Apple Crisp

Hello!

Oh, my. I apologize for the long hiatus in posting. I just finished my two final exams of the year (yippee!!), so I now have much more time for leisurely activities than before. Thus this post. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I'll catch you up on some of the events in an imminent Life Lately post. :) Until then, I've got a recipe for you! I used a base recipe, but improvised and created on my own. So please give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Apple Crisp

Filling.

1/4 c. maple syrup
1 T. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 lemon
4 apples

Topping.

1 c. almond meal
1/2 c. walnuts (or pecans)
2 T. maple syrup
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 T. coconut oil

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Peel, core and cut the apples.

3.  Add the filling ingredients: maple syrup, cinnamon, sea salt, lemon.

4.  When finished, measure out the almond meal, chopped nuts, and cinnamon and mix. Then add the coconut oil and maple syrup and mix thoroughly. Make sure the coconut oil gets mixed well with the dry ingredients.

5. When the topping is complete, crumble it on top of the filling in an pyrex pan (I used a circular one, but a square would work as well).

6. Bake for 45-60 minutes. You'll have to keep an eye on it. I'm really bad about exact baking times. :P Just make sure the apples are soft and bubbling a bit. If it seems like your apples aren't cooked but your topping is browned, cover it with aluminum foil for the remaining baking time.

7. Serve with whipped cream, ice cream, or coconut cream to dress it up more, or eat it in it's natural state! It's obvious we couldn't wait long. I couldn't even snap a picture of the finished crisp before some was served up.

Notes:

-For mixing the coconut oil, I mostly used my hands. It's usually the easiest way. If you prefer to stick with cooking utensils, I expect a wooden spoon would suffice. The only to avoid is chunks of coconut oil.

-I just poured the ingredients for the filling over the top while the apples were in the pan. Not sure if it's the easiest way, but it seemed most efficient at the time. :P

And here is a printable recipe! Enjoy!!


Love,
Madeleine

Breakfast

So here's one of my favorite sorts of breakfasts. Eggs and scones. I don't have the time I wish I did to make this every morning, but the mornings I can it makes me SO happy. The scones are adapted from elanaspantry.com, and are really delicious. We now have some blanched almond flour, which has been very fun to experiment with. The results are more the consistency of wheat flour, which is nice. Although, for the record, the scones pictured were made with almond meal (un-blanched), which is why they are a bit darker. Either kind works well. 

Here is my adapted recipe of Elana's scones. The eggs were just a smattering of veggies in the fridge. I tried to write some ideas, but I'm afraid they are a bit ambiguous. 

Raisin Scones

2 c. almond flour

1/4 t. sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. raisins
1 egg
2 T. honey or maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 

2. Mix the dry ingredients and raisins in a bowl, and (my time saving idea!) mix the egg and sweetener of choice in the measuring cup with a fork. 

2. Add the wet to the dry and combine the two mixtures well. At first it will seem as though there isn't enough liquid, but if you continue mixing, it will form a moist dough. 

3. Press the dough into a circle, and cut it into wedges. You can then separate the wedge-shaped scones. 

4. Bake for 10-12 minutes, being careful not to let the scones get overly dark. 

Note: 

~In the pictures, I replaced raisins with dried apricot pieces, and dusted the top of the scones with coconut sugar. It was yummy, but I prefer raisins.

~ My favorite variation on this recipe is a combination of golden and purple raisins. Golden raisins are one of my new obsessions. :)

Veggie Scrambled Omelette

Mushrooms

Spinach

Eggs

Truthfully, I have no idea how much I used of these ingredients. I was inspired by a breakfast I had with my cousin a while back. 

I do have one tip on the mushrooms, however. Slice them thinly, and sauté them in coconut oil or butter, letting them get soft, and slightly crispy. Don't move them much, only enough to prevent burning and to turn them. Then they'll be a delicious component to many dishes, in this case my omelette! 

1. Sauté the spinach separately with olive oil. 

2. Make your scrambled eggs, and then fold in the veggies while still warm, adding salt and pepper as desired. It's yummy. 

And there you are! A delicious breakfast for any season of the year. 

With love,

Madeleine


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