Wedding Anniversary and an Apple Cake Recipe

While he probably could have, I personally could not think of a better way to celebrate our third wedding anniversary than a hand in hand stroll through a young apple orchard. I'm not quite sure he fully shares my joy of picking apples, but he took me here because I told him to  because he loves me! And, we went out for lunch afterwards, so he had a good afternoon too. :) I love this man! We've had a wonderful three years together, full of moving, pregnancies, hectic schedules and lots of games; especially Phase 10.

Just this past week he received a phone call offering him a position at his dream job. I am so proud of him having succeeded in something he has been working towards for so long! He got off the phone and in sharing the news with me, handed me a secure future all wrapped up in smiles and I could not have been given a more perfect anniversary gift! Though yes, he did buy me flowers too... as did my grandma and my cousin brought in some fall colors too. They're all so beautiful!

Back to picking apples... There were none! Not in the trees, not on the ground. I couldn't believe it! But, I still loved the stroll and the fact that my visiting- from- out- of- state cousin spent the morning at home with our daughter added to my ability to enjoy the serenity that emanates from the orchard. Cool crisp air, silence, rows upon rows of trees...

This is one of my favorite places in the whole world! Luckily, we've already been here a few times, which is why I've already had bags of dried apples to snack on, bowls of homemade cinnamon and brown sugar apple sauce, generous spoonfuls of apple crisp, apple dumplings, and my new find: Spiced Apple Honey Cake with Cream Cheese frosting! (Recipe below.) Bummer the apples were all gone by today, but we still had a good time and hubby snapped a few pictures of my pregnant self. So here is what I look like 33 1/2 weeks pregnant!

And now, on to the recipe. Yes, of course this is a gluten free recipe- but you'd never know it! And, I promise you: No weird ingredients!

Spiced Apple Honey Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Opera Girl Cooks Spiced Apple Honey Cake.
*Opera Girl suggests baking this in two loaf pans instead (increase baking time by ten minutes.)

Cake (Yields two 9" round cakes.):
3 Cups oat flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

5 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup apple sauce

3 cups shredded, (fresh picked) apples
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 325 and prepare two 8 or 9 inch cake pans by spraying with non stick cooking spray and lining with parchment paper.

Combine the dry ingredients and set aside. Combine the eggs, honey and apple sauce together before adding to the dry ingredients. Stir. Combine shredded apples, pecans and raisins together and then fold into the batter. Pour mixture into the two cake pans and bake for 35 minutes or until tooth pick inserted into center comes out clean.

Let cakes cool on a wire rack to room temperature before frosting and assembling.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese
1 stick butter, softened
~2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix ingredients well.

I garnished my cake with cinnamon powdered sugar. This recipe is posted on my food blog.

Mug Swappin' and Hot Chocolate Recipes

The fine ladies of Yellow Umbrella and Pointing Up teamed up to plan, organize,
and execute a fabulous coffee mug swap between participating bloggers.
This proved to be a fabulous way to encourage socialization in blogland.

I'd never been a part of a blog swap before, but in a way it reminded me of the "secret sister" activities we used to do as girls growing up in church! Or- even the "secret Santa" scheme that can happen at Christmas time, you know when you get to observe someone from afar and then shop for them to buy the perfect, personalized gift without them knowing?! I certainly put a lot of thought into the mug I mailed off to a fellow blogger, the hilarious and devoted Heather of Lawless Life. And... (drum roll)... Here is the mug and hot chocolate I received in a box with little trinkets and goodies - all the way from Georgia!

Thank you so much Anissa! 

Now I can't be too sure, but I think my Anissa is the Anissa from the Chasing Hailey Blog.

Monday, we're all going to be linking up our Coffee Mug Swap mugs over on Yellow Umbrella to showcase our new mug and socialize over the new friendships made. So excited!

I myself am not a coffee drinker though I sure did enjoy the hot chocolate Anissa sent inside the mug! I've also been discovering many other wonderful things to enjoy within a mug. My recent obsession: 

Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Mug!

Recipe here.

