Nutmeg Ginger Apple Snaps

 (picture courtesy of Vancouver Observer)

I was looking for unique cookies to send to the church bake sale and also needed a way to use up some apples!

Nutmeg Ginger Apple Snaps-shared from Vancouver Observer
2 cups unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp molasses
5 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch ground cloves
1 tsp grated nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
4 cups flour(I used white whole wheat)
2 tsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
4 apples
1/2 cup coarse

Preheat oven to 325.

Cream butter until it's light colored and easily forms peaks. Add the molasses, sugars, spices, grated ginger, and vanilla, whip until fully blended.

Sift the flour, cornstarch, and salt together. Add to the butter mixture in 3 batches, on low speed until fully blended.

Roll dough into 2-3 tbsp size ball and flatten them on parchment lined cookie sheets.(I used a small glass, dipped in sugar) Slice apple thinly and place on top of the cookie, sprinkle with coarse sugar to cover apple. Bake for 12-15 mins until golden brown.

**The cookies were nice and crispy and flavorful. The ginger was almost to potent for me, but it was very ginger snap like. The dough was very dry and I'm thinking it was because I used white whole wheat flour, but the dryness did work with the cookie, they just were not easy to roll. The boys liked them...just not the apple part on top, but they were eating the apple chips I made!

Cottage Cheese Waffles

 I recently met with a health coach to help tweak my diet in hopes that it will help me to loose weight. Her answer to me was that I needed to eat more protein! While I eat pretty healthy I wasn't eating enough protein so she uped it...a lot! Something I'm really struggling with but I'm still working on it! I of course LOVE waffles and pancakes and still want to enjoy these with my family for Saturday morning breakfast. I went looking for high protein recipes and found this one...of course it was originally for pancakes, so after talking to my friend Hallee she helped me convert it for waffles.

Thanks for the new waffle maker by the way mom!

Cottage Cheese Waffles-Whole Foods
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp oil
4 eggs
1 cup cottage cheese(I used the whipped kind)
1/2 cup milk
vanilla extract(I think I used 1-2 tsp)

Preheat waffler. Spray with oil if needed.
Whisk together wet ingredients. Stir together dry ingredients and fold them into the wet ones. Scoop batter onto waffle plates and cook according to waffle maker directions.

**These are a VERY moist waffle so after the first one came out I cooked them a bit longer. This allowed them to be crispy on the outside and moist and fluffy on the inside. The boys ate them and love them. They had NO clue there was "cheese" in them. We liked the flavor as well and I was glad I added in some vanilla otherwise they'd be very plain tasting.

Chocolate Coconut Protein Shake

As much as I WANTED to walk to Dunkin' Donuts today for another pumpkin spice iced coffee.....I didn't. Instead I made this, I'm sure my health coach will like this choice MUCH better than the coffee!

Chocolate Coconut Protein Shake-
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
1 tbsp special dark cocoa powder
1 frozen banana
1 packet stevia(more to taste)
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut
1 cup milk
ice(maybe 1/2 cup?)

Place all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.

**This was pretty thick and delicious! My boys LOVED it. The coconut didn't get quite as small or blended as I would have liked but my coconut pieces started out bigger.

Tasty Tuesday

Smores Whoopie Pies- Sweet Pea's Kitchen
Peanut Pretzel Granola Bars-How Sweet It Is
Cranberry Chicken Crescents-$5 Dinners
Oreo Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookies-Making Memories
Raspberry Cream Muffins-Let's Dish

Menu Plan Monday

Breakfast:
-Granola...yes, I still need to make more!
-Sausage Egg McMuffins
-eggs, fruit
*sorry breakfast is quite boring here lately....

Baking:
-Cookies....just need to decide what kind!

Dinner:
-Curried Beef, Mixed Veggies, Mashed potatoes
-Salisbury Steak, cauliflower
-Crispy Honey Lime Tilapia
-Crispy CHicken Rice Burritos
-Maple Pork Tenderloin

It's also my birthday on Saturday so chances are I'll make myself a cake! Plus I get to have yummy thai food with my aunt as well! YUM!

Apple Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

 I was looking for something to make with my 20 lbs of apples we picked a couple weeks ago. I also needed something for a bake sale at church so I went with these.

Apple Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes-
Dough:
2 cups milk
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
6 1/2 cups flour(I used white whole wheat)
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter, room temperature

FIlling:
1/4  cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 cups finely chopped apples

Heat milk to 110 degrees. Add yeast and sugar to a bowl and pour in the milk stir to dissolve. Add salt and two cups of flour and beat for two minutes. Beat in eggs and butter. Stir in the remaining flour half a cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Switch to the dough hook and knead for 2 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a towel. Place in a warm place and allow to rise for 40 mins or until dough is doubled. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.

Once dough has risen, roll out into 1/4 inch thick. Spread dough with melted butter. Mix filling ingredients together and spread over the top of the dough. Starting with the long end first, roll up dough jelly roll style.  Cut into 1 inch strips.  Take strip and fold in half to form the letter c and place into the cupcake pan.(This recipe makes about 24 cupcakes, I made 12 and put the extras in another pan like traditional cinnamon rolls), cover and allow to rise for another 40 mins. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook rolls for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk

Once rolls have cooled, mix glaze together and drizzle over rolls. Eat and enjoy!

**These were really tasty and a fun twist on the traditional cinnamon roll. They were also really cute in the cupcake tin. Next time I might use less sugar in the filling and make sure you mix the filling RIGHT before you are ready to put it on the dough, otherwise it makes a big mess!

Menu Plan

I have this problem...I don't seem to EVER plan out weekend meals. So then the weekend comes and I get stuck like I did tonight with NOTHING to make despite my fridge and freezer being full!

I also was having a debacle with my cake pops for 3 days...first the cake didn't cook right so I had to make a new one, then 3 bags of chocolate seized on me...sigh they finally got done but they were NOT fun to get there! I blame it on the weather! So this in turn...we ended up with some delicious pumpkin waffles for dinner...not on the plan but they worked and they were delicious as well!

Breakfast/baking:
-eggs
-oatmeal
-greek yogurt, fruit, granola(which I need to make more of)
-pumpkin (walnut) waffles

Dinner:
-Chicken Burgers on flax roll up, apple cranberry barley
-Chicken and Dumplings
-Stuffed Peppers
-Sweet Potato and Chick Pea Burgers 
-Pot Roast, Carrots, Mashed Potatoes
-Baked Potato Soup
-Chicken Pot Pie(if I get my pastry cutter back from a friend!)