Adventures in the Kitchen # 9: Crock Pot Applesauce

The annual Henderson apple pick took place about 2 weeks ago......we went to this cute little apple farm and picked two bags of juicy macintosh apples....for $6. Amazing. We made an apple pie for some dinner guests and ate a bunch for snacks but we are huge applesauce fans, so I decided to try my hand at making applesauce in the crock pot this year.....I LOVE the crockpot....nothing like coming home or waking up to a house that smells delicious! The girls and I made this just before their bedtime and it was ready at 7am the next day. We have been enjoying home made applesauce ever since....

Adventures in the Kitchen # 10: Crock Pot Applesauce

Prep: 25 min (less if you own an apple corer/peeler)
Cook: 8 - 10 hours
Yields: 4 cups of applesauce

Apple + Cinnamon = Autumn

- 20 medium sized apples, peeled, cored, cut into chunks
- 3/4 Cup of water
- 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon
- 1 Cup of Sucanat (I would use 3/4 Cup next time as it was sweet!)

Directions

1. Place all ingredients into slow cooker.
2. Cook on low for 8-10 hours
3. Place sauce into a blender, blend until smooth.

This recipe was easy but time consuming as I do not own an apple corer/peeler and had to peel each individual apple by hand. It might be wise to invest in one if you cook with apples often (I did some research and they seem to range from $21 - $25) as it will cut down your prep time considerably. Other than that....this applesauce was smooth, sweet and made my house smell like fall. I would most definitely make this recipe again (use a bit less sucanat) and my family would agree. The way we are going through our batch.....I will have to make some more soon! 

Any other fall recipes that are an annual event in your house?

* Adapted from the recipe "Crock Pot Applesauce" from cooks.com

Catching up....a Photo montage.

I haven't posted pics since August....so here are a whole bunch of pics showing some of the fun things we have done that past couple of months....not in any order....oops!

Waiting for our breakfast at Cora's....princess-style.

Lily "playing" Candy Land.

Thank you Pinterest for this rainy day activity!

Sidewalk chalk + sunny day + smooth pavement = FUN!

Adventures in the Kitchen # 8: Two Bite Mini-Muffins....a healthy make-over

I have been on the hunt for healthy alternatives to store-bought items that we like to eat....especially in the snack department.....and I stumbled upon a recipe for Chocolate zucchini muffins (similar to the "Two-bite brownies" that you can buy in the grocery store) and decided to give them a healthy 'make-over' for some guilt-free eating pleasure! Don't let the word zucchini scare you....you would never know that these succulent morsels of chocolate gooeyness (my mouth is watering as I write this) have a vegetable in them .....enjoy these as much as we do (and I bet you that your family won't guess that there is zucchini in them...up their veggie consumption without any complaints!)

Adventures in the Kitchen # 8: Two-bite Chocolate Zucchini Mini-Muffins

Prep time: 15 min

Cook Time: mini muffins - 10 min or Standard size muffins - 20 min

Yields: 20 standard muffins

Ingredients

- 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour (remove 2 Tablespoons)

The mini muffins went so fast, I didn't get to take a picture,
but these look a lot like mine. Moist, rich, chocolatey. 

- 1 Cup Cocoa

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 2 teaspoons baking soda

- 1 teaspoon allspice (I used nutmeg)

- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

- 1 1/2 Cups organic sucanat*

- 3/4 Cups Coconut Oil melted

- 3 eggs

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- 1/2 Cup buttermilk (or add 2 teaspoons of vinegar to 1/2 cup of regular milk)

- 2 Cups zucchini (peeled, de-seeded, grated)

- 1 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or carob chips)

*You can also use organic coconut sugar, same quantity or you can use 1 Cup of honey

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease with butter.

2. Whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, all spice and cinnamon and set aside.

3. Whisk together sucanat and coconut oil. Beat in eggs one at a time until combined.

4. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until just moistened.

5. Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake for approximately 20 minutes. 

    (Muffins are done when inserted toothpick into the center comes clean)

6. Cool muffins in tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to cool wrack for 5 minutes before serving.

** I used a mini muffin tin pan to get the "two-bite" muffins.....just decrease the baking time to around 10 minutes.....a perfect snack for little hands and a guilt-free indulgence for us moms! :) This recipe made 16 standard size muffins plus 12 mini muffins.

The mini muffins were gone the same day I made them..... a new favorite for a snack on the go and for Kaitlyn's school lunches. Healthy and natural, home-made and cheaper than the store-bought version....these "Two-bite muffins" are among our favorite sweet treats!Adapted from "Chocolate Zucchini Muffins" found on www.sweetpeaskitchen.com

Lunch Box Menu Plan

If you are anything like me, I tend to be fairly indecisive when it comes to last minute meals.....I always say to Phil....just tell me what to cook and I will make it.....I just don't know what to cook!!! But I discovered how to counteract my indecisiveness with a bi-weekly meal plan. Problem solved. Then came school lunches. Gulp. Now I have to create a take-away lunch every day, consisting of all 4 food groups (there's 4 right??) but omitting all food items containing nuts (PEANUT BUTTER!!!)? Since we have zero extra time in the morning for me to be doddling around trying to make Kaitlyn's lunch, I decided I needed a plan.....
So, I asked Phil to create a lunch box meal plan template for me to use (I borrowed the idea from a blog that I came across). It shows two weeks at a time, and has spaces to write the day, 2 snacks and the lunch menu for each day. LOVE IT!! .......Oh the perks of being married to a former Graphic Designer.......So, now I sit down once every two weeks, and plan out what I am going to send with Kaitlyn each day, and I can make a grocery list if I need certain lunch items.
So, after the kids are tucked in, dinner is cleaned up and the house has been tidied, I head to the kitchen to put together the lunch that I planned ahead of time, no thinking involved, just doing......now that's my  'post-hectic day' kind of lunch making!

ps. Click on the 'lunch box meal plan template' words for a PDF link to print one for yourself!

