Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins #appleweek

*Disclosure: I received product to sample from ­­­­Dreamfarm.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Today is the final day of #appleweek and it is sponsored by Dreamfarm who sent some Levups (self-leveling measuring cups) and Levoons (self-leveling measuring spoons) to help with my baking!

For this recipe, I decided to make a yummy protein muffin for my kids’ after school snacks or cold lunches!

These muffins are so perfect for snacks, with or without chocolate chips.  They are not overly sweet, so I have no problem sending them for lunch either!.

Slow Cooker Honey Apple Pork Roast #appleweek

*Disclosure: I received product to sample from ­­­­­Rainier and Veggie Wash.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Today’s #appleweek recipe is sponsored by Rainier Fruits and they sent a whole box of amazing, delicious hone crisp apples!  So delish!  We ate most of the apples fresh for snacks (and some with some 4 Ingredient Honey Caramel Sauce!) but one was recruited to elevate a pork roast from mundane to super delicious!

Every year I vow to use my slow cooker more often and every year I wonder why I haven’t used it more often.  So on back to school night, I decided to dust off the slow cooker and start out the school year right.  And yup, I haven’t pulled it out again since.  *sigh*  I always forget to thaw the meat and end out slamming out a one skillet meal instead.  Oh well, I can always start in October!

Anyhow, back to the pork roast.

Roasted Beet & Apple Salad #appleweek

*Disclosure: I received product to sample from ­­­­­Casabella.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Today’s #appleweek recipe is sponsored by Casabella who makes all kinds of nifty kitchen gadgets!

You guys, I had never even tried beets (other than in vegetable soup) until a couple years ago when I had a bite of amazing beet salad and fell in love.

The only thing that holds me back is that I’m incredibly lazy about making vinaigrettes.  I like my salads (lettuce salads, pasta salads, beet salads, all of them) dressed very lightly.  So, no matter what, I always end up making way too much vinaigrette and it goes to waste, which drives me crazy.  In fact, I have a tendency to eat my lettuce salads without any dressing at all.

So today I got to thinking…what if I added a sweet component during the roasting process?  Would that be enough to create that sweetness usually added by the vinaigrette, only with the natural juices?

The answer is yes!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes #appleweek

*Disclosure: I received product to sample from ­­­­Rodelle.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Today’s Appleweek post is sponsored by Rodelle who sent some awesome flavorful vanilla & almond extracts!  Fantastic!

Today is also Johnny Appleseed’s Birthday!

Johnny Appleseed one of those interesting figures from history.  Many o the tales of Johnny Appleseed are so embellished that they border on myth, but Johnny Appleseed was a real man by the name of John Chapman.

John Chapman really did plant apple trees back in the early 1800’s as a way pf showing ownership for land (which he then bartered with other settlers in the area).  Though most of Johnny Appleseed’s many many trees were torn down in the 1920’s (to deter people from making illegal hard cider during prohibition), there is still 1 tee in Pennsylvania known as the last living tree planted by Johnny Appleseed himself.  It (like all of Johnny Appleseed’s trees) produces small tart green apples, coined “spitters” back in Johnny Appleseed’s Day.

In honor of Johnny Appleseed’s birthday, I had to make cupcakes (obviously).

Apple-Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal #appleweek

 *Disclosure: I received product to sample from ­­­­­Pyrex and Flavahan's Oatmeal.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Today’s #appleweek recipe is sponsored by Flavahan’s Oatmeal and Pyrex.

I was so excited to combine oatmeal and apples for this event!  And once I saw the absolutely gorgeous pie plate from Pyrex, I knew that I wanted to try my hand at another delicious baked oatmeal!

I was a oatmeal hater until I stumbled upon a fantastic baked pumpkin spice oatmeal a couple years ago (it’s a texture thing).  Then I created a salted caramel mocha version last year (drool), so I wanted to pull back and make a “not stuffed with chocolate” version this year.

Welcome to #AppleWeek 2017!

Welcome to #AppleWeek 2017!

This week is a celebration on all things apple!  Carlee from Cooking with Carlee is our wonderful host plus, we’ve got some amazing sponsors who are giving away some super amazing prize packs! 

