Apple Pizza

Mondays mean cooking class for all of the early elementary students (kindergarten-3rd grade) at my school.  We are very lucky that a wonderful retired teacher comes into our school once a week to cook with students from 2:00-3:15.  My class always looks forward to cooking and eating delicious treats. Some of the older students even beg to join from time to time, which means it must be a blast.

A couple of weeks ago the class tried a recipe sooooo delicious (yes, I stole a bite) that I had to recreate it at home. The recipe was for apple pizza.

Apple Pizza
1 package biscuit dough
5 small or 3 large apples
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 T cinnamon
2 T flour
3 T butter
Directions: Mix dry ingridients together. Roll biscuits flat on a cookie sheet. Cover with chopped apples. Sprinkle dry ingridients on top of apples. Dot with butter. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Hello, beautiful dessert! I actually added a little Asiago cheese on top of mine for a little added melt-y goodness. When my students made it at school they served it with vanilla ice cream, which was sheer amazing-ness. Both ways (cheese or ice cream) are super tasty!

Your turn...What are some of your favorite treats to cook?
Currently listening to...Mountain Sound - Of Monsters and Men

Homemade Dog Treats

Last year, my dog (Specks) was diagnosed with a slew of allergies ranging from human dander to grass.  Many of his allergies pertain to food though and it has been a struggle to find things that he can eat, especially when it comes to treats.  Food is a bit easier, and while I've considered preparing all of his food myself, I just can't bring myself to become quite that nuts.  I am already a complete crazy dog-lady, no need to add to it further, at least not yet.  Give it a few months.

Anywhooo…I did start making treats for him.  Here's the recipe!

1 12oz can of dog food (I use Merrick's Limited Ingredient Salmon)
1 Egg
1-2 Cups of flour

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350F.  Mix all ingredients together.  Roll out, using a rolling pin, into a medium-thickness slab of dough.  Cut into bite-sized treats.  Place on baking sheet and cook for 45 minutes, or until browned.  Cooking time will depend on thickness and size of the treats.  Store in a sealed container in the fridge.

Your turn…What are your crazy-pet habits?
Currently listening to…Leave No Trace - Chvches

Weekly Schedule

I am trying to get myself back on a weekly schedule for meals and workouts.  Both of these things are especially important now that I am kicking it solo for a few months.  I do well with schedules and structure, it seems like the best way to pass the time and keep myself on track. My meals are all frugal options and made for only one person.  I'll try to post recipes for some of them, but keep in mind you'll have to double or triple to measurements to make enough for a 2+ people.

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday: Creamy Garlic Penne Pasta, Asparagus

Monday: Stoney's (out to eat)

Tuesday: Veggie Fried Rice and Tofu

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Cheese Quesadilla, Tomato Soup

Friday: Baked Potato, Asparagus, Salad

Saturday: Tofu and Veggie Soup

On the workout front I am keeping things pretty simple and fun. I am mixing it up with some at-home workout tapes, weekly yoga classes, hikes, and long doggy walks.  I walk Specks about 1-2 miles each day.  I consider a long doggy walk to be at least 3+ miles and often the two of us hike on the weekend.  Here's to hoping that I actually stick with it!

Weekly Workouts

Sunday: Walking 3 miles with Specks + Shoveling 

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred

Wednesday: Hula Hoop Fitness

Thursday: Yoga Class

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: Hula Hoop Fitness

Your turn...What are some of your favorite meals and workouts?

Currently listening to...TED Radio

Pumpkin Spice Latte

It's no secret that I am in love with Fall.  In fact, I did an entire blog entry about my favorite season (you can read it here).  One of my favorite things is eating/drinking pumpkin-flavored goodies.  This weekend Cody and I enjoyed a lazy Sunday morning and I decided to tryout a recipe I saw for homemade pumpkin spice lattes.  There was no choice…I had to do it.

