Apple Pie with Crumb Topping

This pie is super, duper yummy and I think  know that you should make it soon! I don’t know about you all, but I wasn’t always a pie person. I don’t know how I could have been so crazy! It was mainly the crust that I didn’t love. I could totally go for a graham cracker crust, but just a few years ago a flaky, golden pie crust wasn’t my thing. Now I adore flaky, golden pie crusts! Add this filling and wacky good  crumble topping to one of those delicious pie crusts…and it’s a match made in pie heaven 😀 

Anyways, Mom and I created this recipe one day when we didn’t have enough canned apple pie filling. And yes…we do buy (occasionally) canned apple pie filling! I know…it’s a shame…a big no no. Sometimes, you just go for the easy way. Of course, come to find out, it really wasn’t that hard to make the filling ourselves! The great crumb topping recipe is from my favorite Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and it worked wonderfully. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy this pie as much as my family did:) With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it’s a great recipe to bookmark. Nothing too complicated. Actually, I didn’t even make my own crust for this one, but you definitely can. It would only make it all the more delicious!

Serves 8

1 frozen pie crust (or homemade!)

-For the Filling:

3-4 Lg. Granny Smith Apples

1/2 cup honey (or brown sugar)

about 1 tsp. cinnamon

dash of salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

-For the Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 Tbls. butter

1/4 cup oats (optional)

*You can always add some nuts to this mixture to make it extra special

1) Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Peel and dice apples.

2) Place diced apples with honey, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt in a medium size pot on the stove. Heat it until simmering, stirring every minute or so to keep the honey from burning. Let it continue simmering for about 15 minutes until the apples are just tender. They don’t have to be completely done since they will continue to cook in the oven. Pour into pie crust.

3) Mix together flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut in butter. When it’s totally mixed it should resemble coarse crumbs. Lastly, add oats and nuts and stir together.

4) Top pie with crumb topping and place it in the oven for about 40 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Enjoy with a big glass of milk or some ice cream!

The “Make Me a Samich” Sandwich

Okay, technically I have no recipe for this sandwich, but it turned out really great. So… I deemed it blog worthy! Anyways, it was named by my brother becuase he thinks that the name is hilarious. I am not sure why, but it sounds cute, so I shall keep the name! This sandwich was also my brother’s lunch today. He throughouly enjoyed it 🙂

This is pretty much just a hot ham and cheese sandwich with lots of yummy toppings! It’s a great, warm lunch to have and super easy to throw together. Here’s what’s on it:

French Bread

Shaved Deli Ham

Cheddar Cheese

Mayo

Mustard (I used Sweet n’ Hot Stone Ground)

Tomato

Lettuce

Salt and Pepper

Make pretty thick slices of the french bread. Put on some mayo and mustard. Pile on as much or as little ham and cheese as you want. Toast in the oven on 400 degrees until the bread is nice and crispy and the cheese is melted. Then, just put on some sliced tomato, lettuce, and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Enjoy! 🙂

Mexican Style Cornbread

 Fall weather is finally here to stay! At least I think it is? For the past couple of weeks the weather forecast around here has been crazy! One day it will be almost 80 and the next I’m wearing a coat. It’s got me confused…it’s way to hard to take my coat back out of the closet when I was just wearing flip flops the day before. Okay… I will stop complaining about the weather now. 

Anyways, when the fall weather comes the fall recipes come too! Yay:) For instance, soup…and when there is soup…there must be cornbread! I really like cornbread. Actually, I really love cornbread! Sometimes I like my cornbread sweet, but sometimes I like it spicy! That’s where mexican style cornbread comes in. It is really good and goes great with so many different things. It would go really great with taco soup or chili!

Serves 8 to 10

2 1/2 cups corn meal mix

2 tablespoons Crisco (Coconut oil works great here too! It is also the healthier way to go.)

2 cups buttermilk

3/4 cup canned corn

3/4 cup cheddar cheese

1/4 cup sliced jalapeno peppers (If you don’t want anything spicy you could always omit these, but I think it goes great together!)

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium size bowl, mix corn meal and Crisco with your fingers or a fork. Do this until the Crisco is evenly distributed throughout the corn meal.You know it’s mixed when there are little tiny lumps of  shortening throughout.

2) Next add buttermilk and stir until combined. Lastly, add corn, cheese, and jalapenos. Once again, just mix it up until its combined.

3) Pour into greased, cast iron skillet or greased muffin tins. Bake for about 45 min. Just make sure that it get’s nice and crunchy on the bottom!

4) Serve and enjoy! 😀

 

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Hey everybody! Well, this is my very first blog and my very first post! I am really excited! My first recipe is really simple to throw together and very delicious! Not only is this banana bread yummy, but it’s also healthy. It’s made with honey instead of refined sugars and it’s got oats! 

Okay, so maybe there is a cup of chocolate chips. Let’s just pretend that they aren’t there. Of course once you take a bite of warm banana bread with semi-sweet, melted, gooey chocolate chips it’s probably gonna be pretty hard to pretend that they aren’t there!

This bread would be great on a cool, fall afternoon for a little snack. You could also pop a slice in the toaster for breakfast and layer on a very unhealthy delicious amount of butter! Either way, you should make it. Soon!

1/2 cup butter (softened)

2/3 cup honey

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 3 large)

1/2 milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips (you could always put in some chopped nuts too!)

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Next, mix together softened butter and honey. Add eggs, milk, banana, and vanilla. Mix well. Sift in flour, baking soda, and salt. Add ground flaxseed and oats. Mix until fully combined. Lastly, add chocolate chips and mix. 

 

Add batter to 2 greased loaf pans and bake for about 45 min. It may even take a little bit longer.