So scroll through, take a look at the prizes, enter the giveaway, and stay tuned for all sorts of amazing apple recipes this week!

Prize Pack #1 from Rodelle:

A baker's dream come true! This delicious prize pack includes premium vanilla products, gourmet dutch-processed cocoa and specialty extracts. Items include: Pure Vanilla Extract, Gourmet Dutch-Processed Baking Cocoa, Gourmet Vanilla Extract, Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans, Organic Vanilla Extract, Organic Chocolate Extract, Almond Extract, Vanilla Paste, and some fun baking supplies to whip up your next batch of goodies with! Prize Pack #2 from Dreamfarm and Casabella:

Items include: a 2 'n 1 veggie brush a clip n strip shears a set up levups a set of levoons

Prize Pack #3 from Flahavan's Irish Oatmeal:

A goodie basket of Flahavan's items

Prize Pack #4 from Pyrex and Chicago Cutlery:

A Prime™ by Chicago Cutlery® 7 Slot Digital Tablet Holder Block

Prize Pack #5 from Rainier Fruit:

A prize pack from Rainier Fruit including a box of freshly farvested Rainier Fruit apples, a stainless steel apple slicer, apple corer, "Baked with Love" ceramic pie pan, copper apple loaf pan and a $25 Williams Sonoma gift card!

Prize Pack #6 from Veggie Wash:

A prize pack from Veggie Wash

a Rafflecopter giveaway

4-Ingredient Honey Caramel Sauce

Welcome to this month Fantastical Food Fight, hosted by Sarah at A Fantastical Sharing of Recipes!  This month’s theme is honey!

There are many directions to take with this amazing ingredient!  I love it!

Ultimately, I was reminded of a honey caramel ice cream topping I had once and was determined to try to replicate it!

When I found a recipe for a super easy 4-ingredient caramel sauce, I knew I had to try it!

The caramel sauce wasn’t quite what I had in mind when I set out – it is even better!  It has an intense toffee flavor that has me licking spoonfuls of the stuff!  It is so decadent!  It is phenomenal drizzled on ice cream or apple slices!

Quick & Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup #SoupSwappers

Soup Saturday is up again and yours truly is hosting!

Since school and fall activities started up just a few short weeks ago, I thought “Quick Weeknight Soups” would be a great theme for this month!

Even though my boys are still in elementary school, some evenings get so hectic!  Going back to working part time should help alleviate some of the craziness, but I know there will still be nights when fast meals will be a must!

I’ve made a couple versions of Chicken Tortilla Soup over the years, and while I love the fresh tomatoes version, it is a bit more time consuming.

This version (which also includes some beans for heartiness) is on the table in 15 minutes.  It is lightning fast but super delicious and flavorful!

Grecian Chicken & Orzo

One skillet meal time again!  Don’t you just love these?  Fewer dirty pans and the meals are always crazy fast and super delicious!  This one is not different!

Tomatoes, mushrooms, lemon, and olives make up the flavor profile of this dish and it’s absolutely stunning.  Even people are aren’t very keen on olives (read: my entire family) with enjoy this time (they’ll just pass on the garnish thankyouverymuch).

Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry

Stir Fry is always a big hit in my house.  I love it because it is packed full of veggies yet so flavorful that the kids eat them all up without complaint.  

Actually, I take that back, Spud is slowly convincing himself that mushrooms make him gag because they don’t taste like anything.  Except, of course, for the ones he mistakes as chicken and eats without issue.  Ummm…ok.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Skillet #InternationalBaconDay

Ok, so Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta salad is a delicious summertime staple, whether you buy it at the grocery store or make it yourself (note to self: umm…get on that).  So why not make a tasty, quick, one skillet dinner version? 

Especially when it’s International Bacon Day?  Heyo! Why not indeed?

This was also one of those “I took chicken out of the freezer this morning, now what?” moments when I walked into the kitchen at 5:00 with no plan whatsoever.

I tossed the chicken in the pan to start cooking and started rooting through the refrigerator.  When I came across some leftover bacon (don’t ask me how leftover bacon managed to happen – I have no idea), an idea started forming and Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Skillet is where it ended up about a half hour later!