Apple Nachos- Sharing a recipe

I was just preparing a dish to take in to the girls' school for the teachers' since it's parent-teacher conferences, and realized it's one of our favorite easy treats.  I thought that maybe others might enjoy it, so I'd share it.  We eat it mostly in the fall because it's apple season and we've been to the apple orchard and have apples to use up.  When we make Apple Nachos we go through some apples!  

The first step is, of course, your apples.  I have to admit I'm an apple snob.  I do NOT like red delicious or golden delicious, or anything along those lines (I feel like they're mushy).  We buy a lot of pink lady, but I couldn't find any, these are honeycrisp, which are so expensive but I bought them bagged to save some cash.

I cut them all up and then dip them in pineapple juice to keep them from browning.  This is a huge tip!  Some stores (Meijer) you can find little six pack cans of juice, which is what I buy so you aren't wasting a big can of it.  Once you dip them in pineapple juice, they don't brown for days.  It's really great.  I even save some juice sometimes in a container in the fridge and cut slices up for the girls lunch boxes so they don't brown.

Okay, so after you have all your slices arranged on a plate or tray, you'll need your supplies:  Peanut butter, toffee bits, chocolate chips, maybe some sliced almonds (?).  You can get creative.

You now need to "melt" your peanut butter.  For the amount of apples I had, I used two large heaping spoonfuls of peanut  butter in that empty glass bowl (in the picture).  Then, microwave it on a low power until it gets "drippy."  You want it to drip easily from your spoon so you can drizzle it over the apples.  For mine I microwaved it for 45 seconds at a 50% power.  You don't want to burn it, so better to check a couple times, that go too long.

Then, drizzle away.  And sprinkle your toppers.  I used toffee bits and mini chocolate chips.  You can't really mess it up.  The first time I had it, friends (thank you Lacie and Lauren!) introduced it to me and they put sliced almonds on it. 

Depending on your taste, you'll either prefer the peanut butter pieces or fight over the pieces with the most candy on them.  :)  Enjoy!

Ultimate S'mores-You must try!

We have been sucking the life out of our Memorial Day weekend.  It's been fabulous.  

Last night, we had a cookout, complete with our first official firepit and s'mores of the summer.

yummmmm...

While we were at the grocery store shopping for supplies, we decided to try a new idea and go for an "Ultimate" S'more.  We usually buy just marshmallows and fudge stripe cookies.  The cookies already have chocolate on them, so you don't have to buy separate graham crackers and chocolate.  So easy.  I can't thank our friends Lauren and Lacie enough for teaching us that trick.

So, as for our "fancy" s'mores... we bought a back of York Peppermint Patties (a snack pack with 8), graham crackers, and marshmallows.  Then, we put them together, wrapped them in foil,

and put them on the grill for 5-10 minutes.  

They. were. heaven.  

Everything melted way more than if we had roasted the marshmallows over the firepit, and the Yorks got all melty and yummy.  Even those who weren't convinced that the peppermint was the way to go, loved them.

Next?  Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.

Then, we let the kids go to town on our the standard roasted marshmallow-cookie s'mores.  

Fun times.

Banana Muffins the day after the snow...

Good Morning!

Right now it is officially -10 degrees F outside, without windchill.  Delightful.  

To give our furnace a little help this morning, we thought we'd bake our breakfast, and I thought I'd share my recipe.

Now, I know everyone has a banana bread/muffin recipe, but this one is particularly good.  I think it is because it doesn't use white sugar, only brown; and it has a lot of vanilla in it so it a much richer tasting banana bread.

I'm trying to link up a google doc with the recipe on it.  Hoping it works.  Click here for the Banana Bread Recipe.  I always make it as mini-muffins because they are loved here.  

I think our snow totals yesterday were about 10 inches.  Now, all the talk is just of cold, because it is seriously dangerously cold and windy.  EVERYTHING is closed here. 

Yesterday, Matt and I decided to give the driveway a second go of shoveling late in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, I had "just" given Lily a bath, so she couldn't go outside to play because she had wet hair, so, only Abby could go outside to play.  It wasn't all bad, though, because Abby got some good "big kid" playing time with the girls next door.  

They built the cutest snowman ever:

...and sledded off the mound created by the plow in the cul-de-sac.  He really created a big one right between our houses!

(Also, check out the really cool snowman that the high school boys created at the house in the background.  

It's huge and really cool!)

When I opened the blinds this morning, I found some tree limbs down in our back yard VERY close to the house.  Part of me wants to go outside and check the roof, but I'm not sure what I would do right now if there was a limb up there.

Stay warm everyone!

Cookie Baking has Begun!

Until today, I have been lacking the motivation to get started on some Christmas cookie baking.  Well, actually, maybe I'm still lacking on the motivation, but I did it anyway.  :)

Lily and I started some of it while Abby was at school.  We made sure that we did things that Abby said she didn't mind missing... or things that we're just beginnings of the process.

First, we made snickerdoodles.  I have to admit, I've only ever made them when I lived at home with MY mom.  I looked for the recipe online.  I didn't have Cream of Tartar, which it calls for, so I googled what to do.  Do you know?  It turns out that it works with Baking Soda to rise.  The only suggestion I could find was to use vinegar or lemon juice instead in a certain proportion.  I tried vinegar.  They taste great, but I'm not totally happy with how they look after they baked.  They are a little flat.  Next time I need to make sure I just buy some Cream of Tartar.  

