Freezer Apple Pie Filling

I made this freezer apple pie filling back in September after we went apple picking, and am just getting around to using it! After I peeled and cored the apples, KK cut them into slices.  Unfortunately, I can’t remember how many apples we used, but it felt like a lot.  I split the 6 lbs. of sliced apples into four quart-sized bags, but since you need about 3 lbs. for a pie, next time I’ll just split it into two bags (or make more filling!).  I also made this pie filling last October, but it spoiled when we lost power during Hurricane Sandy, so I never got to make a pie out of it.  The original Cooks.com recipe did not indicate whether or not the apples should thaw before baking, but I ultimately decided to thaw and drain them before baking.  Stay tuned for the crust and pie recipe, but I've decided that thawing the frozen filling was a good decision – the apples maintained their shape, and the pie wasn’t too sweet.  If you prefer a sweeter pie, consider adding some sugar back to the filling once it’s drained.  If you decide not to thaw the apples, you’ll need to increase the baking time.

Freezer Apple Pie Filling

Adapted from Cooks.com

Time: 30 minutes

Filling for 2 pies (9.5-in)

Ingredients

6 lbs. apples

1 Tbsp vinegar

2 cups sugar

¼ cup all purpose flour

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp allspice

2 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions

1. Wash, peel, core and slice apples.  Fill a large bowl with water and 1 Tbsp vinegar, and use this as a soaking solution to prevent darkening as you prepare the apples.  After all the apples are sliced, drain and rinse apples; return slices to the bowl.

2.  Combine sugar, flour, spices, and pour over apples; coat with lemon juice and toss to combine.  Let stand until juices thicken, about 15 minutes.  Divide mixture between two freezer containers.  Seal and freeze until ready for use.

3. For baking: Thaw for one day prior to use; drain and place into a pie crust and bake at 375 for 1 hour 20 minutes, until apples are tender and crust is golden brown.

Slow Cooker Pesto Meat Sauce

It's snowing. It started as rain, but then turned to snow! I'm getting into the holiday spirit by burning my favorite wintertime Yankee Candles, Red Apple Wreath and Sparkling Cinnamon, and cooking up some hearty meals like this Pesto Meat Sauce last Friday and some Easy Tomato Florentine Soup tonight.  What are you doing to get into the holiday spirit?

I worked from home on Friday, and was hungry all day because the scent of the Pesto Meat Sauce was permeating through the apartment. I started the slow cooker at 11AM, and the apartment smelled glorious within an hour! The best part about this sauce was that it came together very quickly.  After removing the casings from the chicken sausage, I used a spoon to crumble it as it cooked.  While the sausage cooked, I mixed the rest of the ingredients together in the bowl of the crockpot.  If you have them, feel free to throw in fresh herbs.  Finish cooking the sausage, stir it together with the rest of the ingredients, cover the crockpot and set to cook on low, then walk away! KK stated the rigatoni while I was at the gym, and dinner was ready by the time I got home.  I should warn you that the ingredients listed below make a lot of sauce.  We split the leftovers into two portions - one to refrigerate and eat later this week, and the other to freeze and thaw for dinner another time.  If you aren't feeding an entire army, or if you don't want so many leftovers, consider halving this recipe.  My HelloVino app recommended a Syrah or Merlot, so we paired the meat sauce with a bottle of Doyenne Signature Syrah from DeLille Cellars.

Slow Cooker Pesto Meat Sauce

Adapted from Plain Chicken

Time: 10 minutes + 8 hours

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

1 ½ lb chicken sausage, casings removed

⅓ cup pesto

2 28-oz. cans crushed tomatoes

6 oz. tomato paste

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp dried rosemary

½ tsp dried sage

1 Tbsp sugar

½ cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook sausage in large skillet until browned, about 5-8 minutes. Drain fat and transfer to 6-quart slow cooker.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients, cover and cook on low for 8 hours.  Serve with your favorite pasta.

Oatmeal Cream Pies

KK and I have not properly celebrated Halloween together since 2010.  We were on vacation in 2011 (Spain) and 2012 (Thailand), and this year we were just lame (masks for Dia de Los Muertos don't exactly count as proper costumes).  That being said, I've started gathering supplies for a costume to wear at my friend's annual Ugly Sweater Holiday party.  Instead of wearing the same old, ugly sweater, I'm getting crafty.  Stay tuned for the reveal next month! In other news, KK and I are visiting our twin niece and nephew this weekend and I could not be more excited!!! They're two months old now, and are apparently growing like crazy.  I'm going to use some apples from apple picking to make a pie for our visit (more for my brother and sister-in-law than the twins).  Since I don't have an apple pie post ready for you yet, I'm posting about a different type of pie instead!

