DIY Cinnamon Scented Pine Cones

Every year I buy a large bag of the cinnamon scented pine cones. I absolutely love the look and scent. It means the arrival of fall and holiday season to me. This year I decided to try make my own!

While camping in the Oakanogan area Labor Day weekend, there were pine cones everywhere. And they were the big beautiful good ones - just like the ones you buy! So my husband and I scoured the area and selected only the best to bring home lol

There are many different methods you can use for this project. The method I decided to use takes a few weeks before they'll be ready to set out, but I think it'll have the best scent impact and longevity. I did do two different batches though, just to see if spraying the essential oil mixture before baking made any difference. We shall see.

The first thing you need to do is bake the cones on a foil lined baking sheet for one hour at 200 degrees to bake off any sap and kill any bugs that may be lerking inside.

Once done baking. Take out and let cool. In a squirt bottle (I used an empty Febreze bottle that I cleaned out thoroughly) mix some cinnamon essential oil with water and spray the pine cones liberally. Put cones into a zip top type bag and spray once more. Shake bag to move the oils around.

My cinnamon essential oil/water mix in an old Febreze spray bottle.

The cones inside the zip top bag. You can see the moisture on the bag from the oil/water mixture. The cones soaked it right up.

Now this is where the waiting begins. The cones will need to sit in the bag to let them absorb the oil and soak up the scent. The longer you let them sit, the stronger the scent will be. You will need to shake the bag once a week to move the oils around. I will be spraying more essential oil into the bag every week because I want a super strong scent that lasts the whole season.

I was able to make 6 full gallon sized zip top bags and I think I'll wait until at least the middle of October before I set any out. The rest I'll leave to take out later in the year. The good thing about this is, once these lose their scent, I can put them back in a zip top bag and start the process all over again! Then, at the end of the season, I'll put them back in their bags and soak them with the oil/water mixture and put away till next year! Just think how yummy they'll smell by then!!

Homemade Canned No Sugar Added Gluten Free Cinnamon Applesauce and Apple Pie Filling

It's that time of year again when our apple trees are full of apples and it's time to do something about it! So my husband and I picked 2 full 5 gallon buckets worth of apples and decided to make some applesauce and pie filling.

The preparation instructions for making the applesauce and pie filling are pretty much the same. First you must cut, peel and core the apples. For the applesauce we used the Pampered Chef Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer. It makes things soooo easy! For the pie filling, I did it all by hand because I like larger apple slices in my pies.

Apple pieces after using the Pampered Chef Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer and cutting apples in half.

No Sugar Added Gluten Free Cinnamon Applesauce

12 lbs Apples, peeled cored and sliced

Water
3 cups Sugar Substitute
2 Tbsp Cinnamon
4 Tbsp Lemon Juice
Jars, lids and bands for canning

Prepare jars and lids for canning.

Put apples in a large pot filled with water and boil on medium-high heat for aprox 5-20 minutes, depending on how large your apple pieces are, until apples are tender. Our small thin slices only needed 5 minutes (per batch). 

Once apple pieces are soft and tender, transfer to another bowl and start mashing. You can use a food mill or processor if you like, ours were soft enough a potato masher was all it took. We had so many apples, we did this in batches. If you were able to fit all your apples into one pot for boiling - just strain the water out and way you go!

Once all apples are smashed, transfer back into a large pot. Stir in the sugar substitute, cinnamon and lemon juice. Heat on medium-high heat, stirring constantly to prevent sticking. Cook until hot. I've seen recipes that say boil - but I think ours was way to thick because it never happened lol.

Once hot, transfer to your canning jars, leaving a 1/2 inch head space. Clean the rim, pop on the lid and band. Process in a waterbath for 30 minutes.

No Sugar Added Gluten Free Apple Pie Filling

8 lbs Apples, cored peeled and sliced
6 Cups Sugar Substitute
1 1/3 cup Small Tapioca Pearls
2 3/4 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
13 1/3 cup Water
1 1/2 tsp Salt
5 Tbsp Lemon Juice
Jars, lids and bands for canning

Prepare jars and lids for canning.

Combine sugar substitute, tapioca pearls, cinnamon, nutmeg, water and salt in a large pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently to keep tapioca from sticking to the bottom. Bring to a boil.

While waiting for sauce to boil, take jars and pack them with apples.

Once sauce is boiling, fill apple jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Clean the rim, pop on the lid and band. Process in a waterbath for 30 minutes.


I cannot wait to make pies, crisps and yummy baked goods - I use the applesauce in place of oil ;-) I hope you think these recipes are as delicious as I do!

