Caramel Apples: an Involved Project to yell at your kids should you try and do it with them

I remember once in college I had the bright idea to make caramel apples. I melted those little Kraft caramels and tried to dip apples in the warm caramel, and well, it was not a Hallmark moment. The caramel slid right off..I rubbed off the wax, I tried to kind of score the apples, nothing save, peeling the apples, which only worked slightly better and definitely looked weird, got the caramel to stick.

Last weekend, we needed a Girl Scout project. Our girls love to bake/cook, but being in Phase 1 of the Cactus Pine Girl Scouts COVID-19 response means we have to be outside, wearing masks with no more than 10 people at any given activity.

So, I thought of caramel apples but remembered my past experience. 

After a dry run with my kids and the activity with the Girl Scouts, here are my tips.

Use this recipe from Our Best Bites because everything they make is awesome.

To keep the caramel on:

1. Chill the apples and take each one out right as you're ready to dip. We did our activity outside so I kept our apples both fresh and dipped in a small ice chest with a bag of ice.

2. This recipe recommends keeping the caramel at 200 degrees. I don't know if it's the Arizona weather (it was 98 degrees outside when we made our's), but in a crock pot, I tried to keep the temperature between 180 and 190...I need to mess around with these temperatures more, so this is more a note to remind myself should I want to attempt this again.

Overnight Oats

I spent a LOT of time looking for recipes for overnight oats...I think I had some 40 pins on Pinterest for different flavors. Finally, I cobbled together my own recipe for maximum taste with low calories. Cold oats are the only way I eat oatmeal for the majority of the year in Phoenix.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Overnight Oats

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 T cocoa powder

2 T peanut powder

1/2 frozen banana

1 t chia seeds

Stir and refrigerate the night before.

I like the banana in there because it adds a good amount of sweetness so I only add a few drops of chocolate stevia (honestly, vanilla stevia tastes the same to me in this breakfast).

Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats

2 T pumpkin puree

1/4 c milk

1 T pumpkin pie coffee creamer

1/2 c oats

2 T toasted pecans to top in the am

I want to mess around with this recipe more, but for now, I can't beat the ease of using pumpkin pie coffee creamer.

Chai Overnight Oats

1/2 c rolled oats

1/4 c concentrated herbal chai tea

1/4 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/2 c frozen berries

Stir and refrigerate the night before.

Maple Blueberry Overnight Oats

1/2 c rolled oats

1/2 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1-2 T maple syrup

1/2 c blueberries

2 T toasted pecans to top in the am

Apple Pie Granola

I used Jesseca's Pumpkin Pie Granola as a template for making this apple pie granola. I'm still tweaking it a bit, but it shows promise.

Apple Pie Granola

Ingredients
3 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 t cinnamon I'm going to try this with 1 teaspoon next time
1 cup roughly chopped pecans or walnuts I used sliced almonds
1/2 cup Bare Baked apple chips smashed into smaller pieces again, I might do more here
1/4 cup coconut oil I used canola oil
1/3 cup honey I did 1/4 c and that was sweet enough for me (mostly because I didn't want to dirty another measuring cup)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 cup applesauce I'm thinking of trying this with apple butter next time or perhaps 3/4 c of applesauce instead of 1/2 c

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking tray with parchment and set aside.

Whisk together the oats, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, almonds, and pecans in a large mixing bowl.
Microwave the coconut oil and honey for just a few seconds in a small separate bowl until liquid. Whisk in your vanilla and applesauce. Ok, I didn't read this closely. Honestly, I put everything in the same bowl at once. I did do a lot of stirring because I worried that I wouldn't spread the flavors evenly, but I haven't had a problem doing it this way.

Gently stir your wet ingredients into the dry until fully incorporated. Spread onto your prepared baking tray in an even layer.

Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown making sure to stir once halfway through baking. Allow to cool completely on the baking tray before enjoying. I added the baked apple chips after baking and cooling. I really wanted to keep the crunch of the apple chips, and I worried about burning them if I baked them with everything else.

Recipe Notes
For a more clump filled granola make sure you keep the granola in a thicker layer. You may need to increase baking time by 10-15 minutes

Pumpkin Spice Granola

About a year ago, I wrote a book review about Cast Iron Kitchen by Jesseca Hallows, which introduced me to her website, One Sweet Appetite. I have loved making granola ever since Alton Brown introduced me to it, but I really appreciate Jesseca's innovative flavors (LOVE her banana bread granola!) and have begun using the Pumpkin Pie granola template for other flavor experiments like blueberry lemon and apple pie.

Pumpkin Pie Granola

Ingredients
3 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup roughly chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup coconut oil I used canola oil
1/3 cup honey I did 1/4 c and that was sweet enough for me (mostly because I didn't want to dirty another measuring cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking tray with parchment and set aside.

Whisk together the oats, brown sugar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and pecans in a large mixing bowl.
Microwave the coconut oil and honey for just a few seconds in a small separate bowl until liquid. Whisk in your vanilla and pumpkin puree.

