Baked Apple Pie Donuts

As I was perusing Pinterest this morning, I happened upon a recipe for 
gingerbread baked donuts.   I was waiting for everyone else to wake up and 
remembered the kids complaining that we had no food in the house 
(who knows why my grocery bills top $200/week).  
Anyway, I didn't feel like the gingerbread donuts but after a quick search, 
I happened upon this recipe. 

A few things drew me in: I had all of the ingredients (including leftover 'baked apples'), 
prep time was 15 minutes, and I had a donut pan (I'd only used once). 
Not 30 minutes later, I was dipping the donuts in butter, dusting them with 
cinnamon and sugar, and drizzling them with 
this leftover caramel sauce. 

Let's just say that I was a hero this morning. Now I feel better about 
purchasing the donut pan! They taste like an apple fritter 
without the fried taste. 

The great news is that you can easily make these with or without leftover 
apples, with or without  caramel sauce, and you can use a muffin tin if 
you don't have a donut pan!  

They were the perfect breakfast for an impulsive baker like myself!

15 Years Ago.

Our son.  How can he be fifteen today?

 

Josh is growing up.  He is now inches taller than me and faster in a foot race than his dad.  He is still kind, thoughtful, and funny.  But, he now prefers the company of his friends.  Does it make sense that we miss him and he's not even gone?

As he pulls away in a very natural way, I'm reminded of years gone by. 

I remember the day he was born, quickly and with no fuss.  I remember his laid-back demeanor, only crying occasionally. 

I remember how chatty he was as a toddler.  He had incessant questions and just loved to talk, even in his sleep. 

He is still enthusiastic.  He is happiest when his schedule is filled with sports, friends, and having fun.  Every day that passes he looks more like his dad.

Our prayer for him is to continue to love God, love others, and do what he was created to do.  He is pretty certain he want to be a police officer and I think he'd make a great one. 

We're so proud of him!  Happy Birthday Josh :)

10 Random Thoughts

1. I love the eucalyptus-mint scent from Bath and Body works, but I wish the scent wasn't so strong. I love the Citron natural hand soap from Target, but I wish the scent was stronger.

2. I am almost giddy with all of the daylight we are enjoying. Tomorrow is the longest day of the year. Part of me realizes it's all downhill from here.

3. Autocorrect can be really annoying. I just had to re-type 'crepes' in the epicurious searchbox three times (it kept correcting to 'creeps').

4. The girls and I spent the day in Philadelphia with my mom and sister last Friday. I had the best crepe of my life. Prosciutto, fig jam, and goat-milk Brie. I'm going to try to recreate it. Best food I've had in years!

5.My husband and I are polar opposites. He credits this as a glimpse into my personality. Guess he would have taken the time to untangle the charging cords of two other devices before he charged the Nikon battery. I consider that a total waste of time.

6. I love fresh flowers in the house. I consider them a total waste of money if I have to purchase them, though. The hydrangeas from our yard are my second favorite (next to tulips).

7. My kids are very capable. The girls helped me clean the house in 90 minutes flat on Monday. Kate helped me make dinner last night and did a fabulous job. I need to delegate more, instead of thinking I'd do it better.

8. I keep smelling my eucalyptus-mint hands. Ugh. Maybe I can water down the mixture?

9. I fell for a Pinterest 'too good to be true' recipe last night. The skinny shake that tastes 'just like a Wendy's frosty'. Don't fall for it. Nothing has ever tasted less like a Frosty. I made everyone try it - the votes were unanimous. Terrible.

10. Has anyone discovered the secret for repelling rabbits? They are obsessed with my gazanias and the girls green beans.

Strawberry Trifle

It was my Mom's birthday on Saturday and she requested a key lime pie. I typically just make the condensed milk version, but she has another recipe that she prefers. The process was simple, but I was unhappy with the results.  I think I'll stick to the tried and true recipe that I make.  In an effort to redeem myself, I decided to take advantage of our delicious local strawberries (we prefer the produce  at J-Mar Farms). 

