Slow Cooker Apple Pie Breakfast

Make this.....no really, do it

So stinking good.

I am hot and cold with oatmeal but this was really yummy and it makes a ton and we ate it a couple of mornings reheated with a little milk. You could add so many yummy things to it to make it even more hearty. You do need to figure out the ratio of liquid for your crockpot and cooking time. That was key.

I was suffering from a few weeks of insomnia so I could easily get up at 2:00 am and turn it on and stir it once or twice before I finally had to wake up for the day, and then it went to warm mode. I just needed to stir it up before serving and I added a little milk to it. It was perfect texture. You also MUST use Steel Cut Oats, the other varieties I could see breaking down too much and turning to hard slop.

So there, I made it sound so difficult and not appetizing but it was really truly great and I am going to make it again one of these days

Apple Pie Breakfast

Ingredients

- 1 cup of steel cut oats*

- 3 diced apples (I use Gala)

- 1 cup apple juice - 3 cups water

-2 tbsp. Brown Sugar (optional to lower sugar and calories, but I thought it was just enough)

- 2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions -

For Best Results: Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and cook for 2-4 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low until it reaches the consistency that you like. Be sure to stir every hour or so.

* You can also cook longer without stirring, but you have to add more water liquid and it does come out a bit mushier. Add an extra cup of liquid for 7-8 hours in the slow cooker.

French Apple Pie

One of our seasonal traditions is apple picking. We go out into the muddy orchard and the kids going crazy picking tons of apples and throwing them in the bags. It's a blast. This year the weather in NJ really took a beating on the apples and sadly there were not as many to pick as we had hoped. It was hard to find good ripe apples on the trees but we managed to get a few good bags. Every single year there is a favorite tasting apple, and its never the one we picked the most of. We had a great time, and the weather had finally turned crisp, AND My son and I made our first pie together. My kids have really taken to helping me cook and bake. They love it and I love being able to spend quality time with them teaching them about food, and doing something I love. It makes me proud they have taken an interest at such a young age....although when they want to help me every single night I have to restrict it to the weekends when I am not in a rush to get dinner on the table.

I have been making this pie since my high school days of Home Ec. I dont even want to think about how many years that is, but let's just say its a LONG time. We had these ancient cookbooks, and I kept the print out and it was the 1st pie that I actually liked so I saw no reason to ever make any other. I am not the hugest crust fan so I like that it is only a single crust pie. Oh and I can make my own crust, but I chose not too. I know its cheating but again I dont like crust and well, its messy and takes even longer to get to the pie eating!!! Maybe someday I will go back to making the crust too, but that was how I liked to make it when someone else was cleaning their kitchen, now I am that someone who has to clean up

French Apple Pie

Pie

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup flour

½ tsp. nutmeg

½ tsp. cinnamon

dash of salt

6 cups Apples peeled and sliced into segments

Crumb topping

1 cup flour

½ cup (1 stick) Margarine or butter softened

½ cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Use a ready made pie crust (or make your own), mix the Pie ingredients together with a big spoon, pour into crust

Mix the crumb topping, the best way to get the crumbles not so big is to use a pastry cutter but you can also use 2 forks and cut into the butter

Pour crumb topping on top of the pie

Bake for 50 minutes @ 375 degrees

Cover with foil for the last 10 min. if it browns too quickly

Excellent Apples to use:

Cortland, McIntosh

Very Good apples:

Golden Delicious, Jersey Red, Lodi, Rome, Star

Soft Tacos with Apples and Onions

Still trying to use up apples…….Seems like a strange combo I know but these are really good. Very savory. I made these last year and I don’t think I seasoned them enough. I followed all the measurements this time and they were really tasty. I like them with some sour cream too. Just another way to use up apples and new variation on tacos. I also think if you use a regular pan and not non-stick they would get more golden. I think I should have let the onions go longer but I was hungry.

Chicken Soft Tacos with Sautéed Onions and Apples
from cooking light
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups thinly sliced onion
2 cups thinly sliced peeled Granny Smith apple (about 2 apples)
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 (6-inch) flour tortillas

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
Sprinkle the chicken evenly with salt, nutmeg, and pepper.
Add chicken to pan; sauté 7 minutes or until golden.
Remove the chicken from pan; keep warm.
Melt butter in pan over medium heat.
Add onion; cook 4 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently.
Add apple; cook 6 minutes or until golden, stirring frequently.
Add garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
Return chicken to pan; cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently.
Heat tortillas according to package directions.
Arrange 1/2 cup chicken mixture evenly over each tortilla.