We also made sugar cookie dough for cut-out cookies.  It's now in the fridge cooling so that we can make those later with Abby.  Not sure if that will happen today or tomorrow.  We've been so busy.

I'm not sure if any other cookies will be made.  What about you?  What cookies are on your annual list?

My new Silpat

I have a new baking toy that I must tell you about. A Silpat Pan Liner. You know, like Martha uses? At least that is what I always think of. I got it for Christmas, but didn't use it until last month.

Let me tell you, there is a reason Martha uses them.

They are magic.

For real.

The cookies slide off of them like butter. (or should I say butta'?) And cook more evenly.

They aren't cheap, this one was from Williams Sonoma (I LOVE that store!), and cost $25 if you are interested. But, seriously, now I want another one, so I can have one tray in and one tray waiting to go in. Privileged people problems, I know.

Energy Bites Recipe

We have a new favorite recipe around here. And, shocker, I got it from Pinterest. It's a pretty simple recipe and you can customize it and substitute for allergies as needed. Follow this link for the recipe, but here is basically how we made them (we customized a little).

We mixed a cup of oatmeal, a half cup of peanut butter (but you could substitute for allergies), a third cup of honey, a cup of rice krispies, a half cup of mini chocolate chips, and a teaspoon of vanilla. The rest of the ingredients in the original recipe I either couldn't find (flax seed) or forgot to buy (coconut). We just thought rice krispies would be good. You could mix in other stuff too- craisins, nuts, etc. Refrigerate for a bit, roll into balls, and refrigerate more. Yum.

It doesn't make a ton and they don't last long! :) We call them cookies, but they really aren't.

Enjoy!

Yummy Cupcakes

We celebrated Lily's third birthday this last weekend and Matt and I decided to splurge and try out a local cupcake bakery that is supposed to be fabulous. It was more expensive than baking them myself, obviously, but it was wonderful!

As you would expect, the shop was adorable. We picked up a dozen of their "Happy Birthday to Me" cupcakes, which are classic birthday cupcakes with buttercream icing, but then I also bought one special one to try. We tried the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough cupcake. Yummo. I think I'm hooked.

Monday Update

Good morning everyone! I think my exclamation point sounds more cheerful than I feel. I have the winter blahs. Actually, I should rephrase. My whole family has the winter blahs. Last night, Matt made the mistake of commenting that summer was so much easier as he was hanging up coats, which got everyone going on all the things that are better about summer. We went on for quite a while. :) We are certainly over the cold.

However, I did put together what I consider something wintery this morning... a (new) crockpot meal. I have high hopes that it will be delicious. It's not complicated at all. I saw the recipe (if you can call it that) on another blog, who referenced another blog, who got the original recipe here. It's basically chicken and potatoes, and I threw in carrots, with Italian salad dressing, Italian spices, and Parmesan cheese. Yum.

Abby and her new hat. Most of you have seen this picture on Facebook. She is still loving her it and wears it to school everyday.

Lily licking the beater from when we made cookies on "Girls Day".

This weekend we surprised the girls with tickets to the Disney on Ice show Dare to Dream with the Disney princesses. It was fabulous and they loved it. This is a (crummy) picture of Rapunzel swinging on her hair.

We are in full birthday prep mode for Lily's third birthday. I can't believe one week from today she will be 3! The party supplies have arrived. I also made a cute bunting (below). She loves it. It will be fun to get it hung, but I'm waiting until closer to the day.

Have you decorated for Valentine's Day yet? I tried to sneak in a few decorations this week. I replaced my bamboo balls with glittery hearts. You can always use a little sparkle, right? They add some fun color.

My first adventure with Cake Pops

This week I made cake pops for the first time ever. I also ate my first cake pop for the first time ever. One of my own. :)

Based on my little bit of research there are 2 major ways to make them. You can either have a special pan or baking iron thing (like a waffle iron), or you mold them yourself (they're more like a truffle this way).

We did the second option. You bake a cake the normal way in a 13x9 pan and then crumble it up. Then, you mix in 3/4 of a can of frosting and roll that into balls. I used my cookie scoop to make it easier. Chill, dip in chocolate, and decorate.

I froze most of the balls to dip later, but here are our results....

Made this today

Made this today for my Mom's Group snack. Yum!!!!

Source: blogs.babble.com via Carrie on Pinterest

(For the recipe, click on the 'source' link.

I didn't use the milk powder, and I used m&m's, delish!

Abby made me save her some for her afterschool snack.)

A heart full of sprinkles

I saw this cool idea on Pinterest this week and decided that I wanted to try something like it for lunch yesterday, but I wasn't sure how.

Source: ohhhmhhh.de via Carrie on Pinterest

Plain butter seemed nasty to me, peanut butter didn't seem like it would work, and then I came up with my idea! Grilled cheese! Hmmmm, but how to make it work exactly?

I cut out the heart first and toasted it, then peeled off the heart, then poured in the sprinkles. Lily was mesmerized when I gave it too her.

Hamburger Cookies

We had the pleasure of enjoying these amazing little treats yesterday AND getting to bring a baggy of them home with us from the cookout we attended. Abby took some in her lunchbox to school and Lily enjoyed them at home.

Thank you Hacker Sisters!!!!