Slow Cooker Rib-Style Blade Roast

1 lb blade roast
2 onions, sliced
1 cup orange juice
2 tbsps molasses
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp finely chopped banana pepper

Sauce: 
1 small apple, shredded with peel
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp each salt, pepper, garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin

1 tbsp cold water
1 tsp cornstarch

Spray bottom of slow cooker crock with cooking oil and layer sliced onions. Nestle the blade roast in on top. Mine was still frozen. Mix orange juice, molasses, worcestershire and banana pepper together and pour over meat. Just about cover with liquid. Add more if you need to.
Cook on high for 3 hours.

For the sauce, combine shredded apple, brown sugar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder and cumin in a saucepan and heat through. Mix water and cornstarch together and whisk into the sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes.

Once meat is cooked remove it to a casserole dish and ladle the onions into the dish as well.
Pour half the sauce over the warm meat and let sit for a minimum of 1 hour.

You can eat it now or heat the BBQ up and grill the meat 5-10 minutes basting with the remaining sauce.. but keep some sauce to serve at the table.

Family Favourite Apple Cake

Another recipe I've been making for years. Chock full of apples with a crusty top. Perfect with ice cream and caramel topping!

4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
8 apples, sliced

Cut apples and toss with cinnamon. Set aside.

Beat eggs, sugar and oil together until smooth. Add flour and baking powder.

Oil a 13 X 9" baking dish and pour half the batter in. Lay all the apples on top then pour the balance of the batter on top. Don't worry if the apples aren't all covered.

Bake at 350 F for 70-80 minutes.

Now, you could just eat it plain...it's loaded with apples and very good!

But why would you when you can have it a la mode?

Nachos Baked in Foil on the BBQ

Summer's winding down...you might have one more camping trip in mind. This is a quick meal for 2-3 people or you can have it for a campfire snack.

2 cups ground beef
1/4 black beans
1 tbsp taco seasoning

3 cups tortilla chips
2 green onions, sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 cups shredded cheese
a few slices of banana pepper (hotter pepper if you are up for that)

Before leaving on your trip cook the ground beef with beans and taco seasoning. Cool and place in a ziplock bag. You can even freeze it.
Slice the green onion, chop the tomatoes and shred the cheese. Baggie those too.

When you are ready to eat, oil a 12 X 8" foil pan. Re-heat the cooked beef in a fry pan.
Spread the tortilla chips in the foil pan, spoon on the beef and top with sliced onions and tomatoes. Add the cheese and banana peppers. Cover with foil

Set on the barbecue on medium heat for 8-10 minutes, just long enough to melt the cheese. Karma thinks it smells pretty good!

If you're heating this on the campfire....you're kinda on your own. I haven't done it like that but as long as you keep it on indirect heat you shouldn't burn the bottom.

Serve with salsa.

Cauliflower Rice Tabbouleh

When you go to the market and find a beautiful cauliflower...

12 oz cauliflower, cut in flowerets
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley
1/3 cup finely chopped mint (and/or beebalm leaves)
1 cup chopped English cucumber
3/4 -1 cup tomato, seeds and pulp removed and chopped
1/4 - 1/3 cup finely chopped onion

Use the shredding blade on a food processor or grate the cauliflower on a box grater. Add the rest of the ingredients. If you don't want your tabbouleh too minty you can substitute bee balm leaves for mint, giving it a milder mint flavour.

Dressing:
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsps olive oil
Salt and lemon pepper to taste (I used approx 1/2 tsp each)

Mix up the dressing and toss with the veggies. Chill all day or even for a few days.

Very healthy dish. I even used it as a hot dog topping with some srirracha mayo. Ok not so healthy there but it was reeeeaallly good!

Adapted this recipe from
http://www.wholesomelicious.com/

Sweet and Sour Leftover Beef

Beef in a quick and tangy sauce, ready in no time.

1 tbsp butter or marg
2 cups cooked beef
some red pepper strips
1 tbsp flour
1 cup pineapple bits, undrained
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup hot water
1 tsp dry mustard
4 tbsps dry onion soup mix

Melt butter in a frying pan. Add beef and red pepper.
Combine the remaining ingredients and add to the beef, mix well.

Simmer 20 minutes and serve over rice.

Serves 6

Bee Balm Shortbread

Here's another recipe using edible flowers.
This time... Red Monarda or Bee Balm. A perennial flower that attracts butterflies, birds and bees.

Pick the flowers in the morning after the dew and rinse them off then let them dry, hang if possible.

You'll need:

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 cups flour
2 tbsps bee balm petals

Cream butter and sugar together.  Normally unsalted butter is used in shortbread, but I prefer salted. Add the flour and mix until dough forms a ball. Incorporate the petals. I tried some chopped and some not. Chopped is probably the better way to go.

Roll dough on a floured board to 1/4" thickness. Cut out and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. I also tried using a cookie stamp. The image stayed pretty well on the baked cookies.

Bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes.

The flavour is very mild, sort of minty.
But I love the look of the red petals in the cookies!

This might interest you as well...

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2016/08/pork-tenderloin-with-bergamot-bee-balm.html

Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Here's a big batch of old-fashioned, moist cookies!
You'll be looking for a glass of milk to go with them as soon as they come out of the oven!

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsps coconut extract (or vanilla, almond)

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups oats

1 cup coconut

Cream together the butter, sugars, eggs and extract. Set aside.

Mix the dry ingredients together and add to the butter mixture in 3 additions until combined.

I divided my cookie dough in half and baked one half as is. I topped them with a little extra coconut before popping them in the oven.

To the second half I mixed in 1/2 cup dried cranberries and 1/2 cup white chocolate chips.

Drop by spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets and bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes. Cool.

Here's the Coconut Oatmeal half of the batch...

and here are the one's with added cranberry and white chocolate chips.

You can't go wrong either way  : )