Applesauce Raisin Chews

A couple weeks ago I listed a few of my favorite things and under the scoop I talked about a messy but good cookie.  I promise I didn’t forget about you and you won’t forget about this yummy cookie recipe.  I doubled the recipe because I was making them for Taylor’s soccer snack and wanted to make sure there were plenty for me at home.  Plus you need enough for sampling while the others are cooking.  Isn’t that the perk of being the cookie maker??? 

Guess what.. I even took some fancy phone pictures of the process for you too. 

Applesauce Raisin Chews

• 1 c margarine, softened
• 1 c brown sugar
• 1 c applesauce
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 c flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 ½ c quick or old fashioned oats
• 1 c raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat margarine and sugar until creamy. Add applesauce, egg, and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add combined flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; mix well. Stir in oats and raisins.

(see why I need the scoop to get this gooey mess out)

Drop by rounded tablespoonful's onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 11 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cook 1 minute on cookies sheet. Remove to wire rack; cool. Store covered at room temperature.

 

I apologize for the ‘I was taking pictures at midnight’ lighting but I wanted you to see that these cookies turn out like.  They are messy looking but very yummy. 

Friday Favorites

I've found a few things lately that make my life easier, were great finds, or things that I almost couldn't live without right now and thought I would share them. I have found some of my greats from others and hopefully you will find my list helpful too.

1. Chris introduced me to the Contigo stainless steel mugs about 9 months ago and they are great for my coffee. Does anyone else have a problem with brewing a cup of coffee but then it is luke warm or even cold by the time you get a sip? If you do, then you are problem the mom of little ones too. I love them because they do the best job at keeping your drinks hot or cold and don't sweat or leak. Believe me when I say they don't leak, because time and again I throw it in my purse as I'm running out the door. No free hands when you are trying to chase down a very busy toddler from running in the street. I'm a bit OCD, so Chris and I each have our own for coffee and then I have two for water. You can find then at Target for around $20, but even better is that Costco has a two pack for $15.99 right now. Trust me when I say you won't regret this purchase. Being able to enjoy hot coffee 2 hours after you brew it will be worth every penny.

2. I am a great lover of Amazon and being able to have everything from diapers to books to laundry detergent arriving on my doorstep in two days and not dragging two kids out to the store. So when they send me various emails about new books I usually glance over them, delete, and then move on with the craziness of our house. A few weeks ago, a list of great Halloween books caught my eye and I started shopping. Room on the Broom is the cutest book for kids and does a great job about reinforcing manners(aka please and thank you) without being obnoxious. Yes we have that Polite Princess book that wholly consists of reminding kids of polite manners and it is not this at all. Room on the Broom is a cute story and both my girls ask for it all the time now.  I was in Target yesterday and they also carry this book.

3. With two kids, going out to eat is not an great experience so I try to cook more. I've even started planning out dinners a month at a time and find it saves lots of stress and helps plan grocery shopping. I wish I was better at taking cute pictures and showing you great recipes from my kitchen, but most of the time I have Lizzie screaming at my feet while I'm trying to keep her from reaching in the oven and no one wants to see those pictures. Instead, I'm going to direct you to the best soup recipe that Annalee did a great job of taking pictures of. Chris has become a bit skeptical of my pinterest recipes since we've had a few flops but he is open to anything I say is from Annalee. He is constantly tells all his friends about meat cupcakes and how they are one of his favorite dinners. I get some weird questions from other wives wanting to know what "meat cupcakes" are and why their husbands are bugging them to get the recipe. If you haven't made them, do it. And then plan to make her potato soup too. Both easy dinners that now have a place in our dinner rotation. And no, our kids don't eat the dinners either, but that just means there is plenty of leftovers for us.

4. Scarves are one of my new favorite accessories. They are so great for Texas weather that can be cold in the morning and scorching hot in the afternoon. An easy way to pull together jeans and a simple t-shirt to make everyone think you put lots of thought into your outfit. Plus when was the last time you had to worry about a scarf not fitting(like your jeans from last fall that you swore fit when you put them away in the spring)??? My personal favorite style right now is the infinity scarf. It's the loop one that looks like a giant circle. Just loop it around your neck twice and pull the layers a bit to adjust to your liking, fluff and your done. It really is that simple. I have a turquoise one that I got at Sam Moon for less than $10. I am tempted to go back and get a few more colors. I am really into the look of navy and lime green right now, so I think I need a lime green one to go with some of my navy cardigans.

 

5. I had to bring snack for Taylor’s soccer game this week.  It is still weird to me that I truly am a soccer Mom(minus the minivan).  It was an evening game so I was trying to think of something that wouldn’t be too sugary since most kids wouldn’t eat dinner until after the game.  I ended up making Applesauce Raisin cookies(stay tuned for the recipe bc I actually took a few photos for you).  The problem was that the dough is crazy sticky and the idea of scooping the dough seemed like a big mess until I remembered my Mom giving me this great scoop for Christmas.  It was awesome and made for the perfect cookie size without ending up with dough all over my hands.  Lots of stores sell similar items, so you don’t necessarily need to buy Pampered Chef, but I promise this will be my new favorite kitchen tool with all the cookie baking coming up with the holidays. 

What are your favorite items or things that have made your life easier right now?

