Cran Apple Crisp - TWD

As I was frantically making a chili dinner with cornbread last night for our guests....I asked Ben to help me make dessert. He agreed!! I opened Dorie's cookbook and let him have at it. He did an awesome job and the crisp turned out great. We both liked it and so did our guests!!

I was a little scared of the cranberries, I will admit. I don't enjoy cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving...in.the.slightest. But this was great. There were raisins, apples (honeycrisp) and cranberries, along with the tasty, crunchy, oatmeal topping. I had Ben make the crisp "family style" in a 9 inch pie plate instead of individual portions.

We have been limiting ourselves to a piece a day. Not easy to do. I wasn't able to get a picture of the entire dessert before we dug into it. But at least I was able to snap a picture before we devoured more of it today. Try it with Edy's Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. Not that I blew my diet by eating ice cream with it. I wouldn't do that (insert extreme sarcasm)!

Thanks to The Repressed Pastry Chef for the selection. You can find the recipe HERE.

Dorie...how I have missed you!

I'm back!! At least for this week. I can't make any promises about next. I have missed baking so much, especially TWD. But we have been so good with our diets around this house. I had to splurge and try the cookies that Pamela picked for her turn this month. I have been following her Cookies with Boys blog for quite some time now.


These cookies are outstanding. I loved them. So did the rest of my guys. I don't know if we liked them so much because there hasn't been a lot any baked goods floating around my kitchen or because they were simply that fantastic. I think it is the latter.

These flat cookies have ginger, cinnamon, allspice, pepper, molasses and brown sugar in them. They are crispy on the outside and chewy in the center. Everything a cookie should be and so perfect for fall. The recipe made 28 decent sized cookies. I am sure that Pamela will have the recipe posted on her blog very soon and I will link to it at that time.


Do try them though! It is not easy to stop at one.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

This month I was paired up with NO REASON NEEDED for Taste & Create.

I immediately chose the chicken and wild rice soup recipe that she has posted HERE. We have been eating a lot of soup this fall. I have made stuffed green pepper soup and chicken tortilla soup that were both very good. This chicken rice soup did not dissapoint either. It will be made again.

I used a box of Uncle Ben's long grain wild rice with a seasoning packet. I also used a pound of whole, boneless, skinless chicken breasts. After everything cooked in the slow cooker for approximately 7 hours, I took the chicken out, shredded it and then put it back in the cooker for another hour. SIMPLE. DELICIOUS!

CHICKEN AND WILD RICE SOUP
3 cans (14½ ounces each) chicken broth (I used reduced sodium)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs, cut into bite size pieces (I did not cut up the chicken until it was done and then just shredded it)

2 cups water
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup diced carrot
1 package (6 ounces) converted long grain and wild rice mix with seasoning packet (not quick-cooking or instant rice)
½ cup chopped onion
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons white vinegar (optional - and I skipped)
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes (I also skipped)

1. In crockpot slow cooker, combine broth, chicken, water, celery, carrots, rice and seasoning packet, onion and pepper; mix well.
2. Cover; cook on LOW 6 hours to 7 hours or on HIGH 4 to 5 hours or until chicken is tender.
3. Stir in vinegar, if desired. Sprinkle with parsley.

MAKES 9 SERVINGS

Feeling Fall

FALL....Here are some random pics of my decorations in and outside my house.


Make sure to stop by all the other You Capture participants this week. I am especially enjoying fall this year!

Strawberry Shake

For Taste & Create this month I was paired with My Kitchen Treasures. She has a delicious blog with lots of yummy things. However, I started Weight Watchers a week ago and have been very good. No baking and no cheating.

I had a hard time choosing something from her archives of deliciousness. But I finally found something that I could have.....Strawberry Shakes!

This was perfect, pretty and tasty. As well as simple. Strawberries, ice, milk and a blender.

Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches - CEiMB

I am back. I have been a TERRIBLE CEiMB participant over the past couple of months. Summer was busy and I have had an awful time keeping up with everything. The truth is....I have been cooking with Wildtree products the past several weeks and am very impressed. I attended a party and am hooked. Absolutely hooked. These products make healthy, simple and tasty meals. My family has loved just about everything I have made too. Unfortunately, Ellie has taken a backseat.

However, I could not pass up the recipe that Pamela chose this week. I am a sucker for anything that involves rotisserie chicken. Especially my ridiculously naughty chicken pot pie recipe. I have to get that back in my rotation soon! Maybe next week? Back to the BBQ chicken at hand. Be sure to check out Cookies with Boys and find how her choice turned out.

I thought that this is a really good recipe. I followed it exactly and am very impressed. I made the chicken up this morning and just reheated it in the microwave for dinner. However, I did not use whole wheat buns and added cheese to our sandwiches. Probably defeats a lot of the "healthiness" of it all. But I would make these again! My husband also reported that "Ellie didn't ruin this recipe". Quite a compliment coming from him. Seriously. The recipe can be found HERE.

TWD CATCH UP

I am going to cram 3 TWD posts into one. I have been so busy and have been baking along but have not been posting. Time to get my act together!

These applespice bars were OK. I thought that they tasted delicious right out of the oven after the frosting was just cooled. But the next day....not so much. I stored them in a Tupperware container and they were a little mushy and the frosting seemed to soak through the bars. The recipe was chosen by Karen from Something Sweet and can be found HERE. I think that if I would make them again I would halve the recipe and intend to eat them all at once maybe for a party.

This key lime pie was tasty. I might have left the pie under the broiler a tad too long though. It was almost black in spots. Still good though. The recipe was chosen by Linda of Tender Crumb and can be found HERE. My only criticism about this was too much butter. I should have used half. I would rather have more of a tart lime taste than a lime/butter combo.

These YUMMY espresso cheesecake brownies are PHENOMENAL! I wouldn't change a thing about them. I could sit down right now and eat half the pan they are that good. I used 4 oz of semi-sweet chocolate and reduced fat cream cheese. I also only had about a half cup of sour cream and about a quarter cup of powdered sugar. Therefore, my topping wasn't that thick. I don't think that it mattered though. The recipe was chosen by Melissa from Life In a Peanut Shell and can be found HERE. Thank you for such a great pick!!