If you are picking them from the apple trees in your garden before the snow comes or picking them from the store shelves; here are some great apple recipes for fall.

Creamy Apple Cheesecake

4 cups sliced apples

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons melted butter

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• Combine 3 tablespoons sugar, butter, ½ teaspoon cinnamon and graham crackers in a large bowl. Press mixture into the bottom a pie plate, 9 inches. Bake 10 minutes.
• In large bowl, beat cream cheese and ½ cup sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beat well. Add vanilla, pour mixture into pie crust.
• In large bowl, mix remaining 1/3 cup sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Add apples, and then spoon the apples over the filling.
• Bake one hour, cool before serving.

Crunchy Apple Crisp

Filling

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ cup water

10 cups peeled, sliced apples

Topping

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup quick cooking oats

½ cup melted butter

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• On a 9×13 inch pan, place the sliced apples. Mix 1 tablespoon flour, ground cinnamon, and white sugar. Sprinkle over the apples. Pour water over.
• Mix the oats, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, melted butter, and 1 cup flour. Crumble over the apple mix.
• Bake for 45 minutes.

A+ Apple Pie

Filling

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¾ cup sugar

5 apples

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

Crust

1 cup vegetable shortening

2 tablespoons cold water

2 cups all purpose flour

1 egg

1 tablespoon white vinegar

¾ teaspoon salt

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

• In a mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and shortening until mixture balls up.
• Beat water, vinegar, and egg. Pour over the flour mixture evenly. Stir in until mix is moist.
• Cut dough in half and shape into a ball. Flatten to a circle, about 4 inches.
• Wrap and chill for 15 minutes.
• Lightly dust a flat surface, and roll out the dough into two circles.
• Press one circle into the bottom if the pie plate.
• Peel and slice the apples, then mix with flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Place into pie plate, then put second circle on top and seal.
• Slice slits in top of circle to release steam while baking.
• Bake 30-40 minutes, until apples are tender.

Apple Strudel Muffins

Muffin

2 cups all purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup white sugar

1 ½ cups diced apple

1 ¼ teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

Topping

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

½ teaspoon cinnamon

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
• Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
• Beat sugar, eggs, and butter until smooth in a large mixing bowl. Add the vanilla, and then stir in apples.
• Gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon mixture into a greased muffin pan.
• In a small bowl, mix cinnamon, flour, and brown sugar. Cut in the butter until the mix becomes coarse, and crumby. Sprinkle over the muffins.
• Bake 20 minutes. Let cool before removing from muffin pan.

Make this Thanksgiving the tastiest!

Is everyone counting on you to make a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, but you’re unsure of what to make? Don’t worry! Here are some delectable, yet simple recipe ideas for a holiday meal that are sure to please everyone.

Appetizers

Cranberry Chutney (Yields 12 Servings)

1 (12 ounce) bag of frozen or fresh cranberries

1 ¼ cup sugar

¾ cup water

1 large apple, chopped

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

• Combine ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
• Reduce heat, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until apple is tender and mixture thickens. Cool completely.
• Serve over cream cheese with crackers.

Stuffed Mushrooms (Yields 28 Mushrooms)

½ cup Italian style bread crumbs

½ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves

1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

28 large white mushrooms, stemmed

Freshly ground pepper and salt

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
• Stir in bread crumbs, Pecorino Romano, garlic, parsley, mint, salt, and pepper to taste, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in medium bowl to blend.
• Drizzle a large baking sheet with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Spoon the filling into the mushroom cavities, and put on baking sheet, cavity side up.
• Bake until mushrooms are tender, filling is heated through, and tops are golden. (About 25 minutes)
• Serve immediately

Stuffing and Sides

Classic Stuffing (Yields 12 cups)

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 onions peeled and cut thin

16 celery stalks, cut thin

2 teaspoons crushed, dried sage

6 cups chicken broth

2 stale loaves white bread, cut in small cubes

3 cups fresh chopped parsley leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

• Melt butter in large skillet. Add onions and celery, cook over medium heat about 10 minutes. Add sage, and stir to mix. Add ½ cup chicken stock, and stir well. Cook for 5 minutes, until liquid has reduced by half.
• Transfer mixture to large mixing bowl. Add all remaining ingredients, including remaining stock. Mix to combine.

