Apple Pie

I passed this recipe on to a fellow blogger today, and decided I needed to make it again to get more exact measurements.

Filling:
2 or 3 Granny Smith apples, cubed (I like to leave the peel on - ends up being between 3-4 cups)
A little lemon juice - maybe a tablespoon
2 T Cinnamon
10 or so grates of fresh Nutmeg
Splenda
1/4 C brown sugar
A tiny bit of corn starch to thicken the mixture

I just mix all of that together, using as much Splenda as I think it needs to make it as sweet as I want it(usually about 1/2 a cup).  Sometimes I add some brown sugar, which makes it taste a little caramel-y.

Crust:  (Makes a top and bottom)
1/2 C Canola Oil
1/4 C milk
2 C plain flour
1 tsp salt

Pour oil and milk together.  Stir in flour and salt.  Stir and roll out between two sheets of wax paper.  *I once added a little water because it was too crumbly to roll out.

When you lay the top on the pie filling, prick a few holes in the top to let steam out.

I like putting dabs of spray butter for a little splash of color...or something like that...

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

It's better with ice cream

so.good.so.worthit.

Our chicken and orzo spinach soup...we had this before the pie.  Promise.

How Granola of Me

I have been planning to make granola for two years.  Yep.  And I finally made it today and it was a success!  Here's the super simple and ridiculously easy recipe.  The recipe I looked at for ratios used sesame seeds instead of the crushed roasted almond slivers.  I'll try sesame seeds the next time we have them - did you know they're a pretty good source of calcium?  Please note, I definitely didn't use exact measurements so these are all approximate. 

Ingredients:
2 T butter
2 T honey
1/4 C roasted almond slivers
1 C Oats (I used old-fashioned, not quick-cooking, but either would do)

Directions:
Preheat a non-stick skillet on medium high.  Crush up the almonds (I used my hands) and toss them into the skillet.  Once the almonds are aromatic(you'll know when they're ready), drop in the butter.  Once the butter is melted, drizzle in the honey.  Once the almonds, butter, and honey are well-mixed, pour in the oats.  Fully coat the oats in the mixture and let cook for just a bit.  Pour granola onto a pan and stick into the oven on Hi Broil. 

Make the pile of granola higher in the middle - it crumbles better that way.  Once it's as brown or as crisp as you want, it's ready!

 Enjoy!

Ace and I put our granola on these smoothies, but the blender and I were at odds this morning, so they were even more like icees than usual.  Mace doesn't like that my smoothies are a little grainy, but I like the texture.  You can add more yogurt and less ice for a smoother texture.  Again, not exact measurements, so eyeball it.

Ingredients:
2 C ice
1 light vanilla yogurt cup
a little more (maybe 1/2 C) light, non-flavored yogurt (I used Stonyfield)
1/2 C frozen raspberries
1 T sugar

Directions:
Put ingredients into blender in the order listed.  Hopefully you and your blender will be on speaking terms when you give it a try!

 So pink, so good!

It was cold, but really tasty!  Ace gobbled it up!

Hope your mess isn't as big as mine was!