Man how time flies!! - Personal Post Monday with an APPLE CRISP recipe!

Okay - so an entire week flew by and here it is Monday and time for a personal post.  I was going to post about our Wisconsin trip - but I haven't even uploaded those pictures yet - so instead you get Halloween - lol!!  But be sure to go to the end of this post for an amazing Apple Crisp recipe - it is my FAV!!

So here are pictures of my grand kids on Halloween night - it's the first Halloween ever that I think we have not spent with at least some of them :(  But my girls were sure to send me pictures -

Paisley, Prince and Zamarah as Minions!

Kamili as Bat Girl and Makai as Wonder Woman!

Zavian as Captain America and Kyan as Iron Man!

Here's the entire crew lined up and ready to hit the streets for CANDY!

So - I had apples in the fridge that I had purchased before our trip and they needed to be used - so I decided to make Apple Crisp.  Hubby loves anything with apples - but this recipe is so simple and soooo delish!  I used my Pampered Chef Apple Peeler-Corer-Slicer - which makes prep so quick!

 

Here's a picture of the pan  - this makes a small cake pan full - this pan was 7" x 11" and is what I used the recipe below for. If you are using a regular size cake pan - you'd probably want to half it again or even double it. You can fill the pan to the very top, as it cooks down some as it bakes.

And I meant to show this ala-mode picture before I started eating it - but my appetite got the better of me :)

I also took the peelings - a cup of water and some cinnamon and simmered it on the stove - it make the entire house smell amazing and I was able to do it again the next day with the same pot of peelings before having to throw them.  Such a warm, cozy feeling in the house when you do this.

So finally - here is the recipe - please let me know if you try it and what you think.  I like it best when it is still warm out of the oven with vanilla ice cream.  But it is good cold too!  Not that it lasts long around here.  Enjoy - and stop back soon!  ~Maureen

Apple Crisp - YUMMY!

5-6 big apples (I'm biased towards Granny Smith, but Granny Smith and Honeycrisp mixed are great too.)

1/4 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup water mixed

ground cinnamon  

TOPPING -

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 stick cold butter sliced into about 8 pats

Peel your apples, and slice them into a buttered casserole dish or cake pan. 

Pour the lemon juice mixture over apples.

Generously sprinkle cinnamon on top - use as much or little as you wish - I love cinnamon - so mine were covered pretty well.

Combine flour, brown sugar and butter into a pretty bowl with your fingers till crumbly. You could also use a pastry cutter for this - but I like using my fingers for this step.

Pour crumbles evenly over the top of apples. 

Put in the oven at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until nice and golden brown. 

EAT AND ENJOY!!

Collage Stamping

This month's technique for club was "Collage Stamping"  I love this beautiful and fast technique.  Here is the recipe card and the sample we made using "The Open Sea" stamp set.  A perfect set (and technique) for masculine cards. 

I'm currently restructuring my club for the new year and will be putting out the information soon. Hope you can plan to join us - either at club or by joining my new virtual club.  Stop back often so you don't miss the information!! ~Maureen

Quick Easy Mexican Shredded Chicken

Just wanted to share a quick and easy crockpot recipe that is a go to for me on busy weeks.  In the morning before I leave for work I dump a 2 1/2 - 3 pound bag of frozen chicken breasts or tenders into my crockpot - then pour two jars of salsa on top - what ever kind you like - medium size jars.  No exact measurements.  I had accidentally picked up the "HOT" jar of Salsa Ranchero - so this time I mixed it with a mild Salsa Verde and it turned out great - but usually I just use two jars of medium salsa and it has a nice kick, but is not hot.  I put it cooking on low all day while I'm gone - 8-10 hours. 

When I get home I take two forks and shred the meat right in the crockpot and stir it up with the liquid and then we roll it up in a flour tortilla burrito style.  Top with shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, sour cream, black olives, avocado, more salsa - whatever toppings you like on your tacos/burritos.  It is soooo easy, soooo yummy and we freeze half to have a week later again.  Enjoy!! If you try it leave me a comment on what you think.  ~Maureen

Gingerbread House Decorating Day!!

