Apple Pie (with crumb top)

Ingredients:

1 frozen pie crust

Filling:

3 Granny Smith apples

2 Gala Apples

2 Tbsp Flour

3/4 c Sugar

1/4 c Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1 1/2 Tbsp Cinnamon

pinch of Salt

1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Topping:

1 cup Unbleached Flour

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)

Filling: Peel and core the apples and cut them into somewhat thin slices. Then pour the lemon juice over them. In a bowl mix flour, sugars, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Then pour over apples and mix with hands until all apples are thoroughly coated. Pour the apple filling into the pie crust.

Topping: In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and flour. Mix in butter with a fork or stand mixer just until the topping is crumbly. Place topping on filling, cover the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil (shiny side out) and bake at 400 for 40-45 minutes.

Amish White (or wheat) Bread

This is an adaptation of a recipe from allrecipes.com. I don't like kneading dough, so I use my Bosch and have included the instructions for using a mixer (Kitchen-aid works too). You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:

2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

1/4 cup white sugar (or honey)

1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

6 cups bread flour (or whole wheat flour)

1/2 tablespoon butter (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar (or honey) in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam. If using honey, the yeast will not foam up as much as it does with sugar.

2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Add 4 cups of flour to the mixer (using a dough hook) and mix for 2 minutes on speed 2. Then continue adding remaining 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup at a time until mixture forms a ball on the hook and cleans the side of bowl (about 2 more minutes.) Then, beat continue beating on speed 2 for another 2 minutes.

3. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

4. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

6. For an extra delicious top, spread butter over the crust while it is still hot.

7. Once the bread is cooled, I highly recommend using an electric knife to slice the bread. I just invested in one ($10 at Ross) and it has made all the difference! No more mangled bread slices.

Yield: 2 loaves (24 slices)

Dough immediately after being place in pans (above). Dough after 30 minutes of rising (below).

I wish I had a picture of the baked bread, but I'm always too anxious to eat it and slice away before I can take a picture. Last night I made the Honey Whole Wheat version of this recipe and it was amazing!

Amish White bread:

Calories: 142 per slice

Fat: 2.6 g

Sodium 186.52mg

Total Carbohydrate 24.29 g

Dietary Fiber 0.21g

Sugars 2g

Protein: 4.29g

Amish Honey-Wheat Bread:

Amount per Serving

Calories 134

Total Fat 3.1g

Sodium 187.4mg

Total Carbohydrate 26.95g

Dietary Fiber 3.21g

Sugars 5.33g

Protein 4.29g

Healthy Breakfast Smoothie (1)

I started thinking the other day, that I haven't been getting enough vegetables in my diet, but there is only so much I can buy without wasting it. I decided to try adding the vegetables I love for dinner, to my breakfast and see how I like it. Most of this recipe came from my mom, but I had some flax in my cupboard and decided to use it. The roasted flax seed overpowers the spinach and adds a nice nutty flavor, so it tastes like a fruit and nut smoothie, rather than a spinach smoothie.

Ingredients:

1 can Dole 100% Pineapple Juice (6 oz)

5 medium Strawberries

1/2 medium Bananas

1/2 Zucchini

1 tbsp Golden Roasted Flax Seed (whole seeds)

5 pieces Frozen Mango Chunks (Trader Joe's)

2 or 3 handfuls of baby spinach (I think that's about a cup of spinach)

Directions:

Cut banana and zucchini into chunks and place everything except spinach in a blender and blend until smooth. Then add spinach and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Calories: 269

Dietary Fiber: 6.15g

Protein: 4.75g

Raspberry Trifle

I have a love for berries and cream cheese. When you combine the two, I'm in heaven.When I found this recipe, I knew it would be magic. I made a few adjustments, which made it even better. Fresh berries make every recipe better.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup white sugar

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup white sugar

1 (16 ounce) family size package prepared pound cake

2 (8 ounce) packages fresh raspberries

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

In a medium bowl, beat cream with 1/4 cup sugar until stiff peaks form. In another bowl, cream together cream cheese, lemon juice, vanilla and 1/2 cup sugar. Fold 2 cups of whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Reserve remaining whipped cream.

Slice pound cake into 18 - 1/2 inch slices. Line the bottom of a 3 quart glass bowl or trifle bowl with one-third of the cake slices. Spread one-fourth of the cream cheese mixture over cake. Sift one-fourth of the cocoa over that. Sprinkle with one-third of the raspberries. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining cream cheese mixture, whipped cream and sifted cocoa. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours before serving.

Vegetarian Pizza

I have a seriously obsession with Round Table's Gourmet Veggie Pizza. It is truly amazing. I decided to try my own variation and was quite please with how it turned out.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic (chopped)

1 cup sliced zucchini

1/2 cup raw spinach

1/2 can artichoke hearts (chopped)

1/4 sliced yellow onion

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup chopped heirloom tomatoes

1 Trader Joe's 100% whole wheat pizza dough

1 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 (or temperature listed on pizza dough package). Roll out pizza dough according to instructions on package. Mix olive oil and garlic together and apply with a pastry brush across the dough. Sprinkle half the mozzarella cheese on the dough. Arrange toppings on dough. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese on the dough. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top. Bake for 10-12 minutes until done.

