Mini Apple "Pies"

I have several new favorite shows on Food Network.  One of my new favorites is "Hungry Girl", who also has a website / blog.  Avery even likes watching the show with me, partly because Hungry Girl / Lisa Lillien is married to the guy who created iCarly (one of her favorite shows)!

So, this past weekend Avery and I made Hungry Girl's "Apple Pie-lets".

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for topping, optional
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups peeled and chopped apples (preferably Fuji) - we did not use Fuji.  I think they were Gala?
• 6 large square egg roll wrappers
• 18 sprays no-calorie butter spray
• Fat-free whipped topping, for topping, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium nonstick pot on the stove, combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt with 1/2 cup cold water. Mix until the ingredients dissolve. Add apples and stir. Bring to medium-high heat and, stirring frequently, cook until apples have softened, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Reduce heat to low and, stirring often, cook until thick and gooey, 1 to 2 additional minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool. This is your pie filling.

Prepare a large baking sheet by lining it with foil and/or spraying it with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Place egg roll wrappers flat on a dry surface. Set out a small dish of water. Dip your finger into the water, and run it along all of the wrapper edges. Cook's Note: Repeat as needed while preparing your pockets, as it will help seal them. Starting 1/2 inch from the bottom, place about 1/3 cup pie filling along the bottom half of each wrapper, leaving a 1/2-inch border on the sides.

Fold the top 1/2 of each wrapper over the filling, so that the top edge meets the bottom and the filling is encased with a border on 3 sides. Dab each border with water, and fold each inward about 1/4 inch to lightly seal. Press firmly along the borders with the prongs of a fork to seal completely.

Carefully transfer to the baking sheet. Repeat this process with remaining wrappers and filling, leaving you with 6 pie-lets.

Spray the top of each pocket with 3 sprays butter. Bake in the oven until the edges begin to brown, 15 to 18 minutes.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Top with additional cinnamon.

My tips. . .You will definitely need to use the spray butter on the top or they will not have a nice brown color.  We sprayed ours with 3 sprays, but I think a couple of more sprays would not hurt.  Some of our pies did not brown as well.  We ate ours with light Cool Whip.  Also, some of our pies got a little too crispy on the edges, but they still tasted delicious.  The filling was especially good.  Oh, and these pretty much have to be eaten right away (after cooling a bit)--they do not store well.  Best of all- each pie has 110 calories and 1/2 gram of fat!

English Sticky Toffee Pudding - YUMMY!

I made the most delicious "pudding" for friends that are moving to London.  I was trying to come up with something that was a typical British dessert.  I found the following recipe, courtesy of The Food Network.  It had rave reviews, and the ingredients sounded yummy.  It was very delicious--rich and yummy!  I will make this again.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup pitted dates
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla



TOFFEE SAUCE:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1 tsp. vanilla - I added this - recipe did not call for it.


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch round or square baking dish. Sift the flour and baking powder onto a sheet of waxed paper. Chop the dates fine. Place in a small bowl and add the boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a bowl of electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; beat until blended. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Add the date mixture to the batter and fold until blended with a rubber spatula. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake until pudding is set and firm on top, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven to a wire rack. Toffee Sauce: Combine the butter, heavy cream and brown sugar in a small heavy saucepan; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil gently over medium low heat until mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes. Preheat broiler. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the sauce over the pudding. Spread evenly on top. Place pudding under the broiler until the topping is bubbly, about 1 minute. Serve immediately spooned into dessert bowls. Drizzle with toffee sauce and top with a spoonful of whipped cream.

Lasagna

This past weekend we had some friends over for dinner, and I tried several new recipes.  I made the Pioneer Woman's Lasagna.  I was a little confused by the serving size--the same basic recipe in her book says it makes 8 servings; however, the website recipe says 12 servings.  So, I used 2 lbs. of ground beef, instead of the 1 1/2 lbs. as stated in the recipe--I actually ended up with 2 pans (9x11)--quite a lot of lasagna.  I ended up freezing a pan.  Just follow the recipe and I think it will be fine.  It is a very delicious and tasty lasagna.  I will be making this again.  It would be a great meal (with bread and salad) to take to someone who is sick or who just had a baby.

Ingredients


1-½ pound Ground Beef
1 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage
2 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
1 teaspoon Salt
3 cups Lowfat Cottage Cheese
2 whole Beaten Eggs
½ cups Grated (not Shredded) Parmesan Cheese
2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
1 teaspoon Salt
1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagna Noodles
(add 1/2 Teaspoon Salt And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil To Pasta Water)

Preparation Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan, combine ground beef, sausage, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain half the fat; less if you’re feeling naughty. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil and salt. After adding the tomatoes, the sauce mixture should simmer for 45 minutes while you are working on the other steps.

In a medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, grated Parmesan, 2 more tablespoons parsley, and 1 more teaspoon salt. Stir together well. Set aside. Cook lasagna until “al dente” (not overly cooked).

To assemble:

Arrange 4 cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of a baking pan, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Spread evenly. Cover cottage cheese with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Spoon a little less than half the meat/sauce mixture over the top.

Repeat, ending with meat/sauce mixture. Sprinkle top generously with extra Parmesan.

