Category: Entertaining

The Best “Apple Crisp” Recipe

Posted on by KSSBelle

This is hands down the best apple crisp I’ve ever had in my life. Before I share this recipe with you, I first need to give full credit to my best friend of 27 years. This recipe has been passed down in her family for years. I asked her for her recipe shortly after I got married, and she gave it to me (thankfully). Since then, I have made this for several house warming gifts, dinner parties and just because…it’s that good.

apple crisp

It’s so easy to make with such simple ingredients – that’s my kind of recipe.

6 Large granny smith apples
2 Cups sugar
2 Cups all purpose flour
2 Sticks unsalted butter, melted
2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
4 Tablespoons water

 Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Start by grabbing your 9 x13 baking dish. Wash and slice the apples into very thin half moon slices. Slice the half moon slices in half. Layer the apple slices in the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle your 4 tablespoons of water over the apples evenly in the dish. Sprinkle the ground cinnamon over the apples.

Next, get a large mixing bowl ready for the “good stuff” otherwise known as the “crisp” part. Add your 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of sugar, then your 2 sticks of melted butter. Stir these 3 ingredients together well with a spoon.

Pour the crisp ingredients onto the apples in your baking dish evenly. Place your apple crisp in the oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy – and don’t worry, you can thank me later!

 I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Tuna Salad

Posted on by KSSBelle

Tuna. You either love it or could leave it.  I love it.  I have literally made this recipe almost every week since I discovered it on Natalie’s blog about a month or two ago. It’s hands down one of my favorite lunches now.  I grew up on both cold and hot tuna salad recipes. My husband even ate it, and he was really skeptical since he didn’t grow up eating tuna like I did. I adapted Natalie’s recipe and added dill pickles to mine. My Mom always had dill pickles in her tuna salad, and I think it added the perfect flavor to it.

This picture below doesn’t do this salad justice. If you like tuna you will love this salad. It’s healthy for you and so good.

tuna salad

Tuna Salad
Two or three 6 oz. tins of albacore tuna packed in water
3/4 cup of light mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1 TBS chopped fresh dill (I used mine out of my spice rack)
1/4 cup drained capers
2 TBS Dijon mustard
4 chopped dill pickles
3 TBS chopped fresh tarragon (I used mine out of my spice rack)
2 TBS chopped leaf parsley (I used mine out of my spice rack)
Fresh cracked pepper to taste
*Optional: add some toasted almonds or 1 chopped apple

 I typically pair mine with crackers and a few slices of cheese on the side for lunches. My Mom made it the other day, and she served hers with a fruit salad (watermelon, cantaloupe and blueberries) and rolls, which sounds good, too. I have also made my husband a toasted tuna salad sandwich with cheese, and he loves this recipe that way as well.

 

Favorite Breakfast Lately

Posted on by KSSBelle

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I have been trying to lose the last of the baby weight (I have about 8 pounds to go to get to my wedding weight), and so since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I have been trying to find my new favorite breakfast. Well, I found it.

I will go through phases with my breakfasts, and then I get bored. Some days, all I want is a piece of toast with butter and jam, and other days, I want eggs or an English muffin. Since I am trying to lose weight, I am trying to eat less bread. I cannot completely cut it out, because I know once I do start eating it again, I will just gain everything back. Crash diets don’t work for me, “everything in moderation” does. I love bread, but if I ever want to get to my size 6 again, I’ve got to cut back. And, I have, thankfully.

This is going to sound wasteful, but my whole life, I have always tried to eat just half of what was on my plate. I have always eaten like a bird, I just pick at my food. Except when it comes to filets or dessert – I finish those every time. You’ve got to balance your calories out, or as I like to call it, prioritizing properly!

Lately, I’ve been loving Greek yogurt with granola mixed in it. Some days, I add fruit to it, like a sliced banana, raspberries or strawberries. It just depends how much time I have between feeding the hubs and the baby before I eat my breakfast, and how lazy I am feeling about washing/cutting fruit!  Coffee is the first thing I make for us, after making a bottle. I usually only drink two cups (bad, I know), but now that I can drink caffeine again, I am living it up. It also just helps when you’re up at 6:00 am everyday with little ones, too.

