Crack of the week: Caramel apple salad

I love caramel apples!  Especially with nuts on them.  It's one of those delicious treats that I only make once a year, although I wish I did it a lot more!  Have you ever bought those ridiculously overpriced apples from a candy store?  My favorite kind, with white chocolate and oreos, is upwards of $6.00!  Crazy.  

Tonight I wanted an apple salad.  I broke away from my stand-by waldorf variety and went with something new!  What could be better than a caramel apple that's not only easy, but GOOD for you?  This also makes a great potluck dish!

Caramel Apple Salad 

 -4 apples, diced 

-1/2 cup peanuts (unsalted is best)

-1/2 cup golden raisins (these are optional, but I like the texture they give.  You could also use regular raisins)

-2 Tbsp caramel sundae topping, plus extra to drizzle on top

-3/4 tub of frozen whipped topping, thawed (We use fat-free to make it not-so-terrible!) 

Combine first four ingredients in large bowl and mix together.  Fold in whipped topping, then drizzle extra caramel sauce over the top!  Mmmm!

 

Crack of the week: Salami & Artichoke Pizza

 

Mmmm.  We love our homemade pizzas around here.  In fact, tomorrow morning I'm including them in a demonstration at my local MOPS group.  Usually we make our own whole-wheat crust, but today I was craving a crusty, rich, artisan-type bread.  I believe this one is potato-rosemary.  They were out of roasted garlic, which makes the BEST pizza crust with it's yummy whole garlic cloves.

We don't ever use a recipe when making our pizzas.  The beauty of them is that they are never the same.  Tonight we used the following ingredients:

*1 loaf potato-rosemary artisan bread (cut in half lengthwise)
*handful of cremini mushrooms, chopped
*sliced salami, halved
*big handful of fresh spinach, chopped
*1 jar artichoke hearts, chopped
*1 recipe homemade pizza sauce (below)
*mozzarella cheese

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Mmm...

This makes such an eye-pleasing pizza!

Homemade pizza sauce:

*1 small can tomato paste

*garlic, basil, thyme, oregano, salt

*water

Place tomato sauce in bowl and add small amounts of water at a time until you get the right consistency for pizza sauce.  Add spices as desired.  I honestly don't measure these, I just kind of toss in what "looks right"

Jill's crack of the week: Big Soft Ginger Cookies!

photo courtesy of pierydys on allrecipes

Big. Soft. Gingery. delicious

Do have a recipe that you can't live without?  One that warms your soul and entices your senses?  Mine is this cookie.  Every time I make them I end up loving them a little bit more.

The texture is perfect.  The smell is delicious.  The taste is heaven. 

And perhaps the best part is that everyone in our family loves them.  FINALLY something that we all agree on!  (even picky little Beary)

They taste fine just like the recipe calls for in the above link, but here is a slightly altered version that I use:

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
  
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, cream together margarine and 1 cup sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, then mix in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining sugar. Place 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. 

 Enjoy!  (hmm.  Need to make these tomorrow for sure!)

J's Crack of the week

Do you have one of those phrases you say that are just plain dumb? Mine is "crack." Take pralines n' cream lattes for example. Just like crack to me. Or my snuggly soft brown blanket that the hubs got me for xmas two years ago. PURE crack.

So, for the first installment of J's crack of the week, I bring you Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie by Bakerella. OH MY is right! If you haven't explored her site yet, go right now. RUN! and take a look at her sinfully good knock-your-socks-off creations.

Tonight, I finished packing away my Christmas decorations (boohoo!) and we enjoyed the last of our Zuppa Toscana (courtesy of Tuscan recipes...yum!) that I'd made for Xmas dinner. Just like me, amidst a pile of leftover Christmas candy and cookies, I decide that I absolutely cannot wait to make this cookie pie. So I make it, which surprisingly takes me five minutes top, and go upstairs to put the trio in the bath (can you say meltdown?) DING! one hour later out comes heaven on earth. Now I love my girls' more than anything, but I swear to you that if I caught them trying to steal some of that loveliness that it would not be pretty. I think I found a new comfort food...and it is most definitely crack!

Now go! Try it and you'll thank me.