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes (Yields 12 servings)

4 pounds white potatoes

1 tablespoon garlic salt

1 ½ cups buttermilk

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons fresh chives

2 tablespoons Alfredo sauce mix

Salt and pepper to taste

• In large pot cover potatoes with cold water by 1 inch. Add garlic, salt, and bring to boil over high heat. Lower temperature and simmer until tender.
• Pour buttermilk in a saucepan, and add butter. Bring to a simmer. Add chives, and alfredo sauce mix. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Drain potatoes and return to pot. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes until smooth.
• Slowly add the buttermilk mixture and mix until creamy. Season with salt and pepper.

Main Dishes

Rosemary Roasted Turkey (Cook time, 4 hours)

¾ cup olive oil

3 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 (12 pound) whole turkey

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
• In a small bowl, mix olive oil, garlic, rosemary, basil, Italian seasoning, black pepper and salt. Set aside.
• Wash the turkey inside and out, pat dry. Remove any fat deposits. Loosen the skin from the breast. (Slowly work fingers between the breast and skin)
• Using hand spread the rosemary mixture under the breast skin, down the thigh and leg. Rub the rest of the mixture over the outside of the breast.
• Place turkey on a roasting pan. Add ¼ inch of water to the bottom of pan. Roast in oven 3 to 4 hours, or until internal temperature of the turkey reaches 18- degrees F.

Baked Ham with Brown Sugar Glaze (Yields 12 servings)

6 to 8 pounds fully cooked bone-in ham

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon balsamic or cider vinegar

½ teaspoon ground mustard

• Heat oven to 325 degrees F
• Place ham, fat side up on rack in roasting pan. Cover loosely and bake 1 ¼ to 2 ¼ hours, or until internal thermometer reads 135 degrees F.
• Roughly 20 minutes before ham is done, remove from oven. Pour drippings from pan, and remove any skin from ham.
• Stir together brown sugar, vinegar, and mustard. Pat brush on ham. Bake uncovered 20 minutes longer.
• Cover ham and let stand about 10 minutes. Internal temperature should read 140 degrees F.

Desserts

Pumpkin Bars (Yields 24 bars)

Bars

4 eggs

1 2/3 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 can pumpkin (15 ounces)

2 cups sifted all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Icing

8 ounce package cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter, softened

2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin until light and fluffy.
• Stir the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda together.
• Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth.
• Spread the batter into a greased baking pan (13x 10)
• Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing, combine cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with electric mixture until smooth. Add sugar and mix at slow speed until combined. Sit in vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

Chocolate Pecan Pie (Yields 1 pie)

1 (9 inch) pie shell

2 cups pecan halves

3 large eggs, beaten

½ cup dark corn syrup

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons bourbon

3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
• Cover bottom of pie crust with pecans
• In medium bowl, whisk the eggs and melted butter. Add the corn syrup, sugar, bourbon, and chopped chocolate. Stir until all ingredients combined.
• Pour mixture into pie shell over the pecans and place on a heavy duty cookie sheet.
• Bake for 10 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking for an additional 25 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

The easiest, most common, and most tasty thing to do with pumpkin seeds!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Separate the seeds from the guts. Use your hands to pick out the seeds and lay them on a greased baking sheet. Do not rinse the seeds; it will remove a lot of the flavor. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool, and salt the seeds before eating.

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 cup fresh Pumpkin puree

3 eggs

1 cup flour

2 tsps ground cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins

2 1/3 cups Bisquick

Pinch of ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9×5-inch loaf pan. Mix all ingredients together with a wooden spoon. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Test with a knife to see if the bread is done, if the knife does not come out clean, put bread back in the oven for 10 minutes. Let cool before removing from pan.

Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

3/4 cup water
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup Pumpkin puree
1 cup unsalted vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup fat-free milk
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 green onion chopped

In a large saucepan, heat ¼ cup of the water over medium heat. Add the onion and cook about 3 minutes, until tender. Add the remaining water, pumpkin, broth, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in milk and cook until hot. Ladle into individual bowls and garnish with black pepper. Serve immediately.

From Monday morning till Friday afternoon all waiting is for the weekend. Loads of chores to boring board meetings, all the struggles to pass the Chemistry quiz to football practice after school everything is worth it if you get to have an awesome weekend. To make it better nothing could work rather than great “Kick Off” on Friday night. If you get that desired snacks along with that, is like a cherry on the top. Everyone cares about different tastes, different preferences of others but everything goes right out the window when it comes to the moment of your own.

