Weekend update

So this weekend my family and I dealt with nearly 300lbs of fruit, crazy right? There were five of us on Saturday working on the fruit. The count for the weekend was:
17 cups pear jam
16 cups peach jam
7 pints of apple sauce
30lbs of apples became apple chips
28 quarts of pressed apple juice
1 apple caramel pie
1 batch peach ice cream
1 batch caramel apple pie
15 lbs of peaches sliced and frozen
6 pie crusts

Oh, and my brother and Dad made 25lbs of pepperoni sausage for pizzas! I am so excited to eat that this week.

Earlier in the week my mother had made 28 pints of canned pears as well.

It was a busy weekend for everyone, but we managed to get most of the fruit done. There is a few more pears to get canned (Mom wanted to try a recipe of ginger pears), a few peaches for a pie, apples for pies, and about 15lbs more apples to be dried.

I am working on getting some yummy fruit recipes up, so keep looking - hopefully I will get one or two tonight!

Breakfast Burritos

I saw this on a OAMC website one day and thought it was a great idea. Owen doesn’t like cereal for breakfast, he doesn’t have the time to cook eggs in the morning and toast doesn’t keep him full enough. That means that most weeks we are buying bagels for him, upon seeing this though I knew it would be a great idea.

I made mine different from the original website, and filled them with what O likes in his omletes he makes on weekends and what we had in the fridge. He has now been eating these for two weeks and is really enjoying them.

Ingredients: (made 7-8 burritos)
6 large eggs
1 – 2 cups diced mixed peppers
4 thick slices of bacon, chopped (optional)
½ small onion
1 cup shredded cheese
7 to 8 large tortillas

Directions
1.In the frying pan, fry the bacon until cooked. Leave a little oil in the pan to fry eggs in. You can remove the bacon and add it again with the veggies.
2.In a frying pan (with a little olive oil if you didn’t do the bacon first), scramble the eggs until cooked.
3.Add the veggies and the bacon.

4.Lay a torilla on a piece of tinfoil (if they are dry, heat them in the microwave for 5-10 seconds to make them more pliable).
5.Put ½ to 2/3 cup of egg mixture on the tortilla and sprinkle with cheese.

Fold up the bottom, then fold in the sides and roll. Wrap in the tinfoil and freeze.
6.When you want to cook you bake it in the oven at 400F for 25 min, or you can microwave it until warm. Note: O likes to put his in the fridge the night before, then he doesn’t have to bake it as long in the morning, and he can get in the last couple minutes of sleep.

Reviews:
Owen has been enjoying a little more variety in his morning routine and likes having a breakfast that is healthy and keeps him going. It is a fairly economical breakfast when compared to buying bagels for the week or the better cereals. We have made these a couple times and now just add whatever veggie odd and ends we happen to have in the fridge that might go well.

Bulldogs - Cinnamon Bun Cookies

First let me apologize for the lack of the pictures for this post, the Bulldogs had a game on December 27th at 7am, and in my hurry to get cookies made, bags unpacked and find places for all the stuff that made its way back, the picture somehow got overlooked. I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time to bake anything as I was at my Parent's house for the holidays. I decided to try a slice and bake cookie - from the freezer. I made up the dough for these for these a couple weeks ago and had them sitting in my freezer. Then the night of the 26th I took them out, let them soften for about 10 minutes then sliced the log into cookies and baked.

The recipe came from The Recipe Girl, and only made some minor changes.

Freeze and Slice Cinnamon Bun Cookies (made about 3 dozen cookies)

Ingredients:
½ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup unsalted butter
1½ tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 large egg white
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1½ tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. Prepare the dough by creaming together the sugar, butter and vanilla. Stir in the flour and chill the dough.
2. Once the dough is chilled, roll it out on a surface lightly dusted with powdered sugar to about 9x12 inches (no more than 1/4 inch thick).
3. Lightly whip the egg white with a fork until foamy. Brush it onto the rolled out dough (I didn't use all of the egg white).
4. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together then sprinkle and spread on the cookie dough. Roll the dough like you would a cinnamon bun or jelly roll.
5. Wrap the log in the saran wrap and freeze.

