

Pre heat oven to 450* put the muffin tin in while it's heating. Take tin out, spray and add a drop of butter to each cup. Bake at 450 for 20 mins then lower the temp to 350 and bake another 10-15 mins. Eat warm with butter and strawberry jelly or lemon juice and powder sugar.

Frosting

1 cup. softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla (I like to do half vanilla, half almond)
4 cup. powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
Mix the softened butter in a kitchen-aid mixer (in my opinion, a hand mixer doesn't cut it.) Then add the vanilla and/or almond. Slowly add the powdered sugar little by little. If it clumps add a tiny bit of the milk. If you want to make chocolate icing add about a 1/2 half of cocoa powder here (I hate Hershey's I use Premium cocoa.) Continue to slowly mix the powdered sugar and milk as needed until all is mixed. Scrap the sides of the bowl as needed throughout.When I make the cream cheese version I add about half a chunk of cream cheese instead of the second butter stick. At least that's how I did it this time. I think it did it different last time, but I can't remember how I did it. It doesn't really matter as long as the consistency is what you want.
*This recipe is from my friend Lori but I have to search through her blog to find it everytime so I'm just posting it here so I can find it easier.

Valentine's Day Cake

This has become my new Valentine's Day cake. I made it last year too. It's actually pretty easy and so yummy. It's kind of like a deflated chocolate souffle, and oh so yummy.

Ingredients:

Serves 8

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan

8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

6 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Sweetened whipped cream, for serving

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.with the rack in the center. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and microwave in 30-second increments, stirring each time, until completely melted. Let cool slightly. Whisk in egg yolks.In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar, and continue beating until glossy stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture; then gently fold in remaining egg whites.Pour batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and is set in the center, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack; remove sides of pan. Serve at room temperature, dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Super Easy Cream of Broccoli Soup

OK, I know this doesn't look good, but don't let it scare you from trying it. . .it is super yummy! It's best on a cold day with some warm rolls.

Broccoli Soup

This is not an exact recipe so you will have to guess a little. This is how my friend, Shalon, told me how to make it over the phone one day:

Place broccoli flowerets in a soup pan. Maybe 1/2 full. Add chicken broth to just over the top of the broccoli. Add a few stocks of celery chopped up. 1/2 onion if you like onions. Simmer until the broccoli is soft. I use a hand wand shake blender(whatever its called) but you can scoop the broccoli out into your blender or food processor and cream till smooth. I leave a few chunks in the soup to give it a little texture. Add back into pan. Now this is the good part. I have only seen this cheese on the farm in Idaho, but put about 1/2 a block of velveeta cheese in the soup and heat until it is smooth and melted. Trust me, your kids will take one look at the green soup and not want to eat it, but once they try it, you'll have to make it again and again.

Suggestion: Great with Oatmeal Rolls posted earlier.