Morris and Diane's Favorite Apple Crisp

Morris and Diane are a cute little couple that own Allen's orchard where we picked some apples this year.

I did space between lines but as it would turn out, the spaces are non-existent in the final form. Sorry.

Apple Crisp

Wash, peel and slice apples to make 3-4 cups

Mix sliced apples with 1/2 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

and place in 7x11 pan

Variation: pour 1/2 cup orange juice over apples

Topping: 1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold butter cut into small pieces

Mix this together and sprinkle over the apples.

If desired, sprinkle with pecans

Bake at 350 degrees F until apples are tender (20-25 minutes)

I ate mine with vanilla frozen yogurt. YUM!

Chicken Caesar Wrap

This is one of my favorite Body For Life super fast summer meals. For added kick I slice up tomatoes and throw them in too!

Serves 2

Prep time: 10 min

2 portions of grilled chicken breast, sliced (to save boatloads of time buy the "pre-grilled" fully cooked strips at the store)

2 cups chopped romaine lettuce

2 Tablespoons low-fat Caesar salad dressing (or not low-fat)

2 Tablespoons reduced-fat Parmesan cheese

spinach tortillas

1. Toss together the chicken, lettuce, Caesar dressing, Parmesan cheese and tomatoes (if desired)

2. Microwave tortilla for about 20 seconds to soften. Spoon chicken mixture onto tortilla

3. Wrap tortilla around filling and cut in half. Serve and enjoy!

Peaches n Cream Dessert

Crust
2 C flour
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1 C Walnuts/Pecans
2 Sticks of soft Ibutter

Spread in a 9 X 13 bake at 375 for fifteen minutes stirring every five minutes. (I just do mine until ti starts to turn brown.) Let it Cool

Filling
2 pkgs dream whip
8 oz soft cream cheese
1 C Powdered Sugar
Make Dream Whip as directed except don't add vanilla. Whip in the cream cheese and powdered sugar.

Topping
Fresh Peaches 6-8
Peach Glaze

Layer as follows
Crumbs
Filling
Crumbs
Peach filling

Refrigerate and enjoy!


Tis the season for peaches. This is one of our families favorite desserts.

Mom's Zucchini Bread aka. The Secret Recipe

Patty passed this on to me a couple of years ago and I just made it again today. I still think mom's recipe is one of the best.


3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 eggs well beaten
1 cup shortening or cooking oil (I've always used olive oil)
3 cups zucchini, grated
1 teaspoon vanilla


Sift dry ingredients in medium bowl. Mix eggs, shortening (oil), zucchini and vanilla together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix well. Pour into two loaf pans. Bake at 325 for about 1 hour for large loaves. For mini loaves check after 20 minutes. I'm sure they'd make good cupcakes too. Same bake time as mini loaves, check after 15 to 20 minutes

Peanut Butter White Chocolate Popcorn

This is from the "Sisters Cafe" blog that Karen introduced me to. She made it while she was here and it is very good. Be careful, it's addicting and so easy to make. Perfect blend of salty/sweet.
2 bags microwave popcorn1/2 cup creamy peanut butter1 bag white chocolate chips (2 cups)1/2-1 cup Reeses Pieces
Pop the popcorn then sift through to remove all unpopped kernels. Soften the PB in the microwave over 30 seconds, stir into popcorn to coat evenly. Melt the white chocolate either in a double broiler or in the microwave (over 2 minutes on 50% power, then stir chips until smooth). Pour over popcorn and gently stir to coat popcorn evenly with chocolate. Add Reeses Pieces as you stir in the chocolate. Spread out popcorn on waxed paper to set. Enjoy!

Lemon Curd

This is to go along with Janette's recipe if you'd rather make it than buy it.

1 Cup Sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
3 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
6 Tablespoons lemon juice
6 Tablespoons water
6 beaten egg yolks
1/2 Cup butter or margarine, cut up

In a medium saucepan stir together sugar and cornstarch. Stir in lemon peel, lemon juice, and water. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Stir half of the lemon mixture into egg yolks. Return the egg yolk mixture to the saucepan. Cook and stir over meduim heat until mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat.

