Applesauce

One food that makes me think of fall is apples.  I love apples!  Gala apples are my favorite.  They are sweet and crisp, and I buy them in 10lb bags from Sam’s Club.  Since I was away from home for a few weeks, I didn’t have a chance to eat many apples and I was worried they weren’t going to survive much longer.  So, I needed an easy recipe to use up my apples…and that is were this delicious recipe comes into play!

I Googled “applesauce” and this was the first recipe that came up.  I honestly had no idea that applesauce was so easy to make!  I cut up some apples, added some sugar and spice and ta-da, 20 minutes later, I had applesauce.  Who knew!?  The Gala apples are wonderful to use in this recipe because of their natural sweetness and I subbed brown sugar for white.  I took a taste-test bite after I mashed up the apples and boy-oh-boy, warm homemade applesauce is mighty delicious!  Jeremy even said, “Ya know, this is better than the store bought, jar kind.”  That it is, Jeremy.  That it is.

Enjoy!

My beautiful Gala apples.

 

Delicious!

Homemade Applesauce

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Ingredients

• 4 apples - peeled, cored and chopped (I didn’t peel mine and it was still good!)
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. In a saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft. Allow to cool, then mash with a fork or potato masher.

And the Winner is…

Thanks to all of those who entered my CSN Stores GIVEAWAY!  All thanks to all the new readers who somehow came across my blog and entered.  I love new readers!  Without further ado…the lucky winner, picked at random, is…

Natalie from The Sweets Life!! 

If you guys aren’t familiar with Natalie’s blog, you should check it out because she makes all sorts of drool-worthy foods!  Congrats, Natalie!  I’ll be emailing you soon.

Thanks again to all who entered!  And of course, many thanks to CSN Stores for allowing me to have this GIVEAWAY!  On a side note, I’m home for a whole week before I head out on a business trip, so I’ll have a few new recipes going up soon!  Have a great week everyone.

I’m Still Around…and Just to Prove it, I’m Having a Giveaway

Hello friends!  I’m so sorry that I haven’t posted a delicious recipe since the beginning of September.  It’s my travel season for work and sadly, I haven’t been home lot lately to cook!  But don’t worry, only a few more trips and I’ll be back in the kitchen cooking up some tasty treats.  In the meantime, to make it up to you, it’s time for a GIVEAWAY!!  The sensational people at CSN Stores have offered one of my lucky readers a $50 gift code to any of their sites.  If you remember from past giveaways, CSN Stores has a variety of products, such as dutch ovens, baking molds and even shoes!!

Cooking supplies AND shoes all in one place?!  I’m SO there! :)

I’ll be randomly selecting one lucky reader to win this GIVEAWAY!  There are 3 ways to enter and all entries must be received by midnight (AZ Time) on Thursday, October 7th and here’s how you enter:

1. Leave a comment telling me which you would choose: new cooking supplies or new shoes

2. Follow ME on Twitter @saraboff, or if you already do, let me know

3. Become a Follower of Sara’s Sweets, or let me know if you already are

*Please leave separate comments to let me know that you’re a follower on Twitter or of the blog.

Good luck!!

Crack Brownies

Hi there, blog readers!  I hope you are all doing well, and I hope that none of you are on a diet.  If you are on a diet, I beg you, please, please, please look away right now!  I’m not joking.  The recipe that is soon to follow is not for those trying to watch your waistline.  It’s part brownie, part rice krispie treat and part peanut butter cup.  You will not be able to eat just one!  Not looking away?  Well, alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Mmmm.  I came across this recipe for “Better-Than-Crack Brownies” on a blog that I read and the minute I saw the picture I just knew that I had to make them.  I’m not even that big of a fan of brownies or rice krispie treats…however, put them together with a layer of peanut butter cups in between and you’ve won me over.

Jeremy asked me to make a dessert for him for the week, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try this recipe.  Sadly though, he wasn’t crazy about this recipe.  He said it was “too peanut buttery.”  Excuse me?  Did my husband really just say that?  I think I was in shock for a few minutes after those words came out of his mouth.  How did I marry someone who doesn’t share my love/obsession with peanut butter?  I don’t think that anything can ever be “too peanut buttery,” especially when paired with chocolate.  Oh well, more for me then. 

This brownies are very rich, but I love that the rice krispies add a bit of lightness and crunch to them.  They are so delicious!  The evening after I made these, we went to dinner and movie with our friends, Jayla.  I brought us each a “Better-Than-Crack-Brownie” to sneak into the theater and they loved them.  I even ended up given them extras.  Being so delicious and having the word “crack” in their name, the brownie’s name somehow got shorten and by the end of dinner, Jeremy and Jayla were calling me a crack dealer who was sneaking crack brownies into the theater, in my purse.  Good thing the cops weren’t around.  I have a feeling that our conversation about crack brownies could have sounded a bit suspicious. :)

Enjoy!  

 

 

Ingredients.

 

 

Cooling.

 

So good!

Crack Brownies, adapted from How Sweet It Is 

• 1 batch box brownies
• 1/2 cup salted almonds
• 3/4 cup chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups
• 1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 tablespoon butter
• 2 cups cups Rice Krispies Cereal

1. Mix brownies according to directions, and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Remove and top with peanuts and peanut butter cups, and bake for 4-6 minutes more.
2. While they are finishing baking, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Stir in cereal. Remove brownies from oven and evenly pour chocolate mixture over top.
3. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
4. Cut, eat and use serious self control to avoid eating half the pan.