Homemade Fruit Roll-ups

Now that Kaitlyn is in school, I have been researching some healthy snack ideas for Kaitlyn to take with her each day.  There are a large variety of snacks available in the stores......but most are super unhealthy and overpriced, so I thought that I would choose some store bought snacks that appealed to the kids (and us!) and try to find healthier, homemade and cheaper alternatives. If you have any homemade, yummy snack recipes.....please share with me!! :)

Adventures in the Kitchen # 7: Homemade Fruit Roll-ups

From this......

To this.....very simple, easy to follow recipe.

There are a bunch of steps involved with this recipe (don't be scared....it's super easy) and pictures will help you understand what to do, so go check out this amazingly easy, healthy and cheap recipe here.

** My Kids gobbled this snack up and wanted more and more! With no preservatives, artificial dyes or colors.....this treat is a perfect choice for a snack on the go. 

Rush, Rush, Rush.....

I feel like I am moving at a 'fast forward' kind of pace these days....with school starting and french lessons resuming for us (brief hiatus as we switched instructors).....it is non-stop running around til my head hits the pillow. Yipes. I feel like I am tired all the time.....sleeping at the dinner table is completely possible for me.....you know, those kids who fall asleep in their spaghetti? Yup....that could very well be me one of these days.....perhaps I am doing too much? not getting enough sleep? low in iron? I think a combo of all of the above might be the reason for my all-day fatigue.....and NO....and I am not pregnant! :)

Sleeping in is not in my vocabulary anymore.....

So here it is....walk a day in my shoes and see if you feel like going to bed after reading this......although part of me thinks this is just what being a mom is??.....

6:30am - Alarm goes off
6:45am - Roll out of bed (slowly), get dressed etc
7:00am - Kids wake up, get dressed, hair etc
7:15 - Breakfast, lunch prep, backpack prep
7:50 - teeth brushed, kids faces washed, shoes on
8:00 - in the car, tea in hand, reversing out of the driveway
8:25 - Arrive at Kaitlyn's school, take her to her class
8:35 - Drive to Lily's babysitters house
8:45 - Arrive at Lily's babysitters house, drop her off
8:50 - Drive to French class
9:15 - Arrive at french class, water bottle and snacks in hand
11:40 - Leave to pick up Lily
Noon - Pick up Lily and head for home
12:30 - Arrive home, make lunch, perhaps sit down
1:00 - Lily has quiet time, Phil does work/plays with Lily, I grocery shop, quiet time for me, errands, dinner prep, exercise  and do homeschooling with Lily
3:00 - Drive to Kaitlyn's school to pick her up
4:00 - Arrive back home, unpack school lunch, other dinner prep
Between 5:00  and 5:30 - Eat Dinner
5:45 - Clean up dinner, tidy house
6:00 - Shower the kids (3x/week)
6:15 - Games outside (kids love jumping over a flag, relay races, soccer etc)
6:45 - Brush teeth, jammies, read bible story, 2 books, pray, sing, tickle
7:15 - Lights out
7:16 - I sit down and do nothing....finally.
8:00 - Exercise (if I haven't already that day), shower
9:00 - French Homework
9:45 - School Lunch prep
10:00 - Get ready for bed
10:30 - Lights out, hopefully dreaming at this point

I am exhausted just typing this day out.....the days just fly by.....as Kaitlyn said today...."Mom, the days are just so short!"......because she is at school all day long, her time here at home playing and interacting with us is so short. Weekends are definitely a time to cherish....what's on the agenda for this "fin de semaine"?.....well.....I think we are going to ride the ferry over to the Island and do some apple picking.....and of course make lots of yummy things with our apples.....I can smell the apple cinnamon smell already.....

Date your Kids

Last thursday, Kaitlyn and I went on a date. I love planning what we are going to do and where we are going to go......these are some of the requirements when I am searching for a potential date:
1. Fun
2. Inexpensive (we splurge occasionally)
3. Lots of opportunity to chat

Busy painting a rainbow heart

The Crackpot Cafe seemed like the perfect choice for our date....it is a cute little cafe and pottery studio where you can select a piece of pottery to paint and spend an hour or so creating your masterpiece, while sipping some hot drinks and munching some sweet snacks. Kaitlyn chose to paint a mug with a spoon and I painted a "special day" plate. I must admit that this was a tad on the expensive side, but pottery is always pricey (unless you make it yourself).....but we had a great time painting, creating, eating and chatting. Kaitlyn painted a pretty rainbow heart on her mug and went to town painting the inside of her mug with various colors.  The cool thing is whenever she uses her mug (no matter what it ends up looking like), she will remember our time together.

Girl time

When we were done, we left our pieces with them to glaze and fire and will return in a week to bring our Masterpieces home. We can't wait! Afterwards we hit up Kaitlyn's first choice of a restaurant (much to my chagrin.....Mcdonalds or "Uncle Donalds" as Lily calls it). We split a happy meal and then headed home to share our day with Phil and Lily.
Looking forward to the next one.....usually once a month for each child with each parent. Lily and Phil went on a date that afternoon as well. The kids look forward to it and so do we. Little things go a long way to let our kids know how much we love to spend time with them and how special they are to us. It's not about buying things, or spending a lot of money.....it's about putting your list of "to do's" aside and spending undivided time with your child........doesn't even have to be anything out of the ordinary.....even going to the park but just the two of you, and intentionally pursuing their hearts in conversation.....and calling it a date (because that lets them know it is a special occasion and they get reeeeaaalllyyy excited about that!). Happy Dating!

I'm no artist....but this was fun!