Add butter pieces, stirring until melted. Cover surface of the curd with plastic wrap. Chill at least 1 hour or for up to 48 hours. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or transfer to a freezer container; freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before serving.

Yields 2 cups.

Overnight Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast

This was so good! Made it in the morning and had it for dinner instead of doing the overnight thing. Yum!

Ingredients:
12 slices day-old bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, cut into
1 inch cubes
1 cup fresh blueberries
12 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup maple syrup

1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon butter
Directions:
1.Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with cream cheese cubes. Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese, and top with remaining bread cubes.
2.In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
3.Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4.Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned.
5.In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, until the blueberries burst. Stir in the butter, and pour over the baked French toast

Marinated Grilled Shrimp

Marinated Grilled Shrimp

Rated: Submitted By: BLONDIEPEREZ Photo By: Allrecipes Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 6 Minutes Ready In: 55 Minutes Servings: 6

"Grilled shrimp marinated in tomato sauce, red wine vinegar, basil and cayenne pepper."

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic, minced 1/3 cup olive oil 1/4 cup tomato sauce 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 2 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined skewers

Directions:

1.	In a large bowl, stir together the garlic, olive oil, tomato sauce, and red wine vinegar. Season with basil, salt, and cayenne pepper. Add shrimp to the bowl, and stir until evenly coated. Cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring once or twice.
2.	Preheat grill for medium heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard marinade.
3.	Lightly oil grill grate. Cook shrimp on preheated grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until opaque. How did I change this recipe, the only thing I did was that I x 4 the marinade part of the shrimp except for the olive oil, because I didn't want it too greasy. Super Yummy and really easy.

Berry Trifle

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Prep Time:15 min

Inactive Prep Time:25 min

Cook Time:3 min

Level:Easy

Serves:4 servings

Ingredients

Berries:

• 1 pint blueberries
• 1 pint strawberries, hulled and cut into thick slices
• 2 pint raspberries
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

Lemon Cream:

• 1 quart whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (11-ounce) jar lemon curd
• 1 cup store bought pound cake, slices 1/2-inch thick

Directions

Place the berries into a large bowl and sprinkle with half of the lemon juice. Lightly toss.

Combine the berries, sugar, cornstarch and remaining lemon juice in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook just until the berries begin to break down and give up their juices, about 3 minutes. Take the berries off the heat and let cool; the mixture should thicken up as is cools.

In a clean bowl, whip the cream with the sugar and the vanilla to soft peaks. Put the lemon curd into a second bowl and stir in a little of the whipped cream to loosen it. Then fold in the rest of the cream.

To assemble the trifle, spoon a layer of the lemon cream into a large glass bowl. Add a layer of pound cake, breaking the slices into pieces that fit. Then soak the cake with a layer of berries and their juices. Keep going to make 3 or 4 more layers, depending on the size of the bowl, finishing with a layer of lemon cream. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Thoughts and Tips

My thoughts on the recipe, was that it was really easy to make. I am always trying to think of budget friendly ways to cut the recipe and I am trying to be better of finding ways to cut the fat as well. Next time I think I am going to by two bags of frozen mixed berries and try cool whip with the lemon curd. I will let you know how it worked.

I had no idea what lemon curd was, but new it was probably something British from the nursery rhyme of Little Miss Muffett. I set off to the store and had to ask the first store where it was. They didn't have lemon curd but said it would be in the jam, jelly, and preserve isle at the store. I was looked in refrigerated, cooking, and by the lemon juice before asking. So now you know where to look for it if you didn't know. I had never used lemon curd, but it is really yummy, I think I am going to try to find different ways to use it in my recipes.

The recipe says it only serves 4. I guess that could be true if everyone had a serving bowl size serving. I thought of doubling when I saw this, but in the end I just made it as it was and I am glad I did. We would have been eating trifle for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

INGREDIENTS

* 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
* 1 onion, finely diced
* 2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough water to cover.
2. Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High. About 90 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.

Depending on what I have around sometimes I add some frozen peas or mixed veggies. I also add Basil to it quite often and if I have chicken broth or bouillon I use that instead of covering it with water. I have left out the onion too. Sometimes you might need to add more water or chicken broth at the end to make it saucy enough.