Apple Crumble Pie

Can't decide between Apple crumble and apple pie? Now you don't have to!

Apple Crumble Pie
1 - 9" pie crust (I used my Grandma's pie crust)
5 cups peeled, sliced & cored granny smith apples (about 4 apples)
1/2 cup sugar
3/4t ground cinnamon
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
6T cold butter

Preheat oven to 350°. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon.

Arrange a layer of apple slices in the bottom of the pie crust, then sprinkle with some of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Continue layering apples and sugar until all the apples and sugar are in the pie crust. The apples will be stacked higher than the edge of the crust.

In another bowl mix together1/3 cup sugar and flour. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your hands, which is what I prefer to do. Pile the crumble topping on top of the apples. Your pie will look like a mountain but it will all bake down in the oven. Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes until the apples are soft and the crumble and crust is golden brown.

I'm well aware of the madness that ensues when you attempt to cook Christmas dinner. So why not make your life a little easier and bake this pie right now! Cover it with foil and toss it in the freezer. To serve, thaw the pie and reheat it in the oven and serve it with vanilla ice cream!

Meal Plan - December 23rd

Christmas is right around the corner, tomorrow for us in fact, so I picked out some easy meals for the next two weeks. Since I'm sure a few of these meals will be replaces with turkey leftovers, I made sure to plan a few meals that can be made and frozen and saved for later on. Which will also come in handy in the beginning of January as I'll be in full birthday prep mode for Bianca...I don't like myself when I say things like that...

Baked chicken chimichangas
Chicken avocado burritos
Ham & Swiss stromboli
Grandma's Hash
Sheppard's Pie
Pecan crusted salmon & veggies
Tacos
Chicken strips and fries

We also have a special meal planned for our Christmas on the 24th, which I will share in an upcoming blog post!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

Eggs Benedict with Homemade Hollandaise

One of my favorite meals has always been breakfast. Oatmeal, Corn Flakes, pancakes, waffles, it doesn't really matter because it is all delicious!  Probably one of my favorite breakfast foods in the egg because there are so many different ways to make eggs. I personally am not a fan of scrambled eggs, unlike John and Roman, but I LOVE an egg with a runny yolk. That brings me to this recipe; Eggs Benedict!

A while back John decided he wanted to make eggs benedict for breakfast. Of course you can't have eggs benedict without luscious, silky, buttery, hollandaise sauce. I myself have yet to be brave enough to attempt this sauce myself but John has become the hollandaise king in our house! Even with Roman hanging off of him and grabbing everything in sight, John still manages to perfect this amazing breakfast time and time again. Luckily he was willing to share his recipe and his secret technique with me so I could pass it along to you! This would make a delicious Christmas morning breakfast as well!

Homemade Hollandaise
4 egg yolks
1 cup butter
1T vinegar
1T tarragon
1/2t salt
pepper to taste

Whisk egg yolks vigorously in a sauce pan over low heat until they are warm to the touch. Add the butter to the egg yolks 1T at a time while continuously whisking. Remove pan from heat, still whisking, adding vinegar and spices. Return pan to low heat for 5 minutes, again still whisking, until hollandaise is thick and coats the back of a spoon.  Enjoy!

The most important part of this recipe is the whisking. Whatever you do, do not stop whisking while making this sauce. If you stop whisking, your hollandaise will break and while it's still tasty it won't look quite the same because the fat in the butter will separate from the rest of the sauce.

Eggs benedict usually consists of a soft poached egg, cheese, bacon and an English muffin. We never have English muffins in our house so we usually just use toast. That being said, there have been days when we are so desperate to have this for breakfast that we used horribly freezer burnt focaccia buns. They were a little tough to cut but still delicious. I don't blame you if you judge us for that; I probably would too.

3 Easy Christmas Crafts for Kids

Roman has always enjoyed crafting but he seems to go into overdrive during the holidays. I'm not sure if seeing his crafts from past years hanging on the tree makes him want to create more things, or if he just sees me working on different things and he wants in.

Our prime crafting time is first thing in the morning when Bianca has her morning nap. We only have about an hour at the most so I try to pick quick and easy crafts that we can finish in that time. If I can make them with supplies I have on hand or from the dollar store all the better!