I made this the first night (yes, it worked wonderfully with my gluten free flour blend) and grabbed two spoons thinking it'd be a lovely treat to share all cuddled up cozy next to hubby- cute thought huh? In reality I was elbows out guarding the cup; speed eating the gooey goodness because apparently a deep dish cookie is far too good to be shared! 

 Of course, when I feel like a sweet hot beverage without throwing out any and all health goals, I sip this: 

(And, it really is delicious too!)

8 oz milk, heated

1 spoonful coacoa powder

Sweeten with honey

I haven't tried these yet, but here a few hot beverages found via pinterest that I cannot wait to sample!

Hot Chocolate Hazelnut

Raspberry Truffle Hot Chocolate

Hot Vanilla

Pumpkin Spice White Hot Chocolate

Moms Apple Dumplings

I have a very clear memory of sitting on top of the kitchen island counter stuffing apples with butter and cinnamon and sugar with my mom while our family was staying at Grandpas for a time. This would place me stuffing apples at the age of four. Something this yummy sticks in ones memory! I made moms recipe last night with fresh picked apples and thought I'd share the recipe here.

Ingredients
1 pie crust (I used my gluten free flour blend to make my own, mom always used store bought)
3 large apples, cored
5 T cold butter, divided
3 T cinnamon sugar
1 cups water
1 T corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 t cinnamon

**Instead of corn syrup, mom used hard cinnamon candies (red hots, I believe). This made the dumplings a bit sweeter and a pretty red color, unfortunately I don't think red hots are gluten free?Ah well, the corn syrup instead makes for a deliciously sweet thick sauce.

Directions
Preheat oven to 425

Divide the pie crust dough into 3 equal parts and roll each out into a circle. Set each apple in the center of a crust and stuff the hallowed core with 1 T butter and 1 generous tablespoon of cinnamon and sugar. Wrap the dough around the apples and set them in a greased 8 x 8 baking dish.

In a saucepan, combine the water, sugar, cinnamon, corn syrup or red hots, and remaining 2 T of butter and bring to a boil. Pour hot liquid into the dish with the apples and bake for 40 to 45 minutes covered.Then bake an additional 10 minutes uncovered. Apples should be soft and crust should be cooked through.

I liked eating mine right out of the oven in a bowl with milk when I was a kid... or left over for a yummy breakfast. Last night we served them over vanilla ice cream and drizzled with home made caramel. 

Family recipes now online!

In an effort to help me figure out what to cook each day, and hoping to make finding my recipes easier, I have moved all our family recipes to an online source. They are organized into a variety of categories so that I can search for them based on what ingredients I have on hand, what occasion I need to be cooking for, how much time I want to spend preparing dinner, if I'm using the croc pot or the cast iron skillet, who in my family originally made the food... You get the picture.

Some of our favorites include fish tacos, green chili pork, sloppy jos, and apple pie. 

Click on the Tons of Recipes tab above to check it out!

Rainbow Cupcakes

My husband came home with some very exciting news! He had observed that Betty Crockers rainbow chip frosting is gluten free. We both have fond childhood memories with rainbow chip frosting!

Yes, he was positive! No, he didn't misread anything! It says it right there on the back... under the long list of other bad- for- you ingredients.

See it? Gluten Free. Right there on the bottom! Anyway, the rainbow chip cake mix to go along with it is, of course, not gluten free... yet? So we put our thinking caps together and came up with something just as fun.

These fruity pebble, rainbow chip cupcakes were so yummy! And, so fun to eat. I love how simple the jar frosting spread, it's just like how mom always frosted treats back in the day before the most important part of a cupcake was the fancy look of piped icing.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

I got creative in the kitchen today! 

Strawberry cupcake with whipped cream nutella frosting

I made a dozen strawberry cupcakes from scratch using gluten free flour and pureed fresh strawberries as directed by Silvana Nardone. And then, I brainstormed a frosting. I'm over butter cream. Getting the consistency right for decorating is a nightmare and the taste generally over powers the cake, at least when I make it. I wanted something light. This is what I came up with:

1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup nutella

In a chilled mixing bowl, whisk the whipping cream, cocoa and sugar on medium speed until peaks form. Fold in the nutella. Resist licking the entire bowl before you frost the cupcakes.