When ready to bake:
1. Take the dough out of the freezer and let warm for a couple of minutes (makes cutting the slices easier).
2. Slice the dough into about 1/4 inch slices.
3. Place slices on a cookie sheet and bake at 350F for about 12 minutes until middle is set.
4. Cool on a wire rack.

Reviews:
These were a delicious cookie, and everyone enjoyed them. It was nice the have them so easy to make the night before, and I am tempted to keep a roll or two at all times for surprise company. I didn't make the icing for it and I really don't think the cookies need it.

The Bulldogs:
They won their game, even with a backup of the backup goalie! I can't say more than that, as I stayed at home that morning for some much needed sleep after the holidays!


Read more: http://www.recipegirl.com/2008/12/11/cinnamon-bun-cookies/#ixzz0bClOOjH9

Ravioli Soup

I saw a recipe for this in Once a Month Cooking and decided to try it. The recipe seemed alright, but didn’t have enough veggies in it for my liking, so I added a few things as I went along and omitted others.

I made a large batch of soup, and before it was done froze half for another night. It didn’t involve any extra work as I was making it already which was great. You could also just make it and freeze all of it as it is quick to pull together.

Ravioli Soup (Makes 1 supper, + leftovers, and 1 meal for the freezer)

Ingredients
1 lb lean hamburger
1 medium onion
½ green pepper
½ red pepper
1 lg. carrot
1 cup shredded zucchini ( I used frozen)
2 tsp minced garlic
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic salt
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp oregano
pinch of sugar
1 family pack ravioli
Parmesan cheese

Directions
1.In a pan, brown the hamburger (I do this in my dutch oven so I don’t have to switch pots). When the meat is brown, add the onions, peppers, carrots and garlic, and sauté until the veggies are starting to soften and onions are translucent.
2.Add the zucchini, tomatoes, chicken stock, spices, and sugar to the pot. Allow to simmer together for 10 minutes. (At this point I always taste it and see if I want to add more seasoning, as it sometimes depends on the tomatoes used). At this point I remove ½ the pot into a freezer container and it goes into the freezer. When you want to have it for supper, thaw the soup and pick up the directions at step 3.
3.Allow to cook and simmer for 30 minutes. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, cook the ravioli according to the package directions. Once they are cooked add them to the soup. (if the soup is too thick you can add water or chicken stock to thin it.)
4.Ladle soup into bowls and top with Parmesan cheese.

Reviews:
This is a great soup, with lots of veggies. If you use the low sodium tomatoes, it is a great meal. To make it a vegetarian meal simple don’t add the ground beef to the soup and use a cheese ravioli.

Owen and I both loved this soup and I can’t wait to take the rest out of the freezer next week.

Stuffed Manacotti

When I have some odds and ends in the fridge I feel like using I generally tend to make manacotti. I don’t follow the traditional recipe, or any recipe for that matter and it turns out a little different each time. I love experimenting with the different flavors and the tasty combinations that come out of it. I am going to share with you some of the most common mixes that I use, to which I will usually add whatever odds and ends of veggies and cheeses I have in the fridge.

The reason I am sharing this? I am slowing becoming obsessed with freezer meals. These make a fantastic freezer meal, just stuff the shells and freeze. Then when you want to eat them you can pull as many out as you would like, put them in a dish, top with some sauce and cook. You could freeze them as a ready to go in the oven dish as well, but I find freezing individually gives me more flexibility.

I am sorry for the lack of amounts for these recipes, but I just toss things into a bowl and then stuff as many shells as I can with what I have. Make the mixture look right to you and your family’s preferences.

Chicken Alfredo Manacotti
Ingredients:
Cooked chicken (this can be breasts that have been cubed or shredded, or ground chicken, or even turkey)
Ricotta cheese (you can substitute cottage cheese if you want)
Veggies, finely chopped (I love using greens with this, green pepper, broccoli, spinach)
1 box manacotti noodles
Alfredo sauce*
Cheese for topping (cheddar, mozza, swiss, Parmesan)*

Spinach Manacotti:
Ingredients:
Ricotta (or cottage) cheese
Chopped baby spinach (or frozen chopped spinach)
Manacotti noodles
Pasta sauce (I use a can of tomato sauce, with Italian seasoning added to it)*
Cheese to top (cheddar, mozza, parmasan ect).*

Sausage Stuffed Manacotti
Ingredients:
Cooked chopped sausage (or ground sausage filling cooked, ground beef cooked)
Ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese if you prefer)
Veggies finely chopped (shredded carrot, zucchini, peppers, onion, spinach ect)
Manacotti noodles
Pasta sauce (or tomato sauce with seasonings of your choice)*
Cheese to top*

* if you are freezing individually, you will not need these ingredients until you are ready to cook the dish.

