Some favorite Fall Recipes!

When I was a little girl, we had an apple tree in our back yard and every Fall I remember my mom making her yummy homemade apple sauce and apple crisp.  The house always smelled so wonderful when these terrific apple treats were cooking!  I hope you have gathered up some apples this Fall and can try these 3 great ideas.

Easy Apple Crisp

6 apples peeled, cored and sliced
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Toss apples with sugar and cinnamon in a mixing bowl and set aside.

In a second mixing bowl combine 1 c. brown sugar, 3/4 c. old fashioned oats, 3/4 c. flour, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 c. cold butter (diced into small pieces).  Mix and mash with a fork or pastry blender until a nice crumbly dry mixture is formed.  Coat a 9 x 9 glass baking dish with cooking spray and fill with apple mixture.  Sprinkle the apples with the crumbly oat mix and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Yum!

Slow Cooker Applesauce

4 pounds of tart apples  peeled, cored and diced.
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp, cinnamon
1 c. water
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Mix apples (about 12 cups) with cinnamon and sugar and place into crockpot.  Pour water and lemon juice over the apples.  Cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours.  Makes about 6 cups of apple sauce.

Apple Stuffed Chicken Breast

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/2 c. chopped apple
2 Tbsp. shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp. dried bread crumb stuffing
1 Tbsp. butter
1/4 c. sweet white wine
1/4 c. water
1 Tbsp. water
1 - 1/2 tsp. corn starch
Sprig of parsley & diced apple for garnish.

Combine apple, cheese and bread crumbs. Set aside. Flatten chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness between wax paper with a rolling pin.  Divide apple mixture between chicken breasts.  Roll up and secure with toothpicks.  Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.  Brown stuffed chicken breasts.  Add wine and 1/4 c. water to skillet.  Cover and simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.  Transfer chicken to serving platter and cover to keep warm.  Add corn starch and 1 Tbsp. water to skillet juices.  Cook and stir until thickened and serve as a sauce over chicken. Garnish with parsley and diced apple.  2-3 servings.

Just looking thru my recipe box for these 3 has unearthed a whole treasure trove of ideas for new Fall menus ... so stay tuned and I will share some other family favorites soon.

Hope the scents of cinnamon and apples fill your kitchen soon!

~Connie

Green Bean Bonanza!!!

Wow!  In the span of just a few days my green beans have really taken off! 😀😀  I had picked just a handful last week and then we were gone for a few days.  I came home and checked the garden to find a bean bonanza!!!  So I thought I would share a recipe here for a Sweet and Sour Green Bean Casserole.  I really love a traditional green bean casserole, but this one is an awesome variation and a family favorite too!


SWEET & SOUR GREEN BEANS

You can make this with fresh, canned or frozen green beans.  If using fresh, I trim and clean about 3 cups of beans then saute/stream them in a large covered skillet for 3 minutes in 1/3-1/2 cup of water.

For frozen beans, I cook about the same quantity in the microwave.  For canned, use 3 cans.

Drain prepared beans.  Brown about 1/2 package of bacon with one chopped medium size white onion..  Drain well and chop bacon.  Mix together 1/2 cup of mayo, 4 1/2 Tbsp sugar and 2 1/4 Tbsp vinegar.  Mix everything together and place in a clean skillet to heat thoroughly and serve.


Hope you enjoy this one!  Share the YUM.

~ Connie

Quick Broccoli Salad

Getting the garden in this Spring has been a challenge.  Our family life was disrupted a bit with helping out our aging parents and work trips out of state.  I've decided to treat each gardening season as an experiment and give myself some extra grace and forgiveness.  Family is way more important than good looking flower beds, and my husband jokes that the veggies seem to do best when they are ignored! 😁  We have not had good luck with raising broccoli, but it's still one of my favorites so I hit up the local farmers market for my fix.  Below is a favorite recipe that I've fixed for years, I hope you will enjoy the yum!

Quick Broccoli Salad (serves 5-6)

1 head broccoli chopped small

1/4 cup diced red onion

1 cup raisins

8 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/3 cup shelled sunflower seeds

Combine above in a mixing bowl and stir.  

In a separate bowl combine the dressing ingredients.

1/2 cup mayo

3 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp vinegar

Pour over veggies, stir well and chill.

Check the tabs at the top for more recipe ideas or join the recipe email list to stay updated by email!

Happy Munching!

~Connie

The Leopard print flats or the red Converse?!!

How is it that my wonderful husband can live a complete and happy life with just 4 pairs of shoes!!

