Seasoned Oven Roasted Vegetables

This is a great side dish for some of our favorite dinners. I have never been one to "hide" vegetables so my kids would eat them and I'm glad - because they love this!

Seasoned Oven Roasted Vegetables
7 medium potatoes
1 small bag baby carrots
1/4 c. olive oil
1 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning

Chop the potatoes and carrots into bite-sized pieces, all approximately the same size and place ina large bowl. Add the oil and spices, toss to coat all evenly. Pour onto large baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees about 30 minutes.

Caramel Apple Cobbler

This cobbler was gone almost the moment it came out of the oven. I made it because I needed apple something and cobbler sounded good. Apparently my family agreed. It didn't last long but we will be making it again!

Caramel Apple Cobbler
batter:
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
Melt the butter and put in a 9x3 pan. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, flour, and baking powder. Add the milk and vanilla, stir to combine. Pour the batter over the butter and stir lightly.

apple filling:
3 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin (I use granny smith and gala)
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. sugar
In a saucepan, combine the apples with the cinnamon and sugar. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the apples are softened. Stir frequently so they don't burn.

caramel sauce:
1/2 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. heavy cream

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, sugar, and cream. Stir and cook until the mixture begins to boil. Allow to boil about 1 minute, then remove from the heat.

Add 1 c. caramel sauce to the apples and stir. Save remaining sauce. Pour the apple mixture evenly over the batter. Bake at 400 degree for about 25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. You can drizzle the remaining caramel sauce over the cobbler or serve it with ice cream and drizzle the sauce over that. Either way, it is delicious!

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Another one of our Saturday morning muffin recipes. Someday, I won't be making these every week! :-) These have both oatmeal and blueberries and not as much sugar as most of the other recipes, so I consider them healthier than most of my recipes. Once in awhile, I need that.

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. oatmeal
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 c. milk
1/4 c. oil
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries

In a large bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, and baking powder. Make a well in the center and add the milk, oil, egg, and vanilla. Stir until just combined - the batter should still be lumpy. Fold in the blueberries. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners and divide the batter between them. Bake at 400 degrees 15-18 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Eggnog Muffins

I love eggnog. I won't drink it any time of the year except Christmas. Somehow, it seems wrong to drink eggnog in July, but once Thanksgiving dinner is cleaned up, I break it out! I use it to make a lot of stuff too: fudge, cookies, muffins...

Eggnog Muffins
2 1/4 c. flour
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. eggnog
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the melted (and cooled) butter, eggnog, eggs, and vanilla. Stir just to combine - the batter should still be a little lumpy. Grease a muffin tin or line with paper liners. Divide batter into the muffin tin and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

You can make a glaze for the muffins with 1 c. powdered sugar and enough eggnog to make a thin glaze. Pour it over the muffins. I don't do this, really ever, because I make my muffins ahead of time and freeze them. Plus, we eat these for Saturday morning breakfast and without the glaze I can pretend they are nutritious. :-)

Eggnog Fudge

I love fudge. Love it. Chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, now eggnog fudge. It is an integral part of Christmas for me. Yum!

Eggnog Fudge
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. eggnog
2 c. sugar
2 c. white chocolate
1 small jar marshmallow cream
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Line a 9x9 inch pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. 
In a medium pan, combine the butter, eggnog, and sugar. Bring it to a boil. Add a candy thermometer and cook until the mixture reaches 234 degrees. Remove from the heat. Carefully add the white chocolate - if it gets clumpy, keep stirring. Stir until melted, then add the marshmallow cream, vanilla, and nutmeg. Pour into pan and allow to set.

Orange Cranberry Muffins

And yet another muffin recipe for Saturday mornings...

 

Orange Cranberry Muffins

2 c. flour

3/4 c. brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 c. orange juice***

2 eggs

1/3 c. oil

1 c. chopped cranberries

Combine the flour, brown sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the orange juice, eggs, and oil. Mix just until blended, then fold in the cranberries. Either grease a muffin tin or use paper liners. Fill 2/3 full with batter and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

*** For the orange juice I used frozen orange concentrate, then mixed it with only ONE can of water. It makes the orange a little more pronounced without overpowering the muffin.

Apple Strudel

I love things with apples in them, but they can be such a pain to peel, slice, etc to get them ready to cook with. So I give my boys the opportunity to help me - they are all capable ot peeling apples and using the slicer. A little less tedium encourages me to bake more yummy things so they don't complain too much! And who doesn't like delicious apple strudel? Especially when it's warm, right out of the oven?

 

 Apple Strudel

1 sheet of puff pastry

3 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tart apples (like Granny Smith)

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place the puff pastry in the center of the cookie sheet and roll it thin - about 16x12 inches. I rolled mine until it almost touched the sides of the cookie sheet. Peel and slice the apple thin. I had my son use our apple slicer (cuts into 8 slices) then I cut each slice into thirds. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Add the apples. Use your hands to toss to coat. Place the apples down the center of the puff pastry lengthwise. Cut slits in the puff pastry about 1 inch apart on each side of the apples, starting about 1/2 inch away from the apples and going through the edge. Use these to fold over the apples at an angle, alternating sides so it appears to be braided. Tuck the ends under and bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes or unti golden brown.

I used  glaze of 1 c. powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 3/4 Tbsp. milk once the strudel had cooled a little.