I served it with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Pears
We had a lot of pears in the house because of fruit of the month so I thought why not get rid of 2 fruits at one time

Roasted Pears and Sweet Potatoes
From Everyday Foods
2 sweet potatoes, sliced 1 1/2 inches thick
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Coarse salt
2 Bartlett pears, cored, quartered, and halved


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Scrub 2 sweet potatoes.
Quarter lengthwise; slice diagonally 1 1/2 inches thick.
On a rimmed baking sheet, toss slices with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne; season with coarse salt.
Roast, tossing occasionally, until crisp-tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
Core and quarter 2 Bartlett pears; halve crosswise.
Add to the potatoes; toss all with another tablespoon oil.
Continue roasting until potatoes are fork-tender, about 10 minutes more.

VERDICT on the side dish
YUM. Seemed a little weird to roast pears but the flavor was really good and it was really easy. The seasoning was a really good mix. I always forget that roasting things is so simple you just have to think ahead. I will make these again for sure

Apple Squares

If you know me you know I am not really a baker. I try but with marginal results so I try to keep it to a minimum. For some reason I have been baking up a storm and this is one of those recipes I could make every day and not get sick of it. What’s odd is I made them last year and I wasn’t all that impressed. Since I have all these apples still I figured I would do a small 8x 8 pan one night and they were almost all gone by the next morning and they didn’t make it to lunch that afternoon. I was less then thrilled with the apple crisp because it was too sweet, but this recipe really shows off the apples and isn’t so sweet you cant eat it by itself. Which maybe isn’t so great because you could easily pick at it all day….not that I know anyone who did that

Apple Squares
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup apple, peeled chopped (at least- I used a cup and a ½ and it was perfect-original recipes says more the better)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts *optional*
Cinnamon sugar

Sift flour, baking powder salt and cinnamon together.
Melt butter, beat in sugars, egg and vanilla.
Stir in flour mixture, apples and nuts.
Spread in 8 x 8 inch pan.
Sprinkle top of cake with cinnamon sugar.
bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, til golden.

****We usually double it and bake in a 13x9 inch pan - you might need to cook it a little longer if you do that, 40-45 min.

It stays pretty flat and chewy - don't get nervous - it's yummy!!

Apple Crisp #1

I am still battling the 30lbs of apples in my fridge. I need to get moving because I think they are slowly multiplying and I don't have any room to put actual food other then apples. This picture was taken of the last wedge left of the crisp...about 5 days after I made it. I have another recipe that I prefer to this one and when make that I would like someone else to make both and compare them for me. Maybe I am biased but I cant be sure. If anything I used up 5 apples so how bad could it be.....and we ate it!


Easy Apple Crisp
from allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
6 apple - peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup water ***I used Apple juice***
1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix ***I used Butter Cake Mix***
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Arrange apples in an even layer in bottom of baking dish.
Pour water over apples.
In a medium bowl mix together cake mix, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
Stir in melted butter or margarine until ingredients are thoroughly blended; mixture will be crumbly.
Sprinkle mixture over apples.
Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes

VERDICT
I loved how easy it was and it smelled incredible. But I think it was too sweet. I took the advice of some reviewers and used Apple juice so maybe that added to it, but I think it was the cake mix. It needed ice cream and whip cream to cut the sweetness. SO it isn't something you can eat everyday all day long...well you could but it is so sweet it starts to not taste good. I want to taste more apples. I like my other apple crisp better and I would love for others to compare them too

Applesauce

One of my most favorite new family traditions we have is apple picking. I had never been before last year but I will never skip out ever again. The apples are like little bits of sweet heaven. I had no idea that apples could taste so good…or that they actually tasted so different. I have 2 giant bags of Winesaps because they are by far my favorite for eating. They have such a sweet but wine-like taste to them. We also picked Jonathans, Crispin, & Golden and Red Delicious. So far I have make applesauce twice. Once with the Jonathans and once with the Crispins. I ate a Red Delicious and it was just eh. We only have 6 of them so I am glad they didn’t impress me and I only got 6. In the coming weeks I will be making more with the apples, then sauce but this is an amazingly easy recipe that produces the yummiest of results.

