February 1, 2012

Lucky Leaf Pie Fillings and Giveaway!


Have you tried Lucky Leaf pie fillings?
They are absolutely delicious and so easy to work with!

I was recently contacted by a representative for Lucky Leaf, and was asked if I might be interested in baking with their premium pie fillings.


I was very excited about about this, as I know Lucky Leaf has a great reputation and has been in business for many years! I was able to choose the pie fillings I wanted to bake with, and I chose strawberry as well as apple.

Later in my post, read about my Lucky Leaf giveaway!

By the way, Lucky Leaf has fantastic recipes on their Facebook page. Here is the link.
Facebook Lucky Leaf pie filling recipe/videos  The recipes look fantastic and I plan on trying each of them.

Inspired to create my own recipes, I decided to make apple hand pies.
They turned out fantastic! Soooo delicious! The cinnamon and apple, combined with the flaky and sugary pie crust was perfect together! It made me think of those golden, sunny days of autumn!

{One 21 ounce can made 12 apple hand pies}

I made the pie crust from scratch, but you can also use unbaked, ready-made pie crust dough from the grocery store. Click here  for my double-crust, pie dough recipe.

First I rolled the dough and cut a 5 inch circle with a paring knife using a cereal bowl as a guide.
Place 3 or 4 pieces of apple slices from the pie filling into the middle of the circle.


Wet the edge of half of the circle with water.
Fold the circle in half over the pie filling.
Crimp together dough at edge with a fork to seal hand pie.


Next, brush hand pie with egg white wash...{one egg white beat with 1 Tbsp. water}
Sprinkle white sugar generously on top of hand pie.
Cut 3 small slits in top of hand pie to allow steam to escape while baking.

Place hand pies on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in 400 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes. Hand pies will be light golden brown when done.


Allow to cool and enjoy!
***

The next recipe I created was Chocolate Bottom Mini Strawberry Pies.
These were so fun to make and tasted like heaven!
It brought back memories of the strawberry festivals my mom took me to as a child!

Just look at that!
That is a tiny work of art!
A work of art that I want to eat...right now!

{one 21 ounce can made 8 mini pies}

First, make a double pie crust recipe..click here for recipe...or you can buy ready-made pie crust dough in the grocery store. Roll out pie crust dough and cut 8, five-inch circles with a paring knife using a bowl for a guide.  These will be used for the bottom crust.  Next, cut out 8, three-inch circles. Use a drinking glass for a guide. Cut a small hole or a small heart in center of each of these circles. These will be the top crust of your mini pies. Set aside.

Ease one 5 inch circle of dough into each cup of a muffin pan. Sprinkle semi-sweet chocolate chips to cover the bottom of each dough-filled cup.



Fill with Lucky Leaf Premium strawberry pie filling, mounding slightly.


Next, wet the edges of the 3 inch circles of dough, and place {wet side down} on top of each strawberry filled cup. Press top crust and bottom crust together gently at edges, and either crimp edges with fork or flute edges with your finger tips to seal.

Brush top of mini pies with egg white wash. {one egg white beaten with 1 Tbsp. water}
Sprinkle generously with white sugar.


Bake in 400 degree oven for approximate 20-23 minutes.
Pies will be golden when done.


I am so pleased with how these turned out, and how delicious the pie filling was!


I think I am in love!
Well, I know I am in love!
I will definitely use Lucky Leaf pie filling again.
I was very impressed with the taste of both the apple and the strawberry filling.
Trust me, I am a "from scratch" kind of girl...so for me to say that, you know it's worthy!
I was also very impressed with the minimal amount of ingredients in the pie filling...no high fructose corn syrup and no long list of chemicals and preservatives that I can't pronounce.
Very impressive!


And now for the giveaway!


Lucky Leaf has graciously offered to give one of my readers a fantastic giveaway! 

This giveaway includes: 
one can Lucky Leaf Premium Apple pie filling, one can Lucky Leaf Premium Cherry pie filling, Apple Crisp mix, recipe booklet and a pot holder!! To enter this fabulous giveaway, please leave a comment below! That's all you have to do! I will pick one random reader on Monday, February 6th, and announce the winner here, on my blog! 

Thank you Lucky Leaf!

*P.S. My blog is printer friendly now. Look for the print button at the end of each post. It will bring you to a window where you have the option to eliminate the images so you can print and not have to use up all your ink. Also it gives you text size option. You can also highlight content that you don't want printed by putting your cursor on the sentence. You will be asked if you want that particular part deleted so you don't have to print the whole post. You will be able to just print out the recipe, or whatever it is, specifically that you want printed. Awesome! :)

January 30, 2012

pumpkin, it's not just for autumn anymore



Have I got a pumpkin muffin for you! 
Not just an ordinary pumpkin muffin, but a healthy pumpkin muffin! 
{made mostly with whole wheat flour instead of white flour, sweetened with honey instead of white sugar} **oh yes, and a few chocolate chips thrown in for fun!




I have made this recipe twice...and twice has it been gobbled up by everyone in this house! 
We love the taste of the whole wheat and pumpkin together, and the chocolate chips just round it off nicely. Heck, I haven't even mentioned yet...the healthy benefits of eating pumpkin!! 
**Pumpkin is a powerhouse for Vitamin A, Potassium, Calcium, Iron, antioxidants, Beta Carotene and Fiber...not to mention the other vitamins: K, B, C, E. It's just all-kinds of good for you! 

Now... knowing all that...all the healthy stuff about pumpkin...
there's no reason NOT to make this recipe :)  

You will be healthier for it! 

