Apple Churro Dumplings

I love to buy lots of produce when it's in season and on sale.  So when I saw apples at 3lbs for $0.99, I snatched up a ton!  Of course my only dilemma is how to use them.  Granted, we eat a lot of them just the way they are, but sometimes I want to do something extra special.  Here is where the Apple Churro Dumplings come in. 

If you've ever been to Mexico, you know they have the most amazing churros!  And you can buy a bag of 6-8 for a dollar from a street vendor!  mmmmm...seriously, they are delicious!  Nothing like those 2ft long "churros" they sell here in the states...YUCK!  So, I have been on a mission for years to figure out how to make these street churros.  And, I did!  Finally!  And I've gained about 60lbs! HA Just kidding, but honestly I could if left alone long enough!

What does this have to do with the apples?  Well, I had the idea to chop some apple and add it to the churro dough and make some apple churros.  I got lazy and instead of piping them to make stick shaped churros, I just "dumped" the dough by spoonfuls into the oil...resulting in the "dumpling".  And, wow, they are delicious!!!  Like a fried apple donut!  Excuse me as I wipe the drool...

Apple Churro Dumplings

1 apple, peeled and diced into tiny pieces
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp butter
2 tsp sugar
1/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
Oil for frying

Sugar
Cinnamon
  *For dusting once the churros are done.*

Go ahead and put your oil in a pan to heat while you are making the dough.  I put a couple inches worth in a large caldero and turn the heat on med to med-high.  You want it to be about 350 F.

Gather all your ingredients.  I recommend measuring everything out and having it ready so you can be quick getting it mixed.  You will want to peel and chop an apple (yes, this was one large apple!).  Make sure to dice into tiny pieces since the dumplings won't be huge.  You want lots of little chunks in each dumpling. 

 

Add the milk, water, butter, salt, and sugar to a pot and bring to a boil.  Watch carefully!  Once it gets foamy like the second pic, it will boil shortly after.  For those who don't know, milk doesn't boil like water, with lots of bubbles...it rises!  Once you see the milk starting to rise in the pot, immediately remove from the heat and stir.  It will go down.  Don't ignore it!!  Or you will have a gigantic milky mess all over your stove (don't ask how I know!).

 

Once you remove the milk from the heat, immediately add the flour, vanilla, and apples.  Mix VERY well.  It will be hard...use those arm muscles (it is January right...we all made fitness resolutions, yes?  Here's your exercise to burn off all the churro calories.  You can thank me later).  Make sure you mix the dough well so as to no have any flour lumps.

 

Hopefully, you have been heating your oil in another pan while making the churro dough.  I used a tablespoon and just dropped spoonfuls into the oil.  Your oil should be around 350F.  If it's too hot it will burn the outside and not cook the inside.  Drop a small piece into the oil and test it to see if it's hot enough or too hot.  If too hot, remove from heat for a few minutes to cool some.  You will need to flip the churros during cooking and should fry them for a couple minutes on each side.  Once they are a deep golden brown and all the fry bubbles have slowed down a lot, they should be done.  Let them drain on paper towels for a few minutes (at this point you can open one to be sure they are done inside.).

 

Traditional churros are rolled in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.  That's what I did with these also.  I think sprinkling some powdered sugar would be yummy too!  Or drizzling them with caramel sounds pretty darn divine! 

 

And there you have it!  Apple Churro Dumplings!!  Try to let them cool before scarfing them down!  Enjoy!

 

Happily Homemade

Sandra

 

 

 

The Perfect Baked Potato

I made baked potatoes the other night for New Year's...with steak of course...cause what is better than steak and potatoes?  Not much in my opinion.  And since I have killed my share of potatoes in the past while trying to bake them, I thought I'd share with you exactly how you can get a fantastic baked potato in your oven.  Yes, you read that right.  OVEN.  Say it with me.  Oven.  Not the microwave.  The oven.  Does it take longer?  Yes.  Is it worth it?  Yes.  Try it.  It will take about an hour, but you can get the rest of your dinner ready while these are baking.

 

 

I used golden potatoes, but have used the traditional russet also.  This works perfectly for all of them!

 

Perfect Baked Potatoes

Potatoes

Oil (olive, canola...whatever you have)

Salt

 

Preheat the oven to 350F.  I used my toaster oven for this but obviously the big oven works too. 

 

Wash your potatoes well and then take a fork and poke holes on each side of the potato.  I just start jabbing the thing.  This will help release steam as the potato cooks.

 

 

 Get some oil, you will need very little.  I didn't even use all that I poured. Rub the oil on your potatoes.  You mostly just want the potato to be moist so the salt sticks.  Then sprinkle salt on all sides of the potato. 

Place directly on the rack in the preheated oven.  You can place a cookie sheet under the potatoes, on the bottom rack, to catch any oil drippings.  Bake for about 1 hr, depending on size of the potatoes.  The skin will look slightly wrinkled and the potatoes will be soft when squished.

 

Add butter, sour cream, bacon, chives, or whatever yummy toppings you like on your potato!  Enjoy!

 

Happily Homemade,

Sandra

 

 



My favorite salsa...

Roasted tomatillos and chiles...mmmm...I LOVE this salsa. We make a lot of salsas in our house, but in my opinion, nothing is as yummy as this salsa.

This salsa is perfect for chip-dipping (which I'm doing right now in between typing this post), eating with quesadillas, eggs, or, well, just about anything, I think. And it's not really that difficult to make.

Roasted Salsa with Tomatillos

Tomatillos...(I had about a dozen or so...obviously the more you have, the more salsa you get)

Dried chiles de arbol...I used about 13 chiles. These are the chiles that add the spiciness to the salsa, so adjust accordingly.

