Apple Crumb Pie

This is Adam Apple Mouth. This is what happens when you are a little brother and you've been expected to entertain yourself while all the grownups are watching football or cooking. All day long. And then your sister tries to make an apple pie and your mom sliced up the apples, which was awesome of her, but your sister isn't quite ready to assemble the pie yet and there are apples sliced up and sitting on the counter and one of your favorite foods is apples.

After a very long two days of painting and cooking, everything else was in the oven or on the counter ready to go for dinner and I was making this pie to go in the oven while we ate. Adam likes apples. And there were plenty left for the pie. And the pie was a complete success. I even suggested tweaking something for if I make it again and Sam said something about how I couldn't ruin the best pie ever. So, apparently, it's the best pie ever.

Adam Apple Mouth

Pie after being sliced into

Also, I love this blog I've been reading Hyperbole and a Half. Everyone else has probably already heard of it, but I just discovered it. Allie's posts about depression (post one and post two) are hilariously insightful and her post on procrastination and guilt seems like it was written directly to me. Please read it, it's wonderful! (There are some curse words though, just so you know)

Pie before crumble topping

Onto pie. The recipe came from My Sweet Vegan by Emily Mainquist. This is an awesome book that has so many recipes I want to try and came to me courtesy of Trina from Your Vegan Mom. The pie was super easy and quick to put together, but I did have to bake it for about an hour longer than stated. It was all good though, we were playing Yahtzee and not ready for pie yet. I added some lemon juice and apple butter to the filling and used about 1/3 cup sugar instead of 3/4. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly so I don't want to publish it here -- go buy the book! Seriously, it's great.

Action shot

The tempting bowl of apples

Pie crust, apples, and look at our green dining room!

More to come on green bean casserole, dining room before and after, roast squash, cranberry sauce, eating (some) garlic and onions again, and actual recipes!

Hubby's Grownup Breakfast

So, I don't have a picture for this quick post because Sam took this smoothie with him to work this morning. Sam is trying to eat more fruits and vegetables -- I'm so proud of him! I'm hoping it goes well, since he has allergies to many fruits-- we're just kind of trying to ignore that for now and see if he can eat them. Maybe we'll get a better plan in the future, maybe digestive enzymes or go organic? I don't know if either of those would help. This morning I sent him off with a cup of coffee instead of an energy drink, and a smoothie instead of a breakfast sandwich. The smoothie was darn tasty, too, if you ask me. When I texted him to ask how his new breakfast was he responded that it tasted "grown up...in an ok but I'll have to get used to it way." I'm deciding to take that as a compliment!

Makes about 10 oz.

• 1/2 small gala (or other) apple
• 1/2-2/3 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 medium banana, peeled, broken in half, and frozen
• 1/2-2/3 cup orange juice
• 2 large spinach leaves

• If you have a high-powered blender, just put everything in and blend it up.
• If you don't, let the banana and strawberries sit out of the freezer in a bowl for a few minutes and add the orange juice, apple, and spinach to your blender. Blend until as smooth as it'll get and then add the frozen fruit. Blend until no longer chunky. Pour into a glass or blender bottle and enjoy!

This is a perfect beginner smoothie, it doesn't look green or taste funny. It's mostly just orangey-fruity tasting. Sam actually eats spinach really well but he's never had any sort of green drink so we're going slow on that end. Who knows, this time next year, he may be taking a green juice to work in the the morning!

Raw Caramel Apples

apples awaiting their caramelly fate

Whew, mini camera emergency. I was taking a million pictures of these beautiful little apples, I stuck the sticks into them, and was taking a bunch more pictures, and poof! "Battery exhausted." Why does it get exhausted? I feel like that's a weird way to put it and I have that thought every time it happens. After a moment of panic and more than a couple of moments rummaging through boxes, I found the cord to charge the camera. Whew, crisis averted. Onto making some caramel apples. Raw caramel apples free of refined sugar! That may not sound great to you, but for those in the know, they know that dates make an amaaazing caramel sauce. And also, you don't have to cook date caramel! Now, caramel is one of my all-time favorite things, don't get me wrong, but usually it's sticky, makes a mess, and takes quite a long while. Not this time. Super quick and only uses one kitchen tool-- a food processor. You can also do this with a blender, just take a little more time, add a little more water, and scrape down the sides a lot. This is where I got to put into play my birthday present! It was my birthday on Saturday.

vegan oreo cake from Whole Foods!

I had a fun day hanging out with family, going swimming-- an all time dream of mine, to go swimming on my birthday!-- and eating some delicious beans my honey cooked, along with some homemade tortillas-- recipe for those coming later.

Homemade tortillas and Sam's amazing beans

pretty peppers, while Sam was chopping veggies to make the beans

Anyway, my father-in-law got me the most thoughtful gift! A Ninja Kitchen System. It's awesome. So far, it whips out a mean pumpkin spice tea coconut oil latte,

yummy coconut oil pumpkin spice latte-- just blend a tablespoon of coconut oil with a strong cup of pumpkin  spice tea until creamy... so yum

.... and makes the best banana ice cream ice ever had. 
 

so good

yum! check out how creamy that is!

