Apple Poppies

We thawed out some frozen apples from last years crop and usually I will just heat these up and serve them warm.  Keith had a friend over and they wanted some pie.  I had some frozen puff pastry sheets and came up with this.  Keith wants to call them Apple Poppies.

1 pkg of frozen puff pastry
1 quart of chopped cooked apples.
dash of cinnamon
dash of fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
2 tbsp butter

Thaw out the puff pastry - this shouldn't take long (if you thaw it too much, you can't work with it)
Heat your apples in a saucepan for about 10 minutes and let cool to room temp. Cook a little longer if you are using fresh picked.
I put the butter in a microwaveable bowl with the pecans and add the cinnamon and nutmeg.  Microwave about a minute stirring halfway.

Drain the apples, saving some juice
Roll out the pastry and cut into 4 equal squares on each sheet
spoon apples onto pastry sheet
spoon some pecan mix on top and take pastry ends diagonally and press all sides together
Place on cookie sheet and brush some juice on top.

Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes until light golden brown.

Happy 4th of July Yummy Breakfast

Good Morning America...Happy 4th of July

We enjoyed the fireworks last night in downtown Asheville

Shelby came over after she ran the 5 K in Weaverville this morning.  Keith was just wanting french toast.  I looked in the bread box and only had french bread so I thought OK baked french toast but then I remembered that I usually let that set in the fridge overnight,  after searching the net I had the ingredients to come up with this yummy recipe.

1 loaf of whole grain french bread cut into about 20 pieces

4 oz of whipped cream cheese

1/2 c finely chopped pecans

4 large eggs

1/4 c heavy whipping cream

1/4 c water

3 tblsp butter

canola spray

Mix the eggs, cream and water in a bowl to dip bread in.  Spread cream cheese on one side of 10 slices, top with finely chopped pecans.  Use the other 10 slices to cover and make little sandwiches.  

Spray your skillet and then add butter on med low heat until melted.  Dip the sandwiches in the cream mix (be sure to coat both sides)and put in skillet for about 8 minutes. Turn over for a few minutes.  Both sides should be golden brown. I sprinkled some fresh ground nutmeg and cinnamon on top. 

 Top with maple syrup and enjoy!  I think you could substitute pecans with strawberry jam and it would also be good.

Peanut Butter Granola Balls

I have learned with a teenager in the house to have healthy snacks on hand at all times.  Mostly it has been fruit in my house since my son is a fruitaholic..he can't get enough.  I'm not complaining, better than junk food.  I just can't keep the fruit on hand.  He eats it as fast as I buy it.  Here's a good filling treat that will stick and give you the sweet fix as well

1 c powdered sugar
1 c creamy peanut butter
1/3 c milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c quaker oats
1 c granola cereal of your choice
1 1/4 c peanut butter and choc chip morsels

Combine powdered sugar, peanut butter, milk and vanilla extract in large bowl.

Stir in the oats, granola and peanut butter and choc chip morsels.  Mix until completely coated.

You can put in the refrigerator to harden up before you start rolling your balls.  Roll into 1 inch balls and place on wax paper. Then store in an airtight container in freezer.  Take out as wanted.  Great snack.

How do you want your eggs today?

There's nothing better then farm fresh eggs.  We have Brahma and Araucana hens.  It is a highlight of the day to see how many eggs we get for the day.  We only have 4 hens. ( they produce 2 - 4 eggs a day)

This morning a did a take on a recipe I saved.

10 eggs wisked together.
red, green and yellow peppers chopped
onion chopped -   I cheated and used the frozen stir fry peppers and onions in the freezer.
Saute the peppers and onion with some olive oil
Season with sea salt and crushed pepper along with crushed red pepper
Add the pepper & onion to the whisked egg and pour into muffin tins  (spray the muffin tin first)
Top with grated parmesean cheese and bake at 350 for 12-15 min depending on your oven.  Egg needs to be set.  Serve with salsa

It would be fun to add different veggies in and have little omelet muffins.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mothers Day!  I slept in which means 8 am, my husband made me breakfast and decided he would vacuum the house (this is a first, trust me)  I had to take a picture.

We enjoyed the warm weather outside and Keith stayed in with allergies acting up again.  This year has been bad for allergies here.  Could have went out for dinner but wanted to try making my own burgers the way a friend showed me last week.  She purchased a boneless rump rust on sale and cut off the fat, cut it into chunks and grinded/ chopped  it in the food processor. I used my burger press and formed nice patties and seasoned with sea salt and fresh ground pepper and a little Worcestershire sauce. On the grill and they were great.  We had this with roasted butternut squash, garlic, onion and seasoned with some fresh ground nutmeg, sea salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil.  Yukon Gold simple potato salad.    YUM..this was good for me. KC cooked the burgers just right and such an easy day!

Yukon Gold Simple Potato Salad

6 Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and cut into chunks for salad
Onion and celery chopped to your liking
2 boiled eggs chopped up
Miracle Whip  - just enough to make it real moist

Ended with a beautiful sunset.........

Now it's back to the normal routine on Monday.  Work, Work and more Work........

Swiss Chard........Pasta

I've never grown swiss chard and recently discovered how good it is and the nutrients are plentiful.

I picked and washed the chard and prepared this yummy pasta dish.

Olive oil
garlic chopped or minced (use amount you like)
1 red onion chopped
1 pint grape tomatoes
kosher salt and flaked red pepper
Saute all of these together for a few minutes until tomatoes just start to soften or pop
Chop the chard into 2 inch pieces and add to saute until wilted

Meanwhile boil pasta of your choice (I used De Boles all natural linquine made with jerusalem artichoke flour)

Mix the saute with the pasta and serve in pasta bowl, top with sliced kalamata olives, feta cheese and maybe some italian cheese.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I am posting Strawberry Rhubarb Pie again.  I am trying a different way.

6 stalks of Rhubarb  (cut into 1-2 inch pieces and boiled about 1-2 min) drain
strawberries fresh and sweetened with a little sugar or you can use the kind from the frozen section already sweetened (thawed & drained)
3 tbsp flour mixed in with strawberries and rhubard
splash of lemon juice
Spread in a 9 inch pie shell

Topping
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c butter or margarine (I used smart balance)
fresh ground nutmeg
cinnamon
1/2 cup oatmeal
Press and crumble with masher or pastry blender

Spread on top   Bake at 350 convection for 50 minutes