Peanut butter marshmallow frosting

Today, I wanted to try something new. Ok, so most days I want to try something new. Today it actually worked out well so I thought I'd share the recipe. We enjoyed it with chocolate cup cakes, but it would also go really well with anything banana.

In a microwave safe bowl:
5 T. butter
2 T. milk
1/3 C. Creamy Peanut Butter
2 C. miniature marshmallows
Microwave for thirty seconds and stir. Heat longer if marshmallows don't completely blend.
Stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla.
Fold in powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until you reach your desired consistency.

Don't knock 'em brownies

I made sure to make these brownies when my husband was at school and then not tell him what I used to make them until after he enjoyed them. These are simply sugar and gluten free's  Chocolate Walnut Brownies (except I used peanuts) made with... black beans. What I love about them is that they are sweetened mainly by a ripe banana and agave nectar. I don't like sugar alternatives that leave that diet after taste in your mouth! I decided they needed a frosting though and instead of trying something new, I used a chocolate butter cream. So there went the sugar free. But I am determined to deem them as healthy because of those conspicuous beans.

Home made granola

I remember the fist time I discovered that cake could be made from scratch. I was working in Westminster, CO at a rehabilitation center and one of our nurses was enjoying her birthday. Our head nurse brought in this amazing, layered, chocolate cake for the occasion that was unlike anything I had ever produced out of a Betty Crocker box. Her secret? She made this cake from scratch! It had never before occurred to me that this could be done! I had seen this woman administer life saving medications, issue orders to her staff, insert IVs and reason with the most afraid of patients. But, it was her cake baking skills that won my respect. The other day I had a similar ah- ha! moment while browsing the Simply Sugar and Gluten Free blog and came across a recipe for cinnamon vanilla granola. Granola?! You can make granola? Yes, apparently you can. It is easy and calls for apple sauce so I didn't have to abandon my apple devotion. Delicious. Even my husband likes it, (which is more than I can say for store bought versions.)

Yes- I did eat my breakfast, apple sauce and yogurt topped with the granola, out of that fancy glass. Somethings we never out grow. When I was a child and we would go to visit my great grandmother, she would order from Kentucky Fried Chicken and let me serve it up on her fancy china. We would drink Pepsi and orange soda out of tea cups, with our pinky fingers pointed straight up in the air.

BBQ chicken n apple slaw

If you haven't happened upon the beautiful world of pinterest yet, I highly recommend that you go check it out. It was there that I got my idea to make a BBQ pulled chicken sandwich with apple slaw, (yes, I'm still on my apple kick. Actually picking more apples today; so excited!) My husband even brought home some gluten free dinner rolls, so I got to eat the whole sandwich and not just its guts. Ah- the little things... :)

I set some frozen chicken breasts in the croc pot with a cup of apple juice and a jar of BBQ sauce. Cooked them on high until I could pull apart the meat with two forks. In a separate bowl, I tossed some shredded cabbage and sliced apples with my grandmas (Hi- Gumgum) salad dressing and let it chill in the refrigerator. And to serve, I toasted the rolls with a slice of provolone cheese in the oven before I topped it with the chicken and the cold slaw.

Salad Dressing:
1/2 c mayo
1/4 c sugar
1/8 c vinegar (we like to use apple cider vinegar)

Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins with Apple Frosting

I found a pumpkin- applesauce bundt cake  recipe and made muffins out of it since I couldn't find my bundt cake pan. It calls for gluten free flour, and that is what I used, but I don't see why any ol' all purpose flour wouldn't work. I baked the muffins at 350 degrees for 21 minutes, and I replaced half the cinnamon with pumpkin pie spice. Delicious! But, I really wanted to highlight the apple so I whipped up some apple frosting:

1/4 cup butter (at room temperature)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Enough powdered sugar to reach desired thickness
1 finely chopped apple
Garnish with cinnamon

