In honor of fall.... Sugar Kissed Apple Pie

a no fail apple pie recipe. It's no fail because I cheat and buy the crusts pre-made.

Sugar Kissed Apple Pie


Your Favorite Pie Crust - a top and bottom (Mine's Pillsbury)

Filling
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
6 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples (6 medium)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, if desired

Topping
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon sugar

Heat oven to 425°F. Put one pie crust in pie plate pressing firmly against bottom and side. In large bowl, sugar, flour, the cinnamon, nutmeg and dash of salt. Stir in apples. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over apples. Trim overhanging edge of bottom pastry 1/2 inch from rim of plate. Get other pie crust and place over filling and unfold. Trim overhanging edge of top pastry 1 inch from rim of plate. Fold and roll top edge under lower edge, pressing on rim to seal; flute. Cut slits in top to allow steam to escape. Brush top crust with 1 tablespoon water; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust. Cool on cooling rack at least 2 hours.

Rosemary Ranch Chicken

DA took one bite of this and declared that it was a keeper. It was full of flavor and the kids loved it too. I got the recipe from Real Mom Kitchen.

Rosemary Ranch Grilled Chicken

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup ranch dressing
3 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon white sugar, or to taste (optional)
6-8 boneless skinless chicken cutlets

In a gallon size baggie, mix together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chicken in the baggie, and coat chicken with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 4-8 hours. Preheat the grill for medium-high heat. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill chicken for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.

Cheesesteak Subs

I am crediting Real Mom Kitchen for this recipe. It was fast and easy and really good. TJ even liked it. AM turned up her nose but that's pretty typical these days. This one has made the cut and will be going into my cookbook. The only changes I made was to replace half of the butter with Olive Oil and I added tomatoes after the sandwich had been put together. Thanks to Maria for having some oregano on hand. I had forgotten that when we moved I threw a lot of outdated spices away.

Quick and Easy Cheesesteak Subs

3 tablespoons butter
1 green pepper, halved and sliced
1 onion, halved and sliced into thin half moons
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons A-1 steak sauce
1 pound deli roast beef, cut into 2-inch strips
Salt and pepper
4 -6 (6-inch) sub rolls (depending on how meaty you like them – I did 6)
4-6 slices provolone cheese, cut on half

In a large skillet, melt the butter, add the onion and peppers; cook until softened and golden.  Stir in the garlic and oregano and cook for a minute, until it smells fragrant. Add the A-1 sauce and the beef, stirring well to coat the beef with the sauce and onion/butter mixture. Cook until the meat is heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Place the sliced rolls on a rimmed baking sheet. Place to halves of provolone on half of each roll.  Broil until bread is toasted and cheese is melted. Top each roll with meat mixture . Serve immediately.

Puffed French Toast

Being in our new home has brought my creativity back out of hiding. Either that or I'm bored with all my current recipes. Probably more the latter than the former. Anyway here are two fabulous new ones.

The first I got from Our Best Bites it's called Puffed French Toast. Gotta give credit where credit is due. They call it a once a year recipe and I agree. You look forward to it all year (I'm thinking it will make a great General Conference breakfast) but if you eat it more than once or twice a year you'll be able to watch your butt grow bigger. It was sooooo good. This is definitely a keeper. Next time I will half the recipe though. My toddlers don't eat that much and DA and I don't need to eat all that is leftover.

Puffed French Toast

2 eggs
2 ½ Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. milk
1 c. flour
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
12 slices Texas style toast, cut in half diagonally

Directions

In a large skillet or frying pan, heat about 1/4" of vegetable oil (not olive oil) over medium heat. In a shallow bowl or pie plate, whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, milk, flour, and baking powder. Test oil heat by flicking some water into the frying pan. If it pops, reduce the heat. If hardly anything happens, turn up the heat. If it sizzles, it's just right.

Take each 1/2 slice of bread and soak it both sides in the milk/egg/flour mixture. If you leave it in too long, it will get soggy, but you want to make sure enough of the egg mixture has soaked into the bread. Gently shake to remove excess batter and place in hot oil. Cook until puffed, golden brown, and a nice, crispy crust has formed on each side (probably 3-5 minutes per side; you really need to babysit them and make sure they're cooking correctly) and then remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. While cooking remaining French toast, keep cooked pieces warm in an oven set to the lowest temperature it will go.

