Transformation

Nothing says the start of fall like going apple picking with my family!  This year we were lucky to have friends join us!!!  We have been going to Alyson's Orchard in Walpole, NH for the past  years...it is so beautiful up there.

We had tons of fun picking apples, climbing trees, and walking through the pumpkin patch.

JUICY apples

Madison loved her apples!!!  She got very upset when she was "appleless"

Zain is so good with her!! 

I wonder...What is she thinking?

Enjoying the deep colors of fall.

There is nothing like the start of fall like the scent of apples baking in the oven...apple pie, apple crisp, apple crostata...want to make this?  Go Bake and Create with my great friend Avril OR my new personal favorite Apple Dumplings..OH MY I can not believe I have never had these before.  YUM YUM and YUMMMMYYYYY!!!!

So how does this transformation start?  Well, as Zain says, "let me show ya"

Ingredients

• 1 recipe pastry for double-crust pie (I used store bought Pillsbury dough)
• 6 large apples, peeled and cored
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F Butter a 9x13 inch pan

On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry into a large rectangle, about 24 by 16 inches. Cut into 6 square pieces. Place an apple on each pastry square with the cored opening facing upward. Cut butter into 8 pieces. Place 1 piece of butter in the opening of each apple; reserve remaining butter for sauce. Divide brown sugar between apples, poking some inside each cored opening and the rest around the base of each apple. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over the apples.

1. With slightly wet fingertips, bring one corner of pastry square up to the top of the apple, then bring the opposite corner to the top and press together. Bring up the two remaining corners, and seal. Slightly pinch the dough at the sides to completely seal in the apple. Repeat with the remaining apples. Place in prepared baking dish.

1. In a saucepan, combine water, white sugar, vanilla extract and reserved butter. Place over medium heat, and bring to a boil in a large saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved. Carefully pour over dumplings.

Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes.

Right out of the oven...

I can not believe I just transformed a wonderful healthy apple into this SINfully yummy OH so BAD for you treat!  I shouldn't eat anymore but it is calling my name!!!! 

What is YOUR favorite apple transformation?  I'd LOVE to know because I want to take Zak apple picking while he is here this weekend....use MR. Linky at the bottom of the post to share :o)  

I hope you all have a wonderful Fall season and take some time to transform something ;o)

Dinner Leftovers + Mom's Garden Veggies

Equals a YUMMY lunch! 

 My mom has a wonderful garden with lots of YUMMY FRESH veggies!  I love that she is willing to share with everyone!  She brought these beautiful cukes, green peppers, zucchini, squash, and tomatoes over the other day...Oh boy what is Chris going to make (because we all know I am not making anything)

Well we had so yummy steak the other night for dinner..neither of us could finish up our piece so lunch the next day was YUMMY!!!!

What to do when you have steak fresh veggies and EGGS (oh I have 2 and a half dozen in my fridge...WHY?!?)  You make omelets!  OR have Chris make OMELETS!  I helped....I cut the green peppers and got everything out for him while he jumped on the "jumpoline" with the boyZ


So I have no idea how many eggs he used for each of the omelets...want me to ask?  Chris, CHris, CHRIS!!!!!  Shucks he has his headphones on at the moment...looks like he is making me a playlist for LABOR!!!!  Bring it on

He is such an artist with his knife!

When Chris was in the process of making the omelet in his fry pan I was making lunch for the boyZ...I did see him flip it up in the air and catch it in the pan.....Can I just tell you that when he does this to MY omelet it makes my heart stop BECAUSE I am so afraid it is going to fall on the floor....Geez I need to have a little more faith...in the last 5 and a half years he has never dropped mine!







Look at this YUMM omelet!  Chris topped it off with some salsa and sour cream.  Double YUM!  It was so good!  It def filled me right up! 



Well off to talk to Baby Z3.  He really needs to come out on Friday the 13th!  (TODAY IS MY DUE DATE)

Have a great day!

~K






              
                                                                                

Slice of YUMMINESS!!!!

How YUMMY does this pizza look....ahh let me just tell you it was AWESOME!  As you know I am not a big fan of making dinner UNLESS it is something UBBERLY YUMMY!  I saw this recipe while blog surfing the other night and I knew right away this was going to quickly become a family favorite!  Our 2 favorite things BBQ sauce and PIZZA combined into ONE!!!!  YUM!

