Cinnamon Applesauce

Sometimes I like to do some things the hard way! Well, I wouldn't exactly call making homemade applesauce "hard"- but it's definitely not as convenient as just buying it at the store! But since I love cooking and knowing exactly what is in the foods I am feeding my family, it just seemed natural to make applesauce. And the kids LOVED it! I doubt there will be anymore store bought applesauce here (so good thing it is easy :-) )!

I think the key to good applesauce is in the type of apple you use. You want to choose apples that are naturally more sweet so that you do not have to use a lot of additional sugar. Naturally sweet apples are Red Delicious, Gala, Fuji, and McIntosh. I like to use a combination of apples rather than just one type. I used Gala and Fuji this time around- but you can change it up however you like. You can start with a few tbsp. of sugar and add more as they cook if needed. This is a very easy and versatile recipe and a great way to use up some yummy apples!

Ingredients (makes 4 servings

4 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup sugar (or start with less and adjust after cooking)

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Directions

In a saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar and cinnamon.

Cover and cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes until apples are soft.

Allow apples to cool and then mash with potato masher to desired consistency. Serve immediately and refrigerate leftovers.

ENJOY!

Oatmeal Bars

Sometimes the best recipes are still found on the ingredient boxes! My family loves the Quaker Oats Oatmeal Cookie recipe that I found on a canister a few years ago. This makes a very moist, yummy and nutritious (well at least somewhat) snack for anytime! I very seldom make the actual cookies though- probably 90% of the time I make these into the bar variation listed in the directions. I will post the recipe how we make them, but if you want to make cookies instead, just refer to the link above! Some of variations include adding 1 cup raisins or chopped nuts. Or omit the cinnamon and nutmeg and add 1 cup chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or peanut butter chips. Yum!

Ingredients (Makes 24 bars)

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt (omit if you use salted butter)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)

Directions
Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg and mix well. Stir in oats until combined.

Press dough into the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely in pan. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered.



ENJOY!

Classic Tomato Sauce

It just seems wrong to use jarred pizza sauce on a homemade pizza crust! So, I went to the pantry to see what I could come up with. The outcome? A REALLY tasty tomato sauce that could be used on anything from pizza to pasta. My husband and I love spicy foods, but the kids do not. So, I only added red pepper flakes to one half of the recipe and left the other half plain for the kids. This is such a simple sauce that there is no need for the jarred kind (with all those preservatives)!

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp salt
28 oz can crushed tomatoes

Directions

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the minced garlic, red pepper flakes and salt. Stir and saute for 45 seconds (do not brown the garlic). Stir in the tomatoes. Heat the sauce over a low simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and use as desired.

I initially used the sauce for our pizza, but thought it would taste great tossed with some pasta and a little cheese...and I was right! :-)

ENJOY!

Pizza Pizza!

Another pizza recipe??? What can I say, my family loves pizza! My husband really likes pizza and the kids are coming around to liking it. Since we were "home bound" for the ice day, we decided to make homemade pizza for lunch. We used the bread machine to mix and rise the dough- can't get much easier than that! This dough was really easy to work with and made a very good pizza! We made one pizza for the kids and one for us (spicy sauce). I baked theirs on a greased baking sheet and baked ours on a pizza stone. Both came out very good ! The one for the kids came out with a soft crust that they both loved. And ours came out with a crust that was crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside- perfect! I would say that this recipe was definitely a success since Daniel had 6 pieces!! (That is saying A LOT for my picky eater!) We will definitely be making this one again!

This recipe is a compilation of many recipes that we have tried. The fun thing about making pizza is that you can add whatever toppings you like and everyone can help! We went simple and opted for cheese pizzas this time, but there are so many options!

**This pizza has quickly become a very requested thing in our house which still amazes me- my kids LOVE it! I wanted to add a few tips from the various times I have made it so far. First, the recipe says to divide the dough into 2 and work with your hands to spread it out to desired shape. The first time I made this, I was quite sure one half was not going to spread out to a good size. So, I decided to leave it as one piece and spread it out. MISTAKE! The pizza puffed up about 2 inches high in the oven and it was a crazy mess. Initially, it will seem impossible to spread it out with your hands. But trust me- it is very easy to work with on a greased pan. I can easily get one half of the dough to a 12" pizza size or even a little larger. If it seems hard to work with, let it rest a few minutes and try again. Second: There are times that the kids want pizza and we don't so 2 pizzas is too much. While my son loves the pizza, he isn't too fond of "reheated pizza". So, the last time I tried to refrigerate half of the recipe to use another day, but it just didn't work out :-( But on another occasion, I was able to halve all of the ingredients and make just one pizza.

**If you do not have a bread machine, you can still make this! If you have a stand mixer, combine the ingredients and use the dough hook attachment to knead the dough. (If you don't have a stand mixer, you can mix the ingredients by hand and knead until smooth) Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Spray an oven safe bowl with cooking spray. Put the dough in the bowl and turn it around to get the cooking spray on all sides. Cover the bowl with a towel and place in a warm area until the dough doubles. My trick for letting the dough rise is to turn your oven on to 170 degrees- once it gets to 170, turn the oven off and put the covered bowl in the oven until doubled- usually about 30-40 minutes.



Ingredients

1 cup warm water (110 degrees)
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
3 cups bread flour
2 1/4 tsp yeast (I use bread machine yeast)
pizza sauce (canned or homemade)
shredded cheese
toppings of choice


Directions
Put ingredients in bread machine pan in order given above. Turn on dough cycle.

When dough is complete, remove from pan and put on a floured surface. Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Spray a heavy pizza pan with olive oil or cooking spray. Use your hands to flatten and stretch the dough to fit the pan. If you have trouble stretching the dough, let it rest a few minutes before continuing.

Layer sauce then cheese and other toppings. You want to keep the ingredient load in check- if you put too much, it will cause the crust to be too soggy and take too long to bake. Bake in oven preheated to 450 degrees. Let cool 2-3 minutes before slicing. As much as you will want to cut right into the pizza, allowing it to rest a few minutes will keep the cheese from sliding off!







ENJOY!!

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

We are having one of those rare snow days in Texas today so everyone is snuggled at home! I was surprised that they cancelled school at 10pm last night before there was even any precipitation. But of course, it was a good call as there is a lot of ice (and some snow) out there this morning. So far, my husband's work is delayed 2 hours, but we're still hoping that they cancel. Even if they don't cancel, he'll work from home, so that's not too bad.

Anyway, back to the food! We eat pancakes quite often around here and I've had a chocolate chip pancake on my list to try so why not today? These turned out very fluffy with a hint of chocolate goodness. Not surprising, but these did not last long at all! Guess the kids are fueling up to go play in the bitter cold!! I'm sure you could simply add chocolate chips to your favorite recipe for a yummy result. The kids prefer their pancakes plain while Tony enjoyed his with syrup. I was somewhere in between and just used butter. :-)
.

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, combine eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the chocolate chips. Using a 1/4 measuring cup, pour batter onto a hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top and cook until brown.

ENJOY!