What's Baking~Christmas Cookies

I have not yet baked one Christmas cookie. Seriously- not one. But that's not abnormal for me- I actually do not start baking until the week before Christmas. I like my cookies fresh for the Holidays and I don't like to over do it on the sweets for Christmas. Plus, I know for a fact that Santa's favorite Christmas cookies are peanut butter blossoms, and that he likes them made on Christmas Eve;-) We always save those for very last, and the girls help, since those are the ones we leave out for Santa.
So since this is the week before Christmas, we will get started on our baking. I thought I would share my Cookie Menu with you. We'll see if I actually get all of these done.

Traditional Favorites:
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Chocolate Chip ( my husband's favorite)
Sugar Cookies

Chocolate Fudge Balls

Cranberry Orange Bread (ok, so that's not a cookie)

Grownups' Favorites:
Double Chocolate Biscotti

Cranberry Orange Biscotti
Chocolate Cappucino Cookies
Raspberry Wine and Chocolate Dipped Butter Cookies (and clementines- SO GOOD!)

Do you see a theme with the chocolate? I am actually a closet choco-holic-(Shhhh don't tell anyone.) And to help with that addiction I found dairy free chocolate chips at Trader Joes.

But, first things first, I have to make Rice Krispie Treat Christmas Trees for my middle daughter's preschool party tomorrow and wrap teachers' gifts.

As I make these cookies I will share the recipes. I cannot wait to start baking this week, especially with my girls.

For the Kids~Homemade Apple Chips

We belong to a Summer and a Fall CSA , and last week we got a huge bag of locally grown apples. Along with that we also got a bag of tangerines, sweet potatoes, broccoli, white potatoes, and a head of cabbage. If you aren't part of a CSA, I highly recommend finding one and joining.

Since we have so many apples right now, I decided to turn some of them into apple chips for the girls. My kids love dried fruit, and they love apples so this seems to be the perfect snack for them.
I originally saw this idea on Pinterest, then looked up several other recipes to see different variations. I put together a few different ideas and came up with my own:

Ingredients:
Apples
Ground Cinnamon
Nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat oven to between 235F and 250F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.

Wash your apples. Core them but leave the skin on. Slice thinly if your corer doesn't do it for you.




Sprinkle with cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. I did not add any sugar at all- some recipes do, but apples are sweet enough in my opinion. Plus, these are for the kids and I want them to be a healthy snack, not loaded with sugar.


Let cook for 1 hour. At the end of the hour, take them out and flip them. Put back in the oven and cook for 1 more hour. Your total cooking time is 2 hours so not too bad at all. I put these in the oven before I started on dinner, and they were done in time for a pre-bedtime snack.



I have to make more today- the girls have already finished these off. Luckily we got another bag of apples with our delivery this week.

An added bonus- they made my house smell AMAZING!

Tastes Like Christmas~Cranberry Orange Bread

Ever since I can remember my Mom always made Cranberry Orange Nut bread around the holidays. It has always been my very favorite bread because the tastes in it remind me of Christmas. The cranberry and orange together with just a touch of sweet- so so good!
When I became a wife and mom, I decided it was time to make my own. However, I don't like nuts in breads. Plus children under the age of 5 should not eat nuts since they are a choking hazard, so I always eliminate them from any bread recipe.

The original recipe can be found on the back of the Ocean Spray cranberry bag. That recipe uses shortening but I don't like to use that if I can help it, so I use my organic vegan butter instead.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Earth Balance butter, softened
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup orange juice
1 cup chopped fresh cranberries


Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350F and spray a loaf pan lightly with cooking spray.

1.Chop your cranberries in a food processor.

2.In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. (It will be a little more crumbly than creamy). Beat in 1 egg and the grated orange peel.



3.In another bowl combine the dry ingredients.

4.Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, alternating with the orange juice. Gently fold in the cranberries.



5.Pour into a greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan.


Bake at 350 degrees F for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.



I made this on Saturday, and it was gone by Sunday night. I am going to make more today, and freeze a few of them to have through December. Although I doubt they will last that long!
If there is ever only 1 of my recipes you try, I hope it is this one. This bread really is THAT good!

Happy Cooking!

Slow Cooker Cinnamon Applesauce

Every season seems to have it's signature fruit or vegetable, that one food that says to us that season is here. For me, Fall's signature fruit is the Apple. I know apples are available all year long, but we don't really use them in cooking in other months like we do in the Fall. The beginning of Fall is the start of tons of tasty apple dishes- apple pie, apple crumble, pork chops with apples, baked apples, and my daughter's favorite- Homemade Apple Sauce. I am sure I will have several apple recipes to share with you over the coming month, but I thought I'd start with this one.

Last week our CSA came with a huge bag of fresh apples. I had so many (because I had also grabbed some from Trader Joes when I was there) that I needed something to do with them. My oldest asked me if I would make my cinnamon applesauce so ,of course, I did. It's so easy, and is a recipe you can definitely play around with.

Ingredients:
8 large Apples of your choice. (I used Fuji and Pink Ladies this time)
1/4-1/2 cup Water
3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar (Less if you want to cut down on the sweetness)
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice (if you want a stronger flavor)


Directions:
Peel, core, and slice all your apples. Place them in the slow cooker.



Pour in the water



Add in the brown sugar



Cinnamon




Pumpkin Pie Spice



Gently stir the apple to distribute the spices. Set Slow Cooker to low for 8 hours.


