Paleo Cranberry Apple Sauce

4 Gala Apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 12-ounce bag of fresh Cranberries
1/4 cup Coconut Sugar
1/4 cup Water
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

Mix all ingredients into medium sauce pan over medium-low heat.
Cover and let simmer, stirring regularly.
Once apples have softened, cranberries have burst and the sauce has thickened turn off heat and remove from stove top.
Serve room temperature or chilled.

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Top Steak Recipes For The Holidays

The holiday season is in the air. What better way to celebrate this joyous event than to prepare special and scrumptious meals for the whole family? Steaks are one of those treats that people look forward to during special events like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here is a compilation of some of the most delicious steak meals that you can prepare for the family this festive season.

Tasmanian Wagyu Steak

This delicious meal is easy to make. To start, season the meat with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat the oil in a fry pan over low heat. Add two cloves of garlic and gently cook for a minute to flavor the oil. Take out the garlic from the pan and discard. Place the steak gently onto the frying pan and cook. Serve the steak with lime, chives, sea salt and wasabi.

Grilled Steak Recipe

USDA Prime is one of the most superior beef grades available in the market. It is reserved for the upscale meat eaters. You can buy your USDA prime steaks online or through your local butcher shops and markets. Mix the following ingredients: 1/3 cup Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon parsley, freshly chopped, 2 tablespoons honey, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon water, 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce and 1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper. Brush the mixture over both sides of the steaks. Over hot heat, grill the steak. While grilling, brush the steak with the prepared sauce. Serve the steak with grilled onion slices.

Steak and Vegetable Kabobs Recipe

This is a colorful and tasty meal, perfect for the Christmas season. In a large bowl, mix the following ingredients: 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup canola oil, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 garlic cloves, minced 3 whole cloves and a dash of dried basil. Set the bowl aside. Alternately thread the meat and vegetables on the skewers. Place the kabobs on a large glass dish. Gently pour the marinade over the kabobs and refrigerate overnight. Take out the cloves. Over medium-hot heat, grill the kabobs until the meat reaches the desired doneness and until the vegetables are all tender. Serve with rice.

Whatever meals you decide to make this holiday season, just remember to have a good time. Do not be stressed over cooking. Christmas is the happiest time of year. Enjoy it and create wonderful memories with your family.

Tasmanian Wagyu Steak . This delicious meal is easy to make. It is reserved for the upscale meat eaters. You can buy your USDA prime steaks online or through your local butcher shops and markets.

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Gluten Free Mummy Hot Dogs

Pillsbury's Version

Don't these look fun?  I saw this idea on Pillsbury.com and knew immediately that my kids would love them.  But we are gluten free and do not have access to convenient bread in a can.  Does that mean we should miss out on all the fun?  Heck no!  I knew I had to figure out a way to make these safe for my family to eat.  I tried a variety of different methods to accomplish this task.  As you may recall from my Menu Plan post this week, I was going to try Pie Crust. I did that earlier this week.  I got this idea from reading another blog who's name escapes me now (sorry).  The pie crust idea was not a great one.  The whole concept of a pie crust is flaky with very little gum to hold it together. It fell apart way to easy and the texture was wrong.  But that is how we learn, right? Though experiment.  What I ended up doing is make long thin strips of yeasted bread dough and doing a quick bake without a rise.

my own Gluten Free Version - Before Baking

Don't be perfect in rolling the bread strip up. The messier the better.  Just grab a package of hotdogs.  Make one batch of Gluten Free Rolls (click here for recipe).

We are going to oil our hands and roll that batter up into thin strips.  Wrap each strip around the hotdog Mummy Style.  I won't lie to you, its very difficult to roll out the very sticky nature of Gluten Free Bread.  I just used my fingers to stretch and connect what I could. No need to be exact, a rough looks makes the mummy look more realistic.  Do leave space between the bread strips for expansion during baking.    

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes until bread dough is light brown and hot dogs are heated through.

Serve to you Gluten Free kids and soak in the praises.  Relish in the idea of being a Rock Star Mommy!!!

My son wanted to know how this breading tasted better than the usual rolls I make.  Such a funny comment considering its the same roll recipe I use every week.  I am so excited that they loved it.  In fact, they want me to make them again tomorrow.

