Soup & Cherry Cola w/ Stevia

 This time I ordered from Prairie Moon I ordered the following flavors

• Root Beer
• Lemon Lime
• Cola
• Cherry 

Now I am brand new to this having only made the Root Beer & Orange Pineapple from P.M Co.

So this was to be a time of trial and error

My first idea was to make a full syrup of Cola and a full syrup of Cherry 

(following the made with stevia instructions w/agave)

mixing them together.

Oh MY GOODNESS!!!

New favorite, new love! 5 stars!

As for the soup

many people don't know how to use food storage food as every day food

Which is a waste - why buy food to store and then have to throw it away every so many years?

Instead every now and then pull it out make a few dinners and then replace

This way you know how to use your food storage plus your not wasting it!

I started with the power base soup flavored "Broccoli & Cheese soup"

Followed the water to powder guidelines

then added in leftover cubed cooked chicken

and about 1-2 cups of mixed frozen veggies (corn, peas, & carrots)

1 cup frozen broccoli

1-2 tsp crushed garlic

a dash of pepper

topped with grated cheese

Yummy!

Winters Breakfast

Waking up to snow (more snow then all winter put together) I was in the mood for something hot and yummy!

I know I haven't posted much lately - I have been so busy lately trying to get the house back into order. Later I will be posting my own mix of soda (combing cherry soda and cola - to make my own stevia cherry cola!)

Breakfast this morning was wheat toast, maple sausage & provolone cheese.
Vanilla coffee & coconut creamer

Treasure the simple moments in life. When you look back over your life it won't be the "big" moments you smile over, but the small ones filled with love.

Orange Pinapple Syrup

So far from the two syrups I have made from Prairie Moon beverage concentrate. The Root Beer has a 4 star rating and the Orange Pineapple a 3 star.
For those not familiar with my rating system each member of my family gets a vote - making the highest rating a 4 star. The orange pineapple was too sweet for me, its good, but really gets over powering after a few sips.
Both syrups I made following the Stevia and Agave directions. Something I highly recommend!
You need 1 oz. of Syrup per 1 Lit. of carbonated water. If you make it following sugar or other sweeteners you need 2 oz. of syrup per 1 lit.

We love Prairie Moon, flavorings, pricing and how quickly they shipped!
I highly recommend this to anyone who loves soda but wants to control quality and sugar not to mention help the environment!

Shepard's Pie (An Irish Eggroll)

Shepard's pie to me is the equivalent of the eggroll or as I like to call it "An Irish Eggroll". The point of both is to use up left overs - toss in whatever you have handy. In this grand tradition I refuse to follow any recipes.
Both times in the last two months that I have made Shepard's Pie I had done so on my own - each time they have been quickly devoured by my hubby who LOVES Shepard's Pie.

That said I do happen to have one or two friends that have to have some form of base or guide line. Hence the above recipe card of sorts.

Brown ground beef, saute mushrooms (or onion, garlic, cabbage - the list is endless) heat up veggies - do not over cook.
Add them to cooked ground beef and sauteed veggies. (Cook the ones you want cooked, saute the ones you want sauteed... I really am very loosey goosey. The whole point is to use foods you like cooked the way you like)
If you want a white sauce you can use sour cream like I did, alfredo sauce, milk and cream again list is fluid.
If you want a thin sauce I would go with an onion soup, water or an onion and garlic reduction.

Normally you would use hot veggies and cold leftover mashed potatoes. (I always do) this means that you really only need to heat the mashed potatoes. The time and heat above depends on how large a portion you have made and if the mashed potatoes are hot or cold.
You can use tin foil to cover and cook if you like and you can top with cheese if you like. We tend to stick to very basic preparations and ingredients - however, if you are a "classier" cook I am sure your leftovers will be too.

Anyway here is my latest version of Shepard' Pie - hope you enjoy! Never be afraid to cook without a recipe, follow basic cooking guidelines and preparation, along with your own personal taste and gut instinct and you will end up with a master piece!

Home Made Syrup for Soda Stream

My new Soda Stream Jet is amazing and I love it! The flavored waters are very light and if you add 1-3 drops of Vanilla Stevia they are sweet without any bad sugar additives! The orange flavor with the stevia tastes like orange sickles! YUM!

