The Best Fall Dessert!!!

We went to an apple orchard this week and came home with 16 pounds of apples (the kids were in charge of picking)!!! So in my quest to find many ways to use such a large amount of apples, I searched through Allrecipes for the perfect apple crisp. I hate when there is way too much apples and not enough of the yummy crust! This recipe is fabulous!!!! It seriously is the best apple crisp I've ever had and I usually don't like apple crisp. I'll post the recipe with some of the variations that others have made since I thought it turned out so yummy. I like it served a little warm best.

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
2 1/3 C rolled oats (I only had instant oats and it was still great)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 1/2 C butter
3 quarts peeled, cored, sliced apples (I used 2 qts)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Cut butter into mixture until crumbly (I just used my hands).
3. Take half of the mixture and pat it into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
4. Toss apples with cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla. This was a variation suggested by someone and so I just eyeballed how much I needed to add some flavor to the apples.
5. Cover crumb mixture with apple slices, then sprinkle apple slices with remaining crumb mixture.
6. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until apples are tender.

Heavenly Cookies

I got this recipe off of allrecipes (obviously my favorite site). It was rated highly and I wasn't disappointed. They taste like homemade nutter butters...or like girl scout cookies (only better). They are awesome!

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup quick cooking oats
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
2 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream (we used milk and it was fine)

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter or margarine, 1/2 cup peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add egg and beat well.
In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir. Add oatmeal and stir.

Drop by teaspoons onto greased baking sheet, and press each mound down with a fork to form 1/4 inch thick cookies. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 minutes, or until cookies are a light brown.

To Make Filling: Cream 3 tablespoons butter or margarine with the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, and the cream. Spread filling onto half of the cooled cookies, then top with the other half to form sandwiches.

Broiled Parmesan Tilapia

I got this recipe off of Allrecipes.com. I was low on groceries and had some frozen tilapia filets from Costco in my freezer. So we tried this last night and it was really good. Kelsey even ate a whole piece of fish herself. It's super easy and made from other ingredients that you probably have on hand...

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
2 pounds tilapia fillets

DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.

In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.

Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

**** I saw this modification from another person who made this and so I did this as well...I also add 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder and I didn't add any lemon juice and I used low-fat mayo.

Mango Fish Tacos

I love this dish! Even if you don't like fish it is super yummy and doesn't have a fishy taste to it at all. It is really easy to make and if you get the frozen individual wrapped tilapia at Costco you never have to touch the fish. Sorry I don't have a pretty picture. Nice job on the Pics Marisa, it makes me hungry just looking at them.

Ingredients
Salsa:
1 1/2 cups chopped peeled mango
1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper and orange
1/3 cup chopped red onion
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut, toasted
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Fish:
1 pound tilapia fillets or other firm white fish
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
2 tablespoons canola oil
Remaining ingredients:
8 (6-inch) tortillas
2 cups finely shredded red cabbage
8 teaspoons reduced-fat sour cream
8 lime wedges

Preparation
To prepare salsa, combine the first 8 ingredients; let stand 30 minutes.
To prepare fish, place fish in a shallow dish; drizzle with 2 tablespoons juice. Cover and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes, turning fish occasionally.

Remove fish from marinade, discarding marinade; pat fish dry with paper towels. Sprinkle fish with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Dredge fish in panko, gently pressing to adhere. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Cut fish into chunks.
Heat tortillas according to package directions. Divide fish evenly among tortillas. Top each with 1/4 cup cabbage, 1/3 cup salsa, 1 teaspoon sour cream, and 1 lime wedge. Serve immediately.

Yummy brownies

I got this recipe from the blog My Kitchen Cafe. We made these while Bret's parents were in town and they were really good. I wasn't so sure about them at first--but they tasted awesome after sitting in the fridge overnight. They're really good after being chilled thoroughly. So these would be a good one to make a day ahead. I even liked them after they were in our fridge for a week (a rarity for me).

German Chocolate Brownies
from The Lion House Entertaining Cookbook

1 German chocolate cake mix
2/3 cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tub Coconut-pecan frosting (yes, the kind you find above the cake mixes at the store)
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9X13 pan. In a large bowl using a pastry blender, cut in butter with the cake mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press 1/2 the mixture (about 2 1/2 cups) into the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over hot crust. Drop frosting by tablespoonfuls over chocolate chips. Mix 1/4 cup of milk into the remaining cake mix/butter mixture. Stir to combine. Drop this batter by teaspoonfuls over the frosting. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into squares and refrigerate until served. (These brownies really do taste best cool.)

Breadsticks

I made this tonight with our baked spaghetti. I got them off of an awesome recipe blog that a friend of a friend told me about called My Kitchen Cafe (check it out...just click here). They were really good. The dough was really, really sticky and so even as I put them on the cookie sheet (and they were totally sticking to my hands) they didn't look very pretty--but once they rose and baked, they looked good. The recipe also said that they dry out if you use too much flour in them--so I really didn't use very much flour at all in rolling them out. They were easy to make and I'm a total sucker for any type of homemade bread...

Divine Breadsticks

1 ½ cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar3 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
Butter for the pan

Mix all ingredients (except butter) and knead for three minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Melt desired amount of butter on baking pan (the original recipe called for 1 entire stick of butter - that was way too much for my taste - I used four tablespoons). Roll out dough about 1/8-inch thick and cut into strips. Place in butter and put close together. Sprinkle liberally with garlic salt and parmesan cheese. Cover and let rise 30 minutes. Bake 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

Baked Spaghetti

We had the missionaries over for dinner tonight and they raved about this. Now, I take that with a grain of salt really, since they probably feast on ramen noodles most nights. But, nevertheless, this has become a regular at our house and we really like it. It's super easy and a cross between lasagna, spaghetti, and pasta shells.

Baked Spaghetti

Mix these ingredients together and place in a 9x13 baking dish:

12 oz angel hair pasta, cooked
1 egg
1 C parmesan cheese
2 T chopped basil

Mix these together and place on top of the pasta.

1 lb hamburger, cooked
1 (13 oz) container ricotta cheese
2 C grated mozzarella cheese, save ½ C for the top
1 jar pasta sauce

Sprinkle ½ C mozzarella cheese on sauce. Bake at 350 for about 35 min or until the cheese starts to bubble.

**FYI: I usually add a little bit of garlic, brown sugar, and Italian seasoning to the spaghetti sauce--just until it tastes right.