Easy Muscadine Jelly

My parents recently moved into a new home. It came with a big Muscadine vine and mature peach trees. The peach trees did not produce many peaches but the Muscadine vine is full of fruit. 

I made a visit one day to pick some muscadines. Within a few minutes I had a small bucket full. I was not sure what to do with them so I washed and put them in the fridge. For a week, we would reach in and grab one or three for a snack but I still had a lot and wanted to do something with them before they went bad. 

I decided to make jelly. Mom told me I did not need to add extra pectin and all I need to do is boil them hull and all. Then strain them afterwards. She said they have enough natural pectin to do the trick.

I looked around online anyway and every recipe I found had added pectin. I took my moms advice and went with what she said.

Mom was right (as always). With 3 cups of muscadines, I was able to fill three small jelly jars of thick jiggly jelly. I gave a jar to my mom and dad and one to my daughter. We kept one for ourself and it is almost gone.

Here is how I made Muscadine jelly.

• 3 cups of muscadines.
• 2 1/4 cups of sugar (3/4 cup to every cup of muscadines).
• 1/4 cup water.

Add muscadines, water and sugar in a pot and boil for about 20 minutes. 

With cheese cloth, strain the muscadine mix into a pot and boil for another 5 to 10 minutes. 

Note: You can seperate the hulls and boil them separately. Place the hulls in a food processor to chop fine and add them to the stained muscadine mixture. This would make it jam. 

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To test if it is ready, place a plate in the freezer for a few minutes to get it cold. Add a drop of the Muscadine jelly to the cold plate. It should move when the plate is tilted but not runny and watery. It will have a slight skim texture on the top when you touch it. This is how you know it’s ready to put in a jar and place in the refrigerator. It will thicken as it cools. This is called refrigerator jelly. 

It turned out great and went good on my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and toast. I may be going back soon for some more grapes because I found a recipe for Muscadine cobbler I want to try soon. 

Muscadine vs Scuppernong: Muscadines are red (or purple) and Scuppernong is golden green. Scuppernongs are the state fruit of North Carolina. All Scuppernongs are Muscadines but not all Muscadines are Scuppernongs. Confused yet?

Easy Air Fryer Crab Cakes

Today I would like to share with you these delicious crab cakes. This is one of my favorite air fryer recipes and can be whipped up in just minutes making them a great last minute meal.

“Don’t worry mister crab, these are made with imitation crab meat”. 

I have been making these at least once a month. They make up quick and easy and have been a table pleasure. If you do not have an air fryer, I assume you can bake them in the oven just the same. I honestly do not know. I have rarely used my oven since getting an air fryer. I absolutely love that thing. 

Now, head to the store and grab these simple ingredients:

• 8 oz pack of imitation crab meat ( chunks or shreds. I doesn’t matter. Your gonna chop it anyway).
• 1/3 cup of bread crumbs ( I used two pieces of hard toasted wheat bread).
• 1/2 cup green pepper (finely diced).
• 1 egg.
• 1/4 cup mayo.
• 1/2 juice of a lemon.
• Cooking oil. 
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning ( or any other seafood seasoning).

-Chop the crab meat fine (I added it to my food chopper for best results).

-Mix all ingredients together and form patties. 

-Place patties in air fryer and spray with oil. 

-Cook for 10 minutes on 380 degrees (I flipped once but optional).

Enjoy on a bun as a sandwich or alone with a meal. 

You can add other ingredients to your liking such as red peppers, onions, etc.

Makes 4-6 patties. Refrigerate left overs. 

Home Made Falafels

After being on vacation all of last week, I need to get back to my healthy eating. For the most part, I did eat healthy in portion but I did not let anything hold me back from a plate of seafood or fried bologna sandwich from Hamburger Joe's. Then I had to enjoy an ice cream cone during our afternoon stroll. OK maybe two afternoon strolls. OK OK, I had a cone of ice cream almost every night! I will not lie. It’s my favorite thing to do at the campground.

We need to go to the grocery store and stock up but I never go to the grocery store hungry. It's a bad idea. We needed to eat dinner first. I had a craving for something meatless. Falafels are a great option. I can't seem to find them anymore where I shop so I just decided to make my own. I went to Pinterest for a recipe. I found an easy one that called for all the ingredients I already had in the house. Supper was saved.

Falafels are a Middle Eastern food made with Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans). The taste is pretty bland so it's important to find a dipping sauce that brings out the flavor. We like eating these sometimes as they are quick, filling and nutritional.

Falafels are great added to a salad or wrapped in Pita bread topped with cucumber sauce. I skipped the bread then added Tzatziki sauce for dipping and a side of cilantro rice.
I like how they turned out despite how ugly they look. It was the perfect nutritional meal.

Original recipe can be found HERE.

Three Ingredient Pancakes

Happy Monday. I am on vacation this week so It really is a happy Monday for me.

Today I would like to share with you these delicious Banana Pancakes I made using only 3 ingredients. 

I love pancakes and waffles, but they can wreck my diet, so I am delighted to have found this healthier option and they are oh so good. You may have heard of two ingredient pancakes which consist of only banana and egg. I have tried them before and they came out flat and gooey. Sorry but that is below my healthy plan. 

You have to add a tad of flour to make these babies fluff. 

Three Ingredient Pancakes

265 Calories, 50 carbs, 10 Protein.

1 Egg
1 Ripe Banana
1/4 Cup self rising flour. 

Mix well and pour into sprayed frying pan. Cook on med/low until it starts to bubble then flip.

These pancakes are good alone or topped with your favorite topping. (Go ahead, no one is judging). 

I used zero calorie spray butter and sugar free syrup. I added a few blueberries just to make them pretty.

This recipe makes 2 large pancakes but I made 4 small ones so I could share one with Nick. He gave it a thumbs up. The inspired recipe with larger serving size can be found HERE.