Yum, yum, yum! I made these cookies for giant Jenga night a few weeks ago, and there were plenty leftover for us to enjoy while tailgating at the Jets-Pats game.  Having a hands-free electric mixer, such as a Kitchen Aid, really made this recipe easier.  I love being able to toss ingredients into the mixer’s bowl, and then walk away for a few minutes while the mixture combines.  This is the first time I’ve seen a cookie recipe that requires the baking soda to be dissolved in hot water before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.  After some quick Googling, I learned that dissolving baking soda helps get it evenly distributed in the dough and gets it activated before putting the cookies in the oven.   To  be honest, I don’t really understand why you’d want the baking soda activated early, but I do know that the cookies ended up flattening evenly which led to better sandwiches! My gelatin was very old, so the filling mixture took almost an hour to set; I tried filling the cookies before it set but ended up with a runny mess, so it’s worth the wait to get perfect cookies! Use as much or as little filling as you please; I opted to keep mine fairly thin in an effort to emulate Little Debbie’s Oatmeal Crème Pies.  I was a bit worried because the cookies were quite hard after they cooled, but they softened from the moisture of the marshmallow filling and turned out perfectly!

Oatmeal Cream Pies

Adapted from Beantown Baker

Makes: 20-24 sandwiches

Cookie Ingredients

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

½ tsp salt

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats

2 tsp baking soda

3 Tbsp boiling water

Filling Ingredients

1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp unflavored gelatin (about 1 ½ packets)

⅓ + ¼ cup water (divided)

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ cup light corn syrup

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

8 oz. vegetable shortening

Cookie Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. Lightly grease baking sheets and set aside.  Alternatively, line baking sheets with parchment paper or splats.

2. Using an electric mixer or Kitchen Aid, cream the butter, brown sugar, and eggs.

3. In a separate bowl, sift together salt, flour, and baking powder; add to the creamed mixture, along with cinnamon and oats.  Mix well.

4. Using the now empty small bowl, combine baking soda and boiling water, then pour into the rest of the batter. Again, mix well.

5. Drop by the tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.  Bake until cookies are firm and begin to turn golden brown around the edges, 5-8 minutes.  Cool cookies completely on a wire rack.

Filling Directions

1. In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over ⅓ cup cold water. Let stand, stirring once or twice until the gelatin softens, about 5 minutes.

2. In a 2-quart saucepan on medium-high heat, combine sugar, corn syrup, and ¼ cup hot water until blended.  Raise heat to high and bring mixture to a full boil, then stir at full boil for 30 seconds.  Remove from heat, and stir in gelatin mixture until it fully dissolves.

3. Transfer mixture to the Kitchen Aid bowl; stir in vanilla and beat for 20 seconds at medium speed.  Gradually increase speed to high and mix for 5 minutes, until mixture is stiffened, white, and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar.  Add shortening and beat until completely smooth.

4. Allow the filling mixture to thicken 10-15 minutes, or until it sets, before assembling the cookie sandwiches.

Stuffed Pepper-oni

I hope everyone's feeling well rested, thanks to the extra hour of daylight savings sleep! I wasn't sure what time it was when I woke up because some of the clocks had changed, and others hadn't.  Does that happen to anyone else? :) I'm spending the day relaxing on the couch, enjoying a homemade blend of Dunkin' Donuts French vanilla and hazelnut coffee, and tracking my brave friends running the ING NYC Marathon.  Speaking of running - KK and I participated in a "race" yesterday in honor of my friend's 30th birthday.  She organized 30 of her friends and family for a 3.0 (like 30!) mile run.  With prizes at stake, KK left me behind, but it paid off because he was the winner! Surprisingly, I was the first female to finish - talk about a power couple! Central Park was packed with people enjoying the unexpectedly warm November weekend, so we picnicked on the Great Lawn after the run, enjoying bagels and Baked by Melissa cupcakes.  After whipping up some Tofu Pad Thai for dinner, we met some friends at Cadillac Cantina for Dia de Los Muertos festivities.  I'm not a fan of face paint, so we copped out and wore some skeleton masks.  Our friends, however, really got into it with spooky skeleton face paint and festive dresses. Yikes!

I've made stuffed peppers before, so I was intrigued with this method of cooking the peppers.  I decided these stuffed peppers needed to be precooked because there was no moisture in the pepper filling.  Without boiling the peppers, they might have taken a lot longer to cook.  KK was in charge of grocery shopping this week, so he picked out one pepper of each color – red, orange, yellow, and green – so we had quite a colorful dinner! I prepared the stuffed peppers when I got home from work, then left for a gym class.  KK put the peppers in the oven a little later so they would be done when I got home from the gym.  The timing couldn't have been more perfect! These could easily be turned into a vegetarian dish by omitting the pepperoni; one could even add additional veggies like mushrooms, olives, or eggplant, but don’t go too overboard, otherwise you’ll run out of room in the peppers!