Mia took her inaugural ride in the wagon and she loved it

He liked to make baskets with the apples in the bags
hmmm, applesauce

I had never made applesauce before but I have made it twice in 3 days. Here is the thing with many of the apple recipes I have read. They say to use 4 apples but all apples are not the same size. The Crispins were the size of Mia's head. I wish they would use cups but they don't. Since I used more apples, I doubled the recipe but the 1st time it wasn't very sweet because the 2 lemons made it too tart. So no matter how many apples you put in be cautious with the lemon. The second batch was much sweeter with double everything but only 1 lemon. It also looks like a lot of apples but it cooks down to barely anything, you will be shocked.

Crockpot Applesauce

borrowed from A Year of Slow Cooking

--4 large apples, skinned ,cored, and cut in quarters

--juice from 1 lemon

--1/2 tsp cinnamon

--1 tsp vanilla

--1 T brown sugar

--1/4 cup H20

The Directions.

I used a 4 quart crockpot for the applesauce.

Skin, core, and cut your apples into quarters.

Plop the pieces into your crockpot.

Add the juice from the lemon, and the water.

Pour in the vanilla, and add the cinnamon and brown sugar.

Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

When the apples are super tender, mash with a potato masher or large fork.

My apples were very tender after 6 hours, and I used a fork.

VERDICT:

YUM---YUM---YUM

Go apples picking if you never have. Get the apples off the tree and then go home and make this applesauce. It is like nothing you can get in the store.

Apple Toffee Dip

Chicken Chicken Chicken and more Chicken AND Apple Toffee Dip-OH MY

If you haven't noticed we eat A LOT of chicken in our house. It is nice to find a different way to eat it, or a different flavor to incorporate.

Today we had a great stroller strides class and then a lovely little party for 2 lovely expecting moms Csilla and Linda. I made a very yummy dip recipe and the best part is you eat it with apples so that eliminates any calories involved. No really, I read that someplace.

So today's entry is a 2 for one. First things First the dip

Apple Toffee Dip

INGREDIENTS

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

1 - 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese,softened *** I used low fat***

3/4 c. toffee bits (ex: Heath bits of brickle bits)

Beat together and chill. Serve with apple wedges

VERDICT

HOLY COW, is this dip good. I could eat it all day....in fact I think I did. It is a great dip with so few ingredients, that takes no time at all. In my book that makes it a winner and the fact that it has zero calories because you eat it with apples makes it even that much better.

ONTO DINNER.........

CHICKEN PESTO BURGER

borrowed from BHG June 2009 although they called it Open Faced Chicken Pesto Burger, I ate it with both sides of the bread because why waste a perfectly good piece of ciambatta bread?

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. uncooked ground chicken or ground turkey ** I used 99% lean ground chicken**
4 Tbsp. purchased basil pesto
1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. kosher salt or salt
2 3-inch pieces ciabatta bread or four 3/4-inch-thick slices rustic Italian bread
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
2 cups fresh basil leaves, arugula, or spring garden mix
8 small tomato slices
Ground black pepper

1. In bowl combine ground chicken, half of the pesto, the Parmesan, garlic, and salt. Shape into four 1/2-inch-thick oval patties (to fit bread).
2. Halve ciabatta horizontally. Brush cut side of ciabatta or both sides of Italian bread with olive oil; set aside (reserving any extra oil). **I just popped the rolls into the toaster oven**
3. For a charcoal grill, place patties on greased rack directly over medium coals. Grill, uncovered, 10 to 13 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (165 degrees F), turning once halfway through grilling. Top each patty with a mozzarella slice. Cover grill; grill 1 to 2 minutes more or until cheese is melted. Add bread and grill for 1 to 2 minutes per side or until toasted. (For gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place patties on grill rack over heat. Cover; grill as above.)
***I actually used my indoor grill pan to cook them for 5 minutes on each side on a higher heat. Then I covered them with cheese and put them under the broiler for 3 minutes. They were cooked perfectly***
4. Arrange greens on toasted bread. Top with chicken patties and tomato slices. Stir any remaining olive oil into remaining pesto and drizzle over all. Sprinkle with coarsely ground black pepper. Makes 4 servings.


VERDICT
I thought these were very tasty. They were fast to put together which is nice and they didn't require too many ingredients. I used the leaner chicken because I figured the oily pesto would keep them from drying out and I was correct and I think you probably save a bunch of fat grams that way. As I said earlier I ate them like a burger because the rolls were so good. I think this would be a nice & unexpected addition to regular BBQ food. The presentation makes them look pretty fancy and perfect for company. Jackson even ate a few bites to my shock. I would defintely make these again