 Every year we make a trip up to Ellijay, Georgia to pick apples at BJ Reese's apple orchard. We love the apples and the kids love goodies that you can buy at the orchard store. One of their favorite treats is the fried apple pie. Delicious fruit filling stuffed inside a flaky pastry dough that is deep fried to crispy perfection.
This picture of my kids eating fried pies at the apple orchard was taken in 2008. (Wow - they grow up way too fast.) I don't like to eat fried food very often but I will admit to sampling these little deep fried delicacies. They are super delicious. I saw a recipe for "fried' pies in the May issue of Cooking Light and they looked ALMOST as good as the fried pies that we get up in Ellijay. I made a peach filling for my pies because we haven't been to the orchard to pick our apples this year.  "Fried" Peach Pie pie crust peach pie filling 1 egg 1 Tablespoon milk raw sugar Prepare pie crust and filling as directed. Roll pie crust to a think layer and cut it into circles. (We used a Tupperware lid to make our circles.)
Top with a spoonful of peach filling.
Bake 18 minutes at 425.  I served these little pies with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream - delicious. The best part is that you can wrap any extras in foil, throw them in the freezer and save them for another day. Chances are that you won't have any leftovers though.
Ciao!
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 Feeding a cross country runner and a soccer player has proved to be somewhat of a challenge. The kids are craving carbs and I think they're burning through them about as fast as they can eat them. Unfortunately, my 41 year old body doesn't process the carbohydrates as quickly as my calorie incinerating teenagers. (Imagine that.) You can see my dilemma - what can I fix for dinner that will load them with carbohydrates and lean protein without sabotaging my own diet? The grilled chicken Florentine pasta in the September issue of Cooking Light magazine looked like a perfect fit to satisfy starving athletes and a calorie conscious mother.
 Grilled Chicken Florentine Pasta 2 bone in chicken breasts 3/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon pepper 8 ounces linguini (I used whole grain pasta) 2 Tablespoons olive oil 3 Tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon fresh garlic 1 cup milk (I used 2% instead of the whole milk that was recommended.) 1 cup chicken broth 3 ounces Parmesan cheese 4 cups fresh spinach
Grill until 165 degrees. Let rest 10 minutes then slice thin.
Stir in spinach.
Add chicken and pasta.  Grilled Chicken Florentine Pasta - Love, love, love this dish. It's easy - it's healthy and best of all - it's delicious.  My family loved this meal as much as I did. As much as I hate to make the same recipe twice, I think I am going to have to make this a repeat meal. It was THAT good.
Ciao! 
Even though it was hard, I was in better shape and I felt better than I did when I started. The workouts were tough and my appetite definitely increased over the last month. I was constantly trying to find good sources of lean protein to satisify my overactive appetite. I found this recipe for sweet potato burritos on allrecipes.com and don't be fooled by the pictures - they're better than they look. The recipe caught my eye because they're loaded with healthy ingredients. Sweet potatoes and kidney beans are super foods in my book - nutrient rich and packed with protein. The best part about these burritos is that they're not only good for you, they also taste delicious! I even convinced my finicky teenager to eat one as post workout fuel.  Sweet Potato Burritos 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil 1/8 onion, chopped 5/8 clove garlic, minced 1 cup canned kidney beans, drained 1/3 cup water 1-1/2 teaspoons chili powder 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 3/4 teaspoon prepared mustard 1/8 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste 1-1/2 teaspoons soy sauce 2/3 cup cooked and mashed sweet potatoes 3 (10 inch) flour tortillas, warmed (I used corn and whole wheat tortillas) 1-1/2 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese Peel sweet potatoes and boil until tender. Mash.
Add beans and mash.
Don't be fooled by the pictures - these burritos are delicious.  The author of this recipe claimed that they were addicting but I had no idea HOW addicting. They were so good - I couldn't stop eating them. It's a good thing that they're healthy because I couldn't stop eating once I started eating.
If you are trying to get more protein and vegetables into your diet, you need to make these burritos. Ciao!  My blog quite simply is - My Story - in Recipes. Everyday, I try and give my readers a little more insight into my crazy life. Things can get pretty hectic around here while we juggle 2 careers and 2 very social kids and an especially wild dog. I post pictures and write stories about all the little events that happen throughout the week and of course I write about the big events in my life as well. Believe it or not, it's therapeutic for me to be able to share these "snapshots" of my life with all of you. As crazy as my life is some days, I couldn't imagine it any other way - or spending it with anybody else. Today is my 19th wedding anniversary and I'm reminded of just how blessed I am to have this wonderful person beside me. My husband fills my story with excitement and adventure and love. I don't often slow down long enough to tell him just how much I love him so I thought in honor of our anniversary, I would bake him a special anniversary cake. (It should come as no surprise to you that baking is the way that I show my love.) I found this recipe on the Williams Sonoma website and I cut it in half. Instead of making a 9" round cake, I used 3" mini springform pans to make personal sized cakes.  Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake For the streusel: 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 1 tsp. ground cinnamon Pinch of kosher salt 6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks 1 cup chopped pecans, lightly toasted (see note below) For the batter: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1 tsp. ground ginger 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 2 eggs 1/2 cup pumpkin puree 1/2 cup sour cream For the glaze: 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted 1 tsp. whole milk 1 tsp. vanilla extract Preheat an oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan or a 9-inch cake pan with 3-inch sides.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for about 15 minutes. Remove the sides from the pan and slide the cake onto the rack.
To make the glaze, in a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla. Drizzle over the top of the cake. Cut into thick wedges and serve. Makes one 9-inch coffee cake. 
I hope that you all had a great weekend. My sweet thirteen year old daughter and I got to spend lots of "girl time" together this weekend. It was fabulous - nail salons and movies and doughnuts and shopping and frozen yogurt - what more could a girl ask for? I also got to watch my favorite soccer team take the field for a game on Saturday afternoon. Even though they lost the game, it was an absolutely perfect day for a soccer game.  "Girl weekend" also meant that there wasn't a lot of cooking going on in this house. (We pretty much survived on pizza and sushi and chocolate.) Since I wasn't doing my normal blogging over the weekend, I pulled out a recipe from several weeks ago to share on today's blog. It is a great recipe - I just never got around to posting it. Better late than never.  I've said it before and I'll say it again - everything tastes better on a stick. I use this spice rub all the time on all kinds of meats - chicken, pork and beef. It's super quick to put together and everyone really seems to like it. To be honest, I didn't make pork skewers because everyone likes them better than traditional pork roast, it was because I ran out of time to cook a whole roast. By slicing the meat into thin strips, it cooks much quicker on the grill and I can have dinner on the table sooner. Quicker dinner = happier family = happy momma.  Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin Skewers 1 Tablespoon sugar ¼ teaspoon mustard powder 1 Tablespoon chili powder ¼ teaspoon thyme 2 teaspoons salt 2 pounds pork tenderloin
Combine rub ingredients and rub on tenderloin.
Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes to 24 hours. Cook on the grill for 10 minutes on each side.  I served my pork skewers with crispy smashed potatoes and homemade applesauce. It was a big hit.  This is also a great meal to share with friends. If you're taking someone a meal and can't quite decide what to make for them - this is a great meal that kids and adults will enjoy. Skip the traditional lasagna and chicken casseroles and make some spice rubbed pork skewers. I packed half of the skewers in a foil tray and took them to a friend.  Ciao!
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