Apple Gorgonzola Salad {Bucca Di Beppo Copy-Cat Recipe}

After having this salad while dining a Bucca Di Beppo a few times I knew I had to make it at home.  It is a perfect blend of flavors and textures.  My first instinct was to look it up online, and find a recipe I did!  I tried it out...and while I liked it the dressing just didn't have the same pizzaz that it had in the restaurant.  Sooooo...I took matters in to my own hands to create a dressing that satisfied my craving for this salad.

There are a few things you need to make this salad - the first a nice romaine lettuce, chopped.  The second?  Crumbled Gorgonzola - so delish!  You'll also need green apples, sliced and chopped,  dried cranberries, candied walnuts, and of course - the dressing!

The first 4 ingredients don't need any additional prep, but the last two do.  As far as the candied Walnuts?  There is a fabulous recipe here on the blog for cinnamon pecans.  I used this recipe - and the pecans were fabulous in the salad!  If you want walnuts, just sub them for the pecans - it will turn out great!  I'll give you the recipe again below.

For the dressing, get out your blender - its the easiest way to whip up a yummy dressing.

Apple Gorgonzola Salad

Apple Gorgonzola Salad

Ingredients

1 package of prepared romaine lettuce

1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

1 cup dried cranberries

1 green apple, diced

1 green apple, sliced

1 cup candied walnuts (recipe below)

mustard vinaigrette (recipe below)

Directions

Toss together lettuce, cheese, diced apple, walnuts, and cranberries. Toss with desired amount of mustard vinaigrette. Garnish with sliced apples.

Candied Pecans or Walnuts

Candied Pecans or Walnuts

Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

pinch of ground red pepper

2 tbsp butter

1 1/2 cups whole walnuts

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a frying pan. Heat over medium heat until sugar is melted and nuts are toasted.

Transfer to a lightly greased sheet of tinfoil to cool.

Store in a ziplock bag

Mustard Vinaigrette

Mustard Vinaigrette

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 red onion - if you prefer the crunch of the onion in your salad chop these and stir in to the dressing later. I like the texture a bit smoother so I include them in the blender

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

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One Pan Cobbler

My Mom made us this cobbler as kids.  It was always a special treat!  This dessert isn't pretty, it doesn't make for a beautiful food photo...but your mouth will be oh so happy when you spoon it in!  This dessert is rustic, gooey, and delicious.

One of the things I love about this dessert is that it is simple, and you can customize it to fit the season.  This dessert is perfect year round!

Try apple cobbler in the fall, peach cobbler in the summer, cherry cobbler in the winter...even pumpkin around Thanksgiving time.  You can use ANY flavor of pie filling you like as a base.  Here I used peach simply because that was what I had in my pantry.

Serve this dessert hot with a scoop of ice cream.  The ice cream will melt into the cobbler and turn to perfection.

Here's how easy this recipe is:

One pan Cobbler

Ingredients

1/2 cup melted butter

1 1/2 cups milk

3 cups Bisquick

2 cups sugar

1 qt pie filling (any flavor)

Directions

1. Spray a cake pan with non-stick spray.

2. Mix butter, milk, bisquick, and sugar until smooth - pour into pan.

3. Top with pie filling, which will sink to the bottom while baking.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Serve warm. This is great with a scoop of ice cream!

Whatever you do DO NOT DOUBLE this recipe!

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Homemade Sweet Grape Juice (No Juicer Required)

Juicing is all the rage right now and I totally get it! I am juice lover myself. I would way rather drink juice than water any old day. My kids as well.. and when I shop for juice I am always amazed at how pricey it is- how pricey the good, natural kind is! It can be killer on a budget with 3 kids and a momma who gulp it down. We don't own a juicer (yet). But I do have a Blendtec. And yes my friends, you can make juice in a Blendtec. And I'm sure a blender would get the job done as well.

So what spured this grape juice post you're all getting today? Well my lovely husband brought home a huge thing of red grapes. Yay! I was excited and popped one in my mouth to a big crunch..he bought Red Seeded Grapes. This is fine for me.. but not the kids and babe. The grapes sat for a few days uneaten. I felt bad wasting them.. so I tried cutting some up for the kids and picked all those stinkin tiny seeds out. I quit after about 7 grapes!  Then I had the idea to make juice since we had oodles of grapes!

And oh it was delicious. Way better than any store bought. 

So I washed up the grapes. Threw them into my Blendtec. Added some water.. about 400 mls which is a little over 1 1/2 cups. With out the water the juice would be super thick. Then added 1/4 C sugar. Gotta sweeten things up just a tad. You can always go more or less depending on your taste. 