And the Winner is…

Hello friends!  Sorry for the delay in announcing the winner of my CSN Stores GIVEAWAY, but I was out of town this weekend and just too busy to blog!  First of all, let me thank all of those who commented, became followers of me and my dog on Twitter and became followers of this blog.  Never before have I had so many comments, nor did I know that so many people read my blog.  So, thanks for boosting my confidence. :)

Alright, I know you’ve all been anxiously awaiting the results, so let’s get to them.  With the selection help of Random.org, the lucky winner of the $50 CSN Stores gift card is…

#56 - The Tree Huggin Momma

Congratulations, Tree Huggin Momma!  I’ll be emailing you within the next day with details on your $50 CSN Stores gift card.

Thanks again to all who entered and to CSN Stores!  Stay tuned to Sara’s Sweets for more delicious recipes and giveaways in the future!

CSN Stores GIVEAWAY & Cinnamon Rolls

Those wonderful people at CSN Stores have done it again.  They are allowing me to host a GIVEAWAY on my blog to one of you lovely readers!  Awesome, right?

CSN features over 200+ stores with tons of products at incredible prices.  They offer le creuset cookware, furniture, pet products, outdoor products and so much more.   But what are they offering you, you ask?  CSN has graciously offered to give one of my readers a $50 gift card in the form of a promotional code that can be used on any product on their site....yippee!

I’ll be randomly selecting one lucky reader to win this GIVEAWAY!  There are 5 ways to enter and all entries must be received by midnight (AZ Time) on Friday, August 6th and here’s how you enter:

1. Leave a comment telling me what you would spend your $50 gift card on at CSN Stores

2. Follow ME on Twitter @saraboff

3. Follow CSN on Twitter @csnstores

4. Follow MY DOG on Twitter @dieselboff (he’s pretty funny!)

5. Become a Follower of Sara’s Sweets

*If you become of follower on Twitter or on Google Reader, leave separate comments to let me know.

Alright now let’s get onto today’s recipe because it sure is a good one!  About a week ago while at work, I got the sudden urge to make cinnamon rolls.  It was really weird.  I haven’t eaten a cinnamon roll in quiet awhile and I’ve never made cinnamon rolls before, but knowing that I had a packet of yeast at home, I figured, why not!

In my search for a recipe, I found 2 that I liked.  I selected the recipe below because it had great reviews, but I liked the “overnight” technique of this recipe by Alton Brown of Food Network, especially since my plan was to take them into work in the morning. 

My only  modification to the recipe was that I used whole wheat flour and light cream cheese.  You see, using those two ingredients completely cancels out all the calories from the 3 sticks of butter that are in this recipe.  Really, they do! 

Speaking of the 3 sticks of butter, I’m not gonna lie….they are totally worth it!  These cinnamon rolls were light in texture, flavorful in the cinnamon/sugar filling and rich in the frosting.  Pretty much they were amazing!  Right after they came out of the oven, I took them to work, so my co-workers could experience them being warm and gooey…that’s when cinnamon rolls are best, right?  I set them on the counter at 7am and the pan was wiped clean by 7:30am.  No joke!  Food goes fast in my office, but I’ve never seen it go that fast before.  In fact, I almost didn’t get to try one!  If I hadn’t moseyed into the kitchen for coffee at 7:20am, my chance to try these beauties almost ceased to exist!  If my co-workers didn’t love me already, I’m 99.9% certain that they love me now that I brought them cinnamon rolls.

Enjoy!

  

Ingredients.

Rolled out dough.

About to go in the oven.

Out of the oven.

Frosted with copious amounts of icing!

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls by Recipezaar (newly named Food.com)

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Ingredients

• 1 ( 1/4 ounce) package dry yeast
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups flour

Filling

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup margarine, softened

Icing

• 8 tablespoons margarine
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.
2. Add sugar, margarine salt, eggs, and flour, mix well.
3. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour.
4. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
5. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide.
6. It should be approx 1/4 thick.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
8. To make filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
9. Spread the softened margarine over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface.
10. Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge.
11. Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch slices, and place in a lightly greased baking pan.
12. Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown.
13. While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients.
14. Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy.
15. When the rolls are done, spread generously with icing

Chili

I’ve always been a fan of chili.  It’s warm.  It’s chunky.  It’s delicious.  And you know what else I like about chili?  It’s so versatile and everyone has their own recipe!  The possibilities are endless.  Meat or no meat?  Chicken or beef?  Beans or no beans? Veggies or…well, you get the idea. 

Chili is a great recipe if your doing P90X because the different phases of the nutrition plan that accompanies the workout of P90X are all pretty low carb.  I found this recipe by just Googling “P90X Chili,” and then I just adjusted per our tastes.  Not only is this chili is packed full of protein, but it’s also flavorful, hearty and easy!  Add a side salad and you’ve got a delicious low carb dinner…whether your doing P90X or not.

Enjoy!

 

Ingredients.

Mmmm, chili.

P90X Chili

Makes 7 1/2 servings, 1 cup servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 pound ground chicken breast
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cups water
• 28 ounce canned crushed tomatoes
• 15 ounce canned kidney beans - drained, rinsed,
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 2 – 2 1/2  tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Place turkey in the pot, and cook until evenly brown.
2. Stir in onion, and cook until tender.
3. Pour water into the pot.
4. Mix in tomatoes, kidney beans, and garlic.
5. Season with chili powder, paprika, oregano, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt, and pepper.
6. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes.

Read more, plus nutrition facts!: http://caloriecount.about.com/p90x-chili-recipe-r385258#ixzz0th4rQiWp