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Dannon Oikos Greek Vanilla Yogurt

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Nature’s Path Organix Flax Plus Vanilla Almond Granola

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So, that’s what I start my day off with lately. It is helping me lose the weight, I can already tell. I feel full until lunch time, which is all that matters.

What are you loving for breakfast right now? And no, I’m not talking about McDonald’s when I say that, either!

What helps you lose weight? Any tips you would like to share? If so, please do!

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Happy Weekend!

Posted on by KSSBelle

Happy Weekend Everyone!

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I apologize for the few posts this week, but it’s been a little hectic around here (a good hectic though). Next week we’ll be back on a regular posting schedule.

You should try this recipe out if you’re having company over. It’s a family favorite of ours,  it’s so easy, and so good!

Until then, we have a low key weekend planned ahead, which we are looking forward to for sure. Whatever you have planned for this weekend, have fun!

 

 

A Twist on the Classic Wedge Salad

Posted on by KSSBelle

If your husband is anything like mine, he’s not a big fan of “salads for dinner.” However, he and I both love wedge salads when we eat out. I think the bacon is what sold him. What guy wouldn’t eat a salad for dinner, if it had bacon on it? One day this past Fall, we decided it would be fun to re-create our favorite salad at home. We made it the traditional way with iceberg lettuce, bacon, blue cheese and cherry tomatoes, and it was good, but since then, we decided to make some minor changes that made a big impact for us, at least. In our opinion, iceberg lettuce is fine, but it’s mainly water, and fewer nutrients than other lettuces, so we substituted baby spinach for the iceberg. We added an avocado, too.

We made this last night, and it was once again, another great “salad for dinner!”

wedge salad

Here’s our twist/recipe of the “Classic Wedge Salad:”

Baby Spinach
4 strips of uncured bacon, cooked
Cherry tomatoes
Crumbled blue cheese
1 Sliced avocado
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Marzetti’s The Ultimate Blue Cheese Dressing

We try to bake our bacon ahead of dinner time, if we remember. It saves you a lot of waiting time when you are ready to eat dinner.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Then, spray a nonstick cookie sheet with canola oil. Lay the 4 strips (gives us 2 each) of uncured bacon on the cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes until crispy. Take the bacon off of the cookie sheet and lay on a plate with a paper towel to soak up the extra grease. I pat the top of the bacon to get both sides taken care of…

Fill your salad bowls with the washed baby spinach, sliced cherry tomatoes, crumbled blue cheese, sliced avocado, and add your crispy bacon. Last, but not least, add your dressing. We like the Marzetti’s “The Ultimate Blue Cheese” dressing. You can either add it to the top of your salad or have it on the side.

This would be great with rolls, too. We opted to have dessert instead of bread! (You’ve gotta spread those calories out wisely!)

Enjoy!

Happy Weekend!

Posted on by KSSBelle

T.G.I.F! I am thrilled it’s Friday! Who’s with me?

We are so looking forward to celebrating our first Easter with our little twinkle toes & my family! Before I sign-off for the Easter weekend, I wanted to leave you with some inspiring thoughts!

Amazing

 

Never be in a hurry

joy

just begin

surround yourself

 

centerpiece

 Here’s a neat easy lamb cake recipe I might try this weekend for our Easter Brunch with my family! So adorable.

lamb cake

 All images via

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and an even happier Easter!

 

Five on Friday

Posted on by KSSBelle

Happy Friday Everyone! Today is the first Friday I’ve ever joined the “Five on Friday!”

I couldn’t be more excited to join all of the other great bloggers on here!

It’s time for Five on Friday and I do hope you’ll join me, Darci, Christina, and Natasha!

All you have to do is post about five things on your mind, add the logo (found at the bottom of this post), and join the party using the linky tools below. Easy, and a great way to find new blogs and be found.