Stuffed Pepper-oni

Adapted from Noble Pig

Time: 50 minutes

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

4 large bell peppers (any color)

1 cup diced pepperoni

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 package croutons

3 cups marinara sauce

Parmesan cheese, for topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Cut off tops of peppers and remove seeds; place peppers in a large pot.  Cover peppers with salted water; cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain peppers and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, place pepperoni in a skillet and fry over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Combine pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, and croutons in a bowl and toss together.

4. Pour marinara sauce into bottom of an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish.  Stuff peppers with pepperoni-crouton mixture and place in the prepared baking dish.  Cover with tinfoil and bake for 35-40 minutes.  When ready to serve, scoop marinara sauce over peppers; top with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Soy Peanut Noodles

TGIF and happy belated Halloween! KK and I opted to lay low last night, cooking up some Cajun Ranch Chicken Pasta and watching football.  Sadly, we didn't have any trick-or-treaters this year... guess the few kids in our building found loot elsewhere.  Instead of celebrating Halloween the traditional way, we're celebrating Dia de Los Muertos on Saturday at Cadallic Cantina with a few friends.  Today, KK is on a mission to find us some skeleton-faced masks so we can celebrate in style! Before the celebrations begin tomorrow evening, KK and I are running a 5K for a friend's birthday in Central Park.  It'll be my first time running in Central Park, so I am kind of looking forward to the scenery around the reservoir.  Even though getting up early and running aren't normally on my list of favorite things to do, it's just one of those things we'll happily do for our friends!

We had a menu mix-up earlier this week! KK had planned to make Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos, but he didn’t realize cilantro couldn’t be substituted for basil pesto.  Whoops! KK had this peanut noodle dish on the menu for later in the week, so we bumped it up a few days and added the chicken that was already thawing in the refrigerator.  Crisis averted! If you don’t have thin spaghetti, you can use regular noodles, or any sort of asian noodles – rice, udon, or soba – anything works! The sauce was a strange mix of salty and sweet, but I really enjoyed it.  We also opted to double the sauce which turned out to be a good decision.  Spiced up with some Sriracha on top, KK and I both went back for seconds, and I demolished the leftovers for lunch earlier this week.  Along with Tofu Pad Thai, I think this will be one of our go-to meals when the pantry is looking bare or I don’t have a lot of time/energy to put into dinner!

Soy Peanut Noodles

Adapted from The Comfort of Cooking

Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

½ lb. thin spaghetti

1 lb. chicken, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 Tbsp + 2 tsp vegetable or canola oil, divided

5 Tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp rice vinegar

4 Tbsp peanut butter

2 Tbsp honey

2 tsp fresh ginger, grated

2 cloves garlic, minced

¾ cup chopped dry roasted peanuts

Directions

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook chicken pieces, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 Tbsp oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, peanut butter, honey, ginger, and garlic.

4. Add spaghetti, sauce, and peanuts to the skillet of cooked chicken.  Toss with tongs to coat and serve immediately.

Enchilada Zucchini Boats

One year ago today, while KK and I were fortunate enough to be on a beach in Thailand, Hoboken and the rest of the Eastern seaboard were hit by Hurricane Sandy.  Thankfully, we were able to keep in touch with family and friends through email and social media sites (I joined Twitter so I could see pictures of Hoboken).  A friend moved our car, otherwise it would've been totaled by the 3-4 feet of water our apartment's garage took on.  And finally - thankfully our heat and power were restored by the time we arrived home, but much of the city was still in the dark.  According to Hoboken's mayor, nearly 80% of Hoboken had flooded, many shops and bars failed to reopen, and the PATH train was down for months (many of you probably saw this picture of the train station I use everyday).  It's amazing to see how the city's residents came together and rebuilt after the storm's devastation, and it's even more reassuring to hear that that Hoboken officials are still working to improve the city's infrastructure to lessen the impact of future flooding.  Hoboken's been my home for 12 years, and I think KK and I will be here for a few more, so I'm happy to see the city bouncing back to life!

Now - onto the food! I should warn you that these zucchini boats take awhile to prepare.  It's not that they were difficult to make, but they just took longer than a normal weeknight meal.  This recipe works best if you already have extra shredded chicken, otherwise you'll have to add additional cook time.  Luckily, KK had enough foresight in his menu planning to have me prepare extra chicken when I made the Chicken Chili Tacos (we actually had these boats the same week as the tacos, but my posting schedule has been wacky recently).  To hollow out the zucchini boats, I simply used a regular spoon from the kitchen drawer.  If you're feeling fancy (and if you have one), feel free to use a melon baller for that step.  The rest of the steps were straightforward and easy to follow.  Use as much or as little cheese as you like when topping the boats.  Since the primary ingredients of this meal are vegetables, we opted not to serve dinner with a side salad.  I did, however, get a little innovative with the leftovers - I chopped up one of the leftover boats and used it as salad topper for lunch later during the week!

