Apple Crisp

    Happy Fall everyone! I am still in shock that September is almost over! Last week, these beautiful gala apples were on sale and I couldn't help but buy a bag and make a pan of apple crisp! I really love this recipe and it's just perfect with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!

Apple Crisp

Ingredients:
Apple filling:

- 5-6 medium apples, peeled and sliced thin

- 3 tablespoons of butter, melted

- 1 tablespoon of flour

- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch

- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

- 1/4 cup of milk

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 1/4 cup of brown sugar

- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

- pinch of salt

For the topping:

- 1/2 cup of flour

- 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats

- 1/2 cup of brown sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

- pinch of salt

- 1/3 cup of cold butter, cut into cubes

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together all of the ingredients for the apple filling and pour it into a greased 8x8 baking dish. Next, cut together the ingredients for the crumb topping with a pastry blender, a fork, or with your hands until it resembles pebbles. Pour topping over the apple mixture and bake for 30-35 minutes. Once golden brown, remove from the oven and serve topped with ice cream or whipped cream!

Cinnamon Spiced Applesauce

    If only I could bottle up a smell and send it to you! This slow cooker applesauce recipe has to be the easiest ever. It tastes like apple pie! It's the perfect after school snack. You could even can it and give as gifts. If you're looking for a low sugar snack, you could leave it out and I'm sure that it would still be delicious!

Cinnamon Spiced Applesauce

Ingredients:

- 10-12 good sized apples, I used ginger crisps

- 1/2 cup of sugar

- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

- 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

- 1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves

- dash of ginger

    Peel, core, and chop the apples into 1/2 inch pieces. Place them into your slow cooker and stir in the sugar and spices. Cook for about three hours on high. Stirring the mixture every 30 minutes. Once finished, you could blend it more. I liked the texture though so, I left it the way it was.

Cinnamon Streusel Baked French Toast

    When it comes to baked french toast, this was not my first rodeo! I first dabbled with the idea for Christmas morning and although I loved it, I wanted to kick it up a notch! What better way to spiff it up than to add a streusel topping? This recipe definitely completed our church brunch for the kids last week. They definitely left for summer camp with some full bellies!

Cinnamon Streusel Baked French Toast

Ingredients:
- 1 large loaf of crusty bread (I used French bread)
- 8 whole eggs
- 2 cups of whole milk
- 1/2 cup of whipping cream
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
  For the streusel topping:
- 1/2 cup of flour
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon on salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) of cold butter, sliced into pieces
    Prepare a 9x13 baking dish by spraying generously with non-stick spray. Break or cut the bread into bite-sized chunks and place into prepared baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Pour the egg mixture over the bread and place the whole thing in the refrigerator for a few hours, or overnight. When you're ready to prepare the french toast, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the topping. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut in the butter until the mixture resembles fine pebbles. Sprinkle the topping on top of the chilled bread mixture. Bake the whole casserole for about an hour, or until golden brown. Serve warm with maple syrup.

The Spread! Yum!

Sweet Potato, Kale, and Corn Chowder

    Usually, when the thought of chowder comes to mind you're reminded of a chunky potato soup with a base of cream and maybe some seafood. This is a far cry from the typical! I must admit, I'm not a huge fan of kale. It can be tough and tasteless in my opinion. But, in this soup it was so tasty! I bought a huge bag of it and I'll probably be experimenting a bit more this week! Also, I've never cooked with leeks before. I found some massive ones at the grocery store. Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite foods! I've been cooking with them a lot lately! This recipe is part of my meal prep mission, I've portioned it out for the week and it's going to make a great lunch to bring to work! I'm telling you, go make this! It's so good, I couldn't spoon it into my mouth fast enough. I just picked up my bowl and drank it! Not to mention it's pretty good for you!

Sweet Potato, Kale, and Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

- 1 tablespoon of coconut oil

- 1/2 of a large onion, chopped

- 2 medium sweet potatoes, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

- 3 cups of low sodium chicken broth

- 3 cups of water

- 1 large leek, cleaned and thinly sliced into half moons

- 1 tablespoon of minced garlic

- 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

- 2 cups of fresh chopped kale, packed

- 2 (15 ounce) cans of whole kernel corn, fresh or frozen works too

    In a large stock pot, over medium heat, saute the onions and coconut oil until the onion has softened. Add in the sweet potato, garlic, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Saute for a couple of minutes. Then, add in the chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the sweet potatoes are fork tender. Add in the leeks and simmer for another couple of minutes. With an immersion blender, roughly blend the soup until mostly smooth. If you don't own and immersion blender, simply pour into a blender or food processor, blend, and pour back into the pot. Add in the kale and the corn and simmer another couple of minutes, until the kale is tender. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. 

Stuffed Cinnamon Raisin French Toast

    Many years ago, while I was in college, I had the most amazing friend and roommate named Tina. Our first apartment was blocks away from the IHOP on 13th street. Tina landed a job there and we soon found that the serving industry could be quite profitable if you know what you're doing. By year two, she had gotten me a job there as well and we gained another awesome roommate who worked with us as well, Val! The point being, when I think of stuffed french toast, I think of IHOP! Their stuffed french toast is more of a stuffed cinnamon doughnut. I think I have the filling down though. You could definitely change it up and use different bread, or add some fresh berries into the cream filling. There's nothing better than layers of cinnamon french toast and cool cream cheese filling though! Sometimes, I miss our IHOP days and I definitely miss my ladies that made those day some pretty memorable ones!

Stuffed Cinnamon Raisin French Toast

Ingredients:

  Filling:

- 4 ounces of softened cream cheese

- 1 tablespoon of confectioners sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 1/2 cup of cool whip

  French toast:

- 8 slices of your favorite cinnamon raisin bread

- 2 eggs

- 1 and 1/2 tablespoon of milk

- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

    Start with the filling. In a small mixing bowl, cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Add the vanilla and cool whip. Set in the fridge and start the french toast. Whip together the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Spray with non-stick spray. Lightly dip the bread in the egg mixture and cook in the skillet until golden brown. Repeat with all pieces of bread. Once finished, layer french toast and filling. It may not even need syrup! 

Snickerdoodle Blondies

    Our whole house smelt like cinnamon goodness this afternoon! Two of my favorite desserts come together for the chewy bars. Are they blondies or are they snickerdoodles? Try them and see what you think. Either way, they are absolutely delicious!

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Ingredients: 

- 1 cup of butter, softened

- 1 cup of granulated sugar, plus 1/4 cup for topping

- 1 cup of packed brown sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

- 2 teaspoons of baking powder 

- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, plus 1 and 1/2 teaspoon for topping

- 2 and 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

- dash of salt

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and set aside. Cream together the butter and remaining sugars. Add the egg and vanilla. Then, slowly incorporate in all of the dry ingredients. Mix well. Spread the dough into the bottom or a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Top the dough with the cinnamon sugar mixture and bake for 30 minutes. It's best you wait for them to completely cool before you slice into them. I was impatient and mine got kind of sloppy, but they sure are tasty!