Preparation
1.In a bowl mix together the ricotta cheese, veggies and meat. If it looks a little dry you can add a tbsp or two of the sauce.
2.In a large pot cook the manacotti to eldante, if you overcook them they will split and be a little harder to work with. We will be baking this, so they will soften up more.
3.Using a small spoon (teaspoon) spoon the filling into each of the cooked noodles. Place the noodles in a casserole dish if you wish to cook them for supper (or freeze as a put together dish), or on a cookie sheet to freeze.

To cook:
1.Take the stuffed pasta out of the freezer and let thaw a little, in a casserole dish.
2.Pour the sauce over the stuffed pasta, and sprinkle cheese on the top.
3.Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes (if they went in frozen you may have to cook them a little longer. If they look like they are getting a little dry, cover them). The cheese on top should be bubbly and the manacotti should be hot through.

Shanghi Casserole

This recipe came from my mother in law (I have changed it a little, as I am not feeding 3 growing boys), and was requested by Owen. I have come to love the flavored rice and the crunch of the “noodles” on top. It is made at least once a month in our house (that is about as often as anything is made around here with the exception of spaghetti).

About the name, I am really not sure why it is called Shanghi Casserole, but that is what O always calls it, and that is what it says on the top of the recipe his mom sent me.

Shanghi Casserole
Ingredients:
½ lb ground beef
2 stalks celery
½ med onion
1 can cream of mushroom soup
¼ cup milk
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 ½ cup uncooked rice
2-3 cups Chow mein noodles (the dry crunchy ones)

Directions:
1.Put the rice on to cook (I have a rice cooker for this, but go with however you normally cook rice). While the rice is cooking brown the meat and sauté with the onion and celery until the vegetables are soft.
2.Combine the milk, soup and soy sauce in a separate bowl
3.When everything is ready drain the fat off the meat and combine the meat, rice and soup mixture in a 3 quart casserole dish.
4.Bake at 350F for 20 mintues. Remove the casserole and top with the noodles, pressing them into the rice mixture a little. Bake for another 10 minutes.
5.Enjoy.

Freezer Meal:
I will most often cook up twice the amount of meat and veggies I need for this and freeze ½ of it. Then all I have to do when I come home is throw some rice in the rice cooker and mix everything together and bake (providing I remembered to take the meat mixture out of the freezer that morning to thaw). I am sure it would also work if you froze everything mixed, just undercooked the rice a little ( I will halve to try this soon).
Reviews:
This is a standby in our house and it starting to become comfort food to me. I don’t know what is about mushroom soup flavoured rice, but I love it. O has eaten this since he was young and still loves it.

Simple Apple Pie - For the Freezer

In the fall when apples are cheap (directly from the orchards) I like to stock up and make apple pies for the winter. It is great for potlucks and chilly nights to come home and just pop a pie in the oven, without the work of slicing apples and making pie dough. This is just a simple pie that I like to have in the freezer for those days. (I am really sorry for the no picture, they are all lost in the freezer)

Ingredients:
Pie crust for a double crust pie (I use the recipe on the tenderflake container for freezer pies, I find it freezers really well)
4 to 5 cups of apples
2 tbsp flour
½ tbsp cinnamon
½ to 1 cup sugar (depending on your taste and the sweetness of apples)
1 tbsp butter