To me this is just unthinkable. Not that I have closets full of shoes mind you, but I do certainly have more than just 4 or 5 pairs.  During all those busy mom years I could find a cute pair of colorful tennies or fun bright sandals at my favorite TARGET while I stocked up on TP and toothpaste.  And I may have added to the shoe collection post pregnancy when only my shoe size had remained the same. 😉 When momma needed a shopping fix I could let myself buy new cute shoes over jeans in a new bigger size! (Can I get an AMEN?!)  Needless to say, now as a 50 something mom and grandma, I have a very cute collection of fun and stylish shoes.  This has actually been a PLUS as I started to refocus and revamp my fashion and style journey.

One of the best and useful tips I learned is -

STYLE TIP #3

A simple way to up your fashion game each day is to add one "Remarkable" piece.  You could be wearing basic jeans and a white T shirt but add those Red Converse high tops or those eye catching Gold sandals and you have just put together a "remarkable" fashion outfit! 😁  And someone WILL probably notice and say "You look great, and I love those shoes!" 

So no matter your size, or age or budget ... you can start today.  Just push yourself to add just that little extra "remarkable" item to your outfit.  (It may be shoes or a unique bag, or a cool scarf or even eye catching bold red lip stick!  You will be surprised how simple it is and how often you will receive a compliment on how great you look.)

Let's go be confident and uniquely us dear friends!

~ Connie

You'll find me in the tiny house...

I've been working lately on some more acrylic paintings.  I did a couple of them as Christmas gifts for family.  The photos above are pieces I painted last winter, and I enjoyed adding them to our home.

My art studio space is out in the tiny house on our property.  The previous landowner used it as a hunting cabin before our main house was built.  When we moved here, I claimed it as my art space and when we have a full house of visitors, it doubles as extra guest quarters.  We hope to upgrade it in the future for our guests, but it works great for me to get away and focus on a painting project.  I don't worry about leaving my art supplies strewn about when I'm in the middle of something ... works better than the kitchen counter in that regard!

The barn quilt was my 3rd, and my largest piece so far.  It looks awesome hanging above our fireplace and I am quite pleased with it.

The windmill, was a first attempt at painting a landscape in acrylic.  It turned out pretty well I think for a first try.  

I have a couple of other projects in mind for this year, will have to see what I actually have time to get done!

~ Connie

A little trail thru the woods...

We have been on this property for 7 years this May, and over the years we have been trying to spend some of our outdoor time reestablishing a trail thru our woods to the pond.  At one time there was a trail but it has had numerous years of neglect ...so it has been a challenge to cut back the trees and the under story plants.  That however is the 1st step to creating a neat trail thru our property that we hope the kids and the grands will enjoy in the future!

I hope this summer and in years future to add some cool artwork and signs along the trail.  Maybe a fairy village, a fishing bridge at the pond and a playhouse in the woods will pop up in the next few Springs!  John and I have some fun ideas in mind.  So I will try to remember to share some pics of our creations here.

~
Connie

Slow Cooker Chicken Burritos

Warm comfort food always sounds good on a cold evening and when it's a simple crockpot recipe that's even better.  Hope you will find it as tasty as my crew does.

Easy Crockpot Chicken Burritos

In a slow cooker layer in 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Sprinkle over them 1 package of taco seasoning mix.  

Next add to the crock pot, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can whole kernel corn and 1 can of black beans.

Cook on low for 6 hours.   With 2 forks shred chicken in the crockpot and mix in 3/4 c of sour cream.  Cook 1 package of Spanish rice as directed.

Serve chicken with, rice, flour tortillas, salsa, grated cheddar and any of your favorite taco toppings!

YUM!

If you'd like to receive more free recipe ideas from me, please check out the recipe tab at the top of the blog.  If you would like me to start an email list for new recipes that I post, please send me a note about that and I will see what I can come up with.  Contact me at prairiechicknotes@gmail.com

Happy Eating!

~ Connie

 

My Books!!

 

    

                                                            A page from "Hello, Ruby!"

One of the things I've been wanting to do in my retirement is write kid's books.  For my first book I had an idea to make a counting book for toddlers and I wanted to feature the antics of my two real life "dorky" cats!  Emmett and Ruby are brother and sister and we rescued them about 10 years ago.  The pandemic winter provided me with the time to really work on my illustrations and the spring was a time to search for a way to self publish my board book.  (Not an easy task!)  It is way more costly to print a small order of books than I expected, but sooo exciting to see my creations published!

I presented that first board book "Hello, Ruby!" to my oldest granddaughter on her birthday in 2020!  

My second book idea came from watching Emmett and his adventures around the farm.  He is such a goofball!  This second book featured a lot of family members too, so hopefully the granddaughters will enjoy seeing their aunts, uncle and grandparents drawn out as book illustrations too.  I then gifted "Shoo, shoo Emmett!" to the little Shaver girls for Christmas 2022.  The photo above is from "Hello, Ruby!"  and I will share a photo from "Shoo, shoo Emmett!" below. 