One reason I am not a big fan of cooking dinner is because I dislike the amount of time some dishes can take.  Well friends this one takes NO time at all and the kids helped make the dough...oh ya I made the pizza dough too (thanks to Avril who gave me a little extra yeast the other day!)  It took me about 35-40 min from start to finish and I was able to do a few things other then cook during this time.

I didn't get any pictures of the dough making process because I was not planning on making this a blog post but as I got thinking about it I thought WHY NOT this is going to be tasty!!!!  I need to share with my friends!

So you want to know how we did this?  OK then I will direct you to the blog I found it on...she is an amazing artist and has incredible photos of every step....
BBQ Chicken Pizza

Dough

1 1/4 teaspoon dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon sugar
2+ cups flour

Mix yeast in with warm water in bowl stir in oil and sugar.  Add enough flour to make a soft dough.  I had to use about 2 1/4 c of flour.  I used my paddle in my Kitchenaid Mixer (love that thing!) till combined.  Let rest about 5 minutes.  Honestly mine was about 10 minutes because my company was leaving.

I then stretched my dough onto a greased/floured cookie sheet.  I baked a 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.  During this time I shredded a rotisserie chicken that I picked up from the grocery store.  I got a day old cold chicken for 3 bucks....wahoo!  Using the rest for chicken salad YUMMMMMMMM

Dough after being baked at 350 degrees for 10 min.  

BEEP BEEP BEEP dough is DONE!  Now it's time for the good stuff BBQ SAUCE!!!  Slab on as much as you want...I did!

Oh how I LOVE BBQ sauce

add some shredded chicken

  Added my chicken....as much as your family will enjoy.  I also added some minced onions because I didn't have any fresh....Zain really wanted some mushrooms but again I didn't have any.  I also added a little black pepper.  

Now add some yummy cheese.  I used MOZ oh so good....put back into oven at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes.  I made my crust pretty thick (the more dough the better for me) so it took about the full 18 minutes and if I wanted it crispy (love a soft crust) then def would have had to cook it longer...it's all up to how you like it.

During baking time I did the dishes and helped the boyZ clean up their playroom.  Not much to set the table tonight because we just used some paper plates seeing as though I wanted a quick clean up so we could go to Family Night at the KPD (Keene Police Dept)

Add some cheese of your choice MOZ for me!!!!

Do your dishes while it bakes

Try to wait for it to cool.

 {BEEP BEEP BEEP} DINNER IS READY MOM????????  Yes Zain but it is RIPPIN hot we have to wait a few minutes.  That was the HARDEST part because it smelled so YUMMY!!!!

We really really enjoyed this dinner and I would like to thank Alisa Burke for taking time to share this with everyone!  I bet Chris would have been proud of this Mama!!!!  I even left him a piece to try...I wonder if he will????

This blog post took more time then it did for me to make this pizza!

Have a WONDERFUL day!

~K

YUMMY MESSY SUMMER NIGHTS

I LOVE nights that Chris is home for a number of reasons....one that tops the list is that he makes dinner! I HATE cooking dinner, such a PIA if you ask me. Chris is the chef in this house, and thank goodness for that! One of our FAVORITE go to summer meals is good ole BBQ chicken! OH YUMMY and OH MESSY! He serves whatever we have on hand...usually rice and a veggie. Last night we had cauliflower and cheesy broccoli rice....whole meal done 40 minutes...even better. 20 min of which was just parboiling the chicken so it does not take so long on the grill. He slabs on the BBQ sauce in the last few minutes of sizzling on the grill. Favorite BBQ sauce is Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue.

After dinner the boyZ begged for a fire and a little marshmallow roasting. YAH mama wants a marshmallow!!! Chris does mine while I sit back and choke on the smoke, I mean enjoy the fire. So good, toasted so brown on the outside and sticky sweet on the inside. Zain likes his "raw" as he calls it and Zakary just started to like marshmallows last year.

Nights like this are one of my favorites! Everything seems so much simpler in the summer! Don't you think? What is your favorite carefree family summer activity? My list includes outdoor dinners like last night, full days at ANY body of water, bike rides (so much easier when I am not pregnant), walks, and ICE CREAM :o) I can't wait to read yours!

Enjoy your summer, make memories!

~K