When ready to serve, roll each piece in cinnamon sugar. I personally thought the cinnamon sugar made it too sweet, but DA loved it. So did the kids. I think I would rather have powdered sugar.

Top with your favorite version of maple syrup.

Chicken Parmesan

Chicken Parmesan

4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon water

1 1/4 cups Panko bread crumbs (seasoned with Italian seasoning)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving

Unsalted butter

Directions

Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin. (If you use cutlets then you can skip this step)
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.
Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
Serve with spaghetti and top both with Prego traditional spaghetti sauce.
Hope you enjoy both recipes!

All Day Apple Butter

It seems all I am doing these days that is worth reporting is cooking. So here is my latest recipe.

I made this and it couldn't have been any easier. The more varieties you use the better it will taste. I used Braeburn, Fuji, Gala, Pink Ladies, and Granny Smith.
The original recipe can be found here. In my recipe below I adjusted the amounts of spices the original recipe called for.

All Day Apple Butter

5 ½ pounds apples - peeled, cored and finely chopped
1 ½ cups sugar
1 – 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

Place apples in a slow cooker. Combine sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt; pour over apples and mix well. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook for 9-11 hours or until thickened and dark brown, stirring occasionally (stir more frequently as it thickens to prevent sticking). Uncover and cook on low 1 hour longer. If desired, stir with a wire whisk until smooth. Spoon into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Cover and refrigerate or freeze.

Great new soup ... Beef Barley Soup

I was tired of all the normal soups I make so I went searching. I found this on recipezaar and it totally lived up to all the great reviews. We loved it.

Beef Barley Soup

1 lb stew meat

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

4 cups beef broth

4 cups chicken broth

3 cups water

2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 large carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, sliced thin

1 cup quick barley

1 (1 ounce) package au jus mix

Heat oil in large Dutch oven and cook stew meat until just barely cooked through. Drain fat from meat. Add onions and garlic. Cook for few minutes.

Add broth, water, and seasonings. Simmer for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours for beef to become tender. Add veggies and cook for another 15 minutes. Stir in au jus mix and add barley. Cook until barley is tender. (If it's the quick barley it'll take about 10-12 minutes.) Salt to taste and serve.

Really yummy... Blueberry Muffins

I had some fresh blueberries and was trying to find a way to use them. I read this blog Recipe for Disaster? every now and again and they had just posted a recipe for blueberry muffins. Just in the nick of time! I tried it and they were awesome! I'm going to try another recipe this weekend and I'll let you know which one I like better.


To Die For Blueberry Muffins

From: Jennie

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Thanks to Betty Crocker.... Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies

I had Peanut Butter Truffle Brownies for dessert tonight. So... now that my butt is growing bigger, I thought I would share, so yours can grow bigger with mine. See what a good friend I am!
Brownie Base
1 box (1 lb 6.5 oz) Betty Crocker® Original Supreme brownie mix
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on brownie mix box


Filling
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk


Topping
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray or shortening. (For easier cutting, line pan with foil, then grease foil on bottom only of pan.)


2. In medium bowl, stir brownie mix, pouch of chocolate syrup, water, oil and eggs until well blended. Spread in pan. Bake 28 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

3. In medium bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over brownie base. (Make sure your butter is REALLY soft. Mine wasn't so my mixture was really hard and sticky. My brownies ended up being completely flattened because I was pushing down too hard trying to spread the stuff!)

4. In small microwavable bowl, microwave topping ingredients uncovered on High 30 to 60 seconds; stir until smooth. Cool 5 minutes, or so; spread over filling. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until set. For brownies, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

Garlic Lime Chicken

Since I have nothing to report except I hate snow, here's a favorite recipe of ours. Takes less than 30 minutes to make.

Garlic Lime Chicken

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon thyme
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
8 tablespoons lime juice
cornstarch

In a bowl, mix together first 7 ingredients. Sprinkle mixture lightly on both sides of chicken breasts. (there is enough here to last you for the next 4 times you make this recipe. DON'T use all of it, it will be too spicy to eat)

In a skillet heat olive oil over medium high heat. Saute chicken until golden brown, about 5 minutes on each side. Turn down the heat, remove the chicken (keeping warm) and add the lime juice and chicken broth and cornstarch to the pan, whisking up the browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. Keep cooking until sauce has reduced slightly and thickened a bit. Add chicken back to the pan to thoroughly coat and serve.