I layered cubes of Betty Crocker's foolproof recipe for pound cake with the lemon cream sauce for my strawberry pie.  All the trifle needed was lots of strawberries and dollops of freshly whipped cream.  And, all of a sudden, I was back in business!

 

Again, I'm back to using iPhone pictures for my blogging.  For the second time, my girls tried to hook up my laptop to a projector - we've already fixed the laptop, but were told that the projector hadn't fried it.  I beg to differ.  I apologize for the quality of the pictures.  I'll be happy to be back to my Nikon.  The ease of sharing pictures with a mobile device are convenient, but the quality is definitely lacking.  

In any case, I hope these pictures are appetizing enough to inspire you to create something with your local produce.  We are thankful to live in a community where farming is still very prevalent and quality produce, dairy, and meat are locally produced and sold on the farm.  We try to take advantage at every opportunity!  I wish strawberry season was longer, but so far we've enjoyed them every way possible.  

Phone Snapshots

Also known as: my laptop blew up again and I'm blogging on my iPad. I can't page down and write captions, so feel free to make up your own!

It's our first week of summer vacation and the weather is hideous! Kate and Emma have a friend over and they set up a movie theater in their room. Rob and Josh are attending the practice round for the US Open. I'm doing laundry and probably going to read this afternoon. 

Hopefully one of these days I'll actually share a recipe! In the meantime, enjoy your Monday. 

Summertime

Summertime has officially started in the Teague household! The kids finished school with a half day on Thursday and it is so nice to have a slower start to our days. 

I'd like to think that with no schedule I'll be blogging more, but I've grown quite reliant on my iPhone and Instagram.  It's so easy to take pictures of food and post them that way. 

I know half of the world is now entering into summer.  I'm sorry to those of you who are now entering into winter (unless you like that sort of thing). 

We have a fun summer planned! As our children grow older, our strategies for making memories get more expensive change a bit. 

We've joined a pool for the first time because our kids each have close friends that also belong.  Each of the kids will also be attending some sports camps. 

We've also decided to continue with our annual summer trip to the Gulf shores of Florida!  We actually decided to rent a house on Anna Maria Island for several days as a change - we'll be within walking distance of our favorite cinnamon bun cafe beach! If it's not too hot, we may rent bikes or kayaks. Our trip south will coincide with July 4th, so we hope to catch fireworks sometime that night. 

All in all, I'm just so excited!  It seems that with each year that passes, we realize that we only get to create experiences for a short time.  In all reality, Josh will be 15 this summer and our time together is fleeting.  We've grown more protective of our time together as "just us".  I've noticed that Rob is trying to work less and our hope is that our children will have very special memories of being together. 

So....what are your plans for the new season? Vacation destinations? Recipes you're dying to try? Crafts you hope to make? Plans for having fun with the kids? I'd love to hear all about it!

better than fried chicken

I remember reading this recipe on the Pioneer Woman blog several years ago. I believe it may have been called 'mayo' chicken and the guest blogger was Dutch Girl(?). I know I'd made it then, but I had forgotten about it. My guys really dislike chicken, so when I do make it, I'm always looking for good ways to disguise it.

I searched and searched google, trying "mayo chicken", "pioneer woman guest post", and everything I could think of. After a couple minutes of research, urban legend suggests that there was a falling out of sorts between the two bloggers. Whatever, I just wanted the recipe! I vaguely remembered the ingredients, so I just made it.

Lately, I've noticed it's made a resurgence (on Pinterest), and it's now known as "better than fried" chicken. Some recipes suggest Greek yogurt in place of the mayo. I've never tried it, because we all like the richness of mayonnaise.

We had it last night for dinner and even Josh said, "this is pretty good". We also enjoyed rhubarb muffins.

Here are the recipes:

"better than fried" chicken

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup mayo/Greek yogurt, or a combination
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp herbes de Provence
1 tsp granulated garlic
Salt, pepper
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs, divided

1. Mix all ingredients, reserving 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs.
2. Spread mixture over chicken breasts. Sprinkle remaining breadcrumbs over chicken.
3. Bake at 375 degrees, uncovered, about 40 minutes, or until browned and chicken is cooked through.



rhubarb muffins (click link for recipe)