Apple Sauce/ Apple Pie

Making apple sauce is so easy! Of course, it is best cooked with cinnamon and sugar... but for a healthier treat I threw cored, chopped apples (skin on) in the croc pot set to the low setting, with just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot. I stirred it occasionally, and after four hours we were enjoying a tart treat. I also made a couple of batches without the skin, and tossed them in the blender for a few seconds. Turned some into baby food cubes by freezing it in the ice cube trays, and plan to use the rest for recipes I have found that call for apple sauce. While the croc pot was doing its job, I chopped some fresh apples and mixed them with the ingredients to my great- great grandmothers apple pie recipe; (substituting my gluten free flour blend for the all purpose flour) I also added a bit of lemon juice to preserve the freshness. I filled some zip lock bags and put them in the freezer for a later use. I was tempted to make a pie right then, but Hubby's been asking for a pumpkin pie for a few days now... Silly him, doesn't re realize I'm on an apple kick?

coconut shrimp with summer BBQ suace

Had a lot of fun making a tasty recipe for dinner tonight! I thought I would share this super easy, fairly healthy coconut shrimp recipe that I have, of course, altered to make gluten free (but you'd never know it- it's that good).

Ingredients:
1/2 pound of cooked, de-veined shrimp (tail on)
1/2 cup of coconut
1/2 cup of crushed rice chex cereal
3 egg whites
1/2 cup of flour (gluten free for me)
1 tablespoon melted butter
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and spray a baking sheet with non stick spray. Spread the coconut evenly around the pan and bake for about 5 minutes or until it begins to brown and your kitchen starts to smell amazing.

Put the flour in a small bowl.

Put the egg whites in another small bowl and whisk briefly. (If I had had any, I would have added a drop or two of coconut extract to the egg whites.)

Combine the rice chex and 3/4 of the toasted coconut in yet another bowl. (Set the remaining coconut aside.)

Dip the shrimp first in the flour, then in the egg whites, and then in the cereal/ coconut. Place on the cookie sheet. Bake about ten minutes, until the shrimp is warm. If you did use raw shrimp then bake until it is cooked through. When you remove them from the oven, drizzle on the melted butter and the remaining coconut.

These are good on their own, but I made a summer BBQ sauce to dip them in:

Summer BBQ Sauce Recipe:
In a blender, mix the following:
1 cup BBQ sauce (homemade or store bought)
1 cup pineapple chunks
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/3 cup of peach jam
1 fresh garlic clove, minced
A few shakes of chipotle seasoning (I like Mrs. Dash)
A few shakes of minced onion spice

Enjoy!

Fried Zucchini

More often than I would like to admit, my cooking doesn't turn out the way I'd like when following a recipe. Imagine my excitement then when a recipe I made up turned out absolutely fantastic! I'm not normally a big supporter of fried food, but we all jogged today (pushing a jogging stroller) and had a fruit smoothie for lunch. We so totally deserved this, and you do too... Here is the recipe:

Mix up the following in a bowl.
2 eggs
2/3 cup of milk
1 cup of flour
1 handful of Parmesan cheese
1 shake of cayenne pepper
A few more shakes of Italian seasoning
*If you feel it is too thick, add more milk. Add more flour if you think it is too thin.

Coat sliced zucchini with the mixture and set in hot oil in a stove top skillet. Cook about three minutes on each side. They should turn a nice dark golden brown. Serve hot with ranch dressing or spaghetti sauce.

Strawberry Cake Cookies

I live in a four plex, and with only three other families in the building, I don't think there is any reason why I shouldn't know my neighbors. So I dawned my newly made apron (figuratively that is. I haven't yet formed the habit of wearing it while I cook. It does however make a cute fire extinguisher cover. After all, the red really clashes with my kitchen). Before seven o'clock this morning, my home smelled like strawberry cake. This delicious recipe was a great ice breaker when we knocked on our neighbor's doors, and it is so easy... Try it!

1 box of any flavor cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup of oil
Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.