I jinx'd myself!

I posted about how I seemed to have a lot to say and then all my words dried up!

To stop the silence I'm posting a favorite recipe of ours. We love it! I'd have it once a week if I wouldn't have to listen to Tornado whine about it.

Bulgoki (Korean BBQ)

1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
4-6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 Tablespoons sugar
3-4 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 teaspoon salt
4-6 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 pound flank steak in very thin slices (easiest to slice when still partially frozen)

In dry skillet, parch sesame seeds until slightly brown. In a gallon ziplock baggie combine rest of ingredients EXCEPT meat. Once mixed, add to meat, and mix well. Marinate all day (or at least 4 hours). Cook in frying pan with a bit of hot oil.

Make a dipping sauce with 1/3 part soy sauce to 2/3 part water, a bit crushed red pepper, and a bit of sesame oil - heat to simmer. Serve meat with sides of Butter lettuce, sauce, and rice. To eat authentically, use lettuce leaf as a wrap, put meat, rice, and sauce inside, and wrap lettuce around it.

To add a bit of heat add a dash of red chili pepper sauce to the marinade and dipping sauce.

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Chocolate Chip Cookies

This make about 5 dozen. I usually bake half of it and then freeze the other half.

2 cups shortening
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp salt
2 tsp soda
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups flour
1 12 oz bag chocolate chips

Cream together first 4 ingredients. Add rest of ingredients and mix well. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 375.

Chicken Pot Pie with a Biscuit Twist

I got this recipe from a Nora Roberts book and twisted it to fit my time constraints. DA said I may as well throw out my old recipe because he was never going to let me use it again. I think that means he likes this new version!

1 fryer chicken
2 cans cream of celery soup
Flour
1 cup potatoes
1 cup carrots
1-2 handful frozen peas
1 can lima beans
1 t garlic powder
1 t onion powder
1 ½ T basil
¾ t oregano
1 ½ t rosemary
Thyme
Pepper
Salt

Boil a whole fryer in a big dutch oven, covered with water until done through. When the skin peels easily and the legs and thighs separate at the joint it’s done. (about 1 to 1 ½ hours)

Remove the chicken and set aside to cool. Preheat oven to 400.

Skim the grease out of the broth and add cream of celery soup before thickening it a bit with flour. Scoop some broth out – the empty soup cans are handy- and stir some flour in that so it doesn’t lump. Add the garlic and onion poder, basil, oregano and rosemary. Add a sprinkle of thyme, and a dose of pepper and salt. This will thicken as it cooks. Simmer on low. Peel and chop potatoes and carrots. Add them to the broth. Add peas and lima beans.

When the chicken’s cool enough, remove the skin, pick off chunks of the meat and add the meat to the broth until the chicken’s picked clean. Simmer until veggies are done.

While the veggies are cooking, make biscuits.

Baking Powder Biscuits (makes about 9-10 biscuits)

2 c flour
3 t baking powder
1 t salt
¼ c shortening
¾ c milk

Combine dry ingredients and cut in shortening. Mix in milk and roll out on counter. Cut out biscuits. Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes.

Top cooked biscuits with the soup mixture. Enjoy!

Grilled Bruschetta Chicken

This was sooo good! DA took one bite and declared it a keeper. It was super fast and easy too.

I got this recipe off http://www.kraftfoods.com/.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts.

4 T. Kraft Sun Dried Tomato Dressing, divided

1 medium tomato, finely chopped

1 tsp dried basil, or you can use fresh (1/4 cup)

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Marinade the chicken with 2T. dressing for 10 minutes. (I dumped in way more dressing than that and marinated it all day) Cover 1/2 of grill with heavy duty foil. Heat grill and place chicken on the uncovered side of the grill. Throw away the marinade. Cook for 6 minutes. In the mean time, mix the tomatoes, remaining dressing, basil, and cheese. Turn chicken over and place on foil. Top with tomato mixture and grill for 8 minutes, until chicken is done and cheese is melted.

Another variation here I have seen is to use Italian Dressing instead of the sun dried tomato. Next time DA wants some angel hair pasta with it. Sounds good to me!

Dinner was good! Enchilda Bake

Thanks to this site we had a yummy dinner tonight. Even Tornado loved it.

