Putting Mothers Everywhere Out of Business…

I think each time I make this apple dumpling recipe; I cause a rift in someone’s family. Of course, I can’t take all the credit—I got the recipe from Pioneer Woman. EVERYONE asks me for the recipe, and everyone whose mother has an apple dumpling recipe admits (rather shamefully) that they like this recipe better! Plus, it’s really easy, and it has a super secret ingredient. Well, not all that secret, I guess, since you’ll get to see what it is in the recipe below. It’s more of a surprise.

When I make these, I don’t even have time to get out the camera to take a picture! So, I borrowed one from PW. I hope she doesn't mind. :)

Pioneer Woman’s Apple Dumplings

Ingredients:

2 granny smith apples

2 cans refrigerated crescent roll dough

2 sticks butter

1 cup sugar

12 oz. can Mountain Dew

cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350, and grease a 9x13 pan.

2. Peel and core apples, cut each apple into 8 wedges.

3. Open the packages of crescent roll dough, and separate into triangles.

4. Wrap one wedge of apple in each triangle of dough, and line them up in the baking dish.

5. Melt the two sticks of butter in a small saucepan. When the butter is all the way melted, add the sugar and just barely stir it. Pour the butter and sugar mixture over the dumplings in the pan.

6. Pour the can of Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan.

7. Sprinkle with cinnamon to your taste. I used quite a bit!

8. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the dough on top is golden brown.

9. Serve dumplings with some of the sauce from the pan and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

10. Enjoy!!!

Yes, the secret to this recipe is Mountain Dew. It sounds strange, I know. People that hate Mountain Dew can’t taste it in this recipe, so don’t let that stop you from trying it. The one exception to this is my husband (and Mountain Dew hater), who after seeing me add it to the pan, tries the apple dumplings and says they’re “just ok.” He claims—no, insists—that he likes the other recipe I made better. Which other recipe? Oh…it’s the same one; he just didn’t see me add the Mountain Dew last time. He swears it’s a different recipe, but unless I was cooking in my sleep at some point, this is the only kind of apple dumpling I’ve ever made. And they’re really, really delicious.

By the way, I don’t think I’ve made one Pioneer Woman recipe yet that I haven’t liked. So, if you go check it out, you’ll find some good stuff. These sandwiches are to die for! The cheesy scrambled eggs were a big hit with my husband and my mother-in-law. The cookies with Reese’s Cups were a big hit at my Uppercase Living party. The next thing I’m going to make are the jalapeno thingies, only I’m going to do them on the grill like Jason and Annemarie! By the way, never make these--you'll get hooked on them. They're like crack...

On a totally different subject, I am loving our new grill! It came to us because of the lovely refund we received from the Indiana Department of Revenue, and it’s been used every day since Tracy put it together. Tonight, though, it got a break, since we went out for a quick dinner before our small group. We went to the new Mexican restaurant in Northwood (between Penn Station and the post office); I think it's called Casa Grande. It was dee-lish! We'll definitely be going back there soon.

EASY & DELICIOUS: Peanut Butter Pie

It was my turn to take the treat to our Bible Study on Monday, and I had no idea what I wanted to make. I did know that I wasn't excited about turning on the oven. I looked around on Allrecipes.com, and found a recipe for no-bake peanut butter pie. I read the reviews and changed it up a little, and it turned out great! Here's a picture:


Everyone thought I bought it at the store, which I'm pretty sure was a compliment. Then, when they found out I actually made it, they all asked for the recipe! This recipe makes 2 pies, which is fine because you can just store the extra one in the freezer until you need it. Unfortunately, I don't have any left, so I guess I'll have just have to make it again! Here's the recipe, with my tweaks.

Easy No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie

8 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used light)
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup milk
2 prepared 9 inch Oreo pie crusts
2 16 oz containers whipped topping, thawed (I used light)
8 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped

Mix cream cheese and confectioner's sugar. Add peanut butter and milk and stir until smooth. Fold in 1 container of whipped topping. Divide the mixture into the two pie crusts, and put the pies in the freezer to set for at least 15 minutes. Then, top the pies with the remaining container of whipped topping and sprinkle with the chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Cover the pies and freeze them until you're ready to serve.

Lemon Bars!

No, I haven't forgotten about my blog! I've been busy trying to win something on Tip Junkie's 20 Day Giveaway. I'm really getting some good gift ideas. If I don't win, at least I'll have a long list of places to do my Christmas shopping!

Oh, and I've also been working on our church's float for the Three Rivers Festival Parade. I'll post those pictures in a couple of days. The parade is on Saturday, and we just have a few days to finish up the details. The parade theme this year is "Happy 40th Birthday" because it's the 40th year for the festival. Our float is a piece of cake...and no, that's not meant to be a pun!

In the meantime, I'm posting a recipe I made for Bible Study this week. I found it on Allrecipes. I'm posting the recipe the way I made it, and they were yummy. I wasn't feeling well when I made them, so I got this picture from Allrecipes, too.


Lemon Square Bars

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (the original recipe said to sift the flour, but I skipped that part)
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons, and it was tart--just the way I like)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together 2 cups of flour and the confectioner's sugar. Blend in the melted butter. (Note: Apparently I wasn't paying attention, and I used softened butter instead. It worked out fine, because I made the dough in my KitchenAid mixer.) Press dough evenly into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden.

In a large bowl (I used the KitchenAid again), beat eggs until light. Stir white sugar and remaining 1/4 cup flour into the eggs, making sure there are no lumps. Finally, stir in the lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust and return pan to the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the lemon filling is set.

Cool completely (seriously, you have to wait!) before cutting into bars. Sprinkle with additional confectioner's sugar, if desired. Makes 24 bars.

Crockpot Recipe - Salsa Chicken

I found this recipe at Lauren's Kitchen, and I decided to give it a try. We're always rushing on Monday evenings, so it's nice to have something ready to eat when I get home from work. I especially love that the recipe calls for FROZEN chicken breasts. How much easier can it be? My husband said we need to have chips with it next time, because it needed a little crunch. I guess that means he liked it!

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, frozen
• 1 envelope of taco seasoning
• 1 cup fresh salsa
  
• 1 can of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Place chicken in crockpot. Sprinkle taco seasoning over the chicken. In a bowl, combine the salsa and the soup, pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Just before serving, stir in the sour cream. Serve with rice or tortillas.

I didn't have any fresh salsa in the fridge, so I just used what I had in a jar in the fridge. I think fresh would've made it better, so I'll make sure I make some up to use when I want to have this again. I used cream of mushroom soup, because we like mushrooms at our house, and I used reduced fat sour cream. I served it over steamed white rice, and I added corn and black beans to the rice because I thought it sounded good. I sprinkled some shredded colby jack over the top and added a spoonful of sour cream. Yum!