Scrumptious Sausage Rolls

It's Christmas time!  Time to make my world famous sausage rolls (world = my household) 

I could make these any time of the year but the build up to getting these only at Christmastime adds to the incredible deliciousness of them.

These are so easy to make and the recipe doubles and triples very well.

Start by preheating the oven to 425 and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. 
Beat an egg until frothy and add it to the bowl your pork is in.  To the bowl also add your breadcrumbs, onion powder, garlic powder, dry mustard powder and fresh parsley.

 Mix with your hands until thoroughly combined. 

Roll out your puff pastry until it's around 12" x 14".  I just roll it until it looks like I can get three rows of pastry out of it.  

 Place your sausage filling down the center of the pastry.

Brush one side of the pastry with a bit of water to seal the edges and roll the pastry over to make a tube, pressing the edges together to seal well. 

Cut each strip into 1" pieces.

Brush with an egg wash (1 egg beaten well with 1 Tbsp water) and poke two vent holes in the top.  Sprinkle the top with sea salt.
Bake 15 - 20 minutes or until they are golden brown.

This was 20 minutes in (ignore the dirty oven :o) I left them in for a few minutes longer to get nice and golden brown.

They're best served warm.  I put mine in the fridge in a well sealed container and before serving I'll put them in a preheated oven for 5 minutes.  

I've made two double batches already and I have 4 more pounds of pork thawing in my fridge right now to make more!  

This year boyfriend got a local pig and the taste of sausage rolls make from pork that is only 2 weeks old is INCREDIBLE! Buy local whenever you can.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Scrumptious Sausage Rolls

1 egg
1 lb ground pork
1/4 c bread crumbs
1 tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder and dry mustard powder
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped into small pieces
1 box Tenderflake Puff Pastry
1 more egg for the egg wash + 1 Tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 425 and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.  

In a large bowl add the pork, bread crumbs, garlic powder, onion powder, dry mustard powder and parsley.  Mix well.  

Roll out the puff pastry until its approximately 12" x 14", enough to cut three strips.  Place your sausage mix down the middle of the puff pastry sheet.  Brush one edge of the pastry with a little water to seal the edges.  Roll the pastry over to make a tube and press well to seal the edges.

Cut into 1" pieces and poke two vent holes in the top with a toothpick.  Place on your baking sheets and brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt granules (not ground salt)

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until they are nicely golden brown.

Comment below and let me know how yours turn out :)  

Rainy Day Inspiration

Looking at some of my photos from Spring and Summer are helping to inspire warm, happy thoughts on this chilly, wet, rainy Tuesday.

I took this one at our viewpoint looking out over Vancouver Island.

I Knew I Was A Procrastinator But...WOW!

It's funny how I make plan to do something (stay up to date on my blog) and before I know it I see over a year has gone by!  Wow!  I'm quite impressed with myself, this is almost the the longest I've put something off, lol.

I am loving being able to walk into almost every room of the house and not be shocked with the amount of unpacked boxes and clutter around.  If you have organizing to do take it one box, closet, drawer or bag at a time.  The slower you go with it the easier it will go.  Don't try to do it all at once, you'll get overwhelmed and it won't get done.  One little bit at a time is how I made it through.

You can do it!

Clean Eating! Thai Curry Meatballs

I love trying new recipes and this one was so tasty I need to share it.  It's also egg and wheat free so it's good for our clean eating plan!

You can make these meatballs ahead and freeze them for up to 3 months in a well sealed container.  This was my first time trying this recipe so I didn't modify it much but next time I'm going to make smaller meatballs and serve them with some rice noodles rather than the brown rice I served them with this time.

Meatballs:

2 lbs ground turkey (I used a mix of bison with a little turkey to make 2 lbs)
1 c zucchini, shredded and liquid squeezed out
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1/4 c green onions, finely chopped
2 Tbsp basil, chopped
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
2 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp red curry paste
2 Tbsp coconut milk
1/8 tsp hot pepper chilli flakes

Combine all the ingredient and mix with your hands thoroughly.  (make sure the meat is completely thawed or your hands will get VERY cold, lesson learned, lol) 

Make 28 meatballs, lay them on a cookie sheet and set them aside while you mix the sauce.

Sauce:

1 1/2 c coconut milk
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp red curry paste
1 tsp fish sauce
1/8 tsp hot pepper chilli flakes
5 - 6 kaffir lime leave (optional)

In a small bowl, whisk all the ingredients together and set aside.

Preheat a large skillet on medium-high.

Cook meatballs until browned on all side, don't worry about cooking them all the way through.  They finish cooking in the sauce.

Add the sauce, reduce heat and simmer uncovered.

Cook for about 20 minutes.  Your kitchen will smell AMAZING by this point and your family will come asking when dinner is ready.  Tell them the longer they wait the better they'll taste.

I had decided too late to make rice to serve with the meatballs so mine sat simmering for about 30 minutes while I cooked up some brown rice.

1 meatball with 2 tsp of sauce = 50 calories 1.3 g fat.

I loved learning that you can substitute the egg that is usually in meatballs to hold them together with grated zucchini.  I'm going to try that with meatloaf and hamburgers from now on.

Happy cooking!

Maple Springs Ranch 2013

I've decided after the sad crops from last year I need to work on my soil content.  I have 3 of the beds sitting as lasagna gardens since the fall and I will continue to add to those.  I need to do a bit more research into the good things to add to my soil so my vegetable will grow and yield a lot more than the measly handfuls I received last year.

But all my flowers are making an appearance to make me smile

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth
                                                Dorothy Frances Gurney

My favorite in the garden right now is this peony

A few years ago I discovered figs and how amazing they taste!  I also discovered how expensive they are from the local Farmers Market :o  I decided to plant a fig tree last year but research told me I would be waiting a few years to enjoy any of the delicious, juicy, fantastic fruit.  Look what I found on my little 2' tall tree this afternoon

yes...that is a tiny fig starting to grow!!  

Gardening is so rewarding sometimes :) 

Still downsizing!

I need to post my pictures this weekend!  I've been working on my storage room outside, my laundry room, my pantry and my kitchen cupboards.  What a fantastic feeling to get all these spots finally organized and down to only what I actually use :)

In the meantime check out my cute new niece Alexandra Violet, born February 12, 2013

Audrey wanted to share her baby with Alex while she laid next to her xox

I gotta say, my sister makes some damn cute babies!

Happy New Year! (a month late)

I found a fantastic page on facebook...

now, I realize I'm not the only one who has clutter but somehow it's a lot easier to tackle with this page to follow.  Normally when you go to someone's home they don't open their closets and hidden cluttered cupboards to show them off to you but on this site people do show you!

Here's what I'm cleaning out for my first day

this is under my bathroom sink upstairs.  I'll post my 'after' picture tonight.

Happy de-cluttering!!

**update

It's funny how one small cupboard cleaned out makes me feel better about tackling more.  Can you believe how full my recycling bin is!? Wow, with the door always shut I never realized what was in there until I started digging. 

 

I've signed up for a community garage sale happening in a couple of months and this lets me start my pile of goodies to sell there now. 

 

Tomorrow's challenge...under my other bathroom sink, it looks almost the same as this one did!