Apple-Pear Butter
by Mackenzie at The Centsible Family

Prep time should be about 30 minutes and will cook for 11-13 hours so be sure to start it early in the morning or leave it on low during the night.

Ingredients:

• 5-6 pounds apples and pears – peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 3 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

 

Directions:

1.  Place the apples in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Pour the mixture over the apples in the slow cooker and mix well.
2. Cover and cook on high 1 hour.
3. Reduce heat to low and cook 9 to 11 hours, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown.
4. Uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. Stir with a whisk, if desired, to increase smoothness.
   Spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate or freeze.

 

Notes About Recipe:

•  I adjusted the sugar down to 3 cups because 4 cups was too sweet for my first batch. You can also substitute the sugar with honey instead and that will help with the sweetness.
• Also I added 4 Bartlet pears to my recipe just to give it a different flavor and used two different types of apples as well.
• Be very careful when cooking this recipe. I learned the hard way that you CAN overcook the sugar as my first batch had a layer of burnt sugar on the bottom of the cooker. However, by spooning the butter out I was able to leave the burnt butter in the cooker and only use the good butter.
• Also, as you cook the recipe it may look more like Apple Soup then butter. It reduced about 75% for me (which is probably why I had the burnt sugar layer) but it will be very liquidy while the slow cooker is turned on. Even at the “Keep Warm” setting it was still more liquid then butter…making me believe I cooked it wrong. So I turned off the cooker and let it sit over night and the next morning it was perfect, almost jam consistency. Since this recipe depends on what kind of sweetener you use, what type of apples you use, etc. the thickness and consistency may vary.

 

Recipe was adapted from All Day Apple Butter at AllRecipes.com. The above picture of the canned butter is from their website as well.

Thanks, The Centsible Family!

Orange Cranberry Chicken
by Jenny at The Healthified Mom and Freebie Spot

Prep time should be about 10 minutes and will cook for four hours and yield about 6 servings. If you have a big crock pot (about 6qt) you can double the batch and when finished put half in gallon size bag for the freezer!

Ingredients

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, frozen
• 3/4 c Russian salad dressing
• 1 pkg dry onion soup mix
• 1 2oz pkg fully cooked bacon, chopped
• 1/4 c no-pulp orange juice
• 1 can (16oz) whole berry cranberry sauce

Instructions

1. Lightly spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Place frozen chicken breasts in slow cooker.
2. Mix together the dressing, soup mix, bacon, orange juice, and cranberry sauce.
3. Pour mixture evenly over the chicken, cover, and cook on high for 4 to 6 hours.

I recommend spreading the chicken out as evenly as possible in order to get the most coverage from your sauce. And never, ever lift the lid off your slow cooker. If you do it just once, you may need to add 30 minutes or more to your cooking time.

Thanks, The Healthified Mom!

Homemade Applesauce
by Brianne from Just Trying To Save Money

You only need a few ingredients to make a great tasting homemade applesauce and the added benefit is your house will smell like an apple pie!!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Water
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Vanilla
8 – 10 Apples peeled, cored and cut into cubes

Directions:

 

1. Turn your crock pot and on high and add water, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Peel and core your apples to get ready for the crock pot. Either slice or cut your apples into cubes and toss them into the pot!
2. Mix all ingredients together in crock pot. Leave it covered on high for 3-4 hours.
3. After 3-4 hours you will see your apples turn to mush and ready to smash into applesauce. Our girls like it a little chunky so I use a fork and mash the whole pieces of apple just a little to make it look more like applesauce. If you want a smoother applesauce you can use a mixer on low to get a better consistency. Since this is our first batch of homemade applesauce I only made 1 batch to see how it turned out. Since the whole family loved it, I think this will become a addition to our jar gifts that we make for Christmas gifts!

 Thanks, Just Trying To Save Money!

 

Mexican Chicken
by Sharon from Mom On Dealz!

**I’ve personally made this recipe and it’s so easy and delicious!  We serve over rice and even use the leftovers (chicken shredded) for burritos.

