Fruit Salad

This is an easy one, and everyone kind of has their own way of doing it.  I made some of this to go with our turkey and thanksgiving fixings, to lighten the sides up a bit.  Super easy, and it was a great way to use up our fruit from our Bountiful Basket, as there was a lot of fruit this time.  Try it out and let me know what you think!

Fruit Salad

3 apples, peeled and cut into chunks
2 pears, cored and diced
2 bananas, sliced
1/2 a honeydew melon, peeled and cut into chunks
2 oranges, peeled and cut into chunks
3 tangerines, peeled and sectioned
sliced honey roasted almonds (in the salad section, in a bag)
1-6 oz container vanilla yogurt

Mix everything together in a large bowl.  Refrigerate an hour before serving, and serve cold.

Recipe Contest Winners!

The winners of the recipe contest have been posted on Half Baked Heritage!!  It was a heck of a project and we thank all of you who participated. Congrats to all of you, Rachel will be contacting you soon so you can claim your prizes!

Also, while you are there, check out the recipes we posted for thanksgiving!  I hope they will be helpful to you!  It's not too late to make your own pie or stuffing!  And check out John's recipe for a DELICIOUS (I have tried it, and its the best turkey I have ever had) roast turkey.

Thanks for following, and Happy Holidays from Recipes to Live By to all of you!

Cranberry Orange Relish

I love good cranberry sauce with my turkey for Thanksgiving.  I bought some cranberries to make an Apple Cranberry Pie, so I figured I would buy some extra so I could try some homemade cranberry sauce.  I looked for a good recipe, just so I could get some inspiration and an idea of where to start.  Here is what I did.

Cranberry Orange Relish

12 oz cranberries
3/4 c sugar
1/3 c water
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 orange, zested and juice

In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, water, orange zest and juice, and spices.  Bring up to a boil over medium heat, and then reduce to a simmer.

Cook for another 5 to 7 minutes.  The mixture will thicken as it cooks.  Remove from heat and pour into a bowl, then chill in refrigerator til ready to serve.

Bountiful Baskets, Week 3

This would be a picture of the majority of what I got in my Bountiful Basket this week.  There is other stuff, but it's already in the fridge.  But still, are you convinced it's a good deal yet?  All of this plus more was only $15!  You need to sign up for this!!

So here is the lowdown of what I got:

4 Braeburn apples
5 Concorde pears
6 large tomatoes
a bunch of bananas
about 6 oranges
6 tangerines
some red potatoes
1 honeydew melon
2 bunches of radishes
2 big yellow onions
a head of green leaf lettuce
2 green bell peppers
1 head of celery

I'll be working on the recipes, but most of them will be part of my Thanksgiving spread.  So far I know I will be making these recipes:

Orange Cranberry Sauce
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Apple Pie

I'll keep you posted on the rest!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Remember that roast chicken I made last Thursday?  Well we had half of it leftover still this past weekend. I needed to do something with it, and I found a way to do it when I wasn't feeling so hot on Saturday and Sunday.

Nothing makes me feel better when I have a cold or sore throat than a big pot of chicken noodle soup.  My mom makes really good soup, and I couldn't think of anything else to eat but a bowl of something of that genre.  So here is the recipe I came up with.  While basic and not the most creative or amazing, it did the trick and I think it will for you, too.  Enjoy.

Chicken Noodle Soup

about half a chicken, pulled from the bone and diced (you can roast your own from the recipe here, or you can get a rotisserie chicken, or you can poach a couple of chicken breasts)
4 stalks of celery, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and sliced or chopped
1 onion, chopped finely
3 cans of chicken broth, or 6 cups (you could use stock here too)
2 c water
1/2 a bag of egg noodles

Saute veggies in a bit of olive oil and cook til tender.  Add chicken and then add broth, stir.  Bring to boil and then reduce to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes.  Add your noodles and cook til tender.   Serve with bread and butter on the side.

Sorry for the delay...

I have admittedly been on hiatus this week.  I apologize for the lack of updates.  I was sick last weekend and at the beginning of this week, and therefore took a break from cooking.  And then I ran out of time and I am working on the recipe contest I mentioned before as well as this blog.  So there will be some delays, and I am sorry.

I hope you haven't given up on me!  I do have some catching up to do, but I promise I will make it up to you all! Thanks for being such faithful readers!

While I am at it, I would love it if you all would join my Facebook page.  I have a gadget from Facebook that will link you to my page so you can "like" it.  I am getting pretty close to 100 followers and it would make my week if I could get some Facebook followers!  And also, I would LOVE it if you shared my blog with your friends!  If you enjoy what you find here and you follow me, it would be great to share the love!  

And one last favor to ask... If you read my blog regularly, will you please click the follow button on the right sidebar of the blog?  I would be ever so grateful.  If you comment here saying you are now following, I would love to return the favor and follow you on your blog if you have one!

Thanks for your loyalty!  It means the world to me!!  Happy Cooking!

Holiday Recipe Contest!

I am teaming up with my friend at The Handmade Heritage with a new project she is calling Half Baked Heritage.  I am excited for this project because it's a fun new thing to do, and it's something thats close to my heart.  I love holiday recipes!

We're having a recipe contest for the holidays that is centered around Thanksgiving.  Since Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away, we are doing this pretty quick!  Check out the rules for the contest and enter your recipe quick so we can share recipes and you can have a chance at winning an AWESOME prize from The Handmade Heritage--the winning recipe gets featured and posted on Half Baked Heritage, and they get a great basket full of handmade candies made by The Handmade Heritage!  (Trust me, you want in on this.....even if you cant eat it yourself, it would make a great gift!  She makes some great stuff!)

Don't have any traditional Thanksgiving recipes?  No worries.  We'll be doing this again for Christmas too!  I'll make sure I post another reminder for you as we get closer to that contest.

In addition to the contest, I will be featuring some of my favorite holiday recipes, and I hope you will follow us in this fun time!  Maybe this will inspire you to start some of your own new holiday traditions!!  Join the fun!