 

                                                       A page from "Shoo, shoo Emmett!"

This past Fall I finished "Ruby's Pumpkin Surprise!"    These little books have brought me so much joy and I hope they will be family keepsakes for years to come.

My brain is already spinning up new adventures for the crazy cat duo, so there may be more books in the future. 😀

If you'd like to order any copies ... check out my Etsy shop at this link PrairieChickStudio

(and please note the price you see is the printing cost per book, I am not marking them up for profit)

~ Connie

Apple Pear and Romaine Salad

One of my favorite salad recipes is one shared with me by my grandmother.  She was a wonderful cook and I have lots of awesome recipes from her.  This salad is so colorful and tasty that it has become one of my all time favorites!  I hope you will give it a try soon.

Apple Pear and Romaine Salad

1 pear and 1 apple, chopped

1 cup salted cashews, chopped

1 head romaine lettuce

4 oz shredded swiss cheese

1/4 c. dried cranberries

Mix all together

Dressing - 

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. lemon juice

2 tsp finely chopped onion

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp poppy seed

2/3 c. oil

Mix together and pour over lettuce mixture (use whatever amount you desire ...this seems like a lot of dressing to me!) Chill salad 1/2 hour before serving.

Hope you enjoy this as you wish for Spring! 

~ Connie

Grandma's chocolate chip cookies

This cookie jar is a twin to one my Grandma always had in her kitchen.  It was always stocked with homemade cookies ...usually chocolate chip which were my Grandpa's favorite!  I searched for quite a few years to find this Pig. So every time I see him in my kitchen I am instantly reminded of my wonderful Grandma Catherine.  I have tried many chocolate chip cookie recipes over the years but never found one that seemed like her cookies.  I even have her exact recipe but they never turn out like hers always did!!?? I don't know what her special secret was.

I have however found one that I love ... and it seems like they are a close taste and texture match!

So I am pleased to stock my Pig with these yummies!  If you like to bake, give them a try soon.  Your family and friends will appreciate the results.


Chocolate Chip Delights

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick margarine (softened but not melted)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/2 tsp milk
2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips or mint chips

In a stand mixer cream sugars, margarine, oil, egg, milk and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients until mixed in.  Add chocolate chips.

Bake on parchment lined baking sheets at 350 for 11 minutes.
Let cool for 3 minutes before removing from trays.  Makes about 3 dozen.


Hope these are memory makers for your family too!

~ Connie

Down a gravel road ...

Hi-
My name is Connie and I'd like to Welcome you to my Blog - PrairieChickNotes.blogspot.com.

I have decided in 2024 to revive my blog.  2024 is my 60th year of life, so I have been telling myself "Go Big, or Go Home!".  This life is NOT a dress rehearsal.  It's the only life we've got here on this planet.  In case you are keeping track, my 60th birthday will be on 12-31-2024 and I like chocolate or flowers! 😁

The "Prairie Chick" refers to myself and my return to rural life in Iowa a few years ago.  I grew up in Iowa (not on a farm) but as a small town/somewhat rural area girl. 😉  After college at a large mid western university, I was excited to move to my "big girl" life in Chicago!  I worked in both the city and the suburbs as an interior and graphic designer for over 28 years.  All the while, my husband and I raised our four children in the charming suburb of Glen Ellyn, Illinois.  We led your typical crazy, busy suburban lives with jobs, friends, kid sports, church activities, piano lessons, etc.  It was a great life, but as our kids headed off to their colleges and the nest started to empty ... we began to think about our next adventure.  We had long talked of moving out of suburbia and dreamed of owning some place out in the country.  

My wonderful husband works in the technology industry and is able to work from anywhere.  And over the years I have transitioned from corporate design work to freelancing from my home.  So with the kids finishing up high school and moving on to college, we began to explore the possibility of finding our dream home out in the Iowa countryside.  Within the span of four months in early 2017, we found our dream property,  sold our home in Illinois,  worked out the details of working remotely and moved 10 miles outside a small town in central Iowa.  

We still wake up every morning and can't really believe we made such a life change.  And we still sit on our front porch or by our cozy fireplace most evenings and are so happy that we did it!

As I reflect on what my blog could be, I know it's going to be hard to narrow down the focus... but then again who says I have too!  I am a person with a lot of interests (thanks Dad) 😉 so I may just write about them all.

I think I will be sharing easy recipes (featuring some fresh goodness from my garden), art and design projects that I am working on and my other interests in reading, genealogy, sewing, writing, photography, fashion and knitting. I hope you'll come along to see what's happening down our gravel road! 😉

Love & Hugs,

Connie

contact me by email - prairiechicknotes@gmail.com