Fresh Apple Pie

   



    I mentioned this pie in a previous post. I was really excited to make these. We were visiting my Grandpa and Andrew asked about the apple trees in his back yard. Grandpa hadn't tried them so he didn't know if they were good or not. Andrew picked one and it was delicious. Of course then all the kids wanted one. Mia picked the biggest one on the tree. I immediately tasted apple pie when I ate mine. I said they were even sweet enough I could try a no sugar added one. Andrew said "No, you put sugar in pie." There is sugar in these, a lot of sugar. I am going to try some no sugar added or sugar substitutes to make one for Grandpa because he is diabetic.

    I will be making more of these soon and taking more pictures of the crust process so I can give more detailed descriptions on that. I learned from watching and helping my Grandma so many of the current directions are "Until it is right."

    I leave the peel on my apples because more of the vitamins are in the peel, and once they are cooked they are soft and I don't find them noticeable. You are welcome to peel yours. I used about 6-7 medium apples for a small pie, 10ish for a medium pie and about 14 for a large pie.

Filling Ingredients
Enough apples for your size pie
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Butter
Sugar
Brown Sugar
Pie Crust

Pie Crust Ingredients
Flour
Butter Flavor Crisco
Cold Water it must be cold or it won't be "right"

    For the Crust hand mix one to two cups of crisco with an equal amount of flour to start. When you are done mixing the lumps should be pea size. If they are too small add crisco, too large add flour. Continue until pea size.

    Sprinkle small amounts or water and mix until you have one solid ball. There should be some flakiness to the crust if you try kneading it. Then you know you will have a buttery flaky crust.

    Grease your pan, roll out the crust and line the pan with it.

Filling

Core and quarter apples, or quarter and core depending on your tools.

Thin slice the apples and randomly place in pan.

I like to overfill especially when using fresh apples they will shrink some during baking.

I ended up having a bit extra and put another apple in this pan.

Now you will want to mix the about half a stick of butter with about 2 tablespoons each of sugar and brown sugar, also add a pinch of nutmeg and one flat tablespoon of cinnamon.

the nutmeg, about a quarter size sprinkle on the palm

The butter mixture should be semi solid. Break into bits and set randomly atop the apples in the pan. As it bakes it will melt through all the apples. When done with the butter mix roll out and place the top crust on the pan. Squish the edges with your fingers, a fork, a spoon whatever works for you to get a seal and whatever pretty design you like. then cut off the overhanging edges.

 I like to add a dusting of sugar to the top crust to add a little sparkle and crunch. You can use your preference of cream, butter, egg white, water, or a spritz of cooking spray to lightly wet the crust then sprinkle on about a teaspoon of sugar. Which sugar is also up to you, I have used regular granulated sugar most of the time. I have recently bought sugar in the raw because of the larger pieces for a more obvious sparkle. 

There is regular granulated sugar on this pie.

Place in oven preheated to 400 degrees for 30 minutes

After 30 minutes turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake another 30 minutes.

I ran out of crisco when mixing this crust so it is a bit dryer than my usual, hence the cracks. Cream, butter or egg whites will result in a slightly more brown crust. The egg whites will also give it a bit of a gleam. I took the shortcut and spritzed with cooking spray on this pie. 

These pies turned out amazing. This is the second time this week I made them. The first ones were so good the kids were so excited to have this one that this happened as soon as we got home from picking up Mia from school.

My husband is a butter freak so I will be experimenting with other ingredients soon for the crust. I want to try coconut oil personally because it is sooooo good. If there is anyone who lives near me I would love to have some taste testers. I want to test out some gluten free, sugar free, and some other dietary need recipes because everyone should be able to have dessert, no I mean delicious dessert!

I do not get any money or free items from any brands I may have mentioned. I use the names of the items I use, that is all. 

Support World Suicide Prevention Day

 

  This will be a relatively short blog today. I just want to help bring awareness to an important cause.

    World Suicide Prevention Day 2015 is September 10. It coincides with National Suicide Prevention Week, in America, September 7-13. To Write Love On Her Arms is a suicide awareness and prevention organization they are trying to raise money for World Suicide Prevention Day all of which will go toward treatment and recovery. More information on this organization and their campaigns including "We'll See You Tomorrow" is available here.