So those of you who are facebook friends know this past Sunday was our annual Graham Cracker Gingerbread House decorating day.  This is such a fun tradition with the grandkids - I look forward to it every year.  So here's the table set with fun decorating stuff -

and of course the houses :) If you want to see how we made the little houses - there are pictures and directions HERE.

Let the decorating begin - 

Makai, Heidi, Zavian and Prince

Prince, Jenee and Zamarah

Kamili and Paisley

And here are the proud creators and their final creations -

PAISLEY

PRINCE

ZAMARAH

KAMILI

MAKAI

ZAVIAN

And my girls also had to get in on the action -

JENEE

HEIDI

Then each year we take a picture of the kids with Gramma - we snapped about 15 pictures - which all ended up being craziness - here are just a couple of them -

Crazy smiles on some of those kids and I wasn't expecting the rabbit ears!!

More crazy looks - if I could photoshop I could probably come up with one great picture - but this definitely shows personalities!!

The rest of the day was great - spent some time doing Wii dance while the Turkey Dumpling 

Soup finished - then all sat down to a great lunch!  The kids especially love the dumplings - which were my Mom's (GRAMMA O's) recipe and one of my favorites.  So easy I'll share here - first make your soup - chicken stock, turkey, carrots, celery, peas, potatoes - whatever veggies you want, season with pepper.  Cook till all veggies are tender. In a bowl mix 1/2 stick melted butter with 1 cup flour and 1 egg, pinch of salt, 1/2 t black pepper. Stir till mixed will lose it's stickiness. (You can double or triple this if you want more dumplings)  Bring soup to a boil, break off walnut sized pieces and drop into boiling soup - cook at least 10 minutes - I like to cook mine longer - about 1/2 hour so they really get the flavor of the stock.  TIP - if you soup is already salty - leave the salt out of the dumplings - it will pick up enough from the soup. Stop back soon - and leave a comment on a favorite Holiday Tradition you have!! ~Maureen

Slow Cooker Navy Bean Soup

So now and then I share some of my favorite recipes - mostly for the crockpot - as my crockpot and I are best buddies!! Today I'm sharing this yummy and easy bean soup.  It's perfect for right after the holidays as it uses up a lot of that leftover ham in the fridge.  Here's how my counter looked right before assembly in the crock pot.

Slow Cooker Navy Bean Soup

• 1 bag dried navy beans
• 1-2 cups chopped ham 
• 8 cups liquid -  I used 3 cups of stock from cooking the ham in the slow cooker earlier*; 28 oz of diced tomatoes and juice;14.5 oz. chicken broth and a 1/2 cup water
• 3 stalks celery chopped
• 3/4 cup onion chopped
• 2 cups carrots sliced
• Spices to taste - I used 2 tsp black pepper; 1 tsp crushed garlic, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 bay leaf, remove before serving

Cover beans completely and soak overnight in a bowl of water. The next morning drain the water and place beans in the crock pot. Add the rest of the ingredients.  Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.  Serve with cheese and some good sourdough or pumpernickel bread.  Here it all is in the crockpot ready to cook.

Here it is in my bowl read to eat - we had it with  whole wheat sour dough bread and muenster cheese and it was amazing.  Soup can be a bit salty, so don't add any extra salt to it.  To make less salty use less of the ham stock and more water or low sodium chicken broth.  You really don't need any ham stock at all - it would be great with just chicken broth and the canned chopped tomatoes and juice.

 

This made a bit crock pot full - we had it for two more meals after this - and it just got better as it sat and was re-heated. * I cook my ham (as big as will fit, bone in, in my crockpot) - just put it in there with no water, and let it cook 8 hours on low.  It gives it a really rich slow cooked flavor and yields the most wonderful stock for this soup.  Enjoy!  and if you make it, please leave me a comment on how it was.  ~Maureen