Breadcrumb Fried Okra

Growing up I loved going to my grandmother's house in the summer because it meant that we would come home with a box full of home grown okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and onions. My mom would slice and fry up the goodies for dinner that night. I can still remember stealing cucumber slices off the cutting board before they ever made it to a plate. In our house the okra was coated with corn meal(plus a touch of sugar) and deep fried until golden brown and the tomatoes received a sprinkle of sugar. Might sound weird to put sugar on sliced tomatoes, but try it and then tell me I'm odd. As I've gotten more comfortable with cooking, I started to scour the produce section at the grocery store for okra, only to be let down by a small basket of maybe 10 pods for $4 or $5. This price killed me when I remember okra stalks so tall my grandmother had to get a ladder to pick the top.

Fast forward to a few years ago when I decided that I wanted to try my own hand at a garden. I had kept a few plants alive and Chris was sweet enough to encourage my brown thumb. I arrived home from a weekend away with Taylor to find that he had built me a raised garden bed. In this part of Texas you dig 6 inches down and hit solid limestone. Plus he wanted to give our veggies a fighting chance against the fire ant population. Taylor and I picked out a few seed packets, ignored spacing instructions, and planted away. Taylor was so excited to grow corn on the cob and I was looking forward to my okra, cantaloupe, cucumbers, bell peppers, jalapeños, and onions.

Within a few weeks we started to see little green plants sprout up and we continued to watch each day. Luckily, Chris knew I was not great at remembering to water plants and set up a timed sprinkler on the garden. We did get some goodies from the garden that year but also learned a lot. The seed companies know what they are doing when they tell you how far apart to plant veggies. Cantaloupe and cucumbers next to each other make for a viney mess. Okra plants get very tall so plant them at the end and make sure that you can reach the back of them when it comes time to pick while the plants are very tall. Being short adds to this problem. The okra did great and I learned to pick before they got too big or they would get hard and unedible. I would wash, slice, and freeze them as I picked them. This way I could save up enough to cook at one time. I ended up with almost 8 gallons of okra that summer from a $0.99 seed packet that produced two plants. I considered it a HUGE success. We also ended up with a few cantaloupes and plenty of cucumbers to enjoy with lunch all summer long. We picked four or five corn cobs and then the stalks died. Nothing else grew that summer, but I was pretty happy with what we got.

Last year only the okra survived the awful Texas drought/heat. Last year Chris added on another raised bed since we had the room and I learned that I needed to space a little better. This year I went in with a plan and put taller plants mixed with the viney ones. I planted corn in the same area as summer squash(the green variety) and cucumbers, okra, and bell peppers in the other garden bed. This has proved to be a good plan of attack so far. I went out yesterday to see how my little garden was doing and this is what I saw.

 

Guess I need to be checking more often now that flowers are all over my squash and cucumber plants. I am 5'1 and the corn plants are officially taller than me. I wonder how tall they get? Our garden is in a side yard that we use to store the ladder and other miscellaneous stuff. It's not a pretty part of the yard, but a great place to grow my veggies.  Each of those yellow flowers show where a squash will grown soon.  My sister-in-law says you can eat these.  Not really on my list of things to cook but I’ll share them with anyone who wants them.  Just tell me how to get them off safely for you and how to store them until you eat/cook.

 

Did you know that cucumbers can grow hanging?  The lattice work behind the right bed is for the cucumber vine to grow up.  Their vines have the little curly q’s like ivy that will help them attach to the lattice with a little encouragement.  The plus of this is so that I can see where the ready cucumbers are and you don’t end up with a yellow side on your vegetable that often comes from laying in damp soil.

 

(those are tiny okra buds if you’ve never seen an okra plant)

And this is what I picked. I left my lotion and soap in the picture for comparison.  This squash was huge and there is a small cucumber hiding behind it.  The smaller squash is still bigger than what you get at the grocery store.

I cooked up the giant squash last night and it was so nice to cook fresh from the garden. It was so really sweet and the perfect tenderness for squash. Since it won't be long before the okra starts to fill my freezer again, I figured I would cook up my last bag from last year. I love fried okra, but the batter and fried part are not so great on a regular basis. Plus it kind of defeats the purpose of vegetables if you constantly fry them in oil. I found a recipe for an alternative fried okra, tweaked it to fit our taste buds and here it is for you. We like to have it as a side with Zatarain's jambalaya. I even use turkey smoked sausage links in the rice to lessen the calories.

Breadcrumb Fried Okra

• 2-4 cups sliced okra
• 1/2 c zesty bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/4 c shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp. grapeseed or olive oil(we like grapeseed since it tends to have a lighter flavor than olive oil)

Warm oil in frying pan. Add okra.

Cook 5-8 minutes or until tenderness you like. I throw mine in still a little frozen and just cook a little longer. About half way through cooking, add seasoning. Continue to stir while cooking. Once at tenderness you like, add bread crumbs. I don't measure out the breadcrumbs anymore, but just add a little at a time until I get them coated. If your family doesn't like spice, then you might want to opt for regular breadcrumbs. Now sprinkle in the cheese, stir around to let it melt in and serve.

This actually reheats pretty well too if you have any leftovers, but we rarely do so I don't get to test this out very often.

If you are an okra lover like me, I hope you give this recipe a try. I still love my mom's fried okra, but my waistline appreciates this version a lot better. How do you cook your okra?