    My niece Brandi Bell has started a fund raising page to support this organization. She has been affected by the suicide of friends. She aims to help eliminate suicide and to help those who are struggling to find the help and sometimes just a nice listening ear that they need. Her fundraising page is available here.

    I receive no kickback of any kind from this I just want to help get the word out. Any donation of any size would be very much appreciated.

  Have a good day everybody and

Curry Chicken with Arabian Rice (Yes I sang that to the tune of Arabian Nights)

    I have come to the conclusion that i need to stop saying, especially in writing, that I am going to do something. I should just wait till I do then say "Look what I did." I rarely seem to get to things when I want after I say I will. Hence this post not being the day after I said I would do it but today. we had sick kids who have so many activities when they aren't sick that it is hard to keep up.

    Then the hubby did not have to work a 7 day week so we did get one night away for our anniversary. It was VERY last minute. More last minute for me than anyone else because I dropped the phone in the bath tub while trying to wrestle the plunger away from Drew and get Ava out of the tub. I'm sure it would all have been very amusing to watch. I found out about 20 minutes before I needed to leave when my MIL/babysitter/Carolyn showed up and asked if I had talked to my hubby.

    It was a well needed and appreciated night off. Anyway I can now finally get to telling you about this curry Chicken recipe. There are so many ways to make curry, different meats, vegetables, sauces, whether you cook the curry in or pour on top. It is an unending list really.

    This day I took the super easy route. I used my rice cooker and my small crock pot.

Arabian Rice
    Ingredients
rice
diced tomatoes I used 1 large tomato but base this on your favor for tomatoes
Curry paste I used Patak's Mild it is a coriander and cumin base
Salt

Curry Chicken
Chicken
favorite curry sauce or paste different than the one in the rice
Vegetables, I used carrots, onion, and a tomato this time
salt


Arabian Rice
 Directions

Add rice to rice cooker according to the directions. Mine calls for 2 scoops of rice per 3 scoops of water. I used 2 scoops of rice and 2.5 scoops of water counting on the water from the tomatoes to make up the rest. It did.

      Ohh the Creme Brulee coffee beans in the background of this photo are from Jeremiah's Coffee House in Marietta, Ohio. They make amazing espresso drinks and these beans were delightful!

  Add the diced tomatoes to the rice, along with about 2 good spoonfuls of the curry base. If you are on a low sodium diet you can skip the additional salt. If you are not I recommend adding it now,for  rice and pasta it is hard to fix the salt levels after cooking.

    Next stir it all up so the flavors start to mix and are absorbed by all the rice while cooking not just the rice on top. It should be an orange-brown color with specks of red when well mixed.

About 45 minutes before dinner turn on the rice cooker. That is it for the rice. By the way this should serve 4-5 adults.

Curry Chicken 

Directions

The chicken is just as easy. Take your favorite cut of chicken, enough for however many people are eating, toss them in the crock pot. Cook on low for a few hours. When you start to smell the chicken go back add in carrots, cut onions, and tomatoes. I diced half the onion and made large slices with the other half, The tomato I diced all of it. You can add the curry sauce or paste now or later. If using paste I recommend scooping out some of the liquid from the crock pot and mixing them together adding water if needed, then pouring back onto the chicken. If using sauce it depends on your preference. I frequently wait till the end and let each person add their own. Andrew and I like varying amounts of flavor, so especially when I have pre-flavored the rice I tend to let him spice the chicken himself. It is important to still cook with a little salt though.

Either way you choose to do the sauce from here on out you just let the crock pot do the work until dinner time. I like to serve curry with cold carrot and celery sticks on the side.

I hope you all like this and let me know either way. I will post soon, see I'm learning, about the fresh apple pie from scratch that I made yesterday. I was happy with it and the girls helped with the crust, Grandma's crust recipe of course. Also the apples Andrew picked from Grandpa's back yard trees two days ago. Fresh and delicious!

Baby Guy Box Yes!

    I have been working a lot more than usual for the last few months and have been unable to post any new blogs because every extra minute I had was spent with my family. I have since quit my job, great decision, and put my oldest in kindergarten, the jury is still out on that one I want my baby back.

