Homemade Applesauce: 3 Ways

Our apple picking days are almost over here in New England. Luckily, I went a couple times this season -- first a few weeks ago as a work outing -- apple picking and local fruit wines! Yum! I ended up with tons of apples because my co-worker doesn't like apples, so she gave them to me (whaaat??? weird, right???  but it worked to my benefit!). I made tons of applesauce with these!


Me and my girl Brie! (photo courtesy of Tracy Torteson)

 

So pretty

Pumpkin Donuts

Yay for fall! Fall in New England means apple-picking, beautiful hiking, and of course, everything PUMPKIN!!! I had not made these donuts since last fall and the kids were begging for them. Sorry, but the pumpkin donuts at  a certain coffee chain, are no comparison. These are fresh, full of flavor and best when enjoyed warm from the oven. We baked them before meeting some friends for a hike and all the kids loved them. I know you're thinking, ugh -- I do not want another specialty baking pan, but I do recommend using a donut pan for that perfect crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside donut. You can also bake as mini-muffins (similar to donut holes). I did both and the kids (and moms) enjoyed them all!

 

Meal Plan of the Week and a Giveaway!!!

Hey guys!!! After a very busy weekend, I am finally taking a minute to sit and write the meal plan for you...I also have a fun Giveaway with Leaf and Love Organic Lemonade, so make sure to enter! Apparently the boys had so much fun helping with the meal plan last week, they wanted to each pick a meal for this week. Colin asked for chili (again) and Evan asked for homemade pizza, so I made sure to include their choices.

 

Homemade Pizza Buns

So, confession -- if you ask my 6 year old what his favorite food is -- "Bagel Bites" will be his answer. (Followed by "spicy sushi and kale chips, so not entirely terrible), but how embarrassing --I'm the freakin' Fresh Mama and my kid wants Bagel Bites? What the heck?!

He first encountered Bagel Bites at a friend's house 2 years ago and has had a mild obsession with them since. Can't make a trip to the grocery store without him begging for them, and I admit I have succumbed to the pressure a couple times. I even tried one. once. Ok, if you are a fan of cardboard, with bland tomato sauce and flavorless grated cheese then go ahead and buy Bagel Bites. Buutttt, if you want a easy bite-size pizza snack, with homemade ingredients where you control the flavors, then make some Homemade Pizza Buns! If making everything from scratch doesn't work for you, then pick up some pizza dough and premade sauce at the store. No judgement here - do what works for you.

Meal Plan of the Week

Hi Guys! I hope you are having a nice relaxing weekend and possibly a three day weekend. The weather here in Massachusetts has been amazing -- so I'm hoping for a Columbus Day hike tomorrow. If you follow my FB pages, you may have known my little guy was super sick last week (no worries, back up to his old monkey-tricks now) --- thankfully I had most of the meals made ahead of time from last week's meal plan. It was a total life-saver as I worked from home and took care of him and only lit a fire under me to make sure I am on top of things this week, as well. Lucky for me, I had a little extra help in the meal planning this week, since the kids decided they would help me out and wrote up this week's meal plan for me:

Kohlrabi Fritters with Sour Cream Chive Sauce

Have you tried a kohlrabi? I cannot tell you how many friends have opened up their CSA box and quickly texted me a photo asking "What the heck is THIS?". Arguably one of the most daunting items found in your CSA box, the kohlrabi is in the brassica family (broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, etc.) Over the years I have embraced this funny-looking veggie and love it prepared a few ways. You can eat it many ways, raw, or cooked. Sliced in salads or slaws, roasted or added to stir-fry. This summer, I decided to try out fritters for the first time... My first batch was ok, but a little bland. Then this week, I decided to try to throw a few flavors together --chives from my CSA box and corn meal from a local farm -- and holy wow! They were amaaaazing!The hub loved the fritters and the sauce, oh, you will definitely need to make the sauce. Plus, I can confirm, they are delicious as leftovers!

 

 

 

Meal Plan of the Week and Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Hi friends! My apologies, I've been a lazy blogger this past week -- didn't write one blog post, but I'm back and ready to share my meal plan for this week. After a week or so of not trying one new recipe, I was so looking forward to some time in the kitchen today. You see, I never thought of myself as a creative person --cannot carry a tune, cannot draw much more than a stick figure, but as an adult, I realized my artistic talents lie in the kitchen. I desperately needed some "kitchen therapy" today and I'm so glad I could be productive and try out some new recipes at the same time.

 

This upcoming week is going to be a little nuts. As if I wasn't busy enough, I have been called for jury duty. Yup, at almost 38 years of age, they finally found me -- must be the fact that after moving 9 times in the 10 or so years after college, we finally settled down here for the past 6 years. So, I have no clue how this will impact my week. I decided the best course of action was to get a week's worth of meals made and really, no downside to that -- I hear best case scenario will be getting dismissed early in the day, but if not, the meals are ready to go!