Directions:
1. Roll out the pie shell and line a tin pie plate. Roll the top crust to have ready.
2. Peel, core and slice the apples.
3. Toss the apples with the flour, cinnamon and sugar.
4. Place the apples in the pie shell, and place cubes of butter on top.
5. Top with the top crust, and seal the edges. Cut a vent in the top.
6. Cover the pie with tin(aluminum foil) and place in freezer.
To Bake:
1. Place directly from the freezer into an oven at 450F, and bake for 15 mintues.
2. Turn the oven down to 350F and bake for an additional 45-60 minutes. If the top crust becomes too brown cover with the aluminum foil to finish baking.
Reviews:
Owen loves the fact that he can have apple pie anytime he wants – all he has to do (or I have to do) is put it in the oven. Friends have received frozen pies and have Loved them. The only unfortunate part is that odd shape of a pie takes up freezer space. You can also do this as a filling (like I have done for peach and apricot) and put into a fresh pie shell to conserve freezer space.

I have made about 15 of these this year, and many went to friends. I have gotten rave reviews from everyone who has cooked theirs so far!

Pie Crust for the Freezer

This recipe makes enough crust for 3 double crust pies, and as I am generally making at least that many when I am doing freezer pies, this is what I use. I am pretty sure that this is the recipe that is printed on the boxes of tenderflake. This has never failed for me and always comes out of the freezer with great results.
Ingredients:
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
l lb Tenderflake lard
1 tbsp vinegar
1 egg, lightly beaten
Water

Directions:
Mix together flour and salt.

Cut in Tenderflake lard with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles course oatmeal.

In a one cup measure, combine vinegar and egg and add cold water to make one cup. Gradually stir liquid into flour/lard mixture. You may not have to use all the liquid, add a little at a time until the dough clings together. (If it is really dry out, you may have to add an extra tablespoon of water)

Gather into a ball. Divide into six portions and wrap before placing in the fridge. I like to leave them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using them, then let them warm for 20 to 30 minutes on the counter. These will keep in the fridge for about a week.

Roll out each portion on lightly floured surface.

Individual Serving Freezer Cheesecake

So lately I am finding myself more and more interested in putting simple things in my freezer. After the mini pies, I saw that Lloyd and Lauren had also done mini cheesecakes! Oh, cheesecake, mmmmmm. I knew I had to try this. I got the recipe for the cheesecake from Martha's Kentucky Cookin'.

Ingredients:
4 ounces cream cheese (1/2 a block)
½ cup sugar
1 egg, separated
½ cup whipping cream
½ cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tbsp butter

caramel sauce, bailey’s, or other flavors you might like to try

6 - 4 ounce (1/2 cup) canning jars

Directions:
1. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs and the softened butter to form a crumb mixture, set aside.
2. With a mixer beat the cream cheese until it is fluffly, then add the sugar and egg yolk beating until it is creamy.
3. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until they form peaks, do the same in a third bowl with the whipping cream.
4. Fold the egg whites into the cream cheese, followed by the whipped cream.
5. Put 1 tbsp of the graham cracker crumb mixture into the bottom of each jar and pat into place. Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the crumbs until it is about ½ from the top of the jar.
6. At this point I add the flavor, so I can have a few of each. I used about ¼ to ½ tsp caramel Sunday topping or 1 to 1 ½ tsp of Bailey’s. Add the flavor to the jar and use a knife to fold in the flavor, I like mine so I can still see streaks of the flavor.

From left to right: Plain, Bailey's, Caramel
7. Put the lid on the jar and place in the freezer.

When ready to eat, just remove from the freezer and let it warm for 3-5 minutes, then enjoy.

Reviews:
I tried the caramel one the day after putting these in the freezer, and now I am not sure how long these will last in my freezer. It is a light and airy cheesecake, that is not only delicious but addicting. Writing this post is already got me heading for the freezer …..

Mini Pie in a Jar!

Upon looking for things to do with my peaches, I came across and interesting idea on Eating Well Anywhere for Pie in a Jar and Crisp in a jar. While the crisp in a jar looked really easy, I know that the people in my house are bigger fans of pie, so I thought I would try those. I checked out the links and liked the instructions on Lloyd and Lauren.

I immediately went on the search for the right jar – we had some of the 4 oz jars kicking around, but those were not big enough the stomachs I feed, so it was off to the store. I managed to find some nice low, widemouth 8 oz jars that don’t narrow at the neck. Perfect!

