Caramel Apples

This past weekend our church had a fall festival.  It was really fun and we sold food to raise money for the youth group to go to a prayer conference in the spring.  So, I decided to make caramel apples to sell this year!  I was a little nervous on how they would turn out but they were great! The caramel had great flavor and good consistency too.  They're really easy to make and a fun fall treat.

Caramel Sauce

1/2 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
2 Tablespoons vanilla

Melt butter and brown sugar together.  Add corn syrup and stir mixture until it reaches 300 degrees (you will need a candy thermometer).  Stir in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, return to a boil and stir until it reaches 250 degrees.  Take a taste and see how the flavor and consistency is.  Then dip your apples.  I think the caramel is enough for about 10 apples depending on how big they are.  I made quite a few more so I'm not sure how much one recipe will make.  They were delicious though!!!

 Insert popsicle sticks or wooden rods into the apples.  Dip the apples in the caramel, let it cool a little bit (30 sec - 1 min), then roll or sprinkle your favorite toppings.  We used peanuts, sprinkles, heath, and Reese's pieces.  Also place the apples on wax paper after dipping, you will be thankful you did... we learned the hard way!

Thanks to all my friends who helped make the apples!

Chickpea Tacos with Apple Cabbage Slaw

This meal has been one of our recent favorites! I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to blog because we have it just about every other week.  They taste so fresh and have a great blend of flavors.  I also love that they are different than any other meal we've made, very unique.  They are easy too, so easy that I made them for lunch last week during my 1 hour lunch break.  Another reason I like them are they are pretty cheap to make so that's nice for our budget. SO, make them.

Well I'm into my third week of clinical and I must say I really love some of my patients.  I'm so excited to be a part of their recovery and rehab process and it is awesome to see the progress they are making.  Just today I was working with a patient that had surgery and lost quadriceps activation (very important muscle for walking, standing, and controlling the knee) and two weeks later he is able to activate the muscle.  He has been working so hard and it makes me so excited!  It has also been awesome to put into practice all the things I've been learning the past 2 years.  Today I also learned that there are some people that just don't want to recover or have little motivation to do so.  That part is frustrating and I'm not sure how to react to it, but it is part of the learning experience.  So enough of that, here is the recipe that you're looking for!

It has 3 parts, Stephen and I both have our responsibilities for the meal.  He takes the chickpea mixture and avocado sauce (which he created for this meal I must add) and I do the cabbage slaw and tortillas.

Chickpeas

1 can chickpeas
1/2 cup textured vegetable protein TVP (you could also use chicken, some other chicken-like ingredient, or leave it out) If you use this add water to let it soak up (1:1)
Cilantro (about 3 tablespoons but we just throw it in)
1/2 lime juiced
Seasonings - Stephen just puts a bunch of stuff in but the last time he made it I took note of what he used: cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, turmeric, curry powder, red pepper, chicken seasoning.  Just use what you have on hand.

 This is TVP if you've never heard of it, we use the chicken flavored kind.

 Add water until it softens, usually a 1:1 ratio

 Add chickpeas

Add seasonings, cilantro, lime juice and allow it to cook about 15 minutes.

Avocado Sauce

1 avocado
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
1/2 lime juiced
salt
pepper
cilantro

 1 ripe avocado

 We use a food processor for convenience but by hand would be fine too.

 Add cilantro, yogurt, lime juice, salt, and pepper

Blend until smooth, and done.

Cabbage & Apple Slaw

2-3 cups cabbage (chopped into thin strips)
1 apple (chopped into thin slices)
1 handful cilantro (chopped)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 lime juiced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste

 Chop cabbage, apple and cilantro 

(I usually chop the cabbage a bit thinner than in the picture)

 Mix oil, vinegar, lime juice, cumin, salt, and pepper together.

Pour over salad mixture and toss well.  Add more seasoning if desired.

 Also, warm the tortillas in a cast iron skillet if you have one, it makes all the difference! 

To assemble:

Once you take the first bite, you will understand why we make these so often.  Total cooking time is about 30 minutes and makes 5 tacos.  If you want more just add more chickpeas and make a little more slaw.  The meal is really simple so I encourage you to try it for your family!

Recipe idea found at TastyKitchen.

