Mmmmmm... Baked Apples

I have found my new favorite thing! we finally decorated for Halloween, a week before but better late than never right? We went to the pumpkin patch and I was feeling all festive and fall like, so I decided to make something with Apples and what was created was nothing short of heavenly. I told Darwin this might have to be a new tradition for thanksgiving and he said how about every Sunday... I guess that means he liked them!

6 Braeburn apples
1 1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 T cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
3 T flour
2 T white sugar
1/2 stick butter
1 1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 recipe caramel fondue

Prep the apples, cut of a small slice off the bottom so they stand evenly. Slice off the top and core out the center. Combine all of the other ingredients except for the juice and caramel, in a ziploc bag and mix till well combined. Place apples in Baking dish. Spoon about a tsp of the caramel into the hole then fill with the oatmeal mixture. Top with a bit of the caramel. Place apple juice in the pan surrounding the apples and bake apples at 350` for 35-40 minutes, till apples are cooked through. Serve warm with more of the caramel on the side as well as vanilla ice cream.

So yummy!

yet another cake

Darwin's cousin got married this past weekend, and as if I wasn't busy enough recovering from a trip and having a house full of stomach flu children...I made the cake as a gift to them. Considering I did it super fast and pretty much in one day I think it turned out pretty good.

Baking....

Aghh... anyone who knows me knows that unless it is rolls or a cake I don't bake. Never really have. Hated, no utterly despised it in school...perhaps it was partly because of the hour inwhich the classes met, no college student should be getting up at 5:30am. Mainly though I don't like to measure, I simply don't have the patience for baking...
However I decided to make a southern meal tonight for dinner, and wanted some biscuits to go with it. So I found this ooober easy recipe and surprisingly they didn't turn out half bad!

2 cups all purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening*
1 cup milk

Heat oven to 400`. In a mixing bowl combine dry ingredients and add shortening till small pea like size. Add milk and mix just till milk is absorbed. Lightly dust the surface and gently form into a ball and roll to about an ince thick. cut out and coat tops with an egg was. Bake for 12-15 minutes till golden brown.
* I didn't have shortening (strange I know) I really didn't feel like hauling all four kids to the grocery store so I used Butter, they will taste better anyways :) I used 1/4 cup plus 2 T because the butter has water in it where as the shortening does not. Happy Baking!

Mexican Pork Soup

Here's what's for dinner tonight. After a week of the stomach flu, head colds we can't seem to shake and the impending winter weather, I feel like soup tonight! I'm going to use the left over pork from my slow roaster I did last week.

1 T olive oil
1 lb of left over roast pork
1 onion small diced
1 small can green chiles, diced
2 T garlic, minced
1 can fire roasted tomatoes, diced
1 can black beans
2 tsp ground cumin
1 box chicken stock
1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup frozen corn
season to taste

Start by sauting the garlic and onion then add the pork and beans. Cook till onions are translucent, then add tomatoes and green chiles and cumin. Add stock and allow to simmer for at least one hour. Add corn about 10 minutes before service. Season to taste and serve with cilantro, sour cream and cheese and tortilla chips.

I'm excited it should be yummy!

I'm Back!!

Alright after being gone for so long and all the traveling and to add sick kids on top of it... I never thought I would be so happy to be back in Burns but I am!!! Now we are just trying to get back to the swing of things and back on schedule! We will get there I'm sure... This is a recipe I made yesterday but am eating it today... My dear friend Michelle, surprised me and made me dinner last night since I haven't been feeling well, little did she know I had dinner in the crockpot. So we will be enjoying that tonight.

Slow Cooker Pork Loin Roast

2-3 lb Pork Loin Roast fat trimmed
2 Tbsp Dijion Mustard
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp tarragon
1 meduim onion sliced
2 cups beef broth
1 tsp garlic minced
1 apple sliced

Place Apple and Onions on the bottom of the slow cooker. Coat the pork in the mustard and coat with an even coating of all the seasonings. place in slow cooker, add broth and cook on low for 3-4 hours till completly cooked and tender.

Slacker I know...

So we have been out of town all last week and are leaving yet again on Saturday for a week... needless to say I haven't been cooking so the fridge will be emptied before we leave! I promise I will post more recipes soon and I'll post a picture of Emery's First Birthday cake which is friday! Hard to believe I know!

Peanut Thai Noodles

Alright so this recipe is still a work in progress. I looked on line and got a few ideas but ran with it on my own and it still needs some tweeking, to be where I really like it. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it though...

1 pkg spaghetti noodles cooked al dente
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 T garlic
1/2 of an onion
1 green chile sliced
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 T oyster sauce or fish sauce would work too.
1 tsp ground ginger
1 T rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes
carrots julienned
chicken strips (I had left over roasted chicken so I used that)
shrimp
other veggies and proteins what ever you perfer.

Saute the garlic and onion and chile in a bit of oil add the stock, vinegar, peanut butter, soy, oyster sauce, ginger and cayenne and flakes. Cook till melted and smooth. Adjust the heat as you perfer by adding more cayenne. Sir fry the chicken, carrots and other items and add the cooked spaghetti, toss with the sauce and serve with chopped peanuts, lime juice and Sriracha.

Overall it was tasty but I need to play around with it some more until I can consider it one of my favorites!