Easy Apple Crisp

To start, HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE! Oh goodness, am I ever excited that it's Monday. I know that is so unlike me to like Monday, but I am now on the countdown to my trip to Montreal! Yay!Only 4 more days! Also, tomorrow is Valentines day! The day of love. The day everyone is expected to buy and and receive presents, flowers and chocolate. The day that every couple will be eating at a restaurant. The day that so many people think is overrated. Well I must tell you that I WILL be participating in everything valentines day. I shall partake in chocolate and eat at a restaurant that we reserved. This is my very first valentines day with Dan. For the past three years we have either been in different countries or separated by provinces for the day. I know that we don't need a "special" day to celebrate our love for one another, BUT I am looking forward to actually spending the day WITH him. haha It sucks when you have someone you love but you end up spending valentines day eating ice cream & watching a romantic movie alone. haha.That's not me this year!  What are your plans for valentines day?
Anywho, this recipe is excellent. Dan and I have made it several times. My youth pastors wife gave us a bunch of her own recipes as a gift for our wedding shower. It was a great gift and we have enjoyed trying the recipes! This recipe is super easy! If you try it you will not be dissapointed.
You need:

• 6 to 8 apples
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup of oatmeal
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Step one:
Cut up your apples.

Place them in your baking dish.

Step two:
Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, oats and melted butter in a bowl.

Pour it over the apples.

Step three:

Bake uncovered at 350F for 25-30 minutes.

ENJOY!

xo



Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

I have been lovin the lemon muffins. Here's what you need to make these scrumptious muffins:

• 1/2 c. butter, melted
• 1 c. white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/4 c. poppy seeds
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 grated lemon rind

Step one:

Mix your dry ingredients in one bowl. Flour, salt, and baking powder.

Step two:

Mix the wet ingredients together. Butter, sugar, eggs, milk, and lemon juice.

Step three:

Add the wet to the dry. Mix until all combined. Fold in the lemon rind, and the poppy seeds.

Step four:

Place the muffin batter into muffin cups equally. Bake at 375F for 20 minutes. Check it with a tooth pick to see, they may need more time.

VOILA> done.

Enjoy!

xo

Spicy Greek Aromatic Chicken

This was a great supper! It was for sure a flavour I have NEVER tasted before! It is strongly spiced, so if you don't enjoy cinnamon, cloves and allspice in your food, this might be too much for you. For those of you who like to try something different and new, TRY THIS. Here is what you need:

• 4-8 pieces of chicken, skinned
• 1/2 lemon, cut into wedges
• 4 tbsps olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced finely
• 1/2 cup or dry white wine
• 400g canned chopped tomatoes with juice
• pinch of sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• salt and pepper
• 400g canned artichoke hearts, cut into halves
• 1/2 can of black pitted olives

Step one:
Rub your chicken pieces with the lemon. Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and fry for a few minutes. Add the chicken pieces for 5 minutes, or until browned on all sides. We had about  6 pieces of chicken, we just hadn't added them yet.

Step two:
Add the wine and the tomatoes with their juice, the sugar, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, salt and pepper, and bring it to a boil. Now cover and let it simmer on medium heat for 45 minutes to an hour. You want the chicken to be tender. If medium heat is too high you can turn it down a bit.

Step three:
Ten minutes before the chicken is supposed to be finished add the olives and the halved artichoke hearts. Cook for the last 10 minutes then serve it hot! Enjoy this excellent Greek dish!

xoxo
 Have a great week everyone!

Orange cranberry muffins

Here is my weekly muffin. It is a good muffin. My tummy was happy with it. I am just going to post the link to where I found this recipe. I didn't change a thing, so I can't tell you it is MY recipe. I can't take the credit for these puppies. The only thing is that I only got 9 muffins out of this recipe. I made them the same size that I always do(1/3 cup scoop) but it only made 9. ANYWAYS, they are 9 excellent muffins. Try it out.
http://www.food.com/recipe/cranberry-orange-muffins-139499
Okay, I just realised that I lied. Here is what I changed.
-I used 2 tsps of orange rind
-I squeezed my own fresh orange juice with my new juice making thing!!
-I used 1 cup of dried cranberries.

Cranberries heck yes!
Mix it all up and put it in the oven! Bake for 15 minutes and BAM!

XO

Buttercream Icing

This week I made a deishious cake.Yes, that's right deishious. I apparently can't spell. I made a vanilla cake (from the box) and I used the maple fudge that didn't set properly for the filling. THEN I found this fab recipe and iced the cake with it. Needless to say it was super sweet. This icing is a keeper. It is good because you can make it how you like. You can use it to decorate cupcakes, because it will hold its shape nicely. Here is what you need:

• One cup of SALTED butter
• 3 tsps vanilla
• 4 cups of icing sugar
• 4-5 tbsps coffee cream (Or more. You will need to see the consistency after the 5 tbsps. If you need to add more to make it spreadable, feel free. Be careful though because 1 tbsp of cream changes alot!)

Step one:
Beat your cup of butter until it gets nice and whippy. Please use salted butter, it makes a difference.

Step two:
Add the icing sugar.

LOOK at the mess I made!

Icing sugar everywhere!
Step three:
Add the cream. You will probably do this step during part two. Once you add about half of the icing sugar it gets pretty thick. Once you see that it is not mixing well, start to add the cream. Like I said, watch how much cream you put in. I added maybe a tbsp extra, but it goes a long way. So just make it how you like :)
FINI.

mmmm
xo

Lentil dal with fresh ginger, chili and cilantro

Hello again! It is now almost 11 and I am going to call it a night. Last recipe. As you can see Dan and I have been eating Indian food. It has been fun to try some new recipes and make somethings we have never tasted before! Dan was actually the one who made this recipe. It was a nice meal to come home to! Here's what you need:

• 1 cup orange lentils
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cups of water

Step one:
Put the lentils in a large saucepan with tumeric, salt and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer covered for about 20 or 30 minutes. Make sure the lentils are soft. If you need to, add water while cooking.

Step two:
Take out about 1/2 of the lentils with a ladle and mash them. Take the mashed lentils and add them back to the soup/dal. Continue to let simmer for about 5 minutes to let it thicken, uncovered. Give it a good stir. If you like stick soup keep it how it is. If you like it a bit thinner, add water. Keep it on low heat, stirring every so often.

TEMPERING OIL
You make this in another pan. You will use half of it to stir into your soup and the other half to garnish the top of the soup.
You need:

• 2 1/2 tbsps oil
• 1 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 1 tsp finely chopped garlic
• 1 tsp chili sauce
• 1 tsp green curry paste
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsps chili powder

In a frying pan heat up the oil, garlic and ginger. Heat for a minute or two then add the cumin, chili powder, chili sauce, green curry paste, and the cayenne pepper. Cook for about a minute. Remove the pan from heat and add a few drops of water to it.

Take half of the tempering oil and add it to the soup/dal. Stir it in nicely. Also add half of the cilantro and all of the lemon juice. Simmer for another few minutes. VOILA..it's finished. Serve nice and warm. Place a bit of the tempering oil on top of your bowl of dal and garnish with fresh cilantro.
Enjoy this dish. It is super good.

xo