Apple Fritters

This is a variation of one of my boys’ (and my dad’s) favorite breakfast foods. And just the thing to make when you have a bunch of apples!

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 Tbsp oil

Whisk these together in a bowl.

2 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

4 Tbsp sugar

Whisk in flour 1/2 cup at a time. Add remaining dry ingredients after first cup of flour is mixed. Mix until smooth.

Stir in 1 medium apple, peeled and finely chopped.

Drop into hot oil heated to 375. Cook until golden brown on all sides. Turn while cooking if necessary.

Remove from oil and let drain on plate lined with paper towels.

Toss while still hot in a bag of cinnamon sugar.

Eat right out of the bag! :o)

Strawberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

This summer has been glorious and sunny! If only every summer in the PNW was like this!!! In celebration of yet another sunny morning, I took some homemade strawberry freezer jam out (made with strawberries from my own garden no less) and created this…

1 1-lb loaf Italian bread

1/2 cup strawberry jam (I think it would be pretty tasty with orange marmalade instead)

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/8 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Slice the bread into 9 slices. Cut each slice in half, making a pocket. Do not cut them all the way through! I made all my pocket slices before cutting them into thin slices all the way through…

Mix the cream cheese, sugar and orange zest with electric mixer until smooth. Spread it inside of each slice of bread.

  Next, spread a thin layer of jam on top of the cream cheese.

Beat the eggs, milk and vanilla well. Pour into shallow pan for dipping.

(I made too much egg, so I changed it in the recipe)

  Dip each piece of bread in the egg mixture on each side. Don’t soak it too much! Place on a preheated and lightly greased griddle. I set mine at 350.

Cook until both sides are browned.

Serve immediately dusted with powdered sugar.

Poppyseed Chicken & Mushrooms

I love Rhett and Link! I watch their Good Mythical Morning show while I eat breakfast five days a week. One morning, Link happened to mention that poppyseed chicken and how much he loves it. I’d never even heard of poppyseed chicken. But it piqued my interest and I did a bit of research “boop boop boopity boop” (it’s an inside GMM joke). I found a few recipes to get the idea and then went off and made up my own…

Yup! Link was right. So good!!! One of those total comfort food meals and just sticks to your ribs. It’s rich and creamy and delicious… Mmmm!!!

4-5 cups of cooked chicken breast, cubed

8 oz fresh mushrooms, thickly sliced

1 can cream of mushroom soup

3/4 cup sour cream

2 Tablespoons poppyseeds

6 Tablespoons melted butter

1 sleeve of Ritz cracker, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350

Combine chicken, mushrooms, soup and sour cream. Pour into greased casserole dish.

Mix poppyseeds, butter and cracker crumbs. Sprinkle over chicken mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes or until it is bubbly and topping starts to turn golden brown.

Serve over cooked egg noodles.

Coconut & Chocolate Macaroons

It’s hard to believe that once upon a time I HATED coconut! Now I can’t even imagine hating coconut. I LOVE the stuff! I’ve had a craving for real honest-to-goodness coconut macaroons for a while now. This seems funny considering the last time I had one I could hardly even keep it in my mouth…

But today I made a batch. They were perfect! They didn’t spread, they were chewy and moist and covered in dark chocolate… Mmmmm!!!

I will be making these again real soon!

1 14oz bag of sweetened shredded coconut (5 cups)

4 large egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1 Tablespoon shortening

Preheat the oven to 325. Line baking sheet with parchment and spray the parchment with cooking spray. These suckers are sticky!!!

Beat the egg whites, sugar, and extracts with an electric mixer until they are foamy but not white. The sugar might not be completely dissolved, but don’t worry about it.

Stir in the coconut. Mix well.

Pack the mixture into a cookie scoop good and tight. Place on the papered and sprayed baking sheet. You can make them small or a bit larger. But I wouldn’t go bigger than 2 Tablespoons…

Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges start to brown. A bit of the tops will start to brown, too. Don’t overbake them! They will be super dry and icky!

Remove from the oven. Let them cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before removing from the baking sheet. Cool on wire racks.

After the cookies are cool, melt chocolate chips with shortening in microwave. Melt for 1 minute. Stir well. Melt in additional 15 second increments until completely melted and smooth.

Either did the bottoms of the macaroons into the chocolate or drizzle over the tops. Store in the fridge for 3-5 days or freeze for longer storage. But I’m guessing they won’t be around that long…

String Cheese Airplane Snacks

Twice a month I watch our godson and his little sister. Every time they come over, we choose a different subject and do a mini unit-study. Guess what we learned about today?

Yup! We learned all about airplanes. Here are some fun facts about airplanes you may not have known:

1. A Boeing 747 is 150 feet long. The Wright Brother’s first flight at Kitty Hawk was only 120 feet.

2. The Concorde flew at over 1300 mph and made the flight from NY to London in 3 hours!

3. Modern 747s have just 365 controls. The first models had 971!

4. Airplane themed snacks are really easy to make! :o)

First we made candy planes. The kind with Smarties, Wintergreen Life Savers and a stick of gum all held together with a rubber band. I hadn’t seen these since I was a kid. It was extra fun because we all shut ourselves into our window-less bathroom and watched the Life Savers spark in our mouths when we bit them. I hadn’t done that since I was a kid either. My poor 17-year-old had never done it or seen it. I think he thought it was cooler than he let on… ;o)

But for our more healthy snack, we made string cheese airplanes.

All you need is a piece of string cheese, two carrot slices, a rectangular piece of bread and a slice of pepperoni.

Stick a toothpick through the front of the string cheese and poke one carrot slice on each end. Break a second toothpick in half. Use one half to secure the bread “wing” to the top of the cheese. Fold the slice of pepperoni in half and then use the second half toothpick to secure it to the back of the cheese with the open end opening to the rear of the “plane”.

If you want a fun and educational movie to watch while you enjoy these treats, check out Andy’s Airplanes episode one on YouTube. You can link to it HERE. 

Gingersnap Crumb Pie Topping

This crispy gingersnap topping can go atop any of your favorite crumb-topped pie recipes. Just follow your recipe and substitute this for the topping. It is especially good on top of apple or pear pies. For an added ginger-y treat, add 1/4 cup of chopped candied ginger to your pie filling.

For the perfect topping, add brown sugar to your whipping cream instead of white or powdered sugar.

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup coarsely chopped gingersnaps (the crispy kind)

5 Tablespoons butter, softened

Mix first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Cut in the butter until it forms crumbs.

Sprinkle over the top of your favorite pie recipe and bake according to your recipe.

Healthier (but not too healthy) Chocolate Chip Cookies

To celebrate (or should I say, commiserate) the fact that I got bifocals yesterday, I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies using a new recipe that I concocted in hopes that it will be healthier for my not-so-young-anymore body but not so healthy that they taste healthy. You know what I mean, right?

This batch wasn’t super healthy since I stuffed half of them with Rolos or chocolate peanut butter and baked them in mini muffin pans. Hey, I was feeling pretty down about the whole bifocal thing! ;o)

I think this just might do the trick…

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup coconut oil, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 scant cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream the butter, coconut oil, sugars and vanilla together with electric mixer. Add egg and mix until well combined.

Stir together dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add to creamed mixture in 3 separate batches, mixing well after each addition.

Stir in chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.

Drop onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake about 10 minutes or until slightly golden and set.

Let cool 5 minutes before removing from baking sheet to cooling rack.