Fresh Apple Cranberry Walnut Bread!

I wish you could smell this post!!! Fresh, hot, bread with apples, cinnamon, cranberries, and walnuts--all in one!!!  My entire house smells delightful! My kitchen has never been so warm and inviting! I'm finding it difficult not to pause this right now so I can eat half of it! Instead, I've exercised self control and have let it cool so I can package it for this week's lunches...

If you don't have a bread-maker I suggest that you get one. I was hesitant about getting one because I don't like clutter on the counter, yet I also don't like the hassle of getting bulky appliances out of the cupboard every time I want to cook something. Where on earth would I put it and would I ever really use it??? Would it spend a while taking up space on the counter and then be shipped off to a new home? Would it be sentenced to spend an eternity in the back of a cupboard with the last confangled appliance I bought and never used? Would I use it out of frustration and guilt? Or would it actually add something positive to my life???

When I mentioned the possibility of wanting a bread-maker to my hubby, he ordered one from Amazon right away! He didn't waste any time to have our house smelling like deliciousness and our meals filled with the comfort of homemade bread. I'm so glad he knew me better than I did! 

...And that's not all! We eat sandwiches every day for lunch, so he bought me the maker, the slicer, the electric knife, and the loaf bags. Everything was ready to go for homemade sandwiches! 

I must say that after using my bread maker I will never willingly go back to store-bought bread! Homemade bread is far more tasty and healthy than store-bought bread--and it is just as convenient! The model I own is pretty compact for being a bread-maker, so it is able to take up minimal counter space. Most of the recipes require basic ingredients, so I can prep them in little to no time! It has a delay timer, and it is easy to clean!

During the first month I was so excited about trying all the recipes it came with that we were eating about two loaves per week! After gaining a few L.B.s we toned it back a bit. One loaf is the perfect amount for the two of us to have a sandwich each day of the week. If we have company over for dinner I'll make a second loaf to go with our meal. I have yet to experience a person turning down fresh-baked bread with their dinner! 

I usually make Whole Wheat Bread since it's healthier, but I change it up every couple of weeks to keep life interesting: Honey Oat, Wheat and Flax, French, 1/2 Wheat 1/2 White... And of course, this week's treat, Apple Walnut Bread!

At first I was intimidated to try new things with my bread maker. The instructions are so precise that I was afraid it would self destruct if I over-measured anything. This took some getting used to because my usual baking doesn't involve much measuring at all--everything is a rough estimate and I often add things based solely on what I'm in the mood to eat (in my humble opinion you can never go wrong with butter and sugar, chocolate, or cinnamon--add one of them generously to any recipe and it is guaranteed to taste good!). Anyways, so the precise measuring was a bit intimidating at first, but now that I've been making bread on a weekly basis for a few years, I'm a lot more comfortable with it and have been experimenting with different ingredients. I've discovered a variety of flavors and textures that always taste amazing!

This week's bread is one of those experiments. It was Apple Walnut Bread, but I made it better by adding Craisins. I believe I added more cinnamon too (you really can't go wrong with a little extra cinnamon). All I can say is, "Wow!" When scrumptious is an understatement you know you've hit the recipe jackpot!

Please enjoy the pics and the recipe! Buy a bread maker--you won't regret it! I really wish you could smell this bread!!!

Perfect slices thanks to the slicer and electric knife my husband got me!

It took a few times of baking the recipe to get the cranberries to distribute evenly. I was determined to get it perfect, so I kept trying (eating the experimental loaves wasn't exactly torture).

Packaged and ready to go for the week!

Recipe:

3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce

3/8 cups apple juice with no sugar added

3 Tablespoons butter

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking SODA

4 cups bread flour

2 teaspoons active dry yeast--make sure it doesn't come into contact with any liquids!

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1. Add the first set of ingredients to the bread maker--liquids first!

2. With your index finger, make two teaspoon-sized holes in the mixture (one on each side). Don't let the liquid come up into the holes.

