Living Insanity's Loving Food

It is officially fall and we like to head to Gaver Farm to pick pumpkins and to have apple cider donuts and apple cider slushies from the donut hut.  This year they have added soft serve ice cream to the mix.  You can have soft serve with apple cider slushie topped with a hot donut.  It is so good.  Do yourself a favor and drive out there before the season is over!  

 I was able to throw together this applecake in 30 minutes on a Friday after work!   Fresh Apple Cake Cream Together in Stand Mixer: 1 cups sugar 1 cup oil 2 eggs 3 tablespoons vanilla Sift Together in a Bowl: 3 cups flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon Add the dry ingredients into the creamed mixer in the stand mixer. Cut up 2 apples (2 cups worth of apples) into a small dice and fold them into your mixture.  It will be thick! Press into a well grease bunt pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Let the cake cool before turning it out onto a cake plate.

All of us were supposed to go to Hershey Park.  It rained all day and Hershey actually closed 2 hours early.  I cancelled our trip and invited everyone over for beef stew instead.   2 lbs stew meat, rolled in flour seasoned with salt and pepper.  Browned in a large pot with oil. 4 carrots, diced. 3 stalks celery, diced 5 red potatoes, cubed into about 1 inch pieces. 1 can of green beans, drained 1 onion, large dice 1 large clove of garlic, diced 32 ounces of beef stock.  I also added a little water to help cover all the ingredients. 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/2 teaspoon paprika dash allspice Place all of the above ingredients in the crockpot and cook on high about 6 hours. Do not toss this in the crockpot yet! 2-4 tablespoons cornstarch. Mix the cornstarch in a measuring cup with some of the hot broth.  Add the slurry into the crockpot and let it heat through and thicken slightly....

So, I don't really go to the grocery store.  I have been doing curbside pick up for groceries ever since covid hit in 2020.  This was a substitution that I wasn't sure was going to work out, but ended up very tasty anyway.  Originally I was trying to order a chuck roast to make my crockpot Italian Drip Beef sandwiches.  The shopped substituted the chuk steaks when they couldn't find a chuck roast.  Then the shopper and I texted back and forth about the bread substitution and then I got home and there was no bread in the order :(  I usually don't have issues with grocery pick up at all.  This just was a bad week.   I made these chuck roast steaks the same way as the Italian Beef in the crockpot, but without rolls I put it over some mashed potatoes and added some microwaved peas.  It was very yummy and those two chuck steaks were eaten.   2 chuck beef steaks 1 packet of Good Seasonings Italian 1 can of beef consomme Some liquid a...

I bought the family box of Zatarain's Jambalaya rice and added corn, diced tomatoes, celery, and browned andouille sausage.  We gobbled it up.  

Home Chef had a wonderful sounding ground turkey chili skillet meal topped with biscuits.  By the time my order came I was not in the mood for more chili!  So I just made spaghetti sauce instead.  I still have the dry biscuit mix for another day.  

Home Chef Baja Burgers.  These originally were impossible burgers, but they let me sub in ground beef.  Then the box came without ground meat and they sent diced chicken.  That was not going to make a burger :(  I immediately notified Home Chef and they refunded the meal.  I thawed out some ground turkey and ended up making the burgers with that.  The burgers had roasted jalapeno and roasted tomatoes plus pepperjack cheese and guacamole.  I felt like they needed some kind of creamy element like a spicy mayo or maybe just a chipotle ranch dressing.  

 I made a huge amount of chili when we had a tropical storm dump rain on us for a weekend.  I got tired of just eating chili in a bowl so I made chili topped tots!  Chili dog was going to be next, but I ended up freezing the chili.   My slow cooker chili recipe is 1 lb ground beef or ground turkey (browned with salt and pepper) 1 packet of chili seasoning 1 jalapeno, diced 1 onion, diced 1 green pepper, diced 2 cans of beans.  I usually use all kidney, but I have mixed kidney and black beans too 1-2 cans tomato sauce Throw in crockpot on low 8 hours or high 4 hours.  I have done this recipe on the stove top too.  I usually let it simmer for at least an hour.

This is a Home Chef recipe.  That was quick and easy to make.  You basically stirred everything in the provided pan and baked it in the oven.  It really could be a side with a protein.  Like a spicy mac n cheese! At 400 degrees bake diced poblano and corn tossed in some olive oil, salt, and pepper for 15 minutes. Add hatch chiles, provided cream base, cheese, and gnocchi and stir everything together.   Add a pinch of salt. Place tray back into the oven for about 12-15 minutes. Top with some cotija cheese, cilantro and crispy jalapenos.  (I have these from the grocery store, they are with salad toppers).

I tried Poke Bowl off Bel Pre Road for lunch and it was awesome.  You can build your own bowl or wrap.  I chose wrap.  It was so stuffed I worried she wouldn't be able to roll it!  I had chicken, rice, avocado, and lots of pickled veggies in mine.  I can't wait to try this place again!