On the Blendtec there is a "Whole Juice" cycle. Whole Juice meaning you are not just getting the juice but you are getting everything that was in the fruit...skins, seeds or stems (don't add the grape stems). This is awesome because those crunchy things that we might not eat are packed with fiber and protein. Whole juice has a thicker more pulpy quality. 

This is awesome and all but my kids wouldn't down the pulp.. so I strained it. I used a fine wire mesh strainer. If you don't have one, cheese cloth would work but very slowly. Strain as much of the pulp as you would like. And that's it! EASY.  Fast. Good. 

Add some ice and sit back and sip your grape juice. Truly just a little sweet joy. 

Homemade Sweet Grape Juice

Ingredients

1-2 lbs Red Grapes

1 1/2 C Water

1/4 C Sugar

Directions

Fill BlendTec with grapes (depending on size of blender will depend on the amount of grapes). Add water and sugar. Blend all ingredients in BlendTec or blender. Strain pulp if desired. Serve Chilled.

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Sweet Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Chips

Sweet Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Chips

I first ate this tasty little snack at a craft night.  My friend made it and I couldn't help but to keep going back for seconds.  I love making this in the cooler months for a few reasons.  The first is that it is a little bit of freshness and lightness amongst all the baking and feasts we eat in the winter.  The second is the Mission brand tortilla chips releases a limited edition cinnamon sugar tortilla chip that pairs PERFECTLY with this salsa!  I'll talk a bit more about the chips in a second...

 This salsa is not what you are thinking.  It is sweet, full of fruit, with a light tasty glaze.  Not only is this yummy with cinnamon sugar chips it would be great atop waffles, or atop a sugar cookie spread with cream cheese frosting.

I've served this at numerous parties and functions and I ALWAYS get asked for the recipe over and over again.  If you know how to chop a few apples, you can pull this recipe off like a pro.

Sweet Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Chips

Ingredients

2 golden delicious apples, chopped pretty small

1 pint strawberries, cut into small pieces

2 kiwi, cut into small pieces

1 pint raspberries

1 pint blackberries

1 TBSP seedless raspberry jam

1 TBSP brown sugar

1 TBSP white sugar

Cinnamon Sugar Chips

Directions

I like to start with the glaze. In a medium bowl I combine the jam and sugars. Stir until smooth.

Chop all fruit and place in the bowl with your glaze. After all fruits are added gently fold the fruit into the glaze until it coats everything.

Serve with Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips or Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips. If you are craving the cinnamon tortilla chips and they are no longer available on the shelves - make your own! It's a cinch! Check out the recipe for your standard tortilla chips HERE, and then instead of adding salt, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

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Happy Halloween! Watermelon Style

Hey friends! Hope that you have a wonderful Halloween tomorrow. As much as I love this holiday, I kinda hate how much candy my kids get. Party Pooper I know, but really its not like they just get a few candy bars. It's BUCKETS and BAGS full. We seriously have 2 large bowls filled from parties so far and they haven't even hit the mother load yet. SO I am trying to encourage a little healthy snacking in the meantime.

Here is a fun treat me and my boy came up with today. He ate it up. This would be an awesome side at a party. I love chocolate but seriously my stomach needs a break! (I always think of the Very Hungry Caterpillar.  A good book to read to kids about healthy eating choices and how our bodies feel.)

This was extremely simple.

Cut out a fun top, just like you would your pumpkin.

Scoop it out using a cookie scooper.

Then carve your face! Place the scooped watermelon back inside to snack on. May I suggest making the hole on the head large for hands or utensil to reach inside. Also take your knife and cut of just a portion of the skin on the bottom to make a flat edge. So that your mellow doesn't roll around.

Totally not your typical fall treat, but it is refreshing and healthy. Have the kids fill up on this THEN a couple of candies. Their lil tummies will thank you! Pin It

Caramel Apple {homemade}

I wish there was some way to put into words on this blog my love for caramel apples. i LOVE caramel apples.
to my husband they are an overpriced piece of fruit which every so often he turns the other way while I indulge an buy one.

They. are. incredible.

We have had some questions about our homemade caramel + apples...and I'm happy to say they = awesomeness. 

Step 1.

wash and dry apples.

Step 2. stick 'em! I found these "corn skewers" for a $1 at walmart in the kitchen gadget isle. you can also use popsicle sticks.

Step 3. Make Caramel 
(also posted at the below)

Step 4.
Spray wax paper with cooking spray.
Place wax paper on a cookie sheet.
Step 5.
Wait for caramel to stop bubbling. Then dip apple....swirl around.
hold up for excess to drop off.
using a knife scrape off caramel on the bottom, this will help so you don't have a huge foot.
Place on a wax papered cookie sheet.