3. Put 1 teaspoon of yeast into each hole (2 teaspoons total).

4. Set the bread maker according to your preferences. I set mine to "1.5 LB, Sweet".

5. Press "Start".

6. Add the nuts and cranberries when the bread maker signals you to. I add the walnuts and slightly knead them in by hand. Then I do the same with the cranberries. I do this so that they will distribute more evenly. The first time I made this recipe I did not do this and the cranberries ended up on the surface of one half of the bread. It was still a delicious loaf of bread and I enjoyed every crumb, but now I hand knead it for a moment to better distribute the walnuts and cranberries.

If you are new to bread makers and are overwhelmed with trying to choose a good one: I have the Oster Express Bread Maker and I highly recommend it. It is pretty well priced, is not bulky, and has a little window on the top so you can see what's going on with your bread. One of my favorite things about it is that it comes with a recipe book that has all sorts of bread and dough recipes, with variations for most of them (1 LB, 1.5 LB, and 2 LB). There is an express setting for quick breads, and there is a delay timer. The delay timer is awesome in the wintertime! I set my crock pot and bread maker in the morning, and I come home to a house that smells amazing--with a hot stew and fresh bread that's ready to eat! I'm sure there are plenty of good bread makers out there. This is the only one I've had so far. I've been making bread every week for two years with it and it still runs like a champ.

This recipe is from my bread maker recipe book, except I've changed the ingredients, measurements, and instructions according to my preferences.

Enjoy!

Easy Chicken Pot Pie Casserole!

It feels great to successfully cook a gourmet meal from scratch. But I'm not above using recipes from the back of a box either. Life gets busy. Sometimes time and/or ingredients don't permit a "5-star meal", but that doesn't mean we should miss out on a tasty, home-cooked dinner. Today I tried out a new recipe for dinner: Chicken Pot Pie Casserole! I got the recipe from the back of an Aunt Jemima Complete Pancake Mix box. It was a success and will make a great addition to my weeknight recipes--when time and energy are more limited.

I've already got a fantastic recipe for Chicken and Dumplings, but when I saw this one I decided to give it a whirl because it looked like it'd fit well in the "easy yet yummy weeknight recipes" category. It never hurts to try a recipe at least once. I'm glad I gave it a chance because now I have a quick and easy comfort food recipe that tastes peppery and flavorful!

View Recipe:
Recipe on Aunt Jemima Website

1st: Cook the chicken, cut it into cubes, and add it to a skillet with the frozen veggies. TIP: For a vegetarian variation, omit the chicken and add extra veggies, and swap out the chicken soup for a creamy vegetable soup.

TIP: Spatulas are a great way to scrape all of the soup from the can, or the sides of bowls. I used the small one for today's recipe since it was a small can.

TIP: I recommend the black pepper that comes whole and is ground onto the food. It tastes more bold and fresh. 

2nd: In a bowl, whisk soup, milk, and pancake mix. Then add pepper. Tip: I whisk the ingredients so that they are mixed thoroughly, and then I grind the pepper over the top of the mixture. This distributes the pepper more evenly when I whisk it in.

3rd: Add the mixture to the chicken and veggies in the skillet. Follow the heating instructions.

4th: Whisk together the water, pancake mix, and spices in a bowl. I'd recommend using the previous bowl to have one less dish to wash.

TIP:  As with the Pepper, I sprinkle the spices evenly over the top of the mixture instead of just dumping them in. This distributes them more evenly. It's these little things that, to me, makes all the difference.

5th: Put the chicken & veggie mixture into the greased casserole dish, and pour the spiced breading mixture on top. Spread it evenly over the top.

6th: Follow baking instructions. Tip: When I bake a recipe for the first time I go for the middle time amount. Then I make note of whether it needs to cook for shorter/longer next time. Ex. If it says 30-35 min. I go with 33.

Fresh from the oven!

7th: Let stand 5 min. before serving! TIP: A lot of the time it is tempting to skip this step, but it's very important to leave it in! This 5 minutes is what allows things to set and thicken the way they're supposed to.


8th: Enjoy!

Creamy, peppery goodness!

Fluffy, pancake-like breading!!!

