Spooky Honey Caramel Apples for Halloween

I normally test the recipes before posting, 
but thought I'd put up this picture anyway, 
as it's the season to celebrate with caramel apples. 
I saw the healthier caramel recipe here. I love the sticks!

I usually use Mom's Caramel Corn recipe 
(see below, page 13 in her cookbook, or online on the tab above) 
for the caramel for our apples, 
though this also sounds like a nice change.

Honey Caramel Apples
1 c. honey
3/4 c. heavy cream
2 T. butter
1/4 t. unrefined sea salt
natural red food dye (optional)
1/2 c. crushed pecans (preferably soaked and dried)
6 sticks or wooden dowels

Whisk honey, cream, butter and salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat until it begins to bubble, then immediately reduce the heat to medium. Stir in food coloring, adjusting the volume to match the intensity of color you like.

Continue to whisk the caramel frequently to prevent scorching and to prevent it from bubbling up and out of of your saucepan. Continue to cook until the caramel reaches a temperature of 260 F (about 25 minutes). The caramel should be a rich brown or red-brown if you also used food coloring; the bubbles should be small and should uniformly cover the surface of the pan and the caramel should be thickened.

Prepare an ice bath. Then pour the hot caramel into a mixing bowl and place the bowl in the ice bath, taking care not to splash water into the hot caramel. Stir the caramel until it is uniformly cooled and it begins to thicken just a bit.

Plunge a wooden stick or dowel into the core of your apples and roll them, one by one, in the caramel until uniformly coated. Roll them in chopped pecans and place them on a piece of parchment paper to cool completely before serving.


YIELD: 6 Caramel Apples (6 Servings)

PREP: 5 mins
COOK: 30 mins
READY IN: 35 mins

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Caramel Corn I

2 sticks margarine, or 1 margarine and 1 butter
1/2 c. white Karo syrup
2 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 t. soda
7-1/2 qt. popcorn

Cook butter, brown sugar, syrup and salt for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in soda. Pour over popped corn, mix and put in flat pans. Bake at 200° for one hour. Stir every 15 minutes. Can be stored in sealed containers.

Shepherd's Pie, Tasty Gravy, Herbed Quinoa, Quinoa Salad

 made up Shepherds Pie

I cooked a potato in the microwave and when it was done I chopped it up and put it in the bottom of a small casserole dish. I put gravy over the potato, then added corn and beans, some quinoa on top, more gravy and then some vegan cheese I had left over. I put it in a 350 degree oven until it was hot and bubbly. 

It was pretty good considering I just threw several things together :D 

I love you all! 

Cheryl 

Tasty Gravy (Is this really vegan???) 
1 vegetable bouillon cube
2 c. water
½ t. onion powder
Few dashes of garlic powder
2 heaped T. nutritional yeast
1 ½ t. soy sauce (I used Bragg’s Liquid Aminos)
½ t. ground mustard
¼ - ½ c. flour or as needed for preferred thickness

(I used ¼ c. spelt flour. You may also use brown rice flour
1 T. vegan butter (I used coconut oil)
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Optional: Add a pinch of dried sage

Combine all ingredients in a pot and bring it to a boil. Simmer over low heat for a few minutes. 

Herbed Quinoa
2 c. quinoa
4 c. water
2 c. cauliflower, chopped
Cook until water is absorbed. Cool and fluff with fork.

Add:
3 cloves minced garlic
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
¼ c. Olive Oil
(These are all approximate measures; make it to suit your taste)

Add:
Fresh chopped herbs (basil and dill are great or you may try cilantro which is tasty)
Chopped, sliced or slivered almonds or pine nuts (Add as many or as little as you like)

Mix all the above together and serve.

Ursula’s Quinoa Salad
1 big onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 T. of olive oil
4 c. of water
1/2 c.- 3/4 c. of fresh cilantro (I put it in the chopper or sometimes in the blender)
1 t. salt, or a little more to taste
1 hot pepper or red or green sweet pepper
2 c. of frozen peas
2 c. of quinoa

Sauté the onion and garlic in oil, add water, cilantro, salt, peas, and quinoa. I usually cut a hot pepper in half without the seeds and place them on the top of everything and put the lid on till it boils then I lower the temperature to simmer for 20 minutes.

Once ready if you don't want the hot peppers just remove them, they add a nice flavor to the quinoa. If you use sweet peppers you could probably chop them. I like the little spice it adds to the dish.

by Cheryl, Barbara's daughter

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In searching for an image for this post (see top), I decided to just post the recipe too. 

Dee

Fresh Caprese Quinoa Salad
1/2 c. quinoa
8 oz. fresh mozarella
1 carton grape tomatoes, halved
fresh basil
2 T. olive oil
salt & pepper

1. In a medium sized pan, bring 1 c. water and quinoa to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and simmer on LOW until all of the water is absorbed. This should take anywhere between 10 and 15 minutes. *Cooking your quinoa on low is extremely important. If you let it simmer on a hotter flame, the water will absorb too quickly and the quinoa will turn out hard!

2. Cool the cooked quinoa in the refrigerator for at least an hour before preparing the salad.

3. To prepare the salad, slice grape tomatoes in half [hot dog way] and cut the block of fresh mozzarella into bite size pieces. Mix together. Then, add the chopped basil and cooked quinoa and give the salad a toss. Next, drizzle on the olive oil and season with a little salt/pepper (to taste). Give your salad a final toss and serve cool or at room temperature.

Zesty Chicken Tortellini Soup, Chocolate Zucchini Cake

I made some amazing soup last night, and just had to share!

Zesty Chicken Tortellini Soup

4 c. chicken broth

4 c. beef broth

1 ½ lbs. chicken, cooked, cut up

4 carrots, sliced

2 celery ribs, sliced

1 onion, chopped

1 envelope onion soup mix

1 ½ t. dried parsley

½ t. garlic powder

½ t. crushed red pepper flakes

½ t. poultry seasoning

½ t. pepper

2 ½ c. frozen cheese tortellini (I add a lot more!)

Simmer everything except the tortellini 10 - 15 minutes, until vegetables are tender.  Add tortellini, simmer an additional 4 – 5 minutes.

by Stephanie, wife of Barbara's son Brandon
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UPDATE by Dee: 
Since Steph posted a recipe, I thought this would be a good place 
to add the end-of-summer cake recipe I got from her.


Stephanie's Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake

Mix:
2 c. zucchini
3/4 c. margarine
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
2 t. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa
1 t. salt
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
optional: 1/2 c. nuts, chocolate chips

Bake at 350 for one hour in Bundt pan. Cool before removing from pan.

(Notes by Dee: I subbed butter/coconut oil for margarine, some unrefined cane for some of the white sugar, some whole wheat for part of the flour… and chocolate chips aren't optional. I baked these as cupcakes and frosted with the leftover white frosting from the White Chocolate recipe. I've also made mini muffins out of this—one recipe makes 4 dozen—and they are yummy little 'brownie bites'. Just don't over bake.)