Healthy Apple Pie Oatmeal

This is one of my very favorite healthy breakfasts.  It is incredibly filling and I don't have that mid-morning crash when I eat this.  The cream of wheat adds a nice creaminess (hence the name, right) while the apples have a slight crunch that is so satisfying.  The sugar free apple cider creates a delicious, flavorful base.  I like to add cinnamon (be generous) and Truvia for an added sweetness.  I love that there is no added sugar but don't let that fool you as it doesn't lack for flavor.   My kid's always steal bites of mine and end up begging me to make them a bowl.  I love that!  It also keeps my kiddos full and happy all morning long.  I always pair it with 1 egg and 2 egg whites for a good protein and carbs balance--all of that combined (eggs and oatmeal) is ONLY 238 calories!  How's that for healthy?  And it's SO delicious, too!

Apple Pie Oatmeal from "Live the Life"

2 Tablespoons cream of wheat (raw measurement)

2 Tablespoons oats (raw measurement)

1/2 C water

1/4 apple--diced

1/2 packet sugar free apple cider powder

Dice apple and microwave for 30 seconds.  Microwave cream of wheat and oats with water for 2 minutes. Remove and stir in apple pieces, sugar free apple cider powder, and cinnamon into hot cereal.  Serve with scrambled eggs made with 1 egg and 2 egg whites.

Tips: I microwave my apples on a small wooden cutting board--otherwise the apples sometimes spark in the microwave.  Let me know if you make it and have another tip about cooking the apples.  The sugar free apple cider powder can be found near the hot chocolate.

(Oatmeal & eggs) Calories: 238    Carbs: 30     Fat: 6   Protein: 18

Hawaiian Dip with Fruit Kebabs

What a week it's been.  It feels like I'm barely keeping my head above water right now.  Let me just state yet again--I hate having to sell a house right now. So as a good distraction, I wanted to post this fun recipe.  I made it for my little guy's birthday party.  I had spent way too much time making his birthday cake and so I decided to go more low key on the food.  We went the semi-homemade route and ordered in pizza and then I made some yummy breadsticks and tried this dip with kebabs.  I was not disappointed.  They were the perfect compliment to the pizza and breadsticks.  The dip was really light and refreshing.  I loved the combo of the vanilla flavor with the pineapple and coconut.  This would be a great, fun, different thing to serve up at some upcoming holiday parties. I know it's not the "traditional" kind of holiday dip, but I think it would be just a great way to shake it up and add something really delicious and new to your ensemble.

Hawaiian Dip with Fruit Kebabs from "The Pampered Chef; All the Best"

Dip:
3/4 C milk
1/2 C fat free sour cream
1 pkg (3.4 oz) vanilla instant pudding (fat free/sugar free for WW Points+)
1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
1/2 C sweetened flaked coconut, toasted, divided
1 lime

Kebabs:
6-8 cups assorted fruits such as apples, bananas, and pineapple, cut into 1-inch chunks, cantaloupe and honeydew melon bals and whole strawberries and grapes

1. For dip, combine milk, sour cream and pudding mix; whisk until smooth.

2. Stir in pineapple with juice and 1/3 C of the coconut.  Zest lime to measure 1 tsp zest.  Juice lime to measure 1 tsp juice.  Stir lim zest and juice into dip.  Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.

3. For kebabs, alternately threat fruit onto twenty-four 6-inch wooden skewers.  Spoon dip into serving bowl; sprinkle with remaining coconut.  Serve with kebabs

Tips: To toast coconut, preheat oven to 350F. Spread coconut onto pan.  Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown; cool completely.

Dip: Serves 8; Weight Watchers Points+: 2

Apple Spice Bars

I have been eyeing these bars over at Dinner & Dessert and waiting for a chance to try them. I was not disappointed! I love fall with all of its pumpkin and apple-filled desserts. These reminded me of the cinnamon blondie at Sugardaddy's. Have you heard of Sugardaddy's? If not, to be compared to their blondie is a huge compliment. Sugardaddy's was one of our favorite places to get blondies and to take visitors to see while we were living in Ohio. They were featured on Throwdown with Bobby Flay and also on Ellen (among other things) and have the cutest packaging. Their owners are passionate and so we would often take visitors just to hear them explain their desserts. But I digress...these bars reminded me of home and were a close match to the flavors from one of my favorite fall treats. They are delicious served with ice cream, too. They were soft and perfectly balanced between the apples, brown sugar, and spices.

Apple Spices Bars from Dinner & Dessert (see her blog to see original source)

Ingredients:
2 c. plus 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
small pinch ground cloves
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 apples, cored and diced (a little less than 2 c.)
cinnamon sugar for sprinkling

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 9×13 pan with foil and baking spray.
-In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.
-Whisk to combine well and set aside.
-In bowl of stand mixer, combine sugars and butter and beat on medium high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
-Add eggs, one at a time, beating well to combine.
-Add vanilla extract and beat to combine.
-Turn mixer on slow and fold in flour mixture a little at a time until just combined.
-Fold in apples.
-Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan and sprinkle top generously with cinnamon sugar.
-Place in oven and bake until cooked through, when top slightly bounces back to the touch, about 30 minutes.
-Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from pan, cutting and serving. (bars will be very soft)

Tips: I'm still adjusting to my oven since moving (I think it's not quite hot enough). I let them bake for about 33 minutes and then removed them. They were SO delicious--but slightly gooey in the middle on the second day. So I think I'll bake mine for about 40 minutes next time. But, as I said, it could just be my oven.

