Apple Squares

An apple a day?

If it was in the form of apple squares,

 then our answer would be...

Yes, please!

A crisp juicy apple is delicious.

A Honeycrisp apple, especially.

But apple squares with a cinnamon sugar topping,

topped with whipped cream,

caramel, and nuts.

Need we say more?

They are pretty simple to make too.

First combine brown sugar, white sugar, and melted butter.
Mix well.

Stir in the egg and vanilla. 

Then add your flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

Mix.

It kind of looks like cookie dough.

Next add the diced apples.

You can also add walnuts or pecans.

Spread into a 9x9 pan.

We love our parchment lined pans.

It makes it easy to lift the whole thing

 out of the pan to cut evenly. 

It also makes clean up a breeze.

Sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar and bake.

 It comes out looking like this. 

Not very pretty, but you can dress it up.

With whipped cream.

 And caramel...

Yum!

Apple Squares

 1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup diced apple (1 apple)

1/2 cup walnuts, if desired

2 Tbsp. white sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the melted butter, brown sugar,

and white sugar with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Stir in the egg and vanilla.

Blend in the flour, baking powder, salt and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon.

 Add the diced apples and nuts.

Spread into a greased or parchment lined 9"x9" pan.

It will be thick like a cookie dough.

Mix the 2 Tbsp. white sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon together.

Sprinkle over the top of the batter. 

Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes. 

The finished bars should spring back when lightly touched.

Cool.

Cut into squares.

Top with whipped cream and nuts.

Enjoy!

 Thanks for passing along this recipe, Jessi.

We have made it many, many times in the last few years.

BLT Dip

BLT Dip

Maybe it should be BTC Dip

Bacon, Tomato, and Cheese

Doesn't sound as good.

No matter what you call it though.

It tastes good.

When we first had this dip about 10 years ago 

we were surprised at how good it tasted 

with such few simple ingredients.

Thanks to Marilyn & Sandra 
for making it for us 

all those years ago.

We loved it then and love it now.

It is an easy, refreshing dip for parties.

Grammy Awards party?

Super Bowl party?

Scrapbook party?

You name it.

This dip can be a healthy dip also.

Use turkey bacon,

non-fat sour cream, non-fat mayo,

and reduced fat cheddar cheese.

Bacon...yum

Cook your cut up bacon.

Drain.

Grate your cheddar cheese.

Have you noticed how freshly grated cheese 

taste better than the pre-packaged kind?

Yum...cheese.

Mix everything together 

and 

chill for a couple hours.

There you have it...

Very simple

Very easy

BLT dip!

Grab your favorite dipping chips or crackers 

and dip away!

BLT Dip

 1 cup sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)

1 pound of bacon

1 tomato, diced

1 to 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces.

Cook and drain.

Then mix together the sour cream,

mayonnaise, bacon, tomato, and cheese.

Chill for a couple hours.

Serve with your favorite chips and crackers.

Enjoy! 

Caramel Oatmeal Bars

Buttery oatmeal,

gooey caramel.

As our "little spoonful", Dylan says

nummmmm.

 

 This is a fairly new recipe that we found.

But have made many times in the last couple months.

Why?

Because we just love it.

We love oatmeal.

And caramel.

And it tastes good.

Although we're not too fond of unwrapping the caramels,

it is so worth it.

Once you have the caramels unwrapped

melt them over low heat with 1/2 & 1/2.

 Gather some basic ingredients:

Flour, brown sugar, chocolate chips,

oatmeal, baking soda, and butter.

Combine them

 and get this.

Press half of the mixture into 

a greased parchment paper lined square baking pan.

 Bake this layer for 10 minutes.

Then sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Drizzle the melted caramel over the chocolate chips.

 Yum. Don't you just want to take a bite now?

Top with the remaining oatmeal mixture.

And bake for about 18 more minutes.

Cool and then cut into squares.

Oops...sorry!

Couldn't wait to try a bite!