This recipe is quick, easy, creamy, and flavorful! It has the potential for multiple variations depending on what is added to it: Rosemary, Basil, Parsley, Cayenne, or more/less Black Pepper. It could also be served with a variety of condiments: Sour Cream, Tabasco, Tapatio... The options are endless! 

My husband said that his mouth was doing cartwheels! This recipe is a keeper!

View Recipe:

Recipe on Aunt Jemima Website

Waffles with Blueberries!!!

Today is Saturday. I slept in, and it was glorious! There's nothing like sleeping until you're completely refreshed and ready to get out of bed! I love waking up to a crisp and quiet morning!

Saturday mornings are magical. Something about them makes all that is good even better: The sun shines brighter, the birds sing, the air seems clearer... A home-cooked breakfast is always the perfect way to start off the day!

This morning I decided on waffles, so I got out my trusty waffle iron and whipped up some waffles:

I brewed some delicious coffee for my hubby, which has cinnamon and chocolate undertones in it! Yum!

Getting everything prepped...

I decided to go with blueberry waffles, so I heated up some frozen blueberries with about a teaspoon of sugar and then mashed them up. TIP: Frozen blueberries are a great way to add fruit to snacks and meals. They have a longer shelf-life than fresh blueberries, which makes them more convenient as well. We like to add them to oatmeal, cereal, and smoothies!

Blueberries can get a little messy when you're mashing them, but they taste amazing!

Homemade waffles with butter and syrup! Great with coffee or a cold glass of Almond Milk!

TIP: Almond Milk is a great substitute for milk. Original is great in cereal, and the Vanilla flavored is excellent for drinking!
 

Waffles with warm blueberry topping! Yum!

Today's "Saturday Morning Breakfast" was perfect: A quiet, sunny morning. A cool breeze outside with a bright blue sky. The sound of calmness filling the house. The smell of cinnamon coffee, blueberries, and waffles with syrup... And the taste of fresh, buttery, syrupy, waffles, covered in a warm blueberry topping... It was blueberry-tastic!!! What a great way to start the weekend!

Making it My Own

One of my favorite things about cooking is the ability to customize every recipe to make it my own. I try it, change it, retry it, document what I've learned, and then try it again. This process is one of the many things that I love about cooking.   

Whenever I come across a new recipe, whether it's in a book, magazine, online, or from a friend, I always follow the recipe to see how the original recipe tastes. Well, with one exception: I love cinnamon so I tend to add it to most cookies, muffins, and sweet breads--even when they don't call for it. But usually, even with those, I try out the original recipe first.    

Once I've tried the original recipe I make note of what I would like to do differently the next time. This could be cooking it at a certain temperature or time setting, adding or removing ingredients, or even just a note of what to serve with it. There's hardly a time when I have nothing to say about a recipe.      

The next time I cook the recipe I follow my "note to self" and add another note of how it turned out. I also include what I'd like to do the next time. I do this every time I cook or bake so that I'm always improving, and so that the foods come out more and more the way I would like them to. I always leave my previous notes on the recipe and just add the new comments so I can see what I've tried and what I would like to try. By doing this I've found many variations for the dishes and desserts I make. Sometimes I like a recipe just the way it is, or after adjusting one thing I find that it doesn't need anything else. Sometimes I change a recipe a handful of times. Sometimes I change it so much that I have to dial it back to the basics and start the process all over! To me this is part of what makes cooking and baking so much fun!

The last step in my process is that I type up the recipe and add it to my cookbook binder. I have a lot of cookbooks, but I like to keep all of my favorite recipes together in a binder. I also like having the digital copy in case if anyone asks for the recipe or if the printed copy gets ruined. When I type up a recipe I include the original recipe and cite where I got it from, and then I add all of my variations and comments about what I did to personalize it.    

Cooking is a great way to express myself. It is an art, a process, and an adventure. I am always excited to try new recipes, to make changes to them, to document what I've learned, and to try them again! I get excited when others enjoy what I've cooked and am honored when they ask me for the recipe. I will never get tired of taking a good recipe and making it my own.

Apple Bran Muffins with Flax