    Anyway I wanted to tell you all about the #babyguybox I love it! I ordered one the first month and I ordered the toddler box in August. I am a little bummed I couldn't afford two so I could get the breastfeeding box, it looks amazing. I couldn't use everything in the boxes but could at least use most of it. Also my niece has a baby 6 months younger than my youngest. Between the two of us we pretty much have all the bases covered.

    The first box was pretty great it contained so many great items, everything that was a little too small or an item I already had I was able to pass on to my niece which works out great for both of us. I am not going to do a complete review of what was in my boxes because there are so many of those out there already. Two of the boxes were reviewed over at karensgotmail.com She does a great job describing the different items and listing the value of the box that she came up with from the prices she found for the items. For instance she came up with a value of $154 for the toddler box cost - $59.99 I think it is a great deal.

    Another reason I love this box is that the brands involved are sometimes well known, but they are all very good brands and I haven't used them all yet. I am now in love with Babyganics conditioning shampoo and body wash. I may never buy the others again this one has really won me over. Mia has curly hair that is prone to terrible knots. I usually use the tear free shampoo then conditioner and brush her hair while the conditioner is in. After her bath we brush her hair again with leave in conditioner in the trouble spots. Sometimes we use a little mousse to keep down the frizz or fly aways, especially on picture days. That is a lot of product for 5 year old hair. With the Babyganics shampoo I don't use the conditioner, just the leave in conditioner in the trouble spots. Before applying the leave in you can feel how soft, lovely, and manageable her hair is. I am going out for more Babyganics products and more of this particular product for sure!

  I will be doing another post about the Bitesizers and FunBites. They are both great and I am super excited to have them. The kids like to help with the FunBites!

     From what I have read some people are not happy with the Jamie box this month. Some sound like legitimate concerns about the value ( www.karensgotmail.com also reviewed this box), some seemed surprised that there was a lot to do with drinking. I feel that the drinking aspect was made pretty obvious from the start and is exactly why I did not order that box.

    All in all I definitely recommend looking into getting a #babyguybox It is a monthly non-subscription box. There will be themes each month. You will know the brands in the box and the brands sponsoring the box, samples and coupons are not counted toward the value of the box.

    I am sorry about the lack of pictures in this blog I usually like to add quite a few. I hope to post tomorrow about tonight's dinner, Curry Chicken and Arabian Rice.


    I do not receive any monetary gain or gifts of any kind from any of the brands, names etc contained in this blog. I would like to thank Karens Got Mail for taking such a good picture of the toddler box items, I borrowed it above.

Triscuit Pork Chops with spiced rice

  Ever wonder if there is anything you can do with stale crackers? There is! I was preparing to make pork chops one day and didn't want the same old flour breaded chops. So I took a look around my cabinets. The only thing I found that I thought would be remotely good were some Four Cheese Triscuits that had gone stale. This does not often happen in this house, this box had been pushed to the back of the cabinet, because we love our crackers and dip here. A few of those recipes will be coming.

  Since they had started going stale I decided to try one chop first and if it was good proceed with the others. It was amazing! I recently decided to make these again and took pictures so I could share. This time I used Garlic Triscuits and they were not stale, so it works either way, if you are just bored of the same old chops and don't have stale crackers don't worry. 

Rice recipe at the bottom. If you plan to serve this with the rice start the rice first!!!

For the pork chops the first thing you want to do is crush the crackers to the desired consistency. 

I like to have a few larger pieces for an extra crunch, but most of it crumb sized.

 About now I would start the oil heating so it is nice and hot when you are ready to cook. I personally like to use EVOO or Coconut Oil. I started with three thick cut chops

I like to flour my meat let it sit for a few minutes to dry and then dip and coat in crushed Triscuits.

Mix a little salt and pepper in the flour.

Take about 3 eggs and beat them till well mixed.

Dip the chop in the egg wash.

Be sure to turn over a few times so it is fully covered.

Coat the pork chop in flour

I like to use my fingers to press the flour onto the sides so they are nicely coated also.

We had two for our dinner and the hubby took one for his lunch at work so you will only see two being cooked here. After coating in flour let sit for a few minutes to allow it to dry a little.

