Delicious Apple Muffins

I made these muffins when Damon's parents were here last week. The original recipe is from allrecipes.com, but it called for vegetable oil - I changed that to applesauce because of my father-in-law's soy allergy. You can use either one. I actually got the recipe for the crumb topping from a comment someone left on the website. I think the topping makes these muffins about a million times better! :) This makes enough topping for probably 2-3 batches of muffins, so you can cut it down if you're not making that many.

Apple Muffins:

2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. apple juice
1/3 c. applesauce
1 egg
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 c. apples - peeled, cored and finely diced

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups or line with baking cups.

In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; mix well. In a separate bowl, combine apple juice, applesauce and egg; blend well. Add dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be lumpy). Stir in chopped apples.

Fill cups 2/3 full and top with generous amount of crumb topping. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool one minute before removing from pan.


Crumb topping:

1 c. instant oats
1 c. flour
1 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. melted butter

Mix together until crumbly and sprinkle it on, baby.

Project Progress

Made a little progress the last couple days on my list of projects. Damon's parents are coming to visit today through Monday, to go to my graduation (and see the granddaughter, of course :)). They decided to come in spite of Damon's grandma falling and breaking her hip last night (Damon's dad has a lot of siblings that can be there to help her out). The poor lady has a lot of health issues already - we appreciate prayers for her and the family.

Anyway, I find that having family visit is great motivation for cleaning projects (I mean, who wants the people they love to visit and discover the apartment the way it usually looks, am I right?). So I got to work last night scrubbing my kitchen sink. It started out with some hard water scuzz that had been building up for awhile and now it's shiny and pretty again. I got a little carried away and scrubbed out under the stove burners and under Eva's high chair too. I think I overdid it a little; I'm kinda wiped out today, plus I still have the all-day "morning" sickness. Of course, Eva decided to wake up way too early today too. Today of all days, when I was planning to meet the other sweet girls from my senior seminar class for breakfast. Eva was quite the cranky-pants. Oh well.

I also started the project of looking for soy free recipes since Damon's dad is soy intolerant, but I couldn't really find anything good. Most of the recipes I found that claimed to be soy free called for vegetable oil or other stuff with soy. Hello, vegetable oil is soybean oil. Nice try, recipes. So while they're visiting, I'm planning on modifying a few recipes I already had to make them soy free, like the crock pot pineapple chicken and chicken corn chowder I posted awhile ago. I'm also planning on making apple muffins and oatmeal cake without vegetable oil. Yum.

It's a start! I should probably get back to cleaning before Damon's parents get here this afternoon. The rest of the week is going to be crazy busy with family, work and graduation!

Project List

Praising God this week for getting me through my last class at Cedarville! I've been here since 1999 - had two years as a full time student, took two years off, and I've been doing part time for the past eight. I think it still hasn't really sunk in that I'm done and I won't have any more homework to worry about.

I'm already thinking about the list of projects that has been growing in my mind though - stuff I want to do around the apartment for which I haven't had a lot of time. And it would be great to get many of them done before tiny Titus #2 gets here in December! Maybe I'll blog about completing each one and include pictures when applicable, I don't know. Also, this doesn't include ongoing goals like keeping up with Bible reading, eating better, etc. I'll probably think of more to add, but here's what I have so far, in no particular order:

1. Finish Eva's baby book. I actually did pretty well recording milestones, etc. for Eva's first year, mostly because I knew that I would never remember them if I didn't write them down right away. I just have a few things left to write in it and a few pictures to add.

2. Roll pennies. After my grandma passed away when I was thirteen, at some point I got a cool-looking old, tall, brown glass jug from her old house that I started saving pennies in. I haven't added any since high school, but it's almost full and just sitting there in our study. I want to take the time to put them in rolls and cash them in. I think there's quite a bit in there!

3. Cross-stitch. I enjoy cross-stitching but haven't had time to do it for awhile. I got a baby announcement one for Eva and have barely done anything with it. I'd like to finish that one and start on one for the new baby.

4. Organize recipes. For the past several years, I have been jotting down or printing out recipes of interest and simply throwing them on a stack that sits on top of the cookbooks. It's kind of an embarrassing mess.

5. Re-decorate the bathroom. We've had the same decor in our bathroom since we got married almost eight years ago. I don't hate it, but my taste has definitely changed. I already got the new shower curtain but I'm having the hardest time finding matching toothbrush holder, trash can, artwork, etc.

6. Scrub kitchen sink. This sounds kinda dumb, but does anyone else deal with the scummy hard water gunk building up? It's been awhile since I've been able to give it a good scrubbing, like with a toothbrush and heavy duty cleaner like the stuff we use in the custodial dept at work. I want my sink to shine again.

7. Centerpieces. My brother is getting married October 22nd, and I told my mom I'd help with decorations for the rehearsal dinner, specifically the centerpieces. The bridesmaids' dresses are dark purple, so I want to use that with other fall colors. I'd also like to stay away from flowers, real or fake, because my future sister-in-law's family owns a florist shop and I don't want to try to compete with that because it would probably be rather pitiful. If anyone has ideas let me know.