I looked on their website and I want to try their natural sodas as well as their teas. However, to buy enough to make shipping worth it (my local stores don't sell those) it would cost well over a hundred dollars.
Not something I really want to shell out right before the holidays!

So I went searching online! I found a great blog by "Former Chef" and the three syrup recipes that they have made thus far for their Soda Stream.

1st Recipe
Ginger Syrup for Ginger Ale

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup palm sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 cups water
4 oz peeled and sliced ginger (I started with 6-7 oz whole fresh ginger)
2 tsp cardamom pods
1 tsp whole allspice
1 tsp peppercorns
3 ea. star anise pods

In a small pot, combine the sugars with the water and add the peeled and sliced ginger. I used the palm sugar (in the photo at the top) because I had it, but you can also use 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup white .
Toast the whole spices in a saute pan until they just begin to brown and become fragrant. Add them to the sugar and water mixture and bring it to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes and then turn off the heat.
Allow to steep until cool. At this point you can strain it into a clean container and store it in the refrigerator. Chill.

For me, 2 Tbsp of syrup with 12 oz soda water and some ice makes a very refreshing glass of ginger ale.

2nd Recipe
Tummy Tamer Soda Syrup Recipe:

peel from 1 orange, cut off white pith
juice from 1 orange, about 1/4 cup
1 oz fresh mint, rough chopped
2 oz fresh ginger, sliced 1/8″ thick
2 Tbsp toasted anise seed
2 cups Sugar
2 cups Water

In a small saute pan toast the anise seed for about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Remove from heat.

Cut the skin off an orange with a sharp paring knife and then carefully cut off as much of the white pith from the skin as possible. Cut the same orange in half and squeeze the juice out of it.

Slice the ginger into 1/8 ” pieces and rough chop the mint.

Combine sugar and water in a small heavy bottomed pot. Bring to a low simmer and stir until sugar dissolves. Add in the orange peel, orange juice, mint, ginger pieces and toasted anise seed. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let syrup steep as it cools.

Strain through a fine mesh strainer and store in a clean container in the refrigerator.

For the soda I usually combine about 2 Tbsp of the syrup with 12 oz soda water

3rd Recipe
Lime Syrup

2/3 cup lime juice (about 1.25 lbs key limes)
2 tsp. lime zest
2/3 cup water
1 1/3 cups sugar

Combine all ingredients. Simmer for 5 minutes and cool. Serve with sparkling water over ice.

I have not had a chance to try them out but I will be sure to review them as well as photo them (probably not as good as the original) when I get a chance!
Also I found two books Homemade Soda - 200 recipes  & Homemade Rootbeer that I will be getting!
I will share photos, ideas and ingredient lists (not exact amounts as they are copyrighted) but a general feel - enough that you will know if you want to buy the books or not!

Soda Stream - My new toy!

 My BFF got me an early Christmas present!

I have wanted a Soda Stream maker for a very long time!

This model is called Jet!

The flavors for the water are not like the over sweet carbonated waters you can buy at the store,

instead its a light taste that is refreshing with no bad artificial sweeteners!

So far we have only made the Lemon-Lime, as it stands in my home it has a 3 of 4 rating! Meaning 3 of the 4 of us like it! My son as always is the picky on - I will try their natural flavors on him later. They are made with all natural ingredients (the ones marked natural or pure) and no dyes!

Something we need! As LittleMan can not handle dye!

Christmas comes early and I am playing!

I will continue to post reviews not only on the machine but on the various flavors and types.

As always this review is 100% my own and was not endorsed by anyone.

Cinnamon Applesauce

Photos to follow will show my step by step process

The ingredient list is very fluid as it depends on the amount of apples you use.

My cooking time was 4 hours - because I like to add a lot of water and then slowly boil it out.

If you can baby sit the stove and stir every few minutes you can cook with less water and a faster period of time.

I placed the peeled apples in a lemon water bath to keep them from turning brown.

Using a corer saves a ton of time!

Also when I added the whole spices I locked them in a tea strainer 

so that I could easily remove them after cooking.

What it looked like half way done

and then all the way done.

I like a very fine sauce as I love to use it as an ice cream topping!

Note: This does use candy that has a wax coating. When you stir make sure to scrape the sides and a filmy top is to be expected. It stirs in easily, trust me its worth it!

And there you have it home made applesauce from home grown apples!

Sorry I have been gone for a while - my camera broke and I just got my new one!