Once the apples are soft, mash them with a potato masher. If they mash easier, set to warm and serve when ready. If they don't mash easily, let cook until the apples are cooked down.





We served this warm with a roasted chicken and veggies. My daughters love it, and prefer it warm. You can also eat it cold, of course. If you like less of a cinnamon flavor, just decrease the amount you put in. It's totally up to you as to how you want this to taste.

What's one of your favorite Fall foods?

Soothing Blueberry Banana Smoothie

For the past couple days I have not been feeling well. I have had a horrible sore throat, hard time swallowing, and have actually lost my voice. (No, it's not strep- this has happened to me before.)It's not easy to whisper to 3 little ones! My issues are caused from allergies- I have rotten ones almost all year long. Recently in our area we have had a wildfire burning, and apparently that can make allergies so much worse, especially for those allergic to trees- like I am. I am allergic to about 9 kinds of trees that are native to my area- including Pine and Magnolia- which are prevalent where the fire is burning. Even my allergy meds are not helping much at this point. Since I've been feeling rotten, and not been able to or wanting to eat a lot, I decided to make myself a smoothie for breakfast today. I loaded it with foods that are full of vitamins, in hopes that I'll start feeling better soon. At the very least, I hope I won't feel worse! (And it's easier to swallow than solid food!)

My friends over at Green Living Eco showed me how to make the Green Monster Smoothie a few months ago. Today I made one similar, but changed it up a bit.

Ingredients:
1 whole, ripe Banana
1 handful Fresh Spinach
1/4 cup frozen Blueberries
1 Tablespoon Peanut Butter
1 Tablespoon Flaxseed Meal
1/2 cup Vanilla Almond Milk
2-3 ice cubes



Directions:
Put the banana, spinach, blueberries in the blender/food processor first.



Add the Flaxseed,


And the peanut butter





cover with the almond milk- add more or less depending on how thin you want it.

Yup- I still need a blender:-)

Blend until it becomes liquid, then add the ice cubes and blend some more to make it more of a smoothie consistency. It really is that easy! And so good and good for you!



Now to go make myself a cup of green tea with honey:-)

Beat the Heat with Watermelon Salad

Perhaps the best thing about summer is watermelon. And we certainly take advantage of that all summer long! I have 3 watermelon in my overflow fridge right now that I am sure will get eaten in the next week!

Last summer I came across a recipe for a watermelon salad that is so simple, yet so good. I cannot remember where I got the recipe, and in fact I cannot find my copy of it, so I made this from memory using the same basic ingredients but I am sure it's a little different than the original.

Ingredients:
1/2 watermelon- cubed
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 green onions chopped
a handful of fresh mint, chopped



Directions:
Cut the watermelon into cubes. This is a very messy process so I find that putting a towel under the cutting board helps.


Add the green onion and mint.

In a measuring cup whisk together the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Pour over the melon.

Mix well. If the melon is already cold you can serve immediately, or you can chill for an hour before serving.



This is such a simple salad, but it is so refreshing and makes a great dish to share at cookouts.

A Taste of the South~Peach Cobbler

We got some gorgeous peaches with our CSA delivery yesterday, but unfortunately some of them got bruised in the bag. I think the squash landed on them. So rather than waste perfectly good, but bruised, peaches I decided to try my hand at peach cobbler.


Now, I may have primarily grown up in the South, but I was raised by Yankee parents- both are from Massachusetts and therefore my Mom cooks like a good Yankee should. It helps that her mother was also a professional cook and passed along her talent to my mom- so I had an AWESOME teacher! I didn't grow up on peach cobbler, but instead we had apple crisp. I have always loved peach cobbler, though, and this seemed the perfect opportunity to make some.
I started looking through recipes to see what I could throw together out of ingredients I had on hand. I happened across a Paula Deen recipe. Now anyone who has ever watched Paula Deen knows that she uses huge amounts of butter, cream, milk, and or cheese in just about everything! This recipe was really no different, but I saw it as a challenge. And I was in the mood to experiment. Her recipe called for 8 tablespoons of butter, I turned that into 3 tablespoons of dairy free margarine. It also called for milk, I used soy milk (of course.) I also used a total of one cup of sugar instead of the 2 called for, and added cinnamon to both the peaches and the batter. So I essentially adapted this recipe to make it dairy free (and cut out some of the calories and sugar).

Ingredients:
4 cups peaches, peeled and sliced
1 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons dairy free margarine
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk
Ground cinnamon


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1.Combine the peaches, 1/2 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan. I also added about a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the peaches. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir often to prevent sticking. Remove from the heat.





2.Put the 3 tablespoons of margarine on a baking dish. Place in oven to let margarine melt.


3.Make your batter by combining the flour, sugar, milk, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl. Combine well and make sure there are as few lumps as possible.

4. Pour into the heated baking pan, over the melted margarine. Do not stir.




5. Spoon the peach mixture on top of the batter, making sure it evenly covers the top. Pour the remaining syrup from the peaches in as well. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon. (if desired)




6. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the batter looks done.




Oh and here's what we got in our CSA bag this week:

Fresh peas, zucchini, yellow summer squash, eight ball squash, one ball squash, peaches, green peppers. You'll see a few more recipes this week using these veggies.
It's not too late to sign up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). If you live in the Tidewater, Virginia area, Clayhill Farms has an open registration. Visit Clayhill Farms for more information.

*Recipe Adapted From Paula Deen: found Here