Enchilada Zucchini Boats
Adapted from Skinny Taste
Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients
4 medium zucchinis
1 tsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 green bell pepper, diced

½ lb. chicken breast, cooked and shredded

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp chipotle chili powder
3 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp tomato paste
10-oz. can enchilada sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste

¾ c shredded Mexican cheese
Salsa and sour cream, optional toppings

Directions
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil.  When water boils, preheat oven to 400.

2. Meanwhile, cut zucchini in half lengthwise.  Using a small spoon, scoop out flesh, leaving 1/4" thick zucchini "boats."  Save insides of zucchini for later use.  Drop the zucchini halves in pot of boiling water.  Cook for 1 minute, and remove.

3. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Cook onion, garlic and bell pepper for 3 minutes, until onions become translucent.  Add insides of zucchini, season with salt and pepper, and cook 4 minutes.  Add the cumin, oregano, chili powder, water, and tomato paste; cook for 4 minutes.  Finally, add chicken, stir thoroughly, and cook for 3 more minutes.

4. Cover bottom of a glass 9x13 baking dish with ¼ cup enchilada sauce.  Using a spoon, fill each boat with about ⅓ cup chicken mixture.

5. Top filled zucchini boats with remaining enchilada sauce and shredded cheese.  Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes.  Cheese will be melted and zucchini will be cooked.  If desired, serve topped with additional salsa and sour cream.

Halloween Dirt Pudding

KK and I went to a groovy party last night! My old roommate and her boyfriend hosted a potluck Murder Mystery night.  In all honesty, I was a little skeptical at first, but it ended up being a great night! Thanks to the Saturday Night Cleaver kit, we had proper invitations, disco music, and detailed character profiles.  We skipped the suggested costumes, but there were several faux-New Yawker accents flying around the room all evening.  My "husband," Stan A. Live, was the victim and, by the end of the evening, everyone was accusing everyone of the murder! Along with a cheesy murder mystery, we enjoyed some great food during the potluck portion of the evening: pumpkin muffins, pasta salad, crockpot lasagna, chicken and rice, chili in bread bowls, and apple cupcakes.  To top it off, I also made a spooky rendition of dirt pudding! I'll admit: I had some for dessert last night... and with lunch today... and I'm planning to have some after dinner tonight, too!! As KK said in his contribution to this post, "YUM!"

I don't know why, but dirt pudding reminds me of my childhood.  It's so easy to put together, and it tastes great! I preferred this version of the dirt pudding over the Easter Trifle I made earlier this year; although the trifle was good, it was a little dense because of the brownies.  I used one package of regular Oreos and one Double Stuffed.  It would be interesting to try some of the other Oreo varieties: golden, mint, peanut butter, or birthday cake.  If, like me, you don't have time to let your butter and cream cheese come to room temperature, soften them in the microwave; check every 10 seconds as they soften.  I also nuked the Cool Whip for 15 seconds because it was frozen solid and would've been impossible to combine with the pudding.  You can choose whatever flavors of pudding you prefer - chocolate, dark chocolate, vanilla... the possibilities are (somewhat) endless! I'm not a huge chocolate fan, so I used one package of chocolate and one of vanilla.  I threw a couple of gummy worms into the pudding as I was layering, then stuck the rest into the top layer of Oreos before refrigerating the pudding.  To add a Halloween twist to the dirt, I added the ghost Peeps and candy corn pumpkins when it was time to serve dessert.  Enjoy!

Dirt Pudding

Adapted from Neighbor Food Blog
Time: 25 minutes + 3 hours refrigeration
Serves: A lot!

Ingredients
2 packages Oreos, regular or Double Stuffed
8 Tbsp butter, melted
4 Tbsp butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3 1/2 cups milk
2 small boxes instant pudding
16 oz. Cool Whip, lite or regular
Gummy worms, Peeps, Candy Corn for topping

Directions
1. Place Oreos in a large Ziploc bag; use a rolling pin to crush cookies.  Pour melted butter into the bag and shake to combine.

2. Using a Kitchen Aid or electric mixer on medium high speed, beat softened butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add cream cheese and sugar; beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Add milk and pudding.  Beat on low until partially combined, then increase speed to high and beat until pudding begins to thicken; fold in Cool Whip.

3. Assemble the dirt in a trifle dish or large glass bowl.  Begin and end with a layer of Oreos, alternating with a layer of pudding over top; repeat until both are gone.  Stick gummy worms into the dirt pudding on top.  Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight; serve cold.