Dried California and Guajillo chiles...I used 1 of each. If you have any ancho/pasilla, toss one in...I love the flavor they add but I didn't have any.

1tsp salt (more or less for taste)

Garlic powder (just a shake or so)

First you will want to make sure you peel off the husk that surrounds the tomatillo and wash them well. They will seem sticky so be sure to scrub them a bit. Add them into a skillet on med-high heat and roast, rotating the tomatillos until they are roasted and translucent.

I put the roasted tomatillos in a food processor/blender and process until just smooth with a couple chunks...I don't want it soupy but if you do, feel free to keep blending :)

Next, take your chiles and roast them in a hot skillet. You should probably have your exhaust fan on for this (and a couple windows and the door too!). Leave the chiles whole while roasting. If seeds get on the hot skillet, you will get lots of fumes and will cough your head off (hence the windows, fan and door!). You want to watch the chiles and only leave them on the pan until they just turn dark, making sure to flip them often.

Once the chiles are roasted, pick off the ends and break in half to empty out some of the seeds. Add to the processor/blender and blend until the chiles are crushed into almost a powder. Make sure to crush any larger pieces. Add the chiles to the tomatillos, add salt and garlic powder. Mix.

And there ya have it! Roasted salsa with tomatillos and dried chiles! The roasted flavor is delicious! It really is my favorite. Try it and let me know what you think!

Enjoy

Happily Homemade,

Sandra

Happy New Year!!

 

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's!  My mom flew in for the holidays and so I decided to take a week-ish off from the blog to spend time with family.  I hope you were all able to enjoy your loved ones also!

So, I have to ask...how many of you celebrated New Year's Eve last night?  Did you stay up till midnight?  I didn't...I'm a big 'ole party pooper!  HA!  I think my husband and I were in bed by 10-10:30pm.  Sad, huh?  We are soooo old...hahaha. 

Did you make any resolutions for the new year?  I don't really make many resolutions (besides the normal lose 300lbs that I never keep).  But I do try to set some goals for things I want to accomplish through out the year. 

Here are my 5 Goals for 2014:

1.  Enjoy my kids more.  This sounds kinda bad, and they are still small, but they seem to be growing up way too fast.  My son will be 10, yes, double digits, this year!  YIKES!  And my daughter will be 3 (going on 17, she thinks)!  Time is flying.  I am naturally an introverted homebody who could seriously stay at home for days on end and not get cabin fever.  So, my fear is that my kids suffer at times.  I don't know if they do, but part of the parenting job description is worrying...and I worry that they do suffer.  I am making it a goal to get out of the house with my kids more this year!  Even if it's just to go to the park or beach.  I need to enjoy them more.

2.  Grow my blog.  I have big plans for this blog.  Really, I do!  I plan to share more about food, of course, gardening, all natural/diy products, health and wellness (because I'm gonna lose that 300lbs this year!), crafts, and budgeting.  I still need to sit down and work out all the details, but am excited about sharing more info this year and reaching more people.

3.  Grow 100lbs of produce!   This is a big challenge for me this year!  I love to garden and really want to put big effort into producing a serious amount of food for my family.  I have been doing lots of research and hope to have a winter/early spring crop, spring, summer, fall, and late fall/winter crops.  I have a very small raised bed (about 6' x 3') plus several containers.  I want to show others that don't have a yard, that it's very possible to grow your own organic produce and help save money with the grocery budget.  So expect to see lots of gardening posts!  If you want to join me in my gardening pursuit, go check out

 

at Botanical Interests Heirloom Seed. 

They carry just about any type of seed you could imagine!  Flowers, herbs, veggies...you name it!  I will be getting my seeds from them this year. 

 

**Yes, this is an advertisement (I am an affiliate with Botanical Interests).  Any purchases made through my blog will go to help support Made at Home Daily and is greatly appreciated.  Please note that there will be advertisements on occasion but only for products/companies which I myself would use and/or buy from.  Any and all money earned from advertisements support this blog.  Thank you for your support.**

4.  Lose weight and run a 5k.  All joking about the 300lbs aside, I really do need to lose some weight.  I have struggled with my weight for most of my life and it's something that I'd like to finally get under control.  I just love food!  It's a sad life...do I love food or skinny jeans more...it just depends on the day, to be honest! haha  I don't ever plan to live without delicious food, but will definitely be learning a lot about how to cut out some unneeded calories. (Remember all those lettuce comments...here's were I'll be posting a million ways to eat lettuce! I'm kidding...well, sort of...). 

I want to run a 5k for fun this year too.  I used to run a lot (slowly...don't start picturing an elite athlete or anything) and even ran a marathon (26.2miles) in 2010.  It was the best, and worst, decision of my life!  Not easy in ANY way, but extremely satisfying.  While my overachieving self wants to sign up for a marathon this year, I'm not going to.  I haven't run since 2010 (well, once or twice) and figure I should start small.  I've done several 5ks and really love them.  They are so much fun and the other racers are great.  I also figure that putting on running shoes will also help with the goal to get out of the house with the kiddos too!  It's a win win!

5.  Become a generous person.  This is something I am working on.  I typically have such a frugal nature that I don't get rid of much or share a lot (not because I don't really want to...I do...I just don't accumulate a ton to share...or I over share and end up suffering financially myself, which isn't wise either).  I want to change that.  I have come to realize just how very blessed my family is and I want to share that with others.  I don't really have a plan on how I will do this but trust that when a situation arises where I can share, I will know.

So, there you have it.  My 5 goals for the new year!    What resolutions did you set?  Do you have any goals you want to accomplish for this new year?  I'd love to hear about them!

Happily Homemade,
Sandra