Ingredients:

•  1 package of chicken breasts (about 1.5 pounds)
• 2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 small jar of salsa (I use a large jar)

Directions:

1.  Lay chicken breasts in the slow cooker.
2. Combine all other ingredients and pour over chicken.
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 4 hours.
4. Serve over rice or inside of a tortilla.

Thanks, Mom On Dealz!

Turtle Cookie Balls
by Brett at Mama Loves Her Bargains

• 70 Nilla wafers
• 3 tablespoons butterscotch ice cream topping
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 2 packages of Baker’s Semi Sweet Chocolate Squares (8 squares total)

Directions:

1. Crush the Nilla wafers into fine crumbs (GREAT for kids!!)
2. Mix in cream cheese and butterscotch topping. (Soften cream cheese first. Trust me)
3. Use a cookie scoop and form into small balls. (Good for kids)
4. Place on parchment lined baking sheet and freeze for 10 minutes
5. Melt chocolate in microwave.
6. Dip the balls into chocolate and place on parchment or waxed paper. Sprinkle with chopped pecans before the chocolate dries.
7. Refrigerate and serve! Delicious!!

* Note – I think for more turtle flavor these would be great with crushed up heath bars added to the cookie ball.
*** For easier dipping take a plastic fork and remove the 2 middle tines. Place the balls in the chocolate and roll to coat. Remove using the modified fork and place on waxed paper.

Thanks, Mama Loves Her Bargains!

Reindeer Cookies
by Mackenzie at The Centsible Family

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks – softened)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• red and brown M&M’s
• chocolated-covered mini pretzels

Directions:

• Combine flour and baking soda together in separate bowl.
• Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large bowl or mixer until creamy and smooth.
• Add eggs and beat well. Gradually add flour and beat into mixture.
• Scoop cookie dough into one teaspoon sized balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheets.
• Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes. Remove from oven when cookie is still soft enough to add the M&Ms and have them stick. Do not over bake the cookies.
• Immediately add two chocolate-covered mini pretzels to the top and the M&M’s (two brown and one red) to the face.
• Let cool about 20-30 minutes before removing from the parchment paper.

Notes:

• I used a one-teaspoon scooper I had for the cookie dough. These cookies spread out a lot so when I tried my three-teaspoon scooper it was definitely too big. The one teaspoon sized cookie seems to fit the M&M’s and pretzels just right.

Thanks, The Centsible Family!

Overloaded German Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
by Jenny at Healthified Mom

Ingredients:

Cookies

• 1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 T shortening
• 1/2 c butter, softened
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 T strong brewed coffee
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 c all-purpose flour
• 1 T cocoa
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Filling

• 3/4 c flaked coconut, toasted
• 3/4 c chopped pecans, toasted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 T sweetened condensed milk

Chocolate Drizzle

• 1/2 c white chocolate chips
• 1 T shortening

Directions:

1. Melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon shortening in the microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring until smooth (do not overcook). Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, coffee, vanilla, and melted chocolate.
3. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, stirring between each addition.
4. Roll into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheet. Using the tip of your thumb, make a deep indentation into the center of each cookie.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until firm. Remove to wire rack and cool completely.
6. For the filling (while cookies are baking), combine the coconut, pecans, and vanilla. Stir in enough sweetened condensed milk to form a still mixture. Fill baked (but cooled) cookies with 1 rounded teaspoon of filling mixture.
7. Melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon shortening in the microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring until smooth (do not overcook). Drizzle over cookies. Once chocolate has set, store cookies in an air-tight container.

Notes:

• Make sure you don’t overcook the chocolate mixture. Stir well in between each cook cycle. Once it is completely melted, it’s ready! Instead of the chocolate chip / shortening mixture, you can use candy melts (from Michael’s).
• Be sure you don’t burn the coconut or pecans while toasting in the oven. They toast quickly and will be ruined if burned.
• For the chocolate drizzle, you can use white chocolate or milk chocolate. I used white chocolate to make them prettier.

Thanks,  Healthified Mom!