Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies

I hadn't made these cookies since I was a kid and just remebered how much I like them. I couldn't find the good old recipe my mom made, and it was too late to call her, so.....I looked on line and combined a few. This is what I got. They are so tasty!!!

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1 egg

1 cup applesauce

2-1/4 cup flour (I used half wheat, half white)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup milk chocolate chips (or semi-sweet if you prefer)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream sugar and shortening. Add egg, applesauce and vanilla: mix well. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg and salt. Mix until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by the tablespoon onto a lightly greased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes or until very light brown. These little guys are tasty fresh out of the oven, but I personally like them the next day when they have softened a little. They make a great breakfast. :)

Carmel Apples

At one of our annual girl parties. My Aunt took me with her into a candy shop in the mall and I came out with a carmel apple that had been dipped in carmel, white chocolate and then rolled in cinnamon sugar. To say the least it was DELICIOUS!
There are a few foods I have had in my life that I haven't been able to forget. This was definitely one of them. I will fill you in on the others another time. (Just remind me to tell you the sad story about a chocolate rice crispy at Disney World.)

This summer I happened upon a chocolate store when me and the fam were doing a little outlet shopping. Boy, was I thrilled, to see the same apple in their window. I bought one and it was as good as I remembered. Ever since, I have been dying to try making one myself. I finally got around to it this weekend, and I have to say, it was DELICIOUS!!! You have got to try it! This was the first time I have ever attempted dipping apples like this and lets just say I learned ALOT!

I made three atempts at dipping before realizing what wasn't working. Instead of telling you the things that didn't work. I will make this easy for you and tell you what did work. After melting both the carmel and the white chocolate, I let it cool until it was almost room temperature. (I added a few Tbsp of water to my carmels.It made my carmel too runny. You may not need to let yours cool so long if you don't add water to it.) Once my carmel had cooled off, I used a spoon and smeared the carmel all the way around the apple. Following that I used another spoon and smeared white chocolate around the carmel and then quickly rolled the apple in cinnamon and sugar. This way worked great. I think my carmel and chocolate were too warm for my first attempts.

I had a few different things I used for toppings. I rolled some in crushed Oreo cookies. I also did one in just carmel and mini M&M's. Sliced almonds looked pretty nice around the bottom of one with carmel and white chocolate, but my favorite were the "apple pie," carmel, white chocolate, cinnamon sugar ones. YUM YUM YUM! My little boy thought it was really fun and could hardly wait for me to quit taking pictures so he could eat one.

If you want to make these you will need:
Apples (I like granny smith and honey crisp)
1-2 bags of wrapped carmels
6 squares of almond bark or white chocolate chips
Toppings (cinnamon sugar, crushed oreos, mini m&m's, reeses pieces, cut up peanut butter cups, sliced or crushed nuts of your choice, or whatever else sounds good to you.

Wax papper

Unwrap all the carmels and put them in a 2 quart sauce pan. Heat the carmel on low stirring often so it won't scorch. You may need to add 1 Tbsp of water to make the carmel a little easier to work with. Don't add more then one or it will be too runny like mine.

Heat 6 squares of almond bark in the microwave in 30 second intervals stirring in between until it is smooth.

Prepare toppings and put them out evenly on plates.

Depending on the consistency of your carmel you might have better luck dipping instead of spreading. However, The carmel needs to be quite cool or the white chocolate will melt off.

Get creative and have fun. These apples are soooooo Yummy.

Apple Crisp

I love to make this when I have an abundance of apples on hand. It is also a great way to get rid of the apples in your fridge that are about to get to the "I'm not eating that" stage.
Filling:
3-4 cups sliced apples (I like the granny smith because they are tart, but any variety will work)
2 Tbspwhite sugar
2 Tbsp flour
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Dash of lemon juice
Mix together and place in a 9×13 buttered baking dish.

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup flour
1 cup quick oats, heaping (old fashioned oats work also, it will just have a little different texture.)
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
1 cube butter, softened
Mix all dry ingredients and then cut or crumble the butter into the mixture. (I just workit in with my hand.) Sprinkle over apples and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream. You can use the same crumble mixture on top of almost any fruit. We like to do peaches and blueberries. It is also great with black berries. (You do not need to add the sugar and flour mixture to any fruit except apples.)

