Homemade Applesauce

What kind of apple has a short temper?
A crab apple.

Oh my, oh my, oh my.  Homemade applesauce is delicious.

I actually ended up making this for breakfast this morning.  There are some days when a warm meal in the morning is just comforting.  I had steel-cut oatmeal yesterday so I thought this applesauce might be a welcome change.

The advantage of making applesauce yourself is that you control what goes into it.  You can play around with different types of apples, to cinnamon or not to cinnamon, or even the texture.  This is a pretty classic tasting applesauce with a little cinnamon and orange juice for flavor.

Here's what you need (for about 2-3 cups worth):
2 Fuji apples, peeled, seeded and chopped
4 cups of water
1/3 cup of orange juice
2-3 dashes of ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 dashes of salt

All Juiced Up With Avocado

What did one avocado say to the other?
Nothing; avocados can't talk.

I have a confession.

I've been juicing this week.

Healthy Juice! (please, I have enough muscles.)  This is a great way to re-set your body.  I am currently doing a 7-day Juicing program, but I'm not being super strict with it.  For example, last night I was so hungry that I wanted to chew on my own arm, so I decided to make some roasted broccoli and watered down broth soup.  This morning (Day 3) I am feeling much better.  Way less likely to try and eat everything in sight.

This is one of the juice recipes that I have been using.  You don't have to go crazy and try and replace all your meals with juicing, but why not try incorporating it as your lunch or breakfast a couple days a week?

Here's what you need:
Juicer
2 apples (anything but granny smith)
1 lime
1/2 of a small pineapple or 1/4 of a large one
piece of cucumber or zucchini
Blender
1/2 avocado
ice

Grilled Chicken Spinach Salad with Apples and Bacon

What day do chickens hate the most?
Fry-days.

Although not fried, this Grilled Chicken is sure to make your mouth happy.

Finally, the rain stopped and the sun abated enough for a good grill out on the back porch Thursday night.  This Grilled Chicken Spinach Salad with Apples and Bacon was a quick and tasty dinner (it would also be also a really good lunch or brunch option).  We served ours up with a simple tomato rice.

Here's what you need:
2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (we only used 1 for 2 people and saved the other for the next day)
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of chili powder
1-2 teaspoons of paprika
salt and pepper to taste
2 carrots, chopped
6 radishes, chopped
1 apple (we used fuji)
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 large handfuls of spinach
3 slices of bacon, cooked and diced

French-a-fied Toast

How do you make an apple turnover?
Push it down a hill.

My favorite, favorite, super favorite breakfast is something we like to call French-a-fied Toast.  All morning there has been cold rain and thunder happening outside, so I thought today was the perfect day to make a cozy comforting breakfast.

French-a-fied Toast in our house is whatever leftover bread you have, soaked in a eggy mixture, and either fried on the stove top or baked in the oven (if you're feelin' fancy).  This morning, I had some leftover hamburger-style buns.  As I started slicing the buns, I thought about layering the bread.  Then, the layering thought had me thinking about what to put in between the layers.  And layers with filling had me thinking about lasagna.  So, thus, fancy Lasagna-Style French-a-fied Toast was born.

Here's what you need (enough for 2 people, double/triple for more):
leftover bread (I had 2 hamburger-style buns)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of heavy cream (if you don't have heavy cream, just double up the milk)
1 tablespoon of milk
1 teaspoon of cinnamon, plus 1 other teaspoon of cinnamon
1 dash of salt
1 sliced apple (I used fuji)
a few drops of Agave or Maple Syrup
1/4 cup of granola (recipe on blog from  3/19/13)
1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup.