Free Recipe Booklets

1) Farmers' Market Foods is offering a free recipe booklet. They offer these every few months with great seasonal recipes. This one contains lots of recipes for fall produce such as squash, sweet potatoes & pumpkins. You'll need to e-mail them with your mailing address at recipebooklet@farmersmarketfoods.com and include the subject line "Recipe Booklet Request".

2) Sunmaid raisin recipe booklets: There are several you can request here. Some are downloads and some come via postal mail.

3) Land O' Lakes holiday recipes. This can be downloaded or requested via postal mail.

Free Land O' Lakes Recipe Brochure

I always order the Land O' Lakes recipe booklets when they become available. If you bake, there are great recipes in these! They also have a gluten-free edition that's available for download only. The focus in this booklet is holiday favorites.

Anyway, if you're interested, you must register with their Simple Rewards website (it's free). Then you can request the brochure.

There are also printable coupons there if you're interested.

Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted veggies are one of my favorite things. Roasting gives veggies a deeper flavor and crunch that I just love. I had some cauliflower leftover from my twins' birthday party last weekend. We eat it a lot but I was looking for a change.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

I sliced it into fairly thin slices and then tossed it with about a tablespoon of olive oil. The oil is necessary for the roasting process so please don't skip this step. Without it your veggies will get burnt and charred.

After the cauliflower is coated with olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste. I seldom salt anything but just a sprinkle gives this a great flavor.

Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake for approximately 25 minutes. If you want to stir about halfway through that's ok.

This is delicious thrown in a salad or even as a puree.

You can roast just about any veggie but be sure to decrease the cooking time for higher water content veggies like zucchini or squash. Also, starchy or dense veggies like carrots and potatoes take more time.

Easy Homemade Onion Rings

I know, I know. This isn't a cooking blog. However, I've been getting some beautiful onions lately and wanted to share a family favorite recipe of ours. I should note I'm not a by-the-book cook. When I bake I use a recipe. When I cook I just toss stuff in the bowl till it looks about right. :)

It's super easy!

1 12 oz. can of beer (we used Coors...whatever you have on hand is fine. I personally LOVE Guinness in these)
3 tbsp. oil of your choice
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 large Vidalia onion, sliced into large rings
oil or shortening for frying (I used extra-light flavored olive oil)
dash of pepper and salt (more if you like lots of salt; we don't)
I also added a pinch of cayenne

Get your oil heating on the stove at a medium temperature.

Mix beer, oil and egg till combined. Add flour, salt and pepper and stir. Batter should be the consistency of pancake batter.

Dip your onion rings in the batter till they're fully coated.

Toss in the hot oil till browned on both sides (3-4 minutes for me).

Drain on paper towels before serving.

If you're not a fan of beer or you're a non-alcoholic household, you can replace the beer with an equal measure of seltzer water or club soda. It will alter the flavor a bit but it's not bad. We personally prefer the beer.