I came back the house and proceeded to put O to work pealing and slicing peaches (I figure if he is going to enjoy all the pies, he could at least help a few of the 60lbs of peaches I ended up dealing with this year). As he was busy with the peaches I made pie crust. I happened to be at my parents house while trying to do this, and of course never thought to look and see if they had lard, or what they had for recipes. They had Crisco in the house and so I simply used the recipe off box. I don’t know that I will be using it again, as it wasn’t my favourite to work with – we will see how it turns out after baking.

Then I made the pie filling:

6 cups of sliced peaches
¼ cup brown sugar
2-3 tsp Cinnamon

Mix together, and place in Pie tin.

I put the bottom crust into the each of 6 jars, then filled the jars with pie filling.


Once the filling was in, I topped each pie with a circle of crust and crimped the edges. After putting the tops on the pies (and cutting a vent) I put the lids on the jars and into the freezer they went.

To bake:
Let me the pie thaw some before putting it in the oven – if the jars go from extreme cold to extreme heat, they could shatter. Remember to take the lid off before baking.

Bake the pie at 400F for 30 to 40 mintues (I am not sure how long with is going to be, as I haven’t baked one yet). The crust should be a lovely golden colour.


Reviews:
These were fun to make and turned out really cute. I am looking forward to seeing how well they bake. Due to the rearranging of the pantry and arrival of new freezers this week, it may be a while before I actually bake one.

Freezing Blueberries, Rhubarb and Zucchini

Alright, this is pretty simple, but I was putting everything else up, so why not this as well?

I have done this for years and it works really well. The pre-measured bags are really handy, when I want to bake something, I pull out the bag with the correct amount and allow it to thaw as I am getting everything else ready and started. I have been doing this long enough that I know what amounts I need for my favourite recipes to do the pre-measured bags, but I have found that 2 cups is usually pretty standard.

Blueberries:
1. wash the blueberries and pick out any "bad" berries.
2. Lay in a single layer on a pan/cookie sheet and put in the freezer until the berries are frozen and firm.
3. Measure out and place in freezer bags. Remove the air from the bags, seal and label before placing back into the freezer.

I did bags of 4-5 cups (pie, cobbler, crisp), and 2 cups (muffins, breads, snacks)

Rhubarb:
1. Wash the sticks of rhubarb and chop into small chunks.
2. Measure out the desired amounts and place in freezer bags. Remove the air from the bags, seal, label and freeze.

For this I usually do bags of 4-5 cups (crisp) and 2 cups ( mixed crisps, muffins)

Zucchini:
We always have tons of zucchini from the garden and we do this every year. We usually let the zucchinis get pretty big (half the time because we forget to check for them).

This sight has great pictures for the steps (which I of course forgot to take), so check it out.

1. Peal the zucchini (I know not all people do this but I don't like the dark green flecks in my baking). I then cut the zucchini in half and remove the seeds with a spoon.
2. Grate the zucchini with a cheese grater.
3. Measure out desired amounts of the grated zucchini, and place in freezer bag. Remove the air from the freezer bag, label and place in the freezer.

I have found that most of the bread recipes call for 2 cups, so I do lots of 2 cups bags, and the occasional 1 cup bag (incase I stumble upon a smaller recipe I want to try or I want to half something I am making.) The bags of zucchini are also great to thaw and add to lasagna or casseroles.

Freezing Cherries Take 2

So after freezing plain cherries, I decided to be a little adventures and try freezing the cherries in a syrup. Upon looking, I decided I wanted something I could just pop out of the freezer and into a cobbler or pie like I do with my apricot and peach pies. This is now sitting in my freezer and looking pretty good. I will have to take it out soon and see how well it worked.

Ingredients:
5-6 cups of cherries
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 tbsp cornstarch

Directions:
1. Wash, stem and pit the cherries.
2. In a saucepan combine the juice from the cherries, sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat.
3. Heat the mixture until it becomes a thick syrup (5-7 minutes)
4. Add the cherries, I heated for a little longer at this point as there was additional juice with the cherries from them sitting while I made the syrup.
5. Pour into a large freezer bag, squeeze all the air out and seal. Label and place in freezer.