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Gluten Free Muffuletta Sandwich and Gluten Free Muffuletta Bread Recipe

First off, how do you spell this?  Muffuletta or Muffaletta?  What exactly is a Muffuletta anyway? I had to ask myself this question because I never heard of it before.  I needed to figure it out soon because I need a Gluten Free one in under a weeks time.  So I started the way I start out anything....Google Search. In this search I discovered that Muffuletta is the signature sandwich of New Orleans. Wikipedia says that the Muffuletta originated in New Orleans, Louisiana and is a type of round Sicilian type sesame bread that could be compared to a submarine type sandwich.  The bread is made into a large round and somewhat flattened loaf with a sturdy texture and about 10 inches in diameter.  It is described as being somewhat similar to focaccia.  It needed to be sturdy because of the juicy olive spread that is served on it as a sandwich.

OK, that is a good place to start.  I think I can muster up a loaf of this type. My mother is Sicilian after all and I do have one particular recipe that she says is similar to Sicilian bread.

The Muffuletta bread is split and filled with sliced Provolone cheese, Genoa salami and Cappicola ham, topped with Olive Salad that includes olives, oregano, parsley, olive oil, red-wine vinegar, salt and pepper.  Sounds like an Italian hoagie to me.  Either that or a Antipasti served on a roll!  LOL.

OK, so are you ready?  Lets get started.

1/2 teaspoon Vinegar

2 Eggs

3/4 cup Warm Water (110 to 115 degrees)

2 Tablespoons Oil

2 Tablespoons Sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons Yeast

1 cup Tapioca Starch

1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour

1/2 cup Corn Starch

2 Tablespoons Almond Meal

2 teaspoons Xanthan Gum

1 teaspoon Salt

1 Egg (for egg wash)

2 Tablespoons Water (for egg wash)

2-3 Tablespoons of Sesame Seeds

I jar or recipe of Olive Spread Salad

8 ounces thinly sliced Genoa salami

8 ounces thinly sliced cooked ham

8 ounces sliced mortadella

8 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese

8 ounces sliced provolone cheese

Preheat oven to 170 degrees and turn off.

Line Pizza pan with Parchment Paper sprayed with oil.

• Combine Warm Water, Oil, Sugar and Yeast and allow to sit and become fluffy.
• Meanwhile add eggs and vinegar to your stand mixer with whip attached and beat eggs until light and foamy.
• Gradually add Flour, Almond Meal, Gum and Salt to mixer bowl until all is incorporated.
• Next add the fluffy yeast/liquid mixture.  Scrape sides down as needed.
• Allow to mix on low for a few minutes until the texture of the batter starts to look like whipped cream cheese.
• Line a flat pizza pan with parchment and generously spray with oil and turn dough out onto pan.
• With your oiled hands, shape dough into a flat round disk about 9 inches across (it will rise and expand to be about 10").
• Sprinkle the top of your loaf with 2-3 tablespoons of sesame seeds and lightly press them into the dough.  I Omit this part, my kids would not eat it with sesame's on top.
• Place shaped loaf into warmed oven to rise for 45 to 60 minutes, until doubled in size.
• Take dough out of oven from rising and coat with egg wash (egg and water mixed throughly).
• Place baking stone inside oven and turn Oven on to 350 degrees.
• Once oven and stone are preheated, gently slide the loaf and parchment over on top of your peel. 
• Place loaf directly onto hot stone inside oven (you will want the dough/parchment to be directly on the stone).
• Bake for 25-30 minutes.

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Holiday Cards

This picture here showed up on one of my all time favorite Christmas Photo Cards. Why you ask? Well it was the first year I attempted to do a card on my own without the help of a professional photo studio.

It is time for me to start thinking again about Christmas Cards, and QUICK!!!! Black Friday is over, the tree is up and if I delay any longer I risk getting them out late. Each year I wait until I find the best deal. But then I almost wait too long to get my Christmas Cards out.

We do not like to decorate until the Friday after Thanksgiving so Thanksgiving remains a holiday of it’s own. Once we are fully decorated we like to plop the kids somewhere in the house that looks the best and take the holiday picture.

The photo above is from 2008 and it was the first year I made my own Holiday Cards online. I went with Shutterfly because they had the best deals and I felt the most comfortable with the design process. The designs they had to choose from were very unique and creative.

Why am I sharing this with you? Well it is Cyber week. You can save 50% plus free shipping on your Christmas Photo cards. Now that is a good deal if you ask me. Sale ends December 1st.

Disclaimer:
I was compensated for passing this deal along with you.  But I would have passed it along anyway! :-).  Seriously 50% off and free shipping is the deal I would typically watch out for.  Are you a blogger and want to participate as well?  Click HERE and sign up!

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