Toilet Paper Roll Gingerbread Boy/Girl
Materials
Toilet Paper roll
Craft paper (brown, black & red)
Craft glue
Sequins
Scissors
Pinking scissors
Marker

So maybe this little guy doesn't look exactly the way I would have made him, but Roman really enjoyed creating him. First we cut his head from some scrap booking paper (construction paper would work just fine) and Roman drew him a lovely face. Then we cut his arms and legs from the same paper and folded them accordion style. Then we attached them to the toilet paper roll using craft glue. I cut out some hands and feet from black shoes and Roman glued them on. Using a pinking scissor, I cut a red strip to wrap around the middle of his body. To finish him off we attached the red paper as well as some sequin buttons using the craft glue.

For bedtime on this day we read The Gingerbread Man story for bedtime and Roman thought it was pretty cool that his gingerbread man ad a story written about him!

Laminated Ornaments
Material
Card stock
Tissue paper (any colors you like)
Scissors
Laminator and laminating pouches

Yet another use for this amazing little machine! John was at home the morning we made these and even he enjoyed it!

I printed off these ornament templates on card stock, cut them out, and cut out the centre as well. I placed the template in the middle of a laminating pouch. Then it was time for the fun part! Well, fun for Roman, face-palm moment for John and I; ripping the tissue paper. Once the tissue was sufficiently shredded, we arranged the pieces inside the ornament and ran it through the laminator. A quick trim around the outside and we have some beautiful, sun-catching decorations for the window!

Egg Carton Bell
Materials
Egg carton
Paint
Paintbrush
6" Pipe cleaner
2 bells jingle bells
Ribbon

I separated a single bump out of the carton and Roman gave it a good coat of yellow paint. Once it was dry I poked two tiny holes in the top of the bell. Roman strung the two bells on to the pipe cleaner and slid them into the centre. We fed the ends of the pipe cleaner through the holes from the bottom of the bell, and twisted them together  on the other side. To finish it off I tied a bow with the ribbon at the bottom of the look against the top of the bell.

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

I love banana bread, but if I can add chocolate to something I will. The original plan was to turn this into a red velvet banana bread by adding red food coloring. But despite adding almost a teaspoon of gel coloring it didn't change the color of the loaf at all. Luckily this loaf is so delicious it doesn't even matter. This would make a great addition to your sweet trays over the holidays. It has banana in it, it's basically a fruit really.

Double Chocolate Banana Bread
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1t baking soda
1/4t salt
2 over-ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup apple sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1t vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
Holiday sprinkles (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan OR line it with parchment paper. *TIP - if you wet parchment paper it becomes extremely pliable. Hold it under running water for a few seconds then ring it out like you would a towel. You can then lay it right into you pan and your loaf is guaranteed not to stick!

 In a bowl sir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl combine bananas, apple sauce, brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

 

Pour batter into prepared pan and top with holiday sprinkles. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.

I would recommend letting the loaf cool before you cut into it, as the chocolate chips with still be warm and liquidy for awhile. If you, like my kids and I, don't care then cut into it as soon as you can touch it. I had great plans for a beautiful photo of the loaf, partially sliced and laying on a cake stand. As you can see, that didn't happen. Instead I got a photo of a mutilated loaf sitting on the ziplock bag it was being store in. You know it's a winner if you don't even have time to get a photo of it!

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M&M Cookie Bars

These cookies are everything that I've ever wanted in the perfect cookie; a delicious batter, a slight crust on the outside, gooey on the inside, and TONS of chocolate. I don't know if I would voluntarily make a regular chocolate chip cookie now that I've made these. They're incredibly quick & easy and are a great treat to make with the kids this holiday season!

M&M Cookie Bars
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2t vanilla
3 cups flour
3/4t baking soda
3/4t salt
1 1/2 cups mini baking M&Ms (I used the entire 275g bag)
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper. To make the process easier, run the parchment paper under water and ring it out first.

Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar together. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter and mix until well combined. Add the M&Ms and chocolate chips, reserving some to sprinkle on top at the end. Do not over-mix at the stage or the M&Ms will be crushed.

Pour the batter into the baking sheet and spread into an even layer. Press on the reserved M&Ms and chocolate chips. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes. Allow the bars to cool and then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper and cut into squares.

If you would like to keep these around for longer than one day, I suggest immediately transferring them to a freezer bag and hiding them in the back of your deep freeze. Just a heads up, 8 seconds is the perfect time for one square in the microwave....

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Meal Plan - December 5th

The only time I had to shop this week was Monday so this meal plan is a little earlier than the others.

Pizza and tacos are always a hit and you'll probably see them in most of my meals plans. The kids both gobbled but the mac & cheese as well as the spaghetti with alfredo sauce. The surprise winner last week was the eggroll in a bowl. I would have cut the soy in half and maybe added a couple other thing. Maybe I'll share the recipe once I get it all figured out.