Gently stir your wet ingredients into the dry until fully incorporated. Spread onto your prepared baking tray in an even layer.

Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown making sure to stir once halfway through baking. Allow to cool completely on the baking tray before enjoying. I'm not sure why, but this time I had to bake it for over an hour.

Recipe Notes
For a more clump filled granola make sure you keep the granola in a thicker layer. You may need to increase baking time by 10-15 minutes

Vegan Taco Casserole

I haven't made a vegan casserole before, and I admit that despite the promises on this blog, I was apprehensive about serving this. In fact, I was so worried about it that I told my kids that they didn't need to try it if they wanted to stick to the leftover clean-up dinner we were doing.

But, this was REALLY good! Like I didn't think a casserole without dairy could be this good. I realized that I did do a few things to clear out the fridge that ended up working in my favor so I wanted to record them here.

This recipe is from Joy Shull at Build Your Bite. My notes are in italics.

INGREDIENTS
1 medium onion, chopped
I added a yellow bell pepper because I needed to use it
7 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or minced
1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder I did more like a tablespoon
2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon cayenne I didn't have cayenne so I sauteed a seeded and diced jalapeno pepper instead with the onions
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika I did more like a teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 (15 oz) can of black beans, drained
1 (15 oz) can of great northern beans, drained
I had about 2 pounds of pinto beans I had cooked in the pressure cooker that needed to be used and I was too lazy to make into refried beans, so I used these in place of the beans listed above.
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 1/2 cups chunky salsa I used my homemade salsa because I had it on-hand.
14 oz organic yellow tortilla corn chips, plus more for serving
Lime juice for topping
Green onions for topping

INSTRUCTIONS
Combine onion, peppers, garlic, olive oil, chili powder, cumin, basil, cayenne, smoked paprika, sea salt, and pepper in a skillet and cook on medium heat for 5-10 minutes, or until onion is translucent and starts to brown. I cooked the onions on low heat for a little bit to help them caramelize a bit. I also added a lot more of all the spices.

Add black and great northern beans to onion mixture and stir well. After adding the beans to the first saute, I was excited. Those beans were great on their own!

Using a 13 by 9 glass baking dish, first put down a layer of tortilla chips to cover the bottom of the pan. I did this all in the cast iron skillet that I sauteed everything in.

Layer half of the bean mixture onto the chips, followed by 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast, and 1 1/4 cups of salsa.

Add another layer of chips and cover with remaining beans, nutritional yeast and salsa.

Cover top of dish with a layer of crushed corn chips. Lazy: I did half the beans, then, the chips, salsa, and yeast; other half of beans with the rest of the salsa, chips, and yeast.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until chips on top start to brown.

Top with fresh lime juice and green onions. I didn't have lime juice, but I did have cilantro and green onions. I thought this was really good as is, but I did need to use up some sour cream, so Nate and I had that on top.

Serve with additional tortilla chips to build the perfect bite.
Enjoy!
The recipe said it makes 4-5 servings; I think it's closer to 6-7.

Rotisserie Chicken Fried Rice

inspired by Martha Stewart Pork Fried Rice

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons plus 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 bunch scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 2 cups cooked white rice (about 3/4 cup uncooked rice)
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1. 
   

   1. In a wok or large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over high. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, lightly beat eggs with 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce to combine. Add eggs to wok and swirl to coat bottom of pan. Cook, without stirring, until almost set, 1 minute, then fold in thirds with a spatula. Transfer cooked eggs to a work surface and cut into 1/2-inch pieces.
2. 
   

   2. Add 1 tablespoon oil to wok and swirl to coat. Add garlic, ginger, and scallion whites and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add pork and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Add carrots, peas, and rice and stir to combine. Add cooked egg, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and vinegar and cook, stirring constantly, until rice is coated, about 1 minute. Let cook, undisturbed, until warm, about 1 minute. Top with scallion greens and serve.

Granda's Thanksgiving Stuffing

• Two or Three loaves of bread (home-made preferred, this year I used two Costco baguettes)
• One day before preparing break bread into small pieces; cover in bowl with towel to allow to dry

In large casserole:

• ½ lb butter
• 2 large onions coarsely chopped
• 1 cup (I use more) chopped celery
• 2 shallots finely chopped
• 3-5 finely chopped garlic cloves
• [I often include mushrooms, but this year I didn’t]

Season and toss the bread with

• 3 tsp salt
• Ground black pepper to taste
• 2-4 tbs chopped fresh sage (to taste)
• Can also add rosemary and other herbs as you like; I keep it simple. Just keep tasting until you like it.

When the buttery goodness is ready, mix the bread into the casserole until thoroughly mixed, evenly distributing the butter/onions/celery.

This all should be done the day before. You can use some of stuffing to stuff the turkey, the rest you bake in the casserole at 350 until the top layer is a bit crispy. Takes about ½ hour.