Apple Crisp

Again, life is crazy busy and I have no pictures to share with you. I can tell you that every person who has had this dish enjoyed it and I have made it 3 times in the past 3 weeks! Usually I leave my apple peels on for added nutrition, but I eat so well already, I figured why not just peel them for the full apple crisp effect. Apple crisp is one of the healthiest fall desserts if you make it right. Plus, the main ingredient is apple, so you are getting a fruit serving (or two) in with each slice!

Ingredients

• 7 or so medium apples, peeled and thinly sliced (they don't all need to be perfect slices)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, divided
• Cinnamon, apple pie spice, and nutmeg to taste
• 1/2 cup regular oats
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2-2 tbsp butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9" x 9" square baking dish and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, toss apple slices, spices, and 2 tbsp brown sugar*. Pour into prepared dish.
3. In a small bowl, mix flour and oats together. Add remaining sugar and additional spices, if desired. Cut in butter until it resembles a coarse meal. To use as little butter as possible, start with 1 TBSP and add more if needed.
4. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

I just found out that Jason likes his hot with ice cream but if there is no ice cream, he likes it cold...talk about high maintenance! ;)

*the apples are sweet already so you don't really need sugar in the base. If you want, you can omit the sugar (I have done this and it still tastes great) and either remove it all together or add it to the topping for an extra sweet crunch.

Salmon with Sweet and Spicy Salsa

We had some frozen salmon left over that I really wanted to use up. I knew we would need easy-to-transport fruits for camping, so oranges seemed like the perfect pair with the salmon. I made a salsa (or chutney...I am not sure which this would be, if it is even either of these) the morning before we made the salmon. It was extremely hot outside, so I decided to just cook the salmon in a skillet instead of grilling it. In hindsight I think this was best - freezing the salmon dries it out and grilling is a dry cooking method, so by cooking it in a little oil and its own juices probably helped keep the salmon from tasting like jerky.



Ingredients:
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 4 oranges, whole
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 yellow pepper, chopped
- 1 tbsp Caribbean jerk seasoning
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 4 salmon fillets
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- 1 c. dry brown rice, cooked

Directions:
1. To prepare the salsa, peel 3 oranges and section them from their skins. To do this, cut the orange in half horizontally, so it looks like a halved grapefruit, Begin cutting the wedges out. By using the knife, you will cut the skin and the slice should peel apart from the skin. The flesh should look more like a Mandarin orange at this point. If not, it is okay to just use the whole orange. Add in the onions and peppers. With the 4th orange, use a grate and grate about 1 tbsp orange zest from the rind. Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice from each half into the vegetable and fruit mixture. Add the Caribbean jerk and garlic. Mix well and let stand in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
2. To cook the salmon, heat a skillet to medium with a little olive oil. Place each fillet in the olive oil and then flip it and move it from the center. This will make sure each piece has some olive oil on it. Season the pieces with salt and pepper and press in with the spatula. Flip the pieces after 3 minutes or so and repeat with the seasoning. Cook until the fish flakes and the internal temperature is at least 145F.
3. Serve the salmon over brown rice and top with the salsa. Enjoy!

Snacks

Plums and Mangoes

Bing Cherries

Veggie Packs

Pankcakes with Fruit Topping

This tells you how far behind I am - this is a recipe from Valentine's Day, which now seems like it was a decade ago. I have been cooking up a storm, but never think to take pictures anymore. I think I may post some recipes I have made just to get them on here and then if I make them again I will post the picture. Or, if anyone reads this and makes them, they could send me a picture :)

Fruit Pancakes

Pancake Ingredients

from Better Homes and Gardens NEW COOK BOOK

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp alt
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp canola oil

Directions

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the milk, oil, an egg. 
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a whisk just until blending. If you over mix the ingredients they will not give you a fluffy pancake. 
4. Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto a preheated griddle or skillet. I find the griddle works much better for pancakes because you can make more at once and they don't get crowded.
5. Cook until lightly browned on each side.

Fruit Topping Ingredients

• 1 cup of frozen mixed berries
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 egg yolk
• sugar 

Directions

Whisk the egg yolk, milk, and 1 tbsp of sugar together in a small sauce pan. Place over medium heat and continually whisk to prevent curdling. Cook for 3 minutes. Add Fruit and continue to mix until the desired consistency is formed. Add more sugar to taste, if needed.

Cranberry Sauce

Two years ago I began cooking for Thanksgiving with my family. We usually would have the traditional gel-cranberry sauce and as a kid, I loved it! However, now that I am older and have more of an appreciation for food, I did not think cranberry sauce was really meant to come from a can, so I decided to make my own. This is the first recipe I ever made and it is still the recipe I always use. The orange juice adds a great touch. Absolutely delicious!


Ingredients
-1 12-oz package of fresh cranberries
-1 cup orange juice
-1/2 cup water
-1 1/2 cups sugar (more if needed for taste)


Directions

1. Place cranberries in a bowl of clean water. Pick through, discarding stems and rotten berries.
2. Drain berries and place them in a medium sauce pan with the water, orange juice, and sugar.
3. Bring to a boil. reduce heat so still boiling, but not rapidly and cook for 5 minutes. The berries will pop, so don't get scared! Be sure to watch them, or it WILL boil over.
4. Taste periodically to see if sugar is needed.
5. Continue to cook until the berries are popped to your liking. The sauce will thicken as it cools.

Fruited Chicken Salad

I have never been a fan of traditional chicken salad; something about the thick creamy dressing and obvious mayonnaise taste seemed to turn my off every time I tried it. Recently, Jason and I have experimented with less traditional types of salads. Here is a recipe for my most recent invention. We have also made a similar salad with turkey that I will post about in the future when we make it again.

Ingredients
-2 medium chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (about 2/3 of a pound)
-1 very ripe mango*, peeled, cored and cubed
-1 orange, sliced and cubed
-1 cup of grapes, halved
-2 large celery stalks, sliced about ¼” thick
-½ cup fat-free, plain yogurt
-2-3 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix the lemon juice and yogurt.
   
2. In a large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients.
   
3. Pour dressing on top and mix until everything is well coated. If desired, add more yogurt and/or lemon juice to taste.
   
4. Serve with fresh greens, on toasted whole wheat bread, or by itself!

*While in India last August (I can't believe it has been a year already!) I had the BEST mango of my life; they were so juicy we could peel them with our hands. The flesh was a deep orange color, unlike the traditional yellow color you often find here. However, Jason and I, in an attempt to save money, have started going to Aldis for some of our grocery needs. There we got the BEST mango I have ever had in the US; the sticker was in Spanish, so I am assuming they were mangos from the local Spanish grocery store. Regardless, they were 100 times better than the mangos I bought at Jewel earlier this summer. Just a hint: when shopping for mango, try to find one that is soft and smells like mango; this means it is at perfect ripeness! Enjoy!