Cranberry Habenaro Jelly

Want to know my new lunch time obsession?

This jelly with a dollop of cream cheese or goat cheese with crackers or carrots. 

I might have eaten this everyday for lunch for a week. 

I'm addicted.

It is ridiculous on pork, I mean cah-razy good!

Dude, this jelly is the business! 

It has quite the kick, but that can totally be dialed back. 

I am about to make a second batch.

 Between the fact that I am already on my second jar and that I have either promised or given away 5 jars I'm down to 1 left in my pantry.

   I have variations dancing around in my head. Things like, Hibiscus Habenaro, Apricot Jalapeno and Strawberry Serrano. The possibilities are endless! I think I caught the canning bug. I'll be making loads of jams, jellies and preserves this spring/summer. PICKLES I want to make tons of pickles! I'll be putting the canning cookbook my Granny passed down to me and the preserving cookbook my in laws bought to good use this year. But for now I'll make that second batch of this babe!

Cranberry Habenaro Jelly
Makes 8 half pint jars
1 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
1 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
4-5 habanero peppers, seeded and finely diced
(make sure you use gloves and wash your hands well after handling)
6 cups sugar
1 pouch liquid pectin (optional)

In a sauce pan combine cranberries and vinegar and let soak on the counter for about an hour. In the mean time process your jars. Wash/sterilize 8 half pint jars, lids and rings. Keep jars in hot (not boiling) water until ready to use. After an hour add in the onion, both peppers and sugar to the pan and place over high heat and bring to a slow boil and cook for 10-15 minutes, until it has reduced and thickened slightly. Remove the pan from heat and stir in pectin, if you choose to use it. This jelly should be thick but still pourable once it is set up. Use your discretion on whether you need it or not. Ladle to hot jam into the jars, I suggest using a funnel with a large spout, leave a 1/2 inch head space. Wipe the mouths, rings and lids clean. Screw on lids and process in a water bath for 10-15 minutes. Remove from water and let cool and check the seals. Any that do not seal should be refrigerated and used within a month.

Everyday Dinners... Turkey Quinoa Enchilada Bake

It's time for another EVERYDAY DINNERS, this week I'm sharing a Turkey Quinoa Enchilada Bake. This one could take a full hour if you didn't do any prep work. Like I mentioned here, I make big batches of quinoa and rice ahead of time and since we were having Nachos a couple of nights before I went ahead and browned my turkey. The only thing I had to saute that night was the corn and peppers, although that could have been done ahead of time as well, the rest was layering and baking with a little shredding. I always buy blocks of cheese instead of shredded. I do this for two reasons, first the price difference for the amount it ridiculous, I'm all for getting a little work out and saving some cash. The second reason is that fact that shredded cheeses are coated with something so that they don't stick together. I don't think they melt a well as freshly shredded cheese, maybe its all in my head but I'll stick with my big blocks of cheese.

This is another one of those recipes where I make way too much so that we have lunches for the next couple of days. I fed all 4 of us dinner, and my husband has seconds, plus we have three lunch portions ready in the fridge. Tomorrow I'll make a big pot of Spicy Peanut Noodles and toss in some steamed veggies for the remainder of the weeks lunches.

Turkey Quinoa Enchilada Bake

Serves 6-8

8 cups cooked quinoa (that's 2 cups uncooked)

½ cup salsa (I've adapted Pioneer Woman's recipe for my own liking)

approximately 1.5 lbs of ground turkey

2 tablespoons Taco Seasoning (Iseriously recommend making your own)

1 16 oz packed of frozen corn kernels, thawed

1 bell pepper, diced

½ can sliced black olives* (optional)

1 10 oz can enchilada sauce

8 oz (I block) Monterrey jack cheese shredded

Preheat oven to 375 F. Prepare your quinoa by bringing 4 cups of water to a bowl, rinse 2 cups quinoa in cold water, drain and add to bowling water. Return to a bowl, turn down to low and cover. Cook 15 minutes. In a medium sized skillet over medium high heat brown ground turkey, add taco seasoning while breaking up with a spoon. Stir in half of salsa to keep it from drying out. Set meat aside. In the same skillet over medium high heat combine corn, bell pepper and remaining salsa. Cook until peppers have softened. In a casserole dish, layer quinoa topping with 1/3 enchilada sauce, then turkey topping with 1/3 of sauce then top with corn mixture and olives and add remaining sauce. Bake for 15 minutes then cover with cheese and bake another 15 minutes.

*I served mine with fresh cilantro and a slice of lime.

**In all honesty you could saute and shred and layer everything the night before, come home from work preheat the oven and toss it in, then top it with cheese. Or in my case I could make it ahead and then the mister could bake it while I'm on my way home. Just a thought.