Baking:
Remove from the freezer and let thaw, place in a pie or top for a cobbler. Bake according the instructions for a pie or cobbler - whichever you have decided to do.

I will let you all know how this turned out when i get it out of the freezer to try!

Freezing Cherries Take 1

I have a lot of cherries around the house and not enough baking projects right now to use them all. I know that everyone says to just eat them, but there are only so many cherries I can eat before I start feeling a little sick. I decided to try freezing the cherries, and having never froze cherries before and reading a bunch of different ways, I decided to try freezing them with and without a syrup. The first is without a syrup:

1. Wash and stem the cherries. Then pit the cherries and lay out flat on a baking sheet.
2. Place the baking sheet into the freezer until the cherries are frozen and firm.
3. Once the cherries are frozen, measure them into freezer bags. Squeeze as much air as possible out of the bags and seal. I did bags of 6 cups (pies and cobblers), 2 cups (muffins, breads ect) and one bag of 1 cup (brownies).
4. Label the bags and place them back into the freezer. I think these should last for 6 to 12 months.

I look forward to be able do some baking with these later this fall/winter.

Freezer Peach Pie Filling

Owen loves peach pie in all sorts of variety, he especially loves to have pies in the middle of winter. I know that you could just go out and buy a can of peaches or pie filling – but what fun is that when I have more than enough peaches at home right now? I love the ease of just taking something out of the freezer as well, so I often make a few pie fillings with the fruit I get in the summer and pop them in the freezer.

Ingredients/materials:
4 to 5 cups peeled, pitted and sliced peaches (This was the amount of fruit that looked good to me in the pie plate, you might want more or less, use how much you like)
½ cup sugar (if you have really sweet fruit you may want to decrease this)
¼ cup flour
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1.Place the peach slices in a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar, flour, cinnamon and lemon juice. Gently mix until everything is well mixed.
2.Place a Ziploc freezer back inside a pie plate and spoon the mixture into the bag, filling the plate.
3.Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal. Put the pie plate with the bag of fruit in the freezer. The pie plate can be removed after the filling has frozen.

When you want to bake the pie:
1.Remove the pie from the freezer, and place in an unbaked crust. Cover with the top crust and seal the edges. Cut vents in the top of the crust.
2.Bake at 375F about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours – the crust should be brown, and the filling bubbling in the center.

Note: A lot of recipes say to wrap the pie filling in tin/aluminum foil, I tried that last year, and while it kept the fillings fresh, it was a pain to peal off before baking. More than once, I had to sit with a fork and pick out pieces that had ripped off. So this year I am trying the bag route, I figure they work really well for all my freezer meals so hopefully they will keep my pie fillings tasty.

Freezer Apricot Pie Filling

After Owen and Iza eating apricots for 2 days, as well as making apricot jam, there was still an abundance of apricots to be used, so I decided to try freezer pie fillings (I might try to use them to make a cobbler as well, we will see how things go). I have never made these before, so hopefully it works out alright.

Ingredients/materials:
4 to 5 cups halved, pitted apricots (This was the amount of fruit that looked good to me in the pie plate, you might want more or less, use how much you like)
½ cup sugar (if you have really sweet fruit you may want to decrease this)
1 to 2 tbsp flour ( if your apricots don’t have a lot of juice use the 1 tbsp of flour)
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1.Place the apricots in a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar, flour, cinnamon and lemon juice. Gently mix until everything is well mixed.
2.Place a Ziploc freezer back inside a pie plate and spoon the mixture into the bag, filling the plate.
3.Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal. Put the pie plate with the bag of fruit in the freezer. The pie plate can be removed after the filling has frozen.

When you want to bake the pie:
1.Remove the pie from the freezer, and place in an unbaked crust. Cover with the top crust and seal the edges. Cut vents in the top of the crust.
2.Bake at 375F about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours – the crust should be brown, and the filling bubbling in the center.

Note: A lot of recipes say to wrap the pie filling in tin/aluminum foil, I tried that last year, and while it kept the fillings fresh, it was a pain to peal off before baking. More than once, I had to sit with a fork and pick out pieces that had ripped off. So this year I am trying the bag route, I figure they work really well for all my freezer meals so hopefully they will keep my pie fillings tasty.