Step 6.
repeat step 5 (I'm totally a double dipper)

in this pic can you see the back 2 rows have been double dipped the front rows have been dipped once- notice the difference? 

Step 7.
place in fridge for 2-3 hours till caramel is set.
*if you are not going to add chocolate, but you are going to add toppings add them now!

Step 8.
Cover with melted chocolate/white chocolate and then your favorite toppings:

crushed candy bars (my favorite is butterfingers)
coconut
nuts
cinnamon sugar
chopped choc chips

Caramel Apple {homemade}

Caramels

candy thermometer

wax or parchment paper

1 can sweet condensed milk

2 C sugar

1 cup butter

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup white Karo Syrup

Instructions

Step 1. wash and dry apples.

Step 2. stick 'em!

Step 3. make Caramel. cook and stir constantly. (CONSTANTLY) cook in heavy pan until it reaches 240-245 degrees.

Step 4. spray wax paper with cooking spray. place wax paper on a cookie sheet.

Step 5. wait for caramel to stop bubbling. then Dip apple....swirl around. hold up for excess to drop off. using a knife scrape off caramel on the bottom, this will help so you don't have a huge foot. place on a wax papered cookie sheet.

Step 6.--repeat step 5 (I'm totally a double dipper)

Step 7. place in fridge for 2-3 hours till caramel is set. *if you are not going to add chocolate, but you are going to add toppings add them now!

Step 8. cover with melted chocolate/white chocolate and then your favorite toppings: crushed candy bars (my favorite is butterfingers), coconut, nuts, cinnamon sugar, chopped choc chips

TIPS:

Make sure you stir caramels with either a wooden spoon or a spatula that can stand high temps. like papered chef.

Try not to splash on the sides because when you are stirring don't scrape the sides back in there, scrape  only the bottom of the pan. If you bring the sugar crystals from the sides of the pan back into your candy it will sugar it and be all crunchy instead of smooth when it is all done.

Put your candy thermometer into the candy after it has boiled for a bit and started to change colors don't drag it around because scraping the metal to metal together can also sugar your candy. ALSO once you put the thermometer in you have to keep it in until it is done, don't take it out and put it back in unless you clean it.

Keep the heat on a med heat and if you start seeing little brown specks in your candy take it off the heat mediately and turn it down. that is the candy scorching.

Step 4. Spray wax paper with cooking spray.

Place wax paper on a cookie sheet.

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re-Post::Grape Salad

I am reposting this recipe because its the bomb.dot.com when it was posted last year it got looked over. I understand, the pictures weren't so great. short, but sweet post... 

The post didn't give this recipe justice.

so, will you give me a second chance? 

I took this to a church party last week, and it was literally licked clean. I'm told that people were licking their fingers and scooping out the cream in the bottom of the bowl. slurp. Amazing what cream cheese and sugar does to people, eh?

 Now they all want the recipe and I'm embarrassed to send them to the old post, I thought I'd give them a proper place go to, and one that represent our recipes, our site better. 

We're trying hard, taking lots of time, to make the site better! 

CREAMY GRAPE SALAD

For the Salad:

4lbs grapes {mixed colors}, cleaned

8 ounces sour cream

8 ounces cream cheese; room temp

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping:

1 cup brown sugar; packed

1 cup crushed pecans

Instructions:

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and crushed pecans for the topping. Set aside.

In a large bowl, blend together cream cheese, sugar sour cream and vanilla until smooth. 

Stir in the grapes. 

Cover with the topping and chill for at least two hours.

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banana buttermilk muffins

This morning Jesse (my sis in law) started up a batch of buttermilk banana bread...we decided to make 2 batches and try out this recipe as muffins!!!

if it worked they'd be so awesome...more cinnamon sugar crunchy goodness per fluffy moist banana bread inch right?

Well- they worked.

We used the same buttermilk banana bread recipe from this blog
sprayed the muffins liners with pam and sprinkled with cinnamon/sugar

cook at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
makes about 24 muffins

Banana Buttermilk Muffins

Mix together:

3 C. flour

1 1/2 C. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

In a separate bowl, combine:

3 eggs

3/4 C. butter

1/2 C. buttermilk (1 tbs lemon juice or vinegar and fill the rest of the 1 cup up with milk. sit for 5 min...I do 2 cups and only use 1 1/2 cups)

4 large mashed bananas

Instructions

Add dry & wet ingredients. Mix well.

Can you see the light crunchy coating?

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