Slimming Smoothies

Homemade Everything Apple Pie

Don't you think that homemade is just so much better than anything else out there? I don't always cook from scratch, I'll admit that. I enjoy the convenience of eating without slaving away. But when I am in the mood for something a little better and willing to put in a little time, I get an urge to turn my nose up to the frozen and canned goods, and reach for the pantry door. And to my computer to find a good recipe. 

Crust:

2 1/2 C. flour

1 C. butter

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

6-8 Tb. ice water

May substitute 1/2 cup flour with almond flour and add 1 tsp. brown sugar for a richer crust flavor

Mix flour, sugar and salt. Cut in butter, slowly add ice water while mixing. Press crumbs together with hand or spatula. May need to chill if butter becomes too soft. 

Filling:

6 cups peeled, sliced apples

3/4 C. sugar

2 Tb. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1 Tb. lemon juice

Peel and slice apples. Toss with remaining ingredients. Spoon into prepared pie shells. Brush crust with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. 

Bake at 425 for 40-45 min. 

Toffee Apple Dip

I love the apple and caramel combination, so the crunchy, caramel-like toffee bits in this make this an easy and tasty substitute. I love cream cheese and I love toffee. And I love easy snack ideas. What more can I say?

1 package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup toffee bits

Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together. Add toffee bits. Serve with sliced apples.

Freezer Jam

We just made a bunch of freezer jam this week, so I decided to put it on the blog, especially since I've referred to it in a few of my other posts. We love this stuff. It tastes so fresh! This week we made two different flavors- strawberry and peach- but you can use any kind of fruit. 

This is the kind of pectin I used, in case you were wondering. There are directions right on the back of the label that list how much fruit, sugar and pectin are needed. And it's super simple- basically just stirring everything together. We just dump everything into a blender, blend for a minute, and pour into freezer jars and freeze. The jam lasts 1 year in the freezer, and 3 weeks in the fridge. One mason-jar-full doesn't hardly last two weeks in our house. 

Directions:

2 1/3 cups strawberries (or other fruit, mashed)

1 1/3 cup sugar

4 Tb. pectin

(2 Tb. lemon juice for peach jam)

Pulse fruit in blender, add sugar and pectin (and lemon juice if your doing peach jam). Pour into freezer jars and freeze. 

Fresh Fruit Tarte

This is an easy and delicious dessert idea! I love fresh berries and kiwi! I've been craving them a lot lately. I usually serve them in the morning with some homemade granola and some fruity yogurt, but I decided to throw this together to go with our dinner tonight since it was so easy.

1 box instant vanilla pudding

3/4 cup cold milk

1 1/2 cup whipped topping or freshly whipped cream

1 graham cracker crust (or pre-cooked pie crust)

1 cup fresh berries

1-2 kiwi, peeled and sliced

Beat pudding and milk. Stir in whipped cream. Spoon into graham cracker shell and top with kiwi and berries. (Or make mini-tarts in muffin tins.)

Apple Tart

Tarte aux Pommes

I've been wanting to make an apple tart ever since the leaves started changing colors. I love apples! Apple cider, apple butter, apple crisp, apple dumplings, caramel apples... And I get a craving for all of that in the fall. I've made the cider, the caramel apples, apple sauce and apple butter so far, but with this one I needed a good recipe first. So, I once again consulted a French recipe from Julia Child.

Oven: 375•

4-6 cooking apples, (Golden Delicious)

1 tsp lemon juice

1 Tb vanilla

1 cup sugar

3 Tb Butter

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Apricot preserves

Peel and core the apples, and cut them into thin slices. Place in a pan with lemon juice, vanilla, sugar, butter and cinnamon over low heat. Cover and let heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender.

Crust (Sweet Short Paste- Pâte Brisée Sucrée)

1 cup all purpose flour, scooped and leveled

1 Tb sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

4 Tb. butter

2 Tb. Crisco, or vegetable shortening

3 Tb. cold water

Place the flour in a mixing bowl with the sugar and salt. Add the butter and crisco and cut with pastry blender. Add cold water and mix till combined. Roll out on floured surface. Place in pie shell or cheese cake pan. Trim edges and sprinkle sugar in bottom of crust.

Pour in apple filling, arranging the top pieces, if you wish, to form a ring or spiral. Brush with apricot preserves. Bake for 30-35 min. or until the apples and crust have browned slightly. Slide tart onto serving dish. Serve with fresh whipped cream.

Homemade Caramel

I love caramel apples, but I have really gotten tired of using the little caramel candies or caramel apple wraps, and even the apple dip doesn't cut it. So, the other day I made some homemade caramel. It was so good! I don't think I'll ever resort to store-bought caramel again! I also used some of the caramel to make caramel popcorn balls, which were also really good! It would probably be good on other things, like chocolate cakes, cheesecakes, or ice cream! Here's the recipe:

1 cup butter (not margarine)

2 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup corn syrup

1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter in large saucepan. Add remaining ingredients, except nuts. Cook and stir over medium-high heat, about 10 min. (You can cook it longer until thermometer reaches 248˚ to make caramel candies.) Let cool and store in air-tight container in refrigerator. Reheat slightly to use.

Extra coatings on caramel:

Chocolate (of course)
White chocolate and cinnamon sugar (my new fave)
Crushed candy bars, like Score, or Butterfinger
Crushed cookies, like Oreos or Nutter-Butters
Chopped nuts

Grilled Peaches

We tried these tonight and it was delicious. We skipped out on the whip cream and mint leaves, and I sliced the peaches instead of halfing them. Recipe and photo from kraftfoods.com

1/4 cup KRAFT Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

2 Tbsp. honey

4 ripe peaches, halved and pitted

1/2 cup thawed COOL WHIP FREE Whipped Topping

PREHEAT grill to medium-high heat. Mix dressing and honey in medium bowl. Add peaches; toss to coat.

GRILL peaches 6 to 8 min. or until softened, turning occasionally and brushing with the dressing mixture.

PLACE 2 peach halves in each of 4 dessert dishes; top each with 2 Tbsp. of the whipped topping. Garnish with fresh mint leaves, if desired.