Enchilada Bake

1 can (19oz) mild enchilada sauce, divided
1 can (15.25oz) corn, drained
1 can (15oz) black beans, rinsed
1 lb. shredded cooked chicken
2 tbsp cilantro
12 corn tortillas, divided (I used flour tortillas)
1 ¼ C shredded Monterey jack cheese, divided (I used sharp cheddar)

Heat oven to 350. In bowl, combine ½ can of encilada sauce, the corn, black beans, chicken, and cilantro. Lay out tortillas and put filling in tortillas. Add cheese and roll up. Put in 9x13 dish, cover with remaining enchilada sauce. Cover and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle remaining cheese. Bake 10 minutes more.

Another Yummy idea.. jazzed up mayo

While reading the latest edition of Kraft Food and Family magazine (gotta give credit where credit is due) there was an article about some herbs you can add to mayo to jazz it up. They suggested dill and basil. I took it one step further and mixed miracle whip (didn't have mayo), fresh green onions (minced), and some dried dill together.

It was SO GOOD! It made my turkey, lettuce and tomato sandwich taste so much better!

Oh so good.... Spiced Citrus Chicken

We've had this twice in the last week because I've liked it so much!

Spiced Citrus Chicken

¼ cup Olive Oil
¼ cup Lime Juice
¼ cup Orange Juice
¼ cup Lemon Juice
1 ½ Tablespoons Chili Powder
1 ½ Tablespoons Paprika
¾ Teaspoon Cayenne
½ Teaspoon Pepper
½ Teaspoon Salt

Reserve a bit of the marinade to baste with and marinate chicken for 5-6 hours. BBQ until done. Enjoy!

Tandoori Chicken

I got this recipe out of the newspaper. It was submitted by an Indian restaurant owner. It was really good and easy to make. All ingrediants were easy to find except the Garam Masala. I had to go to a health food store to get that. If you don't have a food processor a blender should work just fine.

Instead of doing skewers, I just cooked the chicken breasts on the bbq.

ROYAL INDIA CHICKEN TANDOORI

2-inch piece ginger
4 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon salt (or to taste)
1 cup plain yogurt
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons vinegar
3 pounds chicken skinned thighs and drumstick ( I used chicken breasts)
1 small onion, sliced
1 lemon, cut in wedges

Grind ginger, garlic, paprika, turmeric, garam masala, cayenne pepper, oil and salt in food processor. Mix this paste with the yogurt, lemon juice and vinegar.

Marinate chicken in the above mixture 8-12 hours. Place chicken on long metal skewers. Place the skewers on a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil. Cook in oven at 400 degrees on baking sheet for 45 minutes. Remove foil and cook an additional 10 minutes. Serve with sliced onions and lemon wedges.

Serving suggestion: Serve with basmati rice and naan bread.

So easy, really yummy.... Oat Bread

Oat Bread

1 C.Oats
2 C. Boiling Water
1/3 C. warm water with 2T yeast (activate yeast)
1/2 C. Honey
1 T salt
2 T melted butter
1½ C. Wheat Flour
3 C. White Flour

In Mixing Bowl add oats and boiling water to soak and soften. While still warm add honey, salt, butter and yeast mixture. Mix together and then add flours continue mixing until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Let rise until double.
Spray 2 loaf pans with Pam and dust with oatmeal.
Put dough in pans lightly drizzle with honey and oatmeal. Let rise until dough reaches the top of pan. Bake in preheated 350* oven for 30-40 min.

Ridiculously Easy... and good... Beef noodle bowl

The only changes I made was to double the sauce and I used pre-cut broccoli and carrot stir-fry veggies. I also used steak that had already been cut into stir-fry strips.

I made this in less that 20 minutes while being pestered unmercifully by my three year old and stopping umpteen times to put a pacifier in the mouth of my screaming 6 week old.

-Oh, and giving credit where credit is due, I got this recipe from K*raft magazine.

Beef Noodle Bowl
1/2 lb. linguine, uncooked
3 cups broccoli florets
3 carrots, peeled, sliced
2 tsp. oil
1 lb. beef sirloin steak, cut into strips
1/4 cup K*RAFT Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing
1 Tbsp. teriyaki sauce

COOK pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, adding vegetables to the boiling water for the last 2 min.

MEANWHILE, heat oil in large nonstick skillet. Add meat; cook until browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. Stir in dressing and teriyaki sauce; cook 2 min. or until sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally.

DRAIN pasta mixture; place in large serving bowl. Add meat mixture; toss to coat.