Either freeze, refrigerate for up to two days, or bake immediately: 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until top is hot and bubbly.

Sangria

We had some friends over for Super Bowl, and I made this Sangria to go with the fajitas.  It was delicious.  I will be making it again.

1 bottle of red wine
1 can frozen limeade
1 can frozen Five Alive
1/4 cup sugar
Juice of a large orange

1 large orange (sliced)
1 lemon (sliced)
1 lime (sliced)

Combine wine, limeade, and Five Alive in a large pitcher or container.  Add the juice of one of the oranges and sugar (you could add more or less sugar to suite your taste).  Stir well.  Float the sliced lemon, lime, and orange in the container.  It is already cold from the frozen limeade/Five Alive, but you could add ice, if you prefer.  You could also add Sprite or 7-up to cut the taste of the wine.

Yummy Treats

I have some new treats that I just love.  I find myself buying them every time I go to the grocery store.

Minute Maid - Frozen Cherry Limeade

These are fat free and only 70 calories.

Jell-o Mousse Temptations

Only 60 calories.  They do have fat (2.5 grams), but are only 1 point on WW.  I used to not be a dark chocolate girl, but lately, I love dark chocolate.

Sugar and Cinnamon

I bought this, and then, when it was all gone, I tried making my own.  It just wasn't the same.  I love sprinkling this on toast or my Nutrigrain low-fat waffles.

Santa Cookies

I made these cookies 2 years ago at Christmas time.  I have been looking for a cookie or treat to make for Sterling's school party.  These turned out very cute, so I might just make them again.

INGREDIENTS


1 roll (16.5 oz) refrigerated sugar cookies
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
2 to 3 drops red food color
68 semisweet chocolate chips (about 1/4 cup)
34 cinnamon candies or red M&M's
2/3 cup coconut
34 miniature marshmallows

DIRECTIONS

1. Freeze cookie dough at least 1 hour.

2. Heat oven to 350°F. Cut chilled dough into 1/4-inch slices. (Return dough to freezer if it becomes too soft to cut.) On ungreased cookie sheet, place slices 3 inches apart.

3. Bake 8 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 5 minutes.

4. In small bowl, beat powdered sugar, butter and enough milk until smooth and desired spreading consistency. In small bowl, place half of frosting. Add red food color; stir until blended.

5. Frost cooled cookies with red and white frosting. Use small amount of frosting to attach chocolate chips for eyes and cinnamon candy for nose. Gently press coconut into white frosting for beard. Press marshmallow into red frosting for tassel on cap. Let stand until frosting is set. Store between sheets of waxed paper in tightly covered container.

Cupcake Pops

I tried making Bakerella's Cupcake Pops for Halloween.  Mine did not turn out as cute or "perfect" as Bakerella's, but I was kind of in a rush.  And, I think these take a little practice to get them to look "extra cute". 

1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake) I used Double Fudge.
1 container of frosting (16 oz.) I used cream cheese.
Wax paper or foil
candy melts (1 lb. pkg.) - I used Orange for Halloween.
Lollipop sticks


After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.


Mix thoroughly with 1 container of frosting. (I used my hands for this, but it is messy.  Also, you may not need the entire can of frosting, so start out by using about 3/4 of the container and then add more if you need to.)


Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper or foil covered cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50)  I used my cookie scoop from Pampered Chef.

Cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for several hours.

TIP: You can speed this up by placing in the freezer for about 15 minutes.


Remove. Begin to shape into cupcakes using a small flower-shaped cookie cutter.  Take the chilled ball and roll it into more of an oval and then slide into cookie cutter. Push it into cutter until about half fills the cutter and the rest sticks out of the top in the shape of a mound. Then push the shaped cupcake carefully out of the cookie cutter from the bottom. Set right side up on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Continue with remaining balls.  I struggled a bit with this step.  I think my balls were a little too moist, and I also think this takes a little practice.

Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. (30 sec intervals, stirring in between.)


Once shaped, cover and return to freezer. (5-10 minutes)

TIP: You can leave them covered in the refrigerator overnight if you want to do the dipping on the following day.  This is probably a good idea because by the time I got to this step, I was in a big rush.


While cupcake shapes are chilling, begin to heat up your chocolate bark.


Brown chocolate bark for the bottoms.  Choose your top color to suit your occasion.


Follow the instructions on the package for melting. Most recommend heating for 30 second intervals at a time and stirring in between. You can also do the double boiler method. Place them in the freezer for a little while to firm up.


Take the cupcake shaped mixture and dip bottoms into the melted chocolate – just to the point where the mounded shape starts. Remove from chocolate, turn upside down and wiggle so that the excess starts to slide down slightly. Then lay on the wax paper upside down. If you want them to be lollipops, then go ahead and insert the lollipop sticks while the chocolate is still wet. Continue with rest of the cupcakes. You can also leave some without the sticks. They’re just as cute as Cupcake Bites. Add the sprinkles and candy of your choice.  There are multiple suggestions at Bakerella's site.

TIP: Dip end of your lollipop stick in the melted chocolate before inserting into chocolate bottoms. Not sure if this helps a lot, but it couldn’t hurt.

Place in a styrofoam block to dry.