It can also make this delicious caramel sauce. As I am typing this, I'm attempting to get the last bit of caramel out of the mug I dipped the apples in. I've already had to wash my face and hands once. It's delicious.

Date Caramel

1 cup dates
1 tablespoon peanut butter (raw if you want to keep things raw)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water/non-dairy milk
apples on sticks (I used kabob sticks because that's all I could find--you'd think the stores would have sticks right by the apples this time of year, but not that I saw)
other yummy toppings, if desired-- chocolate chips, nuts, etc.

Whir together in a food processor until a smooth paste is formed-- a couple of minutes. Scoop out into a bowl (or large mug) and dunk your apples in. Coat in extra yummies if you want. I'm kind of a caramel apple purist, but other toppings are good too, sometimes.

swirly caramel goodness

 

Yogurt Review!

So I went to Whole Foods a little while ago and got some vegan yogurt. I'd only ever tried non-dairy yogurt once, so I got a couple of different ones to try. Greek Style So Delicious Chocolate, WholeSoy Lemon, and Amande Coconut. 

Sorry for the eh picture, I took it quickly and then ate the yogurt, so.... They were all pretty high in calories, but I figured, if it's good, it'll be worth it. The So Delicious was... not good in my opinion. The Greek Style-ness was weirdly thick and it didn't really taste like chocolate. The Amande was pretty good, but I didn't think it was super special. Anyway, the best by far was the WholeSoy Lemon-- it is amazing! It's creamy and lemon-y and all around great. I had it with fruit, and it's especially good with pineapple and blueberries. So seriously, if you're looking for some tangy vegan creaminess, this is the way to go. So go ahead, enjoy!

Poppy Apple Salad in a Jar

Sweet, creamy poppy seed dressing, smooth edamame, crispy apples, bright spinach, and toasty sunflower seeds make for an amazing (and filling) salad.

With all of the salads-in-jars floating around the internet these days, I thought I should try it out! I made two different kinds, but only one turned out so that's the one I'll share-- it's the one on the left. Lucky for you guys, the one that did turn out was uh-maze-ing. This one also packs a whopping 13 grams of protein-- quite a bit for a salad, which makes it filling enough for a meal. Without further ado, here's the recipe!

Poppy Apple Salad in a Jar

serves 1

Ingredients in order bottom to top:

• creamy poppy seed dressing (Briana's is good, and so is Ken's lite)
• 1/2 cup shelled edamame (the kind I get is in the frozen section-- just run under warm water in a colander to defrost)
• 1/2 red delicious apple, diced
• 1-2 crimini mushrooms (optional)
• 1 T minced red onion
• about 1 cup spinach, torn
• 2 T roasted sunflower seeds

Directions:

• Just layer everything in order in a 32 oz. mason jar (I reuse ones that salsa and peanut butter come in).
• Store in the fridge for up to 5 days. If making this ahead of time, you can easily make as many salad jars as you want and save in the fridge for later in the week-- just make sure the jars don't get tipped over or you'll have soggy lettuce!
• When ready to eat, just shake it up and enjoy!

cals: 325kcal | fat: 17.77g | carbs: 29.32g | prot: 13.09g

Blueberry Pancakes

Wow, these are good. My sweet husband satisfied my craving for blueberry pancakes the other day-- he's the resident pancake-cooking expert in our house. The batter comes from one of my favorite blogs-- Maple Spice. Here's her recipe for pancakes and waffles. They are pretty perfect on their own, but I added blueberries for their beautiful burst of flavor and color. I think next time, I might try a little more liquid because I prefer my pancakes a little less puffy. These also freeze beautifully-- I froze 3 per baggy and then used the toaster or microwave to heat for a near-instant breakfast.

Blueberry Pancakes

makes 12 medium pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar (powdered or granulated-- agave or maple would probably work also)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cups almond or soy milk
• 1/2 cup sparkling water
• 1 3/4 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 tablespoon margarine

Directions:

•  Combine the first 4 ingredients (the dry ingredients), then add the next 3 (the liquid ingredients). Toss the blueberries on top.
• Stir gently to combine without beating the air out of the batter.
• From here on the directions are according to Sam: Heat a skillet to medium heat, add 1/2 the margarine, and allow to bubble for a minute.
• Then scoop batter into the pan by 1/4 to 1/2 cup and wait until the pancake starts to bubble up on top.
• Flip over and cook until golden, adding more margarine if needed.
• To freeze, cool completely and freeze in baggies for up to a month.

1/12 recipe: cals: 126kcal | fat: 3.39g | carbs: 21.55g | prot: 2.41g

Banana Blueberry Breakfast Bowl

This is a super quick and easy breakfast. I like to eat my oatmeal cold and not cooked-- just pour some non-dairy milk over some oatmeal and go. I think it has a better texture that way. Next time I'll probably double everything but the flax and maybe add some more oatmeal. So yummy.

Ingredients:

 

1/2 large banana

1/3 cup blueberries

1 tablespoon milled flax

2 tablespoons old fashioned oats

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

Directions:

Mix together and enjoy!