Cinnamon Sugar Toasted Spaghetti Squash Seeds

While cleaning a Spaghetti Squash to make "Pasta" for the first time - I saw the seeds and immediately thought of toasted Pumpkin seeds. So I saved them and tried it out.

I'll admit, I only came out with 1/3 cup and even though I halved the baking time - they burnt just a bit. Not enough to throw them away lol but enough to say they didn't come out as yummy as I'd hoped.

I'm not sure exactly what went wrong where - but I intend to continue trying until I get it right. If you have any suggestions for me - I'd really appreciate it.

Here's the recipe I used and what I did:

Cinnasweet Pumpkin Seeds 
Original recipe is for 12 servings which is 4 cups of seeds. I only had 1/3 so I reduced recipe to 1 serving.

1/3 cup Seeds, rinsed and dried (of course I was using my spaghetti squash seeds)
2 tsp Butter, melted
1/2 tsp Brown Sugar
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Salt
1 tsp White Sugar, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine seeds, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir to coat seeds completely. Spread seeds in a single layer onto a baking pan.

Bake for 7 mins (original recipe says 15 minute increments but I halved it); stir and bake another 7 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle 1/2 tsp white sugar over seeds; stir to coat. Return to oven; bake an addition 7 mins.

**Now here is when I noticed they smelt a little burt. The rest of the instructions say to remove from oven, sprinkle remaining 1/2 tsp white sugar and bake an additional 7 mins. Because I noticed they were burning - I didn't bake any longer. I took them out, removed from baking pan and sprinkled sugar over top. Let them cool.

This is what they looked like.

Again, they weren't horrible, but they did have a bit of burnt taste and weren't as yummy as I'd hoped. I'll be trying this again, maybe with a different recipe as I didn't really even taste the cinnamon like I wanted. I'll also may save up more seeds and bake in a larger batch - maybe that's where I went wrong?

Anyway, I'll keep you posted and if you have ANY suggestions, please let me know :-)

Spaghetti Squash

I've always wanted to try Spaghetti Squash but never had the nerve. I was really craving spaghetti, but I'm staying away from pasta - stupid carbs. So I decided to give this squash thing a try. I thought, if nothing else - it'll be a learning experience - and I'm always up for learning :-)

Too many times, I've heard people substituting veggies for starches and saying - it tastes just like the real thing - only to try it and be very disappointed because it doesn't taste like the real thing at all. Well I am happy to report, this wasn't one of those times, thank goodness! It was really really good - and I didn't miss the carby pasta at all - well once the squash was hot that is - I'll admit - just warm, the sauce and squash didn't mesh well in my mouth and I thought - here we go again. But I put it in the microwave and nuked it for a minute - and when it came out hot - seriously, I didn't miss the pasta at all! I was surprised with every bite and still am lol.

I went online to research how to cook the squash and there were so many different suggestions - boil/bake, oven temps ranging from 350-400 degrees, bake times ranging from 20 minutes to an hour, bake in water/not in water, upside down/right side up, cut in half/keep whole - (whew!) I once again, found myself a bit overwhelmed. Then I saw there was a cooking label on the squash itself, which got me really excited until I read it - it was how to microwave it :-(  I don't know about you but I only reheat things in the microwave, I don't use it to cook things start to finish. So I decided to combine cooking methods and take the middle ground with regards to oven temp. And away we went! 

This is our whole Spaghetti Squash. They say if you keep the squash in a cool dark place - it can last up to a month!

The instructions on the squash said to heat it in the microwave for 1 minute - supposedly this helps with cutting it in half. It was still a bit difficult so I had my hubby do it cause I kinda really hate knives and have a serious fear I'll chop a finger off or something lol

Scrape out the seeds and fibers with a spoon. I saved the seeds to toast like pumpkin seeds. Why not give it a try right? ;-)

Place squash halves cut side down onto a baking sheet. I went middle of the road with oven temp and cooked squash 40 minutes at (preheated) 375 degrees. I didn't coat them with oil or seasonings of any kind. I knew they were done when the rind was fork tender.After letting them cool slightly - this is what they looked like once turned over.

When squash is cooled enough to handle, take a fork and scrape out the "pasta" strands, top to bottom length wise until you've got it all out. It's remarkable how it completely comes away from the rind!

Empty rind - pretty cool right?! I'm sure someone more crafty than I could turn this into some crazy cool squash bowl or something! Or is that too weird? 

Here's the finished "pasta" next to our homemade spaghetti meat sauce. So delicious! 