Ingredients:

1cup milk

1tbs sugar

1tbs pumpkin puree 

 1/2tsp vanilla

brewed coffee

cinnamon

nutmeg

Directions:  Heat 1/2cup of milk, pumpkin puree, sugar, vanilla, and spices on medium heat. Bring to a simmer and hold at this temperature for 5minutes while occasionally whisking.  Then, whisk in remaining 1/2cup of milk.

I used this as more of a creamer for my coffee.  The website that the original recipe came from included a few more steps (but, hey, I'm a little lazy).  My coffee was amazing! I definitely recommend it.  Plop a little whipped cream on top and enjoy!

Questions:
How do you feel about pumpkin-flavored goodies? 
Do you make coffee at home or get it to-go?

How To: Freeze Wild Alaskan Blueberries

Our freezer is becoming more and more stuffed with delicious berries.  While we are eating some of them fresh, others are bound for canning and the freezer.  Even in a city like Juneau there is a serious lack of fresh (and decent) produce throughout the year.  What better way to combat this than freezing our own fresh fruit?! So, here is how we did it…

Picking blueberries at the ski area. 

1.) Soak blueberries in water for 10-15 minutes. This will soak out any worms while bringing leaves and other debris to the surface. 

2.) Place berries in a strainer for another 10-15 minutes to allow them to dry/remove excess water. 

3.) Place the berries on a non-stick pan.  Make sure that they are not piled on top of one another.

4.) Place pan and berries in the freezer (quick-freeze area) until they are completely frozen.  

5.) Remove berries from the pan and place in either vacuum-sealable bags or ziploc freezer bags. If using ziploc bags: use a straw to suck remaining air out of the bag to lessen the chances of freezer burn.  

6.) Store in the freezer.

7.) Un-freeze and add to delicious pancakes on a rainy day :)

Questions:

What is your favorite type of berry?

Not a berry-lover? What is your favorite fruit?

Snowy Saturdays

After a week of beautiful weather and decent temperatures I had high hopes that spring had arrived.  I was wrong. So, terribly wrong….

We got about 4inches of snow last night out of the blue.  Specks is thrilled, Cody and I not so much.


Anyways, I tucked into this delicious breakfast this morning.  I mushed the recipe together from a few different blogs that I read.  It was AMAZING.  Seriously.  If you are a breakfast person, you need to try this out.  Check out the recipe.

Ingredients
1/2cup oats
1cup water
1tbs chunky peanut butter

Directions:  Cook oats to package directions on the stove top.  Cooke until almost done (2-3minutes).  Then, remove from heat an stir in peanut butter.  Top with fruit :)

After that we spent most of our day being lazy.  We ran some errands, checked out a local bookstore, and then headed back home.  We bought Les Miserables, which we are planning on watching after dinner.  I am excited to watch it because I loooooved the book.


For dinner we enjoyed a little Warm Quinoa Salad. I will post the recipe later this week because it was truly delish :)

**We woke up Sunday to some serious spring weather and we are headed out on a big hike this afternoon.  Pictures to come!

Weekly Meals, Part Two

So, last week was CRAZY as far as eating goes.  Cody and I both had super stressful weeks and celebrated our birthdays.  There was not a meal plan in sight.  I made one…but then completely threw it out the window.  Most of my meals came in the form of instant-meals from this company.  Annie's was my savior and go-to for the week.  The upcoming week is looking to be less kooky, here's to hoping!

Saturday: Eating Out (celebrating a friends birthday)
Sunday: Spicy Orecchiette with Steamed Veggies
Monday: Quinoa and Spinach Baked Casserole
Tuesday: Butternut Squash Soup with Tofurkey Rollups
Wednesday: Veggie & Tofu Stir-Fry
Thursday: Broccoli Calzones with Tomato Dipping Sauce
Friday: Mini Deep Dish Pizzas

This week I found a lot of my recipes on this website.  It is the Martha Stewart Vegetarian Meal website.  I usually search online for meals that look good and then make them my own.  That is my plan this week with my many Martha-inspired recipes.

I leave you all this morning with this aDORKable picture of my boys.  Aren't they the cutest?

The hubby and our puppy :)