*For the vegan/dairy free out there, you may be able to omit the cheese in this recipe. The vegetables alone are very tasty on the bread.

Peach-Plum Jam (Frozen)

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped fresh peaches (2 large peaches)

2 cups chopped fresh plums (about 9 plums)

Ball® freezer jam fruit pectin

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Peel and chop fruit. I like my jam more liquefied than chunky, so I pulsed the chopped fruit in my magic bullet. Combine lemon juice and fruit in a large bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes. Then add Pectin, sugar, and cinnamon to the fruit. Stir for 3 minutes. Place jam in jars and allow to set for 30 minutes. Refrigerate or Freeze. Refrigerated jam can be stored for 3 weeks. Frozen jam can be stored for 1 year.

Plum Jam (cooked)

Ingredients:
5 cups of plums, chopped and pitted
2 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 packet powdered fruit pectin
1 cup honey (depends on the sweetness of the plums. Increase/decrease as per taste. I used honey instead of sugar to try something new, but you can use sugar)
1/2 cup water


Mix the plums, pectin and lemon juice in a large pot and cook on medium heat. The plums will start liquefying slowly. While slightly mushy, add 1/2 cup water, stir well and cook until it comes to a boil. Remove the foam that forms on the top (mine didn't actually have very much foam, so I just let it be). Add the honey or sugar, mix and cook for another 10-15 minutes until it all starts coming together as one thick syrup consistency.

The Canning Process (if you've never canned before, this is a great place for a tutorial):

Alternatively with soapy water, clean the jam can well, along with the lid. Lightly dry it and then drop them in a big pot of water. Bring them to a boil. Make sure your jars are submerged well.

Lift them carefully and lightly dry them with paper towels. They should be hot so that the bottle does not break when you pour the boiled jam inside. Slowly pour the jam into the jar and leave a 1/2-1/8 inch space between the jam and the top of the jar.

Close the lid tightly and invert the bottle to help the Jam set for about 5 minutes.

Now slowly place the jars, straightup, inside the hot boiling water and leave it for another 5-8 minutes. This is necessary to kill the bacteria in the jam. If you live in higher altitudes, then leave the jars in for about 10min. Keep in mind, too much boiling can make the jam runny.

Remove and refrigerate the jars once completely cooled.

Serve on toast or with toasted Trader Joe's ciabatta bread and Brie cheese. Yum!

Butter-Cream Cheese Frosting

For the 4th of July I made some amazing cupcakes with some delicious frosting. This is the recipe I used:

Cupcakes:

1 box Betty Crocker triple chocolate fudge cake mix

1 small package instant chocolate pudding

Add dry pudding mix to dry cake mix. Prepare cake mix as instructed on the box.

Frosting:

1 stick of butter

8 oz cream cheese

16 oz powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Blend butter, cream cheese, and vanilla on medium speed in Bosch or Kitchenaid mixer for 3 minutes. Add 1/2 of the powdered sugar and mix for 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl and add remaining powdered sugar, beat for 2 minutes. The frosting was not as stiff as I usually like, but I didn't want to open up a new box of powdered sugar - and everyone loved the frosting, so I posted as I made it :)

Spinach Pasta Salad

I found this recipe on a friend-of-a-friend's blog. I ended up making a few adjustments because I forgot to buy everything.

Salad:

1 small package of fresh spinach

1 – 8 oz package of bowtie pasta – cooked, drained and cooled

2-4 TBLS sesame seeds

½ cup sliced toasted almonds

3 chicken breasts – seasoned heavily with lemon pepper seasoning, grilled and cut into bit sizes. (I used the rotisserie chicken from Albertsons and then seasoned with lemon pepper)

1 cup bean sprouts (I forgot to buy these and the salad was great without them)

Mix all ingredients and toss with the dressing just before serving it.

Dressing:

½ cup oil

½ cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sesame seeds

3 TBLS soy sauce

2 TBLS rice vinegar

½ tsp sesame seed oil

1 tsp grated fresh garlic (about 2 cloves)

1 tsp grated ginger (I used 1/4 tsp ground ginger)

Blend in blender or Magic Bullet. Let dressing warm to room temperature before tossing into salad.

This salad could very easily be made into a vegan or vegetarian dish by not including the chicken!

Blueberry Muffins (from scratch)

Sunday morning I had a craving for blueberry muffins. I had previously purchased a ton of blueberries and didn't know what to do with them, so I froze them. Next time I think I'll double the recipe. The cinnamon topping on this was so delicious. I may even substitute the blueberries for a different type of fruit.

Ingredients

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 blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 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.

Yield: 9 muffins

Trader Joe's Apple Sausage Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

4 chicken-apple sausage links, broiled and sliced (trader joe's)

1 bag mushroom tortellini (trader joe's)

1 bag wheat rotini Pasta (trader joe's)

1 can sliced black olives

1 jar (small) sun dried tomatoes

1 jar artichoke hearts

1 pack of feta cheese

balsamic vinegar dressing to taste (start with 1 tsp)

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions. Stir in sausage, olives, tomatoes, artichoke hearts. Add Balsamic vinegar, until desired taste. Stir in Feta. Refrigerate until cool (4-6 hours). Can be made 24 in advance.