Roasted Vegetable Twice Baked Potatoes

Twice baked potatoes have always been one of my childhood favorite foods.  My mom always paired them with meatloaf and it was always a great combination for Sabbath dinners or Christmas.  A few months ago I had this twice baked potato variation, made by a good friend from church, and instantly knew I needed to give it a shot.  It's such a healthy side dish and I love the added vegetables.  The roasted vegetables add a whole other dimension of flavor that is great!  You can use any vegetables you want and I used broccoli, carrots, and spinach.  Squash, zucchini, cauliflower or anything else would probably be good too!

Lessons learned: I used 6 medium size potatoes and ended up with too much vegetable to potato ratio so next time I will use 1 broccoli and 2 carrots for 6 potatoes.  

 Wash the vegetables

 Chop into similar size pieces for even roasting

 Wash and bake the potatoes (350 degrees for about an hour)

 Roast the vegetable for about 20-30 minutes at 375.

 Put the veggies into a food processor and blend until smooth

 I added some spinach since I try to find some way to add spinach to everything... well almost everything :)

 Cut the tops of the potatoes off, scoop out the potato and make into mashed potatoes.  Add milk, butter, sour cream, or whatever you like to add.  Then fold in the veggies until it is all well mixed and creamy.  Also add some seasonings to taste, I used garlic powder, cumin, creole seasoning, salt, and pepper.

 

Scoop the mixture back into the potato skins and bake for another 30 minutes at 350 before eating.

Make sure your mixture has a nice creaminess to it so they don't end up dry. 

Enjoy the new variation on twice baked potatoes, maybe try them during the holidays for a healthy new twist on a side dish!

Pumpkin Bread

Today is our first really fall-like day.  We had a freeze last night and it was pretty cool this morning when I left for work.  I'm in the second week of my clinical in an outpatient orthopedic clinic... not my strong suite but I am learning a lot and it's going better than I expected.  Last week I decided to make some pumpkin bread.  I combined a few recipes together and was quite pleased with the results.  This bread is very moist and has a nice sweetness with the streusel topping and chocolate chips, but not too sweet. 

Pumpkin Bread

1 3/4 cup flour (I used wheat and all-purpose)
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/3 cup cold water
1/2 cup oil
1 cup chocolate chips (I used mini choc chips)

Streusel Topping

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 stick butter
1 handful of pecans (very technical... I know)

 Combine all dry ingredients

 Add wet ingredients to the dry then mix together until just combined, don't overmix.

 Pour into a 5x8 greased pan (or 2 smaller pans and give one to a friend)

For streusel topping, soften butter.

 Add flour, sugar, and cinnamon.  Use a fork to mix together until you have a crumbly topping.

 Chop a handful of pecans. 

 Add them in too, 

 Pour topping over bread

Bake 375 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Hope you enjoy this recipe, I have more pumpkin things and soups to come! Have a great week!

Minestrone Soup

 
This is a great soup, one of my favorites really, and here is why...

1.) I usually have everything on hand
2.) It is pretty cheap - we've started Financial Peace University at our church :) and this soup is FPU approved, you could even make it at the beginning of the week then eat it through the week for lunch.
3.) It is easy and takes about 15 minutes prep/get it going time
4.) It is always good and colorful
5.) It is healthy

So, here's the recipe and you can make it too!

1 onion (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 stalks of celery (chopped)
3 carrots (again... chopped)
1 can white beans
1 can diced tomatoes
3-4 cups vegetable/chicken broth
1/4 cup orzo pasta (or another kind, I just like the size of this one in this soup)
2-3 big handfulls of fresh spinach
Italian seasoning, herbs de provence, parsley, basil, salt, pepper... just add some seasonings to taste!

Chop and saute the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots (5 minutes).  Add seasonings, saute about 2-3 more minutes until it becomes fragrant.  Add beans, tomatoes, and broth.  Bring to a boil and let this cook for a little while until the carrots are semi-tender.  The add the orzo and let it finish cooking about 10 minutes (The orzo will soak up quite a bit of the broth so you may need to add a little more broth, especially if the soup sits a while before eating it... that's what happened with mine this time as you can see in the picture.) At the last minute before eating, throw in a bunch of spinach and stir so it's just wilted. 

You can also add zucchini, squash, other beans, potatoes, brown rice, or whatever you have on hand... It's the beauty of soups :)

Happy Fall and Happy Soup Season! (more soups to come!)