Crustless Apple Pie

Gosh I love apples and they're starting to come into season again.  I made a bit of apple sauce last winter and stored it away in my pantry.  I'm just finishing off the last jars now just in time for the next season!

Last night, this is what I had for a treat after work: Spiced Apple Sauce with Whipped Cream on top aka Crustless Apple Pie.

Spiced Apple Sauce

10 medium apples, peeled and chopped

juice of one lemon

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

3 cinnamon quills

1 star anise

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cloves (whole)

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Put all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook for 12 hours.  Remove cinnamon quills and star anise. Process apple sauce with a hand blender until smooth. Spoon into sterilized jars and seal. 

Serve in a little bowl or ramekin and top with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon.  Voila!

Today's Food

I haven't posted my food for a while so I thought I'd do that today.  I ate a few things today I don't normally eat, but I like them so much I will definitely keep them in my diet regularly

Pre Workout - Air & Water
Post Workout - A quick protein shake with water (about 50g protein total)
Breakfast - Sprouted Quinoa with Cinnamon Apples & Coconut
Snack - Baked Sweet Potato Chips & Blue Cheese Dip
Dinner - Chicken Enchiladas
Dessert - a small slice of Chocolate Cinnamon Parsnip Cake
Snack - Green Monster Shake (since I haven't had anything green today!)


I absolutely loooove the sweet potato chips.  They're easy to make.

Sweet Potato Chips with Blue Cheese Dip

• Wash the skin of the sweet potato thoroughly then slice into small disks about 1/8" thick
• Lightly oil a baking tray and arrange the potato on top.  Lightly brush the tops of the potatoes with oil and then sprinkle sea salt and pepper over the top.  
• Bake at 350F for about 20-25 minutes until the edges are browned and starting to curl a little.  
• To make the Blue Cheese Dip cut up about 50-75g of blue cheese, place in 200g low fat cottage cheese, a little water or milk and blend with a stick blender until it's a smooth consistency.  Serve at once.

So good.  Try it out!

I Love Apples: Part 2

Apples are probably the most commonly consumed fruit in the world. It was one of the first fruits to be cultivated and became more prized once grafted to make new, sweeter varieties.

I found this recipe the other day browsing different blogs; this one is from Oh She Glows. The muffin is sweet with a wonderful texture and crunchy sweet topping. I used macadamia nut oil and added the walnuts. If you can't find pumpkin pie spice in the store, you can make it by mixing 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp allspice & 1/8 tsp nutmeg.

Apple Walnut Streusel Muffins

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups finely chopped peeled apples
1 cup of walnuts, chopped

Topping
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Method

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Combine eggs, pumpkin and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in apples. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. For topping, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; sprinkle 1 teaspoon over each muffin. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

2 Recipes

Not much is happening this week in the way of training. My deadlift meet is this weekend so I won't be training. I may get in a light upperbody workout, but nothing major.

I tried some new recipes today. First one was in preparation of Christmas - Hot Spiced Apple Cider. Even though it's sweltering here, I still like to sample the tastes of the season. In fact, most Christmas recipes aren't suited for hot weather! LOL...

Hot Spiced Apple Cider

2L apple juice
1 tsp. whole cloves
1 tsp. whole allspice
2 (3 inch) cinnamon sticks
1/4 c. lightly packed brown sugar
juice of 2 lemons

Bring ingredients to a boil in a large saucepan. Simmer 30 to 60 minutes. Remove spices. Serve hot in mugs. It tastes even better with whipped cream and caramel sauce on top!


Another snack I made today was Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip. I couldn't find any blue corn chips at the supermarket I went to, so I had it with baked corn chips and rice crackers instead.

Hot Spinach And Artichoke Dip

224 g cream cheese, softened
60 ml mayonnaise
25 g grated Parmesan cheese
30 g grated Romano cheese
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
80 g frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
30 g shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a small baking dish.

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic, basil, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.
2. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.

Yum!