Easy Caramel Apple Turnovers

Hello! We had such a great, busy weekend. Yesterday was of course full of tons of food and friends with the Superbowl goings on. Saturday night was a lot of fun too. We went to Phil's parent's house for a dinner and game night. His mom made this great Mexican lasagna, and she asked me to bring the dessert. Oddly enough, I wasn't really in the mood for chocolate that night, so I made my homemade caramel apple turnovers instead. They are so easy to make, and the recipe can be altered in several different ways.

The ingredients I use are:

crescent roll dough (in a tube)
caramel dip (found in produce section)
Granny Smith apples
butter
cinnamon
brown sugar

First, I start by opening the package of the rolls. I unwrap all of them from each other and then spread out all of the triangles onto a lined baking sheet. Next, I take about a tablespoon of the caramel and smear it onto each triangle making sure to coat all the way to the ends. Then I take the apples (that I have chopped up) and put them into the microwave in a bowl with about a tablespoon of butter. I heat them for 30 seconds stir and then heat another 30 seconds. By then end of the minute, the apples are all nicely coated with the butter. I make a little pile of apples in the center of each triangle.

(Do not discard the leftover butter!)

Before they go into the oven, sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon onto each apple pile. Then fold each of the ends up and form a little knot (trying to keep all of the apples inside the dough). Finally, take the leftover melted butter and apply to the tops of each turnover. (This will help to make them golden brown also help the sugar to stick). Put a little pinch of brown sugar on the top of each one as well. To bake,  just follow the time/temperature instructions on the tube from the rolls.

This is what they look like when they come out (after about 11-13 minutes):

After they cooled off, I put them in a container to take to game night. 

Even though they weren't chocolate, they were still a big hit! I just put them in a warm oven for a few minutes prior to serving so they were nice a gooey. (That's the best way to eat them).

The best part about this recipe is that the possibilities are endless. It all goes according to the baking instructions of the crescent rolls. Any type of fruit or vegetable would work in this case. (I would just recommend microwaving them first -steaming the veggies in a little water- to make sure that they don't have too much of a bite). Instead of caramel, try cream cheese or cheddar cheese. :)

Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Pork Stoup

Last night I tried out another 'Ask Aida' recipe, her pork stew. I think mine may have been less thick, but the result was still incredible! I also substituted out some not so favorite things for a flavor profile that I liked (parsley for oregano and red bell pepper instead of green).

Rather than talk all the way through it, here is the recipe and some of the steps in photos:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aida-mollenkamp/pork-and-green-pepper-stew-recipe/index.html

kind of a slimy task, but it was super fresh!

It took a while to get through this, because one shoulder still had a bone and my knife wasn't the best.

everything just hangin' out together and getting browned

The stock and beer had just been added at this point...and smelled amazing.

Finally, an hour and a half later, time to eat! (well worth the wait)

I think the major difference, compared to other homemade meals, was the fresh herbs. They are so much better than jarred and flaked. I found them for surprisingly cheap too. Please feel free to share any of your favorite recipes!

A Few New Creations

I have been trying to make some new items this week to bring to Blowing Kisses. Today I was able to come up with a few one-of-a-kind cards. I also decided to take a template I made a while back and create some cute, little framed silhouettes.

This first card below contains a found slide. The envelope is embellished with an original Polaroid strip on the back of the flap. (The inside is left blank for personalization).

Here is an example of one of the framed silhouettes:

I traced the bear onto a piece of 'leathery' paper. Then I mounted it on scrap piece of decorative paper. It is simple and graphic, and I think these will make a fun statement in any room.

Please be sure to read more about the Blowing Kisses event:

http://kissyourcity.com/

Leftovers

So, I still had some spare ingredients from last night's dinner. Today I decided to have them for lunch. Instead of cubing the chicken again, I cooked the breast whole in olive oil. Once it was nice and golden, I squeezed in my lemon and added the rest of the artichoke hearts. I finished it off with a nice, fat pat of butter for flavor. Result:

It was still super tasty, and nothing went to waste!

Lemon Artichoke Chicken Dinner

Since I was laid up again today I didn't make anything new or crafty. I did, however, make dinner for us tonight. After watching Aida Mollenkamp's show on Food Network I wanted to try out one of her recipes. It is chicken with lemon and artichoke hearts. I make a similar dish typically with linguini or fettucine as the base. This dish is hearty enough without the pasta though. The chicken is the star. Here is her recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aida-mollenkamp/lemon-chicken-with-artichoke-hearts-recipe/index.html

This is the www.foodnetwork.com recipe photo.

It turned out really well even though I had a couple of failures with memory. I made it based off of her show and didn't recheck the recipe. I accidentally forgot the white wine and water mixture. The flavor was still great though. The chicken got nice and golden brown. The lemon, garlic and onion provided great aromatics, and the basil was really delicious mixed in with it. We'll definitely have it again.

Thanks, Aida!

Oy

Yet another sick day...Alas, I have been concocting new projects in my head for later this week. Hopefully they translate well!

The Weather Is Above Me

I am taking a sick day. I will keep you posted...