Mommy Octopus

Yes, I know it’s not really Tuesday.  However, I was really sick on Tuesday and whenever I’m sick, it seems like that day is just erased from memory.  So for my sake, let’s pretend it’s Tuesday.  For Tasty Tuesday this week, we’re going to make an Apple Ring Cake!  We went to the apple orchard this past weekend and had a blast picking fresh apples from the trees.

Some apples were too high up so we had to use double the effort….

Even the baby thought they were great to gnaw on….

Nevertheless, we left there with an enormous bag of apples.  It was fun to pick, but now what should I do with all of these apples?

I dug up my recipe books and nothing sounded perfect.  Then I remembered a recipe that a friend of mine had sent me a while back.  Of course, I had to do my own tweaking to the recipe, so here goes:

Ingredients:

• 5 Apples
• 3 Sticks Butter
• Sugar
• Vanilla
• 2 Large Eggs
• 2/3 Cup Sour Cream
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Melt 2 sticks of butter in a 9 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat.

While it’s melting, whip out your apple corer/slicer/peeler.  Core, slice, and peel your apples.

Once the butter is melted, stir in 3/4 cup sugar to the pan and stir.  Place rings of 4 apples into the sugary butter, overlaying as necessary.  Save 1 peeled/cored/sliced apple for later.

Let the apple rings cook while you make the cake.

Mix 1 stick of softened butter, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla together with a hand mixer.  Add in the 2 eggs and sour cream.  When it’s well mixed, add in your flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Mix well until dough is formed.  Chop the remaining apple into small pieces and add to the mixture.

When your apples are nice and tender in the pan, remove from heat and gently cover them with your dough mixture.  Place your cast iron skillet right into the oven.

Bake for 25 minutes or until cake is golden brown.

Allow the cake to cool for 5-10 minutes and then flip it over onto a sheet pan or other solid dish.  Best served with homemade ice cream 🙂

Sorry for the bad pic – I messed it up a little when I flipped it.  This cake was so good it didn’t even last 24 hours in our house.  Hubby is already demanding another!  The kids loved it and I can’t wait to make it again.

I love making homemade biscuits, however with as busy as I am, I don’t have time to make fresh biscuits every morning.  To solve this problem, I’ll make a big batch of biscuits, freeze them, and then pull out what I need.  It helps prevent waste and overeating as well by just pulling out the number I need.  Here’s how to make your own freezer biscuits:

First, gather the following ingredients:

• 5 cups self rising flour
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 1 cup butter or shortening
• 1 3/4 cup buttermilk or milk

Add everything into the bowl and stir well until the dough has formed.  If it seems too sticky, add in a little extra flour as needed.

Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch and use a cup or a cookie cutter to form the biscuits.

Place the biscuits on a pan.  It’s okay to have them super close together since they will not be rising.  If you have more than one layer, be sure and place wax paper in between the layers so they do not stick together.

Immediately put the biscuits into the freezer, making sure that they stay flat.

After a few hours when they are frozen, remove them from the pan and place in a freezer safe bag and return the bag of biscuits to the freezer.

Pull biscuits from bag as needed and bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on top.  Yum!  Give it a try and see what you think!

Although it’s hard to imagine wanting a smoothie on this cool, crisp day here in the south, it makes for a quick, easy, and healthy snack!  Normally I’d be loving 66 degree weather but after months of 90 degree weather, I may have to go grab a winter coat! 🙂

On to smoothie making!

First gather up your ingredients.  I like to use Simply Orange Juice, Trader Joe’s Berry Medley, whatever yogurt we have on hand, and also a banana.  Don’t forget that there is a $1 off Simply Orange Juice coupon available!

Throw your ingredients in your blender, or in my case, I use the Magic Bullet.  I got this a couple months ago from some of my facebook fans recommendation.  I have been really pleased!  I purchased the Magic Bullet MBR-1701 17-Piece Express Mixing Set and we use it all the time!

Throw your ingredients in.  I have never really measured, but I use a half of a banana, a bit of the frozen fruit, couple scoops of yogurt, and then fill in the gaps with orange juice.  Make sure they you leave room at the top for everything to move around and it mixes.  Blend away and enjoy!

What do you like to put in your smoothies?