Here are the meals we're eating for the next two weeks!

Homemade Pizza
Tacos
Eggroll in a bowl
Dijon Mustard Meatloaf with potatoes and carrots
Pasta with red sauce
Chicken thighs and brussel sprouts
Baked Chicken Chimichangas
Stuffed shells with red sauce

Obviously I need to do more recipe posts since there are very few links this week....Let me know which recipes you'd like to see!

Marshmallow Christmas Tree

When it comes to Christmas decorations I have a bit of an affinity for trees. I have quite the collection going on top of our entertainment stand where we have our Christmas village that my mom sewed for us. I've purchased a couple cute ones but I like the idea of making my own. Mostly because I like inexpensive Christmas decorations and partly because I like having decorations that not everyone has in their homes. A few years ago I made a set of foam trees. With being extremely pregnant last year (and exhausted) I took a hiatus from the trees, but Roman and I are back at it this year!

Roman loves making crafts and usually requests to do it while Bianca is taking her morning nap. You'd think by now I could prepare for this kind of thing but I haven't. I have these grand plans of having everything prepped and ready to go for a craft each week but it just doesn't happen. I remembered this marshmallow ornament I had made in grade 1 or 2. I was sure I had all the supplies, but alas, I did not. In this moment, the idea of this tree was born!

Materials
Styrofoam tree form
Mini marshmallows
Sequins
Craft glue

Run a line of glue around the base of the tree form and press on each marshmallow. Alternatively you can put the glue directly on to each marshmallow. I found that running the line of glue worked better when working with a 3 year old. You'll want to stagger the rows as you continue up the tree, just to make sure you cover all, or as much as possible, of the tree form.

We let our completed tree sit for a couple hours for the glue to completely dry before we started attaching the sequins. I dabbed a small amount of craft glue onto each marshmallow and Roman stuck a sequin on top of the glue. With Roman in charge of sequins some and right side up and some aren't, and sometimes there was ever 2-4 stuck together on top of the marshmallow. We also went for a random color pattern. Not that there is really an option when you're working with kids.

In the original ornament I made when I was little we used pins, beads and sequins to hold the marshmallows to a Styrofoam ball. If you're working with older kids or doing this on your own (you lucky devil), you could use the same method on the tree and it would be that much more secure. If you have that odd ball marshmallow that just won't stick, try a bit of hot glue. I gave it a go, and other than melting a small portion of one side of the marshmallow, it did the trick.

I'd love to see how your tree or ornament turns out! Post a picture in the comments of your creation!!

Home Preschool - December 2016

As I sat down to write this post I was expecting to have to try to justify why we hadn't done any of the activities I had planned. Turns out we did about half of them! The ones we haven't done are mainly due to lack of prep as I didn't have the materials on hand that the activities required. That being said, we still have time as it's currently only the 21st! As I look ahead to the upcoming activities for November I see that I need to make a trip to Bulk Barn and Dollar Tree; hooray!!

Roman really enjoyed decorating his chickens and constructing their eggs and nests. As excited as he was about them I really thought he would play with them longer than he did. The novelty seemed to wear off after a day, but I think a large part of that is that the coop has to be kept up out of Bianca's reach or she tries to destroy it. Maybe I'll try moving it into his room so he can check on his chickens whenever he likes!

He also loved the animal track painting. As soon as I sat the toys and the paint on the table it was game on! You couldn't really tell the difference between the tracks themselves but he had a blast. The whole purpose of the animal/farm projects this month was to get Roman geared up for Agribition! I know for sure that the Muddy Pigs activity has Roman excited. We made two pigs so that he could take one to Grandma and Grandpa's house for their fridge. I was a little surprised that Roman was willing to paint with his hands because he doesn't usually like to, but I think the oats in the paint made it more gross and appealing. The logic of a 3 year old.

Our ocean turned into woodland creature clip cards because I had those stickers on hand. Roman loves anything with stickers so he enjoyed just making the cards themselves. I decided to laminate them to make them last a little longer. These home laminating machines are so handy. If you don't have one I highly recommend picking one up. They aren't very expensive and I seem to use it more than I ever thought I would!

I'm just going to warn you now; most of the December activities are probably not going to happen. With all things Christmas in full swing I have a feeling we'll be working on more holiday crafts and activities than we will be preschool.

1st-10th: Snow Clay, Laminated Ornaments
11th-17th: Paper Plate Christmas Ornament, Feed The Penguin Game
18th-24th: Christmas!!!
25th-31st: Straw Rockets