Chedder Broccoli Soup

I like this recipe because it is quick, simple, tasty, and less fattening then recipes that use cream. Technically you could substitute cream for the milk and evaporated milk if you want a richer, "creamier" soup. As long as you don't mind adding a few hundred more calories per serving. :)

1-2 large bunches of fresh broccoli, chopped (you can substitute a 1 lb. bag of frozen broccoli)
½ cup chopped onion
2-3 tsp chicken bullion (2-3 cubes)
2 Tbsp butter
¼ cup flour
1 cup milk
1 can evaporated milk
2 cups grated cheddar or colby jack cheese
Pinch dry mustard

Put chopped broccoli and onion in a 2 -3 quart sauce pan. Barely cover vegetables with water. Add the chicken bullion. Add salt and pepper if desired. Bring to a boil and then simmer until broccoli and onions are tender. In a separate sauce pan melt butter and whisk in the flour to create a rue. Continue whisking the rue for about 30 seconds. Add the regular milk while you continue to whisk the rue until it turns into a smooth white sauce. Add the white sauce to the broccoli and onions. Stir, and then add the can of evaporated milk. Add the pinch of dry mustard. Simmer for 20 minutes. Five minutes prior to serving stir in the cheese. More milk can be added for a thinner soup. Works great in bread bowls.

Chicken Wonton Salad

This recipe came from my sister’s friend Joy McClean. It is so stinking good! When I make it, I eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner until it is gone. Trust me, you will love this. It is especially good in the summer time.

2-3 lb cooked chicken, shredded (I like to wrap it in tinfoil with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and paper and bake it for 30-40 min on 350)
2 heads iceberg lettuce
1/3 package wonton squares (sometimes I use more like 1/2 the package, I really like crunchy stuff) You can freeze the uncooked wonton squares for next time. I have also used egg roll wrappers before. They are made of the same stuff so it doesn’t matter.
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds

1. Toast sesame seeds or buy pre-toasted sesame seeds
2. Fry wontons in a small amount of oil; drain on paper towels(I rip them in 1 or 2" thick, rough strips before I throw them into the oil.)

Dressing:
½ cup sugar
½ cup white vinegar
5 tsp salt (I do 3 tsp)
1 tsp. Accent seasoning salt (I use McCormick Seasoning Salt)
boil until dissolved, cool.
ADD:
½ tsp pepper
½ cup salad oil (vegetable oil)
MIX well.

Toss lettuce, wontons, sesame seeds, chicken and dressing when ready to serve (wontons will go soggy if mixed too soon). I keep everything seperate and just mix it right before I eat it. Sometimes I put sliced green onions in it if I have them laying around. If you like cilantro you could also toss a little of that in to and it would be really yummy.

Crescent Shaped Dinner Rolls

I make these all the time. The hardest part is waiting for them to rise.

4 tsp. yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup melted shortening, cooled
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 1/2 c. flour (I do half white half wheat)

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add all other ingredients. Stir and let rise 2 hours (real sticky dough). Split in half. Place one half on a heavily floured surface. Roll out into a circle. Brush with melted butter. Cut into 12 slices pizza style. Roll from large end to small to make a crecent roll.

Curve ends slightly. Place on cookie sheet. Repeat with other half of dough. Brush rolls with butter. Let rise 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Makes two dozen rolls.

*I have also used these for little sandwiches at baby or bridal showers.

Coconut Curry

If you like curries, you will love this!

--and it is not too spicy for kids--

COCONUT CURRY
1 1/2 lb chicken or pork (I use Chicken) cut into chunks
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 can coconut milk (14 oz.)
1 large onion, chopped in to 3/4″ pieces
1 or 2 red bell pepper chopped into 3/4″ pieces
2 medium carrots, julienned and cut to 2″ length (julienned means cut into skinny long pieces like straws.)
1 can sliced water chesnuts
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 Tbsp grated ginger or 1 tsp. ground ginger powder. (I use a little less then a tsp.)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (can do more or less depending how much heat you like. For kids I would suggetst just a couple shakes-1/8 tsp)

THERE IS A LOT OF *CHOPPING INVOLVED IN THIS RECIPE, BUT IF YOU ARE A FOOD NERD LIKE ME, YOU THINK IT IS FUN!

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Braise the chicken at medium-high heat, turning to brown all sides.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the chicken into a large sauce pan, leaving the oil in the frying pan. Shake the can of coconut milk before opening. Add to the chicken and place the saucepan on memdium heat.(sorry I forgot to take a picture of the sauce pan with the chicken bathing in the coconut milk.) Add the vegetables and all spices to the fying pan. Stir well. Saute until the vegetables start to brown.

(I had to saute my carrots seperately because my pan was too small. If your pan seems too full, do the sauting in two batches.)Transfer the vegetable mixture into the sauce pan, cover, and simmer about 5 minutes. Serve over white rice. (If your curry seems a little thick you can thin it out with more coconut milk or chicken broth. Sometimes I add 1/2 cup of hot water and 1/2 a chicken bullion cube.)

…Serves 6-8.

*Sometimes I can find a fajita peppers and onions mix on sale in the freezer section at the grocery store. They all ready have cumin and chili powder in them. I have used them in place of the peppers, onions, chili powder and cumin before and it turned out great and was less work.