Easy Apple Dumplings

Posted on October 23, 2008 by Krista

This is one of those fun recipes that could serve as a breakfast or dessert. It’s also a great dish for kids to help with. Have them roll the apples in the dough for you, and they will feel as if they created the dish themselves.

  • 2 medium Granny Smith apples
  • 1 package (6 large or jumbo) refrigerated crescent roll dough
  • 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 4 Tbsp butter
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ cup orange juice
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ cup very finely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 8” square baking dish. Peel and core apples. Cut each apple in 6 pieces.

Unroll crescent roll dough. Separate triangles, then cut each in half from the point to the wide end. Starting at wide end, wrap each apple section in a dough triangle and place in pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Combine butter, sugar and orange juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over dumplings. Sprinkle pecans over top.

Bake 30 minutes until golden and bubbly. Serve warm, spooning some of the syrup from the baking dish over dumplings. Serve with ice cream, if desired.

Serves 12.

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Approximate Measures

Posted on October 22, 2008 by Krista

Sometimes you’re just in too much of a hurry to dig your measuring cups out from the bottom of the pile of dirty dishes in your sink, and wash and dry them before measuring. Here are a couple of quick and easy estimates that can help.

Dry ingredients:

  • 1 Tablespoon is the size of a chestnut
  • 2 Tablespoons are the size of a pingpong ball
  • 4 Tablespoons (¼ cup) are about the size of an egg
  • 8 Tablespoons (½ cup) are the size of a tennis ball
  • 12 Tablespoons (¾ cup) are the size of a baseball

Liquids:

  • 1 Tablespoon is the size of an ice cube
  • 1 Lemon makes 1 ½ tsp zest and 1 to 3 Tablespoons juice

Other:

  • 1 tsp grated zest (orange, lemon, etc) is the size of a quarter
  • 1 medium tomato makes about ½ cup chopped
  • 1 handful of greens or hergs is about 1 cup
  • 2 medium garlic cloves make 1 tsp mince
Posted in Cooking Tips, Recipes, Side Dishes | Tagged | 1 Comment

Cucumber Tomato Raita

Posted on August 13, 2008 by Krista

This is a good afternoon snack to get the kids used to consuming less sugar, without trading flavor. Place it on a plate with some carrot sticks in the late afternoon, and it just might disappear!

3/4 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
2 small cucumbers, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
4 to 6 pieces of butter lettuce, for serving

Combine yogurt, mint, lemon juice and salt. Mix well. Add tomatoes and cucumbers. Toss. Chill 30 minutes for best flavor.

Spoon mixture into lettuce cups. Serves 4 to 6.

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Vege-tize your kids

Posted on August 12, 2008 by Krista

Are your kids picky eaters? Young children are notoriously finicky when it comes to eating stuff that’s good for them, but parents and caretakers are still in a position to influence the eating habits of the next generation. I read the other day that the primary vegetable consumed by the under-5 crowd is french fries. Don’t know about you, but that gives me a bit of a shudder as I think about the future.

Here are some ideas for how you can work together with your young ones to develop healthy eating habits that will last a lifetime.

1. Plant a garden. Even something as simple as a few potted herbs in your windowsill can be a source of fascination as kids experience the thrill of planting a seed, watering it, watching it grow, and then using bits of it in meal preparation.

2. Expose children to veggies frequently. A plate of cut up strips of bell pepper on the counter before dinner may be met with upturned noses; but if no other options are given, it just may disappear into young tummies wandering through the kitchen in search of snacks.

3. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Continue to expose your children to veggies and healthy choices over and over, and what was once a strange new food will eventually become familiar. Kids are not fans of new and strange, but may more readily attempt something they have seen on their plate several times before.

4. Set a good example. For some reason, my kids will scarf food off of my plate, when they have already rejected the exact same food on their own plate. When kids see you eating lots of veggies, whole grains, and plain yogurt, they are more likely to develop a taste for it themselves.

5. Build your meals around vegetables, instead of making them an afterthought. An appropriately built meal consists of half a plate of veggies, with the other half divided between protein and grain foods. Get out your spice box, and utilize that herb garden to vary the flavor and smell of your veggies.

With patience and persistence, your kids will expand their tastes and develop healthy eating habits that will benefit them throughout their lives.

Posted in Cooking Tips, Kid Friendly, Meal Planning, Nutrition | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Pepper Jelly and Cream Cheese Appetizer

Posted on May 28, 2008 by Krista

8 oz sweet hot pepper jelly or jalapeno jelly
8 oz cream cheese
1 box crackers

Place the cream cheese on a plate. Pour pepper jelly over top. Serve with crackers.

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Going Green Ideas 2

Posted on May 23, 2008 by Krista

Apparently, last week’s volcano eruption in Chile blew enough greenhouse gases into the global atmosphere to undo 5 years of our best efforts to reduce emissions. It kinda serves to defeat the purpose of what we are doing, if the goal is to leave a zero carbon footprint.

Yet, conservation is never wasted. There is still truth in that the less we consume, the less we pay for utilities, fuel, and commodities. Saving money is always good, and putting less in landfills allows us to enjoy the parts of our country that have not been converted. While I don’t know who to believe as far as how critical of a difference this belching volcano makes in the global equation, I still feel justified in doing my part to steward my personal resources.

This week I conserved gasoline by making all my shopping trips (4 stores) in one circuit, and picking up my daughter from school at the end of it. I calculate that the total driving distance was 20 miles, with 12 of them being part of my daily school run anyway. Since I live 9 miles from the nearest grocery store, you can see that I really put those additional 8 miles to work for me. Gasoline cost to drive my car 8 miles: about $2. I am pleased.

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Simple Yet Elegant Baked Brie

Posted on May 21, 2008 by Krista

Brie is a soft cheese with a mild buttery flavor. A brie appetizer will give your gathering a touch of class.

You can buy pastry-wrapped brie, stuffed with cranberry chutney or mushrooms and garlic. Or you can skip the breading, and prepare your own in a way that showcases the cheese instead of overshadowing it.

A full wheel of brie is about the size of your hand, and comes encased in a white rind. This rind is perfectly edible, although no one will shame you if you discreetly slide yours off into the trash.

1 wheel brie
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely diced*
2-3 Tbsp sliced almonds
Hearty crackers

At any point during the day of your party, melt butter and olive oil together in a skillet. Add chopped garlic, and saute for about 2 minutes, so that garlic is aromatic and slightly softened, but not burned crispy brown. Store covered in a bowl on the countertop until ready to proceed with baking.

Preheat oven to 350. Place brie wheel in a pie plate, and pour garlic mixture over the wheel. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 20 minutes, checking frequently to make sure the rind has not ruptured and allowed the melting cheese to run all over the plate. If this does happen, the only damage is cosmetic. And those who enjoy brie will not care.

Pull out the plate, spread the perimeter of the plate with crackers, and set the plate on a trivet or hot pad in the appetizer serving area. Add a 2″ dip knife and serve hot.

*To easily peel a clove of garlic, lay the flat blade of a chef’s knife across the clove. With the heel of your hand, give the blade a quick blow. This will crush the garlic, leading to three results: the papery cover will be much easier to remove; the clove will be flatter and easier to chop; and the bruising action will release the oils in the garlic for greater smell and taste enjoyment.

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