I was charged with babysitting my nephews the other day and I couldn’t resist their little pleading faces when they asked me for dessert. I caught a glimpse of the bowl of apples in my periphereal and decided to make the “Company Apple Crisp”  dish I’d found in my Cook’s Illustrated magazine. I recalled how simplistic and common the ingredient list appeared to be and knew I had those items but was still amazed that I did, in fact, have every single item with the exception of fresh lemon juice. I did, however, have a lime and that would HAVE to work….and it did.

Sorry, but site or no site, I was too tired to wash dishes after babysitting and definitely NOT for the SAME 2 little reasons I was so beat. Therefore, you’ll have to deal with the styrofoam bowls I used to serve this sweet treat. They’re not completely unsightly when you peek in on their contents. YUM-MEEEEE.

It may have been inconsiderate of me to give them the Apple Crisp JUST before turning them back over to their mom but all they know is that Auntie Zina is the fav (and if you truly know anything, you know that is a bold face lie).

INGREDIENTS

Topping:

 3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 c pecans, chopped fine

3/4 c old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 c (3 1/2 oz) packed brown sugar

1/4 c granulated sugar

1/2 tea. table salt

8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

 3 lbs. Golden Delicious apples (approx 7)

1/4 c granulated sugar

1 c apple cider

2 tea. juice from 1 lemon

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS

For the topping:

•  Adjust rack to the middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.
• Combine flour, pecans, oats, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl.
• Stir in butter until mix is thoroughly moistened and crumbly.
• Set aside.

For the filling:

• Toss apples, sugar and cinnamon together in large bowl; set aside.
• Bring cider to a simmer in a 12-inch oven-safe* skillet over medium heat. 
• Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup, approx. 5 minutes.
• Transfer reduced cider to bowl or liquid measuring cup; stir in lemon juice and set aside.
• Heat butter in now empty skillet over medium and cook stirring frequently, until apples begin to soften and become translucent, 12 to 14 minutes. (DO NOT FULLY COOK THE APPLES BECAUSE THEY STILL HAVE TO BAKE IN THE OVEN)
• Remove pan from heat and gently stir in cider and mix until apples are coated.
• Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit, breaking up any large chunks.
• Place skillet on a baking sheet and bake until fruit is tender and topping is deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Cool on wire rack until warm, at least 15 mins. and serve….preferably with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

The other night I intended to cook a very quick and easy meal of pork chops, yellow rice and frozen sweet peas. To be honest, I really wasn’t interested in the meal but Greg loves pork chops. Since we have to co-exist, I decided to jazz them up a little bit. I quickly scoured the web for an easy recipe. I already knew apples paired well with them so, I googled pork chops and apples. After comparing 5 or 6 recipes, I found one that used all the crap I already had, lol. I could not believe how easy and DELICIOUS it was. And the best part, it fits into my “A little Fiercer in the Middle” eating plan. Plus, Greg said to put it in rotation.

4 extra lean pork chops (seasoned with salt and pepper)

2 apples (cored, cut into eighths)

1 medium onion (sliced)

2 tbsp. of butter

4 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tbsp. Cinnamon (or more to taste)

1 tea. nutmeg

6 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat 4 tbsp of olive oil in an ovenproof skillet. Add seasoned pork chops and braise 2-3 mins on either side. Remove from pan and add the remaining 2 tbsp of oil and scrape the bits from the pan. Add onions and saute for 4 mins. Add apples, sugar and spices and continue cooking for an additional 6 mins. Remove from heat. Add butter and toss. Push the mixture aside and return chops to the pan. Top the chops with the apple mixture and place the skillet in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.

After you make these carrots, you will be able to get even the biggest veggie-haters to indulge. The best part, it only takes 3 ingredients.

Directions:

Slice 1 lb. baby carrots lenghtwise. Heat in a skillet with 3 Tbsp butter and 3 Tbsp brown sugar. Sprinkle a little salt and cook at Medium for 15 minutes. Add black pepper just before serving.  Absolutely Excellent!  

Note: You could also use regular carrots but you’d have to peel them but it may be worth it to you because I was chasing these little ones down with every cut.

Stuffed Bell Pepper

6 – Bell Peppers (Yellow, Red, Orange)*
1 ½ lb ground turkey
1 cup uncooked Brown Rice (add a bouillon cube to the water before boiling)
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes with chiles and peppers
1 8oz can tomato sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 can corn
1 half container white mushrooms, sliced
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
3- 3 ½  cups shredded cheddar cheese
Salt
Pepper
Chopped Parsley Flakes
Sour cream

Prepare rice according to package with bouillon cube or chicken stock in place of water.
Prepare the peppers by removing the tops and digging out the seeds, etc.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add peppers for 4-5 minutes.
Remove from water immediately rinse and set aside.
After they cool, test to be sure they can stand alone. If not, cut a little from the bottom to make them flat.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Coat the bottom of a large skillet with EVOO begin to heat the pan and add seasoned ground turkey, onion and diced pepper tops (minus stems of course), garlic and mushrooms.
Add brown sugar and cayenne pepper.
After meat is browned, drain. (Mushrooms release a lot of water but the meat should be pretty lean already)
Add rice (which should be about 2 ½ cups), diced tomatoes, corn, tomato paste and sauce.
Continue cooking. (The goal is to simmer off some of the water that is released from the tomatoes)
 Fold 1 ½ c. shredded cheese into meat mixture and remove from heat.    
Stuff peppers with hot meat mixture.
Bake at 350 for 5 minutes.
Top with remaining cheese and continue to bake for 7-10 minutes (or until cheese is melted)
Once melted, removed from oven and sprinkle parsley flakes on top.
Serve hot with a small dollop of sour cream.

* – The yellow, orange and red (in that order) are the sweetest of the varieties. If you have picky eaters, the green may be overwhelming for them. Besides, the variety of colors makes for a beautiful presentation.

NOTE: You can stuff these peppers with just about ANYTHING!!! In fact, I might try to stuff tomatoes or squash next. This is probably one of the EASIEST recipes I’ve ever made with stuff I had on hand. Man, it is sooo exciting when you can use what you already have. It’s the little things…