Watching the Friday night ball game, putting the game face on with a bowl full of chips and homemade salsa, that’s the first thing comes in my mind whenever I think of weekend. Couple of bags of Crunchy Tortilla Chips and my favorite homemade SALSA!! All you need is few ingredients and the courage to face the truth if it turns out bad. First of all need to get couple of large red ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeded. Then add green peppers, corn, black beans and purple onions to give it color verity. To give it the actual salsa flavor, don’t forget to add cilantro and peeled garlic clove. Most important thing is, all the ingredients better be chopped nice and small so you can feel the melt inside your mouth. You can always go for additional stuff like adding olive oil or jalapeños. Mix it up well with salt and pepper to taste. There you go, you got your own made salsa. Now all you got to do is to wait for the Kick Off. It’s easy, try it and make it a wonderful start. And make sure you’ve got drinks available around you, they always come handy.

Chicken Nuggets:  Ditch the frozen, pre-made fried nuggets you can buy in the grocery store, and make them yourself. You can still get that crispy, crunchy coating your kids love, and these will have much less fat and sodium.

Start by cutting up a chicken breast into cubes, roughly the size of a nugget.

Pour enough whole wheat flour into a bowl, and coat each cube completely with flour.

Then, instead of dipping in an egg wash, dip the cubes in a low fat yogurt. It’s much healthier than an egg wash, and your kids won’t be able to taste the difference.

Now toss the cubes in whole wheat panko bread crumbs. These bread crumbs will give the crispy, crunchy taste your kids will love.

Place the cubes on a greased cookie sheet, and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or until crispy and cooked thoroughly.

Macaroni and Cheese: The boxed versions are loaded with calories, fat, and artificial ingredients. Macaroni and cheese should have just that, macaroni and cheese! Here’s a simple recipe for this should be simple idea.

½ pound whole wheat macaroni

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 ½ cups skim milk

½ cup grated reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Cook the macaroni until tender, then drain. While cooking the macaroni, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour until smooth, then slowly whisk in the milk. Stir in the cheddar cheese and 1 tablespoon of the parmesan at a time. Then whisk until both cheeses melt, and the sauce is smooth.

You can serve the macaroni and cheese as is when finished, as you would if using the boxed version. Or, you could put the macaroni and cheese in a casserole dish and bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

 Burgers are the staple of any cookout, but who says they absolutely have to be beef? Ground chicken or ground turkey is a great alternative because they are much lower in fat, and still have the same look and taste of a burger. Plus, you can add almost any spice or herbs to kick up the flavor. Serve them on whole wheat buns instead of white, and add the same toppings as you would on a beef burger.

 Just like burgers, chicken is always at any cookout. Unfortunately it’s usually deep fried, leaving a trail of fat and grease on anything it touches. Try throwing some chicken on the grill and basking it in some barbecue sauce. It’s significantly lower in fat, and has much, much more flavor than something fried in a pool of fatty oil.

 A cookout wouldn’t be a cookout without the side dishes. Potato salad, macaroni salad, and coleslaw are heavy in mayonnaise, but can be made healthier in a snap. Miracle Whip or low fat mayonnaise is an excellent substitute because it has more than half the fat, but has the same consistency and look of regular mayonnaise. If you want to try something very different, use olive oil on the macaroni or potato salad, and try using vinegar or canola oil on the coleslaw.

 See how easy it is to take the traditional foods of summer and make them healthier and tastier by changing just a few ingredients? Your family, friends, and waist line will love these simple changes for summers to come!

Will this treat leave you satisfied?

Mini Deserts are a growing trend in restaurants lately. You’ve seen them presented in shot glasses or served on a six inch plate. They are smaller portions, usually consisting of four or five bites, of your favorite after-dinner treats and some you might be curious to try. But why the craze?

The reason seems obvious. For diners, you can spend less and sample more. For dieters, the tiny portions enable you to get your sweet tooth fix in without feeling like you are cheating (too much) and for restaurant owners the lower price point encourages patrons to order dessert, which boosts register receipts. But is it working?

It seems that it is! Restaurant owners are reporting a nearly three-fold increase in dessert sales since introducing mini-desserts. Not only that, but it also has improved the sale of coffee and after dinner drinks as well. After all, spending only $3 on a dessert leaves room for a cappuccino to accompany that dessert.

A National Restaurant Association Internet survey of chefs agreed. 83 percent of surveyed members of the American Culinary Institute considered mini desserts “hot”. But what about restaruant patrons? Do they agree? It seems they do. Prevention Magazine recently reported mini desserts as “a trend we love” based on reader feedback. Patrons view the bite-size desserts as a guilt-free indulgence as well as an opportunity to sample several different items for the price of one.

So next time you look over at the table next to yours, eye what looks like a piece of key lime pie wedged into a shot glass and think the place is a rip off, think again. You’ll probably find yourself enjoying that same treat at the end of your meal.

