Apple Pie.. in an Apple

Saw this today while cruising around looking for something and I can not wait to make them.. Great post HERE on the how to and with lots more amazing photos they took.

Desserts on a Stick

Someone I know is getting married and we were talking about the food that will be there.. one thing that was thrown out there was a dessert bar.. and maybe some things on a stick.. so I am going to gather up some ideas and will share them here so we will all have a place to refer back to.

All photos are from the website that will be linked right below them with the recipe or how to.


Pie Pop from Bakerella

Wedding Cake Pops from Bakerella

Popcorn balls on a stick from Dine and Dash

Smores pops from yummly.com (I am hanging onto my desk top so I do not go make these right now!!)

Rice Krispies on a Stick

Rock Candy on a Stick from sciencebob.com ( I am not going to volunteer to make this one for the wedding but I know someone with three boys who might like to give it a try some day for themselves just for fun )

Chocolate dipped pretzels from Java CupCake

Ok this is all I can handle right now.. lol I am staving.. I know I will be looking for more ideas and would LOVE if you have any please share them in the comments so I can get them added here. ~Thanks

Someone else had this idea too... check out their blog post with lots of amazing ideas

Elizabeth Anne Designs

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

Old fashioned soft pumpkin cookie recipe. I have been making these at least once a year for as long as I can remember and they are a super easy cookie that everyone seems to love. They are soft almost like a pumpkin bread. We love to eat them with a dab of cool whip to dip them in. In the picture I made a cinnamon glaze.. just a little bit of butter and some powdered sugar with vanilla and cinnamon.. mixed with a little bit of water until thin then drizzled over.

Mix together and set aside

2.5 cups of flour
1tsp baking soda
1tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
.5 tsp nutmeg
.5 tsp salt

Cinnamon and nutmeg are to flavor.. I add at least twice that amount


Mix in a large bowl

1.5 cups sugar
.5 cup of butter ( 1 stick )
1 cup pumpkin
1 large egg
1tsp of vanilla

Mix dry ingredidants into wet and stir well... drop by teaspoons onto cookie sheet and bake about 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees.

I always make at least a double batch and most the time I triple it.

No Sugar Cheese Cake

Added a few extra berries here... it is my favorite part :)

I made this last Thursday.. super easy and simple and it taste great. I made a half recipe and put it in a pie pan with a thin graham cracker crust. I did not have any fruit in the cheese cake itself.. just fresh berries on top. I also did not add the butter to the cheese cake but used a little with the cracker crumbs. Cut it in 8 pieces and figured out the math so that each piece (minus berries on top) was about 150 calories. The full recipe says it makes 12 servings.

Cheese cake recipe from HCG liquid diet Phase three recipe (lots more recipes at the link too)

• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups Plain Yogurt Plain Greek yogurt is good!
• 1 tablespoon Stevia
• 16 ounces cream cheese Softened
• 2 tablespoons butter melted

Directions

In a large bowl, blend together eggs, vanilla, sour cream and stevia. Slowly add butter and cream cheese. Spoon about 1/2c mix into another bowl and add raspberry flavoring (sugar free, any flavor) Mix well. Spoon remaining mix into a 10 inch spring release pan or 12 ramekins.(see photo) Add dollops of raspberry batter on top and swirl thru. If desired, you can make a crust from 1 1.2 cups ground almonds, 1/4 cup splenda and 1/4 butter. Mix all together like you would graham cracker crust and line pan or ramekins. (calculations do not include crust) Bake in 350 degree oven for 20-25 min if cooking ramekins, 35-40 min for spring pan. This will not look done, but will firm up when refrigerated. Place ramekins in a water bath or place a shallow pan with water in overn below the pan or ramekins. Garnish with fresh raspberries and whipped cream if desired (not included in counts) This can be frozen. Number of Servings: 12

I let it cool a bit then put it in the fridge.. I got busy and forgot to cover it and it sinked down and cracked a bit.. next time I will cover right away.. and eat the next day.. we ended up not eating it until Saturday night.. it had dried out a bit too much.. but was still good :)

Hidden Vegetable Chili / Soup

We are doing a very VERY low calorie diet, the HCG liquid diet, and can only eat certain foods. We have two servings of fruit, two of protein and 4 of vegetables. Mind you.. only certain foods in those groups. With a honey who does not eat any vegetables.. wait he will eat iceburg lettuce... no other lettuce or vegetable at all though.. so this has been a bit tricky.

This is what I came up with and so far I have done two versions of it.. the only thing that is different is the spices. Today I am doing the chili one since it is his favorite, the other one is Italian spices in it.. that is my favorite.

Hidden Vegetable Chili Soup

recipe is for one serving.. just multiply by whatever number of servings to make more. I make a big pot of it and then just warm up a bowl at a time.

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup of beef broth

1 cup of diced onion

1 cup of diced celery

1 cup of diced cauliflower

1 cup of diced tomato

1 cup of red and green peppers diced up

3.5 oz of ground hamburger ( either in a patty on the side or in the soup )

Boil until tender then mash up... I like it to have some texture but for us it can not look like vegetables at all... the texture would be all up to you.

Add some chili seasoning.. again.. as much or as little as you would like.

1 big bowl of the soup equals 4 servings of vegetables and one protein!

Sometimes we eat this like a soup and have a burger patty on the side.. sometimes we cook up the hamburger and put it in the bowl and pour the soup over and mix it all up. We do sprinkle a tiny bit of cheese on top even though it is not on the approved list of foods.

In a couple of weeks when we are eating a bit more I will also be adding carrots to this mix.

Chili in the Crockpot

I start this recipe the night before.. which sometimes messes me up if I forget. Can also be made with canned beans.

Soak one bag ( about 3 or 4 cups) of kidney beans over night in a pan of cold water ( sometimes I add different kinds of beans with it.. just depends on what I have.. mostly I use kidney beans

In the morning I turn the pot on high and boil just until the beans start to split.

While doing this I brown up some hamburger, or grab some already browned from the freezer.

I add to the crock pot... 2 small cans of tomato sauce, a large can of diced tomatoes, 1 small can of mamwich sauce, 1/2 pound of shredded carrots, some finely chopped celery and onion, some chili seasoning (a lot of a little depending on how spicy I want it ) and the drained beans and the hamburger. I add V8 juice ( low sodium) as it cooks if it needs more moisture. I cook it on low all day.. stirring every so often and adding more V8 as needed. If I am running late I cook it on high for an hour or two is all.

This makes a sweet and spicy chili.. everything in it can be varied depending on how much you want.. sometimes it is meatier than other times.. sometimes I add different types of meat.. can throw in some stew meat or some turkey or deer... basically whatever you have... can even mix it up and add more than one kind... if you want a bit more tomato or less carrot ( I sneak in as many veggies as I can )

I then cook up a bit of rice and a bit of macaroni and people can dish it up as they want.. I love adding fresh diced tomatoes on top and some onion and cheese.. a little corn bread on the side and I am good to go

Blue Cheese

This is not a recipe.. but a request for your favorite recipes that use Blue Cheese!



Camping with my sister this weekend and they grilled up some steaks and topped them with some grilled onions and mushrooms ( no mushrooms on mine ) and then covered them with blue cheese and melted it all together and I was in heaven.

My first experience with blue cheese was when I cleaned a friends fridge for her and threw out all her moldy stinky cheese... I was so disgusted... and now I am in love with it and wanting to add it to everything. I would love to know what you put blue cheese in.