8. Find soy-free recipes. Damon's dad found out that he's soy intolerant. They don't get to visit super often, but when they do I'd like to be able to have more stuff around that he can eat. They're coming out for my graduation in a couple weeks.

It's a start. Ready, set, go! :)

Scott McIntosh's Chicken Sandwiches

Scott & Jen McIntosh hosted our community group for awhile, and they made these sandwiches for us quite often. This is pretty much the best hot chicken sandwich filling ever and it's wicked easy. I made it tonight. You should make it too. Your taste buds will love you and maybe even write a song about you.

Scott McIntosh's Chicken Sandwiches

canned chicken (Jen said they use a 1 lb. 12 oz can)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup milk
5 toast slices, crumbled or cut up
salt & pepper to taste

Mix everything together and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Apple Curry Chicken

This is from the Slow Cooker, Casseroles & More cookbook I have. This is not a slow cooker recipe. Tried it for the first time a few weeks ago and I'm probably going to make it tonight; it's pretty delish.


Apple Curry Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup apple juice, divided
1/4 tsp. salt
dash black pepper
1 1/2 cups plain croutons
1 medium apple, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup raisins
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. curry powder
3/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
2 apple slices and fresh thyme sprigs for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 1 quart round baking dish (I used a bigger one; it wouldn't have fit in a 1 qt.). Arrange chicken breasts in single layer in prepared dish.

Combine 1/4 cup apple juice, salt and pepper in small bowl. Brush juice mixture over chicken.

Combine croutons, apple, onion, raisins, brown sugar, curry, poultry seasoning and garlic powder in large bowl. Toss with remaining 3/4 cup apple juice.

Spread crouton mixture over chicken. Cover with foil; bake 45 minutes or until chicken is tender. Garnish, if desired. Makes 4 servings.

First Day of Spring

I deleted my post from the other day about having to rewrite my senior paper. In case anyone actually read it, if I said anything I shouldn't have I'm sorry. I'm not sure whether I did or not, but after second-guessing the post I removed it just in case. It has been a completely insane roller-coaster week, from doing nothing but writing my paper every night until I finished it, to the extreme relief and decompression of having it done and thinking that I was home free, to finding out I completely missed the point of the assignment and have to start over, not to mention making a complete idiot of myself in front of the professor. Fun, fun times. So I have a couple more weeks of lots and lots of work, and whatever the outcome, whether I'm able to graduate or not, I'm looking forward to finally being able to have a "normal" life with my family without having to deal with this.

Anyway, I don't know why I'm so excited about this, but it's the first day of spring! Wooo!! Looks like the weather will be nice enough to take a walk or something. Lovely.

You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills;
they give drink to every beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man's heart.

May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works,
who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who touches the mountains and they smoke!
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the LORD.

Psalm 104:10-15, 31-34

Irish Lamb Stew & Sweet Potato Biscuits

A few years ago I was in the check-out at Walmart around St. Patrick's Day and saw a little booklet of "Irish" recipes from Taste of Home magazine. This is the booklet from which I got the cupcakes that Jackie posted. I'd never made anything else from it, so I decided to remedy that this year. Both of these recipes are from the booklet. The stew was pretty good, but what really impressed me were the biscuits. Oh goodness, they are so lovely I could eat them like cookies.

I'm posting the stew recipe as it is in the book, but we don't have a dutch oven (and we don't have room to store one), so instead we coated & browned the meat and then put all the ingredients in the crock pot. Turned out well, though a little soupy. I added some more half & half at the end to make it creamier. Also, I couldn't find lamb stew meat or pearl onions (Wal-mart and Kroger double-fail), so I cut up lamb shoulder chops from Kroger and half of a regular onion.


IRISH LAMB STEW

6 Tb. all-purpose flour, divided
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 lb. lamb stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 Tb. vegetable oil
3 cups water
1/2 tsp. dill weed
8 pearl onions
3 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup half & half cream

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine 4 tablespoons flour, salt and pepper. Add lamb; shake to coat.

In a dutch oven, brown lamb in oil on all sides. Add water and dill; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until meat is almost tender. Add the onions, carrots and potatoes. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the meat and vegetables are tender.

In a small bowl, place remaining flour; stir in cream until smooth. Stir into stew. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with biscuits. Yield: 6 servings.


SWEET POTATO BISCUITS

2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
7 Tb cold butter, divided
3 Tb. shortening
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
6 Tb. milk

In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger. Cut in 4 Tb. butter and shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, combine the sweet potatoes and milk; stir into crumb mixture just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead 8-10 times. Pat or roll out to 1/2-inch thickness; cut with a floured 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter (I used a glass :)). Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Melt remaining butter; brush over dough. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks. Serve warm. Yield: 1 1/2 dozen.

Editor's note: As a substitute for each cup of self-rising flour, place 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt in a measuring cup. Add all-purpose flour to measure 1 cup.


Tonight I'm making another recipe from the Irish booklet - glazed mint brownies - for my parents and sister coming to visit tomorrow. :)