What do you think… passing trend or here to stay?

Summer is the time to enjoy fruit in season

Summer is the season to be outdoors basking in the sun, splashing in the pool, and taking advantage of eating all the delicious, colorful fruits while they’re at their peak. Here are a few great, healthy recipes your family can enjoy all summer long.

Summer Berry Parfait with Granola and Yogurt

Ingredients

1 Container Vanilla Yogurt (6 ounces)

1 Tablespoon Wheat Germ

1/3 Cup Granola

½ Banana, Sliced

¾ Cup Sliced Strawberries

¾ Cup Blueberries

Layer ¼ cup of the strawberries, ¼ cup of the blueberries, 1/3 of the yogurt, 1/3 of the wheat germ, 1/3 of the sliced banana, and 2 tablespoons of the granola in a large bowl. Continue repeating the process to build the parfait until all ingredients have been used completely.

Raspberry Strawberry Sundaes

Ingredients

½ Cup Raspberries

1 Cup Strawberries

2 Cups Non Fat Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

2 Tablespoons Sugar

½ Teaspoon Lemon Juice

Puree the raspberries and strawberries with the lemon juice and the sugar in a blender, and then serve over the frozen yogurt.

Watermelon and Fruit Chunk Popsicles

Ingredients

2 ½ Cups of Seedless, Diced Watermelon

6 Tablespoons Sugar

1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice

Fruits of choice (Grapes, Kiwi, Cherry, etc)

Puree the watermelon, then add the sugar and the lemon juice and blend until mixed. Pour the mixture into Popsicle molds. Drop the chunks of fruit into the Popsicle molds. Place in freezer. Serve only when frozen.

You're not actually barbequeing - you're grilling!

The term “Barbeque” is commonly misused. When you throw a couple burgers and dogs on the Weber grill, the product isn’t a barbeque. You’re grilling. To use the term properly; to barbeque, you need to slow cook meat in sauce (barbeque sauce) over fire or hot coals.

The term is not supposed to include gas grills and it’s not supposed to include plain burgers and dogs. The origin of the barbeque goes back to the late 1800’s cattle drives. Back in the days the cattle barons didn’t want to feed the cowboys the prime cuts of meat, instead he gave them the stringier, chewier cuts, such as brisket. The cowboys discovered that if you cook the meat on low heat for hours (like 5 hours, not the 5 minutes it takes to grill a burger) and smother it in sauce, the result would be delicious.

Next time you are watching a cooking channel and catch a barbeque cook-off, notice the meats they are preparing – I guarantee there won’t be any burgers there. And next time your friend invites you over for a barbeque and tries to serve you a hotdog, you might want to correct them.

Substitute ingredients and still enjoy the goodies

Do you love sweets like cupcakes, cookies, and brownies but keep yourself from enjoying them because you don’t want to gain weight? Stop denying yourself the treats you love! You can still enjoy baking and eating your favorite treats by substituting some ingredients for better, healthier, ingredients. Best of all you don’t have to substitute taste. Make your favorite recipes more nutritious, lower in cholesterol, fat, sugar, and carbohydrates.

Eggs are an essential ingredient when it comes to baking. They serve many functions in the baking process. They are a thickener, a moisturizer, and a leavening agent. As much as they do to ensure your recipe a correct outcome, they are loaded with cholesterol. A recipe calling for two large eggs may sound like no big deal, but one large egg alone has about 215 mg of cholesterol. Since two large eggs are needed, that means 430 mg of cholesterol. The daily cholesterol recommendation for someone on a 2,000 calorie diet is less than 300 mg.

You might think that these two large eggs are one small component in cake or a cookie recipe that will produce roughly 20 cookies, so what’s the harm if you only eat a few? When you consider those recipes also call for butter, another culprit of high cholesterol and sugar, all these ingredients combined make for some pretty unhealthy deserts.

You will find substitutes for the usual suspects in some of the most unusual places. Did you know that you can substitute applesauce, bananas, even tofu for eggs? Bananas are a great replacement because they hold air bubbles, and provide moisture. Applesauce works greats as a wet ingredient, and as a binder. Tofu acts as filler and the best part is it takes on the flavor of whatever you are baking. One egg is the equivalent of half a banana, a quarter-cup applesauce, or a quarter cup of whipped or blended tofu.

The same holds true with butter, sugar and other ingredients, which have easier supplements to find. You will find some blatant substitutes for most ingredients, but with a little research and creativity you will never need to deprive yourself of that cupcake again.