It just tastes so good warm from the oven.

Caramel Oatmeal Bars

35 caramels, unwrapped

1/3 cup 1/2 & 1/2

3/4 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt the unwrapped caramels with 

the 1/2 & 1/2 over low heat. Set to the side.

Combine brown sugar, flour, oatmeal, and baking soda

with the melted butter.

Press half of this mixture into a greased

parchment paper lined square pan.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven.

Sprinkle with the chocolate chips.

Pour the melted caramel over the chocolate chips.

Top with the remaining oatmeal mixture.

Bake for another 18 minutes 

until golden brown.

Cool then cut into squares.

Enjoy!

Lasagna

Lasagna

What do you think of when you hear 

Lasagna

Warm, gooey, cheese

Tomato sauce goodness

Baked and bubbly
All of the above?

Us too.

You could cheat and use a jar of sauce

but with just a little time

you can get some delicious 

homemade sauce.

Start with some onion, garlic,

and sausage.

Yes, we know many people use ground beef,

but we find that using sausage 

just gives it a little more flavor. 

We use regular Jimmy Dean, 

but you could use Italian sausage instead.

A little tip we found on the internet 

about peeling your garlic:

Take as many cloves of garlic as you like.

Put them in a mixing bowl.

Then turn another mixing bowl upside down on top.

So now you have a "dome" 

with unpeeled cloves of garlic in it.

Pick up your "garlic dome" and shake it.

Shake it hard.

Shake, shake, shake!

Open your garlic dome.

Presto!

Peeled garlic cloves!

Brown the sausage, onions and those awesome garlic cloves.
(You'll probably want to mince the garlic first!) 

Now time to add the tomatoey goodness.

Is that a word?

Tomatoey?

We know you could can your own tomatoes,

make your own paste and sauce.

But seriously who has time to do that.

Not us!

So this is what we use.

Dump in the whole tomatoes.

Chop them up.

We use this great Pampered Chef chopper.

Works great to chop up the sausage too.

 

 Add the can of sauce and paste.

 

And seasonings.

While it is cooking get your cheese filling ready.

And don't forget to cook your lasagna noodles.

Just follow the directions on the box.

Ricotta, Parmesan, and mozzarella cheese.

 Look good yet?

How about now?

The sauce is ready!

  

And it looks good!

Time to start layering your sauce, noodles, and filling.

We always start with a little sauce 

on the bottom of the casserole dish.

Put a layer of lasagna noodles on top of the sauce.

Then the cheese filling.

More sauce.

 Repeat a few more times.

End up with sauce as the last item.

 Sprinkle some mozzarella on top 

and bake!

Lasagna

1 pound Jimmy Dean sausage
1 onion, chopped
3 or 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

42 oz. can whole tomatoes
15 oz. tomato sauce
12 oz. tomato paste
2 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
1 1/2 tsp. salt

 8 oz. of lasagna noodles
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups Ricotta cheese (we use part skim)
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded to sprinkle on top


Cook the sausage, onion, and garlic
until the sausage is done.
Drain grease.

Add in the whole tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste.
 Break up the whole tomatoes.
Add the basil, oregano, and salt. 
Stir well.

Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Cook the lasagna noodles
according to the directions on the box.
Drain.

Mix together the eggs, Ricotta, Parmesan, parsley, salt,pepper, 
and 1 pound of mozzarella cheese.


Put a small amount of sauce in the bottom
of a greased 9 x 13" casserole dish.
Then layer noodles,
cheese mixture,
sauce.
Repeat until you have used all of the items.
Finishing with sauce on the top.
Sprinkle the 3/4 cup of mozzarella cheese on top.

Bake in a 375 degree oven 
for about 30 to 35 minutes.
Remove from the oven.
Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

Add a fresh garden salad and garlic bread
and 
instantly you are transported 
to a garden patio in a villa in Italy 
eating a delicious meal.
Not really, but sounds good.

Enjoy!