ONE

Spring makes me so happy with everything in full bloom right now. I went for a walk with my little twinkle toes last night after dinner ( it’s becoming part of our normal routine in the early evenings), and fell in love with this cherry tree. I definitely want to add one to our yard now. I am obsessed!

cherry tree

TWO

My husband and I just discovered these macarons from Trader Joe’s. Such a great Spring/Summer dessert. So light and refreshing. You should buy a few boxes next time you go. It will save you another trip, trust me.

macaroons

 THREE

This weekend we are doing lots of yard work, and I couldn’t be more happy about it. We recently had a truck load (literally) of mulch dumped at the end of our driveway. If you see someone in your neighborhood getting tree work done, you can ask them to dump the wood chips at your house for free. You save a ton of money this way, and they don’t have to pay a fee to dump the mulch. A win win for all. My parents are big gardeners and have been doing this for years. Such a nice way to make your yard look great at low cost. You will have your work cut out for you, but so worth it. So, we are weeding and spreading mulch to get our backyard ready for our soon to be walking baby!

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FOUR

Coffee. We recently found a new favorite coffee from Target. We have tried so many kinds, and just haven’t been happy until now. Next time you’re at Target pick up this: Archer Farms Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee (it’s a light roast, but is perfection in your morning mug).

coffee

FIVE

We are searching for a good show to watch at night once our little one goes to sleep. Now that Downton Abbey and Homeland are both done for the season, we are needing a few new replacements. Any suggestions?

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

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Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Posted on by KSSBelle

These peanut butter cookies are so good they are almost unbelievable because of how incredible easy they are to make. Thanks April at A Liz Adventures for another great recipe to add to my cookbook! They are gluten-free as well. The best part is they only require 3 ingredients: 1 egg, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup peanut butter. Mix together, press with a fork to create a cross hatch design and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes! I think it also took me a grand total of 5 minutes to put together. A must bake now recipe next time you have a craving for peanut butter cookies. Enjoy!

peanut butter cookies

Have a happy day!

Buffalo Chicken Chili

Posted on by KSSBelle

This Buffalo Chicken Chili recipe was amazing, and when I say amazing, I mean you need to make this tonight (before the weather gets too warm). A big thank you to April at A Liz Adventures for her post. This chili is a good change from beef chili, and it has a definite kick you cannot ignore (which my husband loves), but there is cream in it, so it evens out the kick if you’re not a big fan of too much heat. It was incredibly easy to make, which makes this busy Mom happy.  I probably won’t add as much Frank’s Red Hot Sauce next time I make it, but it was the perfect winter meal for us. I added a sliced avocado to ours (great suggestion, April!) as well, and I  served it with Jiffy Corn Muffins (my favorite). I highly recommend making it for any supper clubs or if you’re hosting a big group of people, too. You can always double the recipe, and/or freeze some for later! Enjoy!

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Buffalo Chicken Chili
Adapted from A Liz Adventures
4 cups shredded chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken from our grocery store)
1/2 red onion, diced
Frank’s mild Buffalo sauce – I used about 1/4 bottle total
2 pkgs Ranch mix
1 can chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1 cup chunky salsa
 3 cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 small container heavy cream
shredded cheese (optional)
sour cream (optional)
Start off by shredding the chicken from your rotisserie chicken. If you’d rather cook and shred your own, go for it, but our grocery store sells rotisserie chickens for $4.99 on Sundays, and I just don’t think you can beat that (you can’t, and it saves you so much time)! So convenient.
Saute the diced onion with a little oil until translucent. Add chicken, 1 package of ranch seasoning, and buffalo sauce to cover (eyeball it) and saute a few more minutes.
 In a soup pot, combine the chicken/onion mixture, beans, remaining package of ranch seasoning, salsa, chicken broth, water, and more buffalo sauce to taste. Simmer on low until heated through. Before serving, stir in heavy cream to reach your desired consistency.
 Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream if desired.  I served ours with sliced avocado, too.