After resting re-dip in the egg wash, some of the flour with come off don't worry. Just fully coat the chop in the egg again and don't let it sit and wash off all the flour.

Next coat in crushed Triscuits

This may make a bit of a mess. I recommend using a dinner size plate. I used a small plate here.

I think this looks tasty already!

When you are ready test your oil by dropping in a piece of the breading now stuck to your fingers. It if bubbles around it immediately it is hot and ready.

Gently place in your pork chops.

They are ready to turn when you notice the golden color on the sides. In the picture above you can see that the sides are darker than the top.

After a few minutes on the second side you will have delicious Triscuit crusted pork chops. They are typically done when you check the color and it is the nice golden color of the top. You can also use a meat thermometer to make sure it has reached a minimum of 145 degrees fahrenheit. Or you can always cut into the thickest one and manually check the inside color.

Spiced Rice

I use a rice cooker and follow the directions for rice to water ratios. I always add a little salt to bring out the nuttiness of the rice. For the rice pictured I used my home mixed seasoned salt. I do not currently have the exact measurements for that but will be mixing up some more this weekend. If you can not eyeball or sniff to figure out the right amount to use to get your desired flavor I recommend using your favorite seasoned salt or salt free seasoning. 

To make a small batch I use approximately 

2Tb paprika

1 Tb chili powder

2 ts onion powder

2 ts garlic powder

1 ts cumin

1/2 ts turmeric if you have it

1/2 ts parsley

1/2 ts salt

1/4 ts black pepper

I use about a Tb of this in the rice

I served this dish with some (non-crushed) garlic Triscuits and a cream cheese dip, recipe coming soon, as I said we really like our crackers and dip in this house.

I have not been paid in any way by Triscuit or any affiliates to make or share this recipe with their crackers. I just happen to like them and the great flavors they come in.

Cleaning Secrets - Pots and Pans Burnt on muck

  Let's just face it we have to clean pots and pans every once in a while or our food just doesn't cook correctly, or evenly. Most of us don't like wearing ourselves out trying to scrub the burnt on muck from the bottom, and sometimes sides, of the pan. Well Good News I have a helpful trick. Let me start with saying that peroxide is one of my favorite cleaning products, I also love to use baking soda for all kinds of things. In fact I buy both at a club store in bulk, my husband does not understand this but he doesn't complain about it after things are clean!

  Before I bought a deep fryer we used a medium sauce pan to make french fries or my famous onion rings. It does not take long to get quite a coat of burnt on grease when deep frying. It is one of the hardest things I have had to clean. I scrubbed and scrubbed, I did only part at a time because my hand got tired. I only had a circle clean in the middle of the pan. This was very irritating, to say the least.

 Now I have my secret weapon, peroxide mixed with baking soda. This combination is amazing. Do wear gloves because it can severely dry out your skin. I do not give exact measurements with this because you want to make the amount you need for the job you are doing. I start with about twice the amount of baking soda it would take to cover the pan. Then add enough peroxide to make a paste, about the consistency of toothpaste. You want it a little thin but so much that it will run right off the pan. Cover the pan with the paste and let sit, I usually leave it for about an hour.

After an hour I put on my dish washing gloves and grab my scrub bud metal scouring pad. ( I do sell the ones I use because of how much I love them. I have been using my current one for two months there isn't a sign of rust and it is still going strong, plenty of scrub left in it.)

Gently scrub off the burnt grease with the scouring pad and paste. If your paste has dried and hardened don't worry you can just sprinkle on a bit more peroxide. When you are done you will not believe how great the pan looks and how little effort it took. Mine almost look new.

You can see in these pictures that there is a beveled edge to this pan where there is still some burnt grease. I made another paste a bit thicker so it would not roll down the sides, and it all came of too. I also cleaned my bacon pan. I do not have a before picture of this one but it was so clean when I was done I want to share.

I mentioned that I do sell the scrub buds that I use. 

You can get them here 

http://www.amway.com/StrockShop/Shop/Product/Product.aspx/Legacy-of-Clean-Scrub-Buds-Scouring-Pads?itemno=110490

Or Go To 

 www.amway.com/strockshop  then use the search bar on the top right, type in scrub buds