Applesauce Cookies

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. Ours was great here. I officially entered the "adult world" (I guess having two kids and a mortage might count for something, too) on Saturday when I turned 30 :-)--so it was a fun, celebrating weekend.

Anyways--on to the food. These are some of my favorite cookies that my mom used to make when I was growing up. They are really soft and a little cakey and have a great, subtle flavor of spices mixed with the applesauce. I love making them with chocolate chips! They aren't so overly sweet and so you can eat quite a few without feeling on a sugar high. I love that these are also a kind of cookie that I always have the ingredients for in my pantry! I made these to take to a family function on Sunday and had forgotten have delicious, soft, and yummy they are.

Applesauce Cookies from Barbs (aka my mom)

1/2 C shortening
1 C granulated sugar
1 egg
2 C flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 C applesauce

Cream everything except applesauce and soda. Put them in a separate bowl and mix--add to rest. Add raisins, nuts, or chocolate chips. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes.

Apple Brickle Dip

This dip is seriously SOOOOO fabulous that I could dip ANYTHING in it (I swear) and it would taste awesome. Even my shoe. Seriously. And my kids eat endless amounts of apples when we have this (always a huge plus). I just cannot say enough about how yummy, and sweet, and out-of-this-world it is!!! I took this to a baby shower for a fellow church friend when we first moved here and it became the talk among all the women at church on Sunday. By the end of that day I had the recipe memorized because I had to write it down for so many people. I swear that you'll be craving this one for weeks after you make it!

Apple Brickle Dip

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese softened (I've used fat free and it's still just as good)
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 pkg almond brickle chips (7 1/2 oz) or English toffee bits (10 oz)

Beat first four ingredients together with a hand mixer. Fold in toffee chips. Serve with apples and try to stop eating after you realize that you've just eaten 6 apples. Good luck because I can never stop eating this one. It's just THAT good!

12 Servings:  Calories: 191   Fat: 10   Protein: 1

Apple Bars

As I mentioned in a previous post, we got (inadvertantly...I only meant to get about half of that) over 16 pounds of apples at our local apple orchard. So I've had a fun week trying to find new ways to use the apples before they all go bad. We tried this recipe last night and it was AWESOME. I got it off of Allrecipe (surprise, surprise) and tweaked it just a little bit--so I'll post the recipe with the tweaking that we made to it. These definitely tasted better after they had sat overnight--they just firmed and the flavors melded well. After we took them out of the oven, I thought it tasted like a fabulous coffee cake, but as they have sat they are more a bar consistency. They are so moist and full of flavor!


You are definitely going to have to resist licking every last bit of the batter--it is REALLY good. I know I say I shouldn't eat batters with raw egg in it...but to heck with it!

Apple Bars adapted from Allrecipes


2 C sifted all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 C butter or margarine, melted
1 C packed brown sugar
1 C white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 C chopped apples
1/2 cup firmly chopped walnuts (I omitted this part)
2 T white sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (175 Degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 C of white sugar with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture until just combined, then stir in the apples and walnuts. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. In a cup of a small bowl, stir together the remaining cinnamon and sugar; sprinkle over the top of the bars. Bake for 33 minutes (do not overbake...they will seem undone but will firm up as they sit) in preheated oven; Cool in the pan and cut into squares.

The bars before they go into the oven...

My husband is the "we" part of the equation. Here he is sprinkling the cinnamon/sugar topping on to the bars... While they baked...oh and you will love the yummy smell that will be wafting through your house at this point...make a simple glaze to go on them. This was a variation suggested on Allrecipes that I liked. I tried a bar without (pictured below) and thought it needed just that little extra glaze.
So I just mixed powered sugar, a little vanilla, a little butter, and milk until I got the desired consistency. I put the bag of icing in the fridge while the bars cooled. And then I snipped a little corner off the bag and drizzled it over the bars.
They are really good--I'm off to eat one (or ten) right now...

This is why I love Fall...

We went to an apple orchard this week and came home with 16 pounds of apples (the kids were in charge of picking)!!! So in my quest to find many ways to use such a large amount of apples, I searched through Allrecipes for the perfect apple crisp. I hate when there is way too much apples and not enough of the yummy crust! This recipe is fabulous!!!! It seriously is the best apple crisp I've ever had and I usually don't like apple crisp. I'll post the recipe with some of the variations that others have made since I thought it turned out so yummy. I like it served a little warm best.

Apple Crisp

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
2 1/3 C rolled oats (I only had instant oats and it was still great)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 1/2 C butter
3 quarts peeled, cored, sliced apples (I used 2 qts)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Cut butter into mixture until crumbly (I just used my hands).
3. Take half of the mixture and pat it into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
4. Toss apples with cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla. This was a variation suggested by someone and so I just eyeballed how much I needed to add some flavor to the apples.
5. Cover crumb mixture with apple slices, then sprinkle apple slices with remaining crumb mixture.
6. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until apples are tender.