My husband took some squash and added butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for a healthy sweet dessert too! So many options for this stuff I can't wait to try more!

Jalapeno Pepper Jelly

So I've been craving spicy things lately and my friend told me she was making Habanero Jelly - which is WAY to spicy for me - but sounded good none the less. I had some left over Jalapenos from the Cocktail Sausage Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers I made for a football party, so I decided to go for it and make some Jalapeno Pepper Jelly - and it turned out delicious! I am currently using it on/in soooo many things, kind of like a seasoning (I'll post some recipes soon), and loving every one of them!

Note: I use the Ball® FreshTECH Automatic Jam & Jelly Maker 

Jalapeno Pepper Jelly

1 Red Bell Pepper, finely chopped

5 Jalapenos seeds in, finely chopped (if you want a milder jelly, remove seeds)

3/4 cup White Vinegar

1/2 tsp Salt

3 cups White Sugar

3 Tbsp Ball® RealFruit® Classic Pectin

1/2 tsp Butter

Sprinkle pectin evenly over bottom of Jelly Maker Pot fitted with Stirrer. Add peppers evenly over Pectin. Pour vinegar over peppers and add the butter to help reduce foaming.

Press "Jelly" button, then hit the "-" minus button until time reads 21 minutes. Press Enter.

Wait for the 4 minute signal to add the sugar. Pour evenly while the Stirrer continues to spin. Place the glass lid on top and wait for the timer to sound letting you know the jelly is done.

Once done skim any foam off the top and put jelly into desired containers (we water bath canned ours to keep longer).

This recipe makes aprox 4 - 8oz jars or 2 - 16oz.

This jelly is spicy but not over powering. It's got some heat but it doesn't knock you on the floor. Try it with some cream cheese on a cracker for a nice snack or a quick and easy appetizer, use it as a dipping sauce for steak, chicken or shrimp! I've even mixed it with some cottage cheese for a spicy protein treat ;-) No matter how you use it - you're gonna love this stuff!

Lunch Meat Protein "Lasagna"

OK, so this only resembles Lasagna because of how you layer the meat and cheese. But it makes the dish seem fancier when you say it's Lasagna lol. Anyway, this little gem was created by my husband last night and is now going into regular meal rotation :-)  

It's basically a fall/winter (colder weather) version of my meat roll up (slices of lunch meat wrapped around a string cheese). It's carb free and protein packed - which is a win, as far as I'm concerned!

You can use any meat or cheese you want, doesn't even have to be lunch meat. I use lunch meat to control my portion size and it's easier to layer. You can make this with few layers and eat as a snack, or make many layers and eat as a meal.

Lunch Meat Protein "Lasagna"

Thinly sliced Ham
Thinly sliced Turkey
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

On a microwave safe plate, layer ham, turkey and 1 pinch mozzarella cheese. Repeat till you've created as many layers as you want ending with a slice of ham on top. Heat in microwave depending on how many layers you've made. Enjoy!

Cheesey Bean Dip with a Kick!

I don't know about you, but I love a good bean dip. Add in some cheese and homemade Jalapeño Jelly to spice it up - and you've got yourself a winner! 

I was sitting around the house this weekend feeling hungry but lazy at the same time, so cooking something just didn't appeal to me. While looking in my pantry I saw a can of refried beans and thought - add some cheese and that'll do. Well, it didn't. It tasted bland and was very dry and uninspiring. So back to the kitchen I went to see what I could find to spruce it up and behold - the cream cheese was sitting right next to my  jalapeño Pepper Jelly! A small scoop of cream cheese and an even smaller scoop of Jelly into the beans and - perfection!

I've only made this in single portion sizes for myself but next get together, I'm making a big batch. I eat this by itself with a spoon as I'm trying to stay away from bad carbs (breads, chips, etc.) but I'm sure it's devine with some chips or maybe as the base "sauce" if you're making a Mexican pizza?! Yummy!

Cheesey Bean Dip with a Kick (single serving)

1/2 cup Fat Free Refied Beans

1/2 low fat String or mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 Tbsp  cream Cheese

1 tsp Jalapeño Jelly (more if you want a bigger kick)

Put everything in a microwave safe dish. Heat on high for aprox 1 minute. Stir and enjoy!

Feel free to mix it up. Add more of this, less of that. It's all based on your taste preference.

This is also a great make ahead dish when you're on the go. Most convienient stores have microwaves you can use or you can heat and stir ahead of time, it'll just be cooler when you finally get to it and slightly less creamy as the cheese will have hardened a bit. I love this stuff, no matter the temp!