 I have this bad habit of consistently overestimating the number of apples that my family can consume before they go bad. I get sucked into those beautiful grocery store apple displays - I get overzealous and I buy way more than I need. Since the sight of wrinkled apples makes me crazy, I usually find some way to use them up quickly. This week I made some apple squares from a recipe that I found on the Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms website.  Apple Squares Dough 5 cups flour 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups shortening 1 cup milk 4 eggs, separated 2 cups crushed cornflakes Filling 6 Granny Smith apples 1 cup sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Bake 1 hour at 350.  The original recipe had a simple powdered sugar icing drizzled on top. To be perfectly honest after smelling the irresistible aroma of freshly baked apples for an hour, there was no way we were going to wait for them to cool and get iced before eating them. I cut them into squares and the sampling began.  The verdict? - yummmmmm! These little apple squares were so good it was hard not to eat more than one.
No time to make a pie? No problem - make apple squares instead. They're quicker and easier to transport and serve than apple pie but they taste just as delicious. Ciao!
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 This has been a really busy week for all of us. Dinner had to come together quickly because there was no extra time for frilly or fancy meals this week. Pork chops were already on the menu for the week so I chose some thin sliced chops for quick grilling. A quick dry rub and 10 minutes on the grill made these pork chops not only quick but also delicious. Check out that mashed cauliflower on the plate too. Dry Rubbed Pork Chops Rub: 2 Tablespoons brown sugar 1 ½ teaspoons cumin 2 teaspoons salt ½ teaspoon dry mustard 2 teaspoons paprika ¼ teaspoon allspice 2 teaspoons chili powder ¼ teaspoon red pepper 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
I mixed up the rub and sprinkled it on the chops just before grilling.
I cooked the pork chops on the Big Green Egg for about 10 minutes on each side at 300 degrees.
I served the pork chops with mashed cauliflower, fresh green beans and yeast rolls.  The pork chops were delicious and I love the fact that dinner came together in under 30 minutes. If you have a busy week ahead, make sure you put these grilled pork chops on your menu.
Ciao! My struggle to get healthy weeknight meals on the table continues. I'm starting to wonder whether we are ever going to have an evening when all four of us are home before 7:00. With no real end to the hectic schedules in sight, I planned another weeks worth of quick dinners to feed this busy family. I'm starting to run out of healthy recipes that I can fix in a hurry so if you have any great dinner ideas - I would love for you to share them with me. This week, I made some shrimp tacos and they definitely fit into the categories of healthy, quick and delicious.  Shrimp Tacos Sauce: Marinade: ¼ cup fat free sour cream 1 pound shrimp ¼ teaspoon chili powder 3 Tablespoons orange juice 1/8 teaspoon cumin 2 cloves garlic ¼ teaspoon red pepper 2 teaspoons olive oil 1/16 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon chili powder Salt ½ teaspoon cumin ¼ teaspoon red pepper ½ teaspoon salt
I let the shrimp marinate for about 15 minutes while I mixed together the sauce and opened a bag of shredded cabbage.
The best way to eat these delicious tacos is to spread a little sauce on the tortilla, top with some shredded cabbage and then add a few shrimp. It was really hard for me to stop myself from eating more than 3 tacos. They were really good. Give these a try on your next busy night and don't forget to send me your quick and healthy dinner ideas.
Ciao!  I'm not really sure what I am going to do when my kids don't want me to help them make homemade Valentine's anymore. That is one of my favorite parts about this holiday. This year, my daughter and I made chocolate covered, heart shaped marshmallows for her to pass out to all of her friends at school.  These cute little treats were super simple to make - we made about 24 in under an hour. (Clean up took longer than expected though because somehow we managed to sprinkle EVERYTHING!) My daughter spotted a bag of heart shaped marshmallows in the grocery store several weeks ago and really thought they were something special. I didn't buy them right away because I really didn't know what to do with a heart shaped marshmallow. I came across the idea of dipping marshmallows in chocolate on pinterest and I thought they would be even cuter with heart shaped marshmallows. 
 Then came the fun part - sprinkling! When we finished, no 2 were alike.
These were some of the cutest Valentines that we have ever made. They looked really cute gathered up into a little Valentine bouquet too.  I hope you have a great Valentine's Day. Remember that you can share this post on your facebook page by clicking the "recommend on facebook" button on the right side of the blog.
Ciao! Last week, I had one of those days that absolutely wore me out. My to do list for the day looked something like this: Send 2 kids and 1 husband out the door by 7:00 A.M. (one with 4 dozen cookies in hand), walk the dog, get through an Insanity workout, make a trip to the orthodontist, dip 4 dozen cheesecake squares in chocolate, run through the grocery store, decorate 5 dozen rubber ducky sugar cookies, pick up t-shirts for the wrestling team from the printer, make 3 dozen white chocolate filled brownie cups, drop off snacks and drinks to the wrestling team, do 3 loads of laundry, attend a field trip meeting at school, bake and decorate 3 dozen pink lemonade cupcakes, pack snacks and lunches for the next day and help with homework. While I was doing all of this my husband was dropping the kids off at school, taking our son to the ENT, picking our daughter up from soccer practice, taking our son home from wrestling practice, cleaning the house and trying to squeeze some work in there too.
 The only problem was that we needed to pack dinner to eat somewhere in between practice and school meetings and homework and let's face a whole chicken just wouldn't have been very practical. I turned my rotisserie chicken in Southwest Chicken Stromboli in under 30 minutes. My husband and my son ate their dinner at home and I packed some up for my daughter and I to eat in the car. Southwest Chicken Stromboli Pizza dough (in tube) 3/4 cup salsa 1 onion, finely chopped 2/3 cup Mexican cheese 1 yellow pepper, chopped 1/2 cup refried beans 1 Tablespoon oil 3/4 teaspoon cumin 1 1/2 cups shredded, cooked chicken 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon chili powder 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1 egg white
Roll out pizza dough and spread filling over dough.
My kids picked out the red peppers from their Stromboli but they liked it. My husband really loved it and even took the leftovers for lunch the next day. I love that it was super easy and portable!
Ciao! |
