Quick and Easy Apple Crisp

So, I had a bag of apples in my crisper drawer.  They had been in there for over a month and we kept forgetting they were in there.  I decided to get them out, cut them open and see if they had gone soft.  They hadn't!  Yay!  I pulled out my Kindle Fire (love that gadget!) and Googled low-fat apple crisp recipe.  After sifting through TONS of recipes, I decided to make up my own.  Yeah, dangerous, I know.  Here's what I came up with:

Filling
7 cups peeled apples, thinly sliced (if you want more fiber, by all means, leave the peeling on)
2 Tbs whole wheat flour
2 Tsp cinnamon (you can use allspice, clove, nutmeg, whatever you like)
1/3 cup sugar (or your favorite substitute)

Topping
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1/4 cup brown sugar (or your favorite substitute)
1 Tbs whole wheat flour
1/4 cup butter (or substitute), cut into small peices
1 Tsp cinnamon

For filling, mix flour, cinnamon and sugar; then toss with apple slices.  Put filling into a 2-quart baking dish.

For topping, mix dry ingredients; then cut butter into dry ingredients using a pastry blender, fork or two knives.

Sprinkle topping over apples and bake for 55 minutes at 350 degrees.

This makes approximately 6 servings with 350 calories and 8.5 grams of fat.

It smelled SO good while it was cooking and was yummy.  I upped the fat content by making fresh whip cream using heavy cream, vanilla and a little bit of sugar.

Before topping is added.

With topping (forgot to get picture after it browned).

So, do you have a favorite apple crisp recipe?  Share it in the comments or if you make this recipe, let me know how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Six Things I Love {Late Spring Edition}

It is late Spring here in Arkansas (and we are actually having a Spring this year) and if all goes as planned I plan, it will not get mega-hot until the middle of Summer {read: July}.  As we are enjoying the beautiful weather and lack of mosquitos, I present 6 things I love inspired by our late Spring.


1.  The garden really showing off.

2.  Strappy cotton sundresses.

3.  Fireflies!

4. Tiger lilies in the ditches.

5.  Watching my son ride on the 4-wheeler with his Pop.

6.  Longer days with beautiful pink light.

What do you enjoy most about this time of year?  Is it specific to where you live?  Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for stopping by,
~Natosha~

Asian Lettuce Wraps

About a year ago I was watching FoodTV and there was a mention of Asian Lettuce Wraps and I had always wanted to try them, SO, I went to allrecipes.com and found this recipe that sounded good.  I made them for my hubby and they quickly became a favorite.  I later cooked them for my in-laws and they also loved them.  The recipe was submitted by Rachel Castro and you can find her recipe here.  The only modification I made was to use fresh ginger instead of the pickled and for heat I use Siracha (beware:  this stuff isn't tame).

Here is what I use:

Brown and drain your meat:

Cook onions thru Siracha:

Add the rest of your ingredients:

Grab a lettuce leaf, fill it with the mixture and yummy!

INGREDIENTS:
1 head Boston Bibb or Butter lettuce, leaves separated
1 lb lean ground beef
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 (8 oz) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 tsp sesame oil

DIRECTIONS:
1.  Rinse and pat dry lettuce leaves.  Set aside.

2.  In a medium skillet, over high heat, brown ground beef in oil, stirring often and reducing heat if needed.  Drain and set aside to cool.

3.  Cook onion in the same pan, stirring often.  Once onions have softened, ass the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar and Siracha.  Stir until combined.

4.  Stir in water chestnuts, green onions, sesame oil and cooked beef.  Continue cooking until the green onions just begin to wilt.

5.  Arrange lettuce leaves around the edge of a large platter and pile the meat mixture in the center.  To serve, place desired amount of meat mixture onto the lettuce leaf, wrap like a burrito and enjoy!
I like to serve these with rice or buckwheat soba noodles.  If I'm feeling industrious, I will also make a quick hot and sour soup.

This is a versatile recipe.  You can use just about any ground meat or a vegetarian crumble. You can adjust the heat level by using your favorite hot sauce, or leave it out.  I really suggest not leaving the water chestnuts out.  You really need the crunch they give the dish.  But the flavors are so good that if you happen to hate them, you won't lose anything flavor-wise by leaving them out.  Let me know if you try it and if you like it.

Thanks for stopping by!