Homemade Peanut Butter

I made peanut butter last week and can you believe it, it's all gone! LOL!

I started making homemade a few months ago and won't go back to store bought. 

I love using it on bread, of course. I grew up eating peanut butter and butter sandwiches as a child. No, no jelly or jam here. :-)

But since I started using homemade, I find it's not only good on bread, but on waffles too, and don't forget eating it by the spoonful!

After finding this recipe on Averie Cooks (She has some of the best recipes!)

I had to have a food processor!

And lucky for me, I got one for Christmas last year. :-)

I'm terrible at following recipes to a "T" though, and normally I don't measure.

So here's what I think I used.

Approximately 3+ cups of honey roasted peanuts

1/2 cup each butterscotch and white chocolate chips.

It takes about 15 minutes to make depending on the power of your processor.

I keep mine in the fridge because homemade peanut butter is very liquidy.

Try it and you'll never go back to store bought again!

Homemade Yogurt!

I made yogurt for the first time last week and enjoyed it so much, I am making it again!

I checked out different recipes online here and here.

It really isn't hard. I made a quart. I used 4 cups of regular milk and 1/4 cup of plain yogurt for my starter. I heated the milk to 180 degrees and then let it cool to 115 degrees. I then poured a cup of the milk into a sterilized coffee cup and mixed in the 1/4 cup of yogurt and then stirred the mixture back into the pan with the rest of the milk. Mixed it and then poured it into my sterilized glass jar. After putting the lid on, I wrapped the jar in a towel and placed it in the oven (turned off, of course) and let it sit for 6 hours.

I like mine with a swirl of organic honey!

Juice and Cake!

It's been a while since I last posted. Valentine's Day actually!

It seems as if I'm only doing the holidays. So to keep on course...

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day and along with making corned beef and cabbage and all the trimmings,  and having an extra bag of carrots and a few apples, I decided to get out the juicer.

Yep, it's an oldie but works great!

Nothing beats a glass of homemade juice! Even carrot juice is smooth and sweet and adding a few crisp apples, gives it an extra tangy sweetness.

But wait! 

Don't throw out the pulp!

It has all the fiber.

So what do you do with it, you ask?

You bake a cake!

I made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. But not ordinary cream cheese. No, pumpkin spice cream cheese. Every once in a while I find some really neat things at the 99 cent store that my local grocery store doesn't carry! Name brands for just 99 cents? Works for me!

My Carrot Cake Recipe

Sift together

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

Add:

1/2 cup oil 

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups of the carrot/apple pulp from the juicer 

or you can substitute

1 cup grated carrots and 1/2 cup of grated apple for the pulp

1/2 cup of chopped nuts (optional)

1/2 cup crushed pineapple drained (optional)

Mix all ingredients together and add to flour mixture.

Pour into a 9x9 greased and floured pan.

(I used a 9x9 Corningware baking dish. I greased it with oil, but did not flour it) 

Bake at 350 for apprx. 35-40 minutes

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 T. unsalted butter

2 T. milk

1/2 cup of spreadable cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

Melt the butter, add milk and cream cheese, mix and then add the powdered sugar.

Note: Depending on how stiff you want your frosting, add more powdered sugar till your desired consistency. 

Even though I overcooked mine (Don't bake and be on the computer at the same time.) and didn't add pineapple to it, it was still moist even after cutting it and the next day also.