Don't delay...buy yourself a can of pure pumpkin puree today! 
{I have not been paid by the national council for pumpkin farmers to say that......hee hee!}


WHOLE WHEAT AND HONEY PUMPKIN MUFFINS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 1 CUP PUMPKIN PUREE 
1/3 CUP VEGETABLE OIL OR CANOLA OIL 
2 EGGS 
1 CUP HONEY 
1 CUP WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR 
1/2 CUP WHITE FLOUR 
1 TSP. BAKING POWDER 
1/2 TSP. BAKING SODA 
1/2 TSP. SALT 
1 TSP. GROUND CINNAMON 
1/2 TSP. GROUND NUTMEG 
1/4 TSP. GROUND GINGER  
1/2 CUP SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS 

IN A BOWL, WHISK TOGETHER, PUMPKIN PUREE, OIL, EGGS AND HONEY. IN SEPARATE BOWL, MIX TOGETHER FLOUR, BAKING POWDER, BAKING SODA, SALT, CINNAMON, NUTMEG AND GINGER. ADD PUMPKIN MIXTURE TO FLOUR MIXTURE AND MIX UNTIL JUST INCORPORATED. STIR IN CHOCOLATE CHIPS. FILL MUFFIN CUPS 3/4 FULL OF BATTER. BAKE IN 325 DEGREE OVEN FOR 25 MINUTES. 

 ENJOY!

January 28, 2012

freshly squeezed orange juice


happy weekend! 
just so you know...it takes a lot of muscle to squeeze 9 oranges
just sayin'
LOL!

January 25, 2012

egg cups


Well, just when I thought eggs couldn't get any yummier...I discovered egg cups! I found the recipe over at foothill home companion. Her blog is beautiful and always inspiring.

Seriously people...you are probably thinking..."ok lady, it's just an egg baked in the oven"...but I'm telling you, it's really delicious! The saltiness and smokiness from the ham and the taste of olive oil really bring the flavors of this simple dish alive! I ate 2 very easily and mmm'd and ahh'd the whole time!

This is just about the simplest thing you could do with eggs...you don't have to babysit them like you do standing over a frying pan. Just put it in the oven and walk away for 15 minutes. Here's what you do!


Coat a muffin pan with olive oil.
Place one slice, or half slice ham on bottom of each cup in muffin pan.
Crack one egg over each ham slice.
Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 15 to 20 minutes.
When done, yolk should be soft cooked and whites should be completely cooked.
Garnish with chopped chives.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

P.S. Check out the new addition to my blog called "food diary". Click the tab right under my header next to "home" and "the story behind the name". It is a pictorial diary of my journey with eating healthy meals. Healthy food is just so beautiful it can stand on it's own without any words or descriptions. I just started the journal today, so there is only one day worth of photos. I will still be creating sweet treats and pies for my blog, and I will still be sampling them. Sampling is the key! One or two cookies instead of 5 or 6!! I'm excited about this new addition to my blog, and I hope you'll check it out! I plan to post there daily.

January 17, 2012

sisters and breakfast casserole

This past weekend was filled with family! All of my sisters were at my house. H. from Florida, E. from New York and K. that resides locally. There wasn't nearly enough time to visit with my sister H. from Florida though. She's the one I rarely get to see. H. brought her little 2 year old daughter A. with her. She's a doll baby! So cute and sweet. Her voice is so tiny...her hair is down right Goldilocks!


She adds the word "honey" to the end of her sentences. For instance, 
"Can I have a cookie honey?" 
"Let's go play honey." 
It is the cutest thing ever. She is imitating what her grandparents and mom and dad say to her..probably at the end of every one of their sentences...
"come on honey" 
"eat your broccoli honey" 
"brush your teeth honey". 
In the 2 short days I had with her, she still hadn't warmed up to me 100%. She won't hug me...I hug her, but no hug in return. She is soooo shy. I ask her questions, she looks at me, but won't answer me. 
She does talk, and talk well she does. She talks to her mommy all the time and sometimes she says a few things to us, her aunts. She has taken very well to my boys, especially my youngest. 

Well, fortunately, the visiting isn't quite over just yet. H. has gone to spend a couple days with our parents who live a couple hours away from here. She and her daughter will be back here tomorrow evening and then stay on for one more day. I am so grateful for the extra time to spend with her.

H. dazzled us with her great cooking skills while she was here..including breakfast on Monday morning. She easily whipped up a fantastic breakfast casserole with whatever I had on hand in the refrigerator. It was a complete surprise to me as I had slept in until 8:30 am. When I came downstairs that morning, I was pleasantly greeted with the aroma of savory cooking coming from the kitchen. 

 

Not to mention the smell of Starbucks Pikes Place Blend steeping in the French coffee press. Okay, I can get used to this! I never have anyone cooking for me or making my coffee. Pure heaven I tell ya! H. was in charge of the breakfast casserole, but E. was trying to take some credit too! They were competing about who decided on which great ingredients had made it's way into the casserole. Well, one thing is for sure, E. got all the credit for the French press coffee, as H. hasn't a clue how to operate one.

I want to share with you the recipe for H's breakfast casserole. The beautiful thing about it is, you can add whatever you have in your fridge too. Be creative and use up your leftovers.

H's Breakfast Casserole

Using a 9 x 11 baking dish, break four pieces of bread, into chunks, onto the bottom of baking dish.
Beat 8 farm fresh eggs.
Pour eggs over bread.
Over top of the bread, sprinkle the following:
crumbled pieces of bacon
chopped red pepper
chopped onion
chopped tomato
torn pieces of fresh spinach leaves
shredded cheddar cheese

Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes
or until egg is set.

Enjoy!