Bite Size Apple Pies

Scott & I bought a bushel of apples a week ago and as much as Scott likes apples, I don't eat enough to help him out.  Apples can last about a month, but I'm sure that we won't eat them fast enough before they might start to go bad.  What do you do with apples that you can't or don't want to eat raw? You bake with them! 

I like apple pie, I really do.  I just don't enjoy making apple pie as much.  I made an apple pie from scratch for Thanksgiving last year and it took longer than I thought and didn't turn out as well as I wanted it too.  With Kylie, the night is when I have time to spend with her since during the day I am at school.  I don't want half of my night to be spent making an apple pie.  So, I looked though my pinterest boards and never fail, I found these Bite Size Apple Pies!!

I had all the ingredients on hand to make them and I even made them while wearing Kylie in the baby carrier.  It was that easy.  It took about 30 minutes start to finish.  Super easy and delicious straight from the oven with a scoop or two of ice cream.

Bite Size Apple Pies

Ingredients:

1 (Tart) Apple Slice
3 Heaping Tbsp. Brown Sugar (I didn't really measure. I just spread brown sugar on the crescent roll out of the bag)
2 Tbsp. Cinnamon ( I used a homemade Cinnamon-Sugar Mix)
1 Tbsp. Melted Butter

Directions:

1.Preheat Oven to 350˚
2. Roll out the dough on a greased cookie sheet, brush with butter and sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on individual pieces of dough.
3. Roll up an apple slice in the dough forming a crescent, brush with melted butter and top with cinnamon.  Repeat for others.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350˚.
5. Remove from oven, filling will be hot!

High Five for Friday

I haven't done one of these in a while, so here we go.

1. Scott made me lunch to take to work the other day.  He packed it after I had gone to bed, so I didn't have any say on what went in it.  When I got into my lunch, this is what I saw. It made me smile and laugh and made lunchtime so much better.  My husband really does have a good sense of humor.

2. On Wednesday, My sister-in-law Brita called up and asked if I wanted to come to her enrichment activity. I follow this blog called Jamie Cooks It Up. I knew that she lived in Herriman, I just didn't know how close she lived to Brita. Some people in her ward knew her and asked her to show how to make rolls since Thanksgiving is coming up. She showed how to make these frozen butter flake rolls that are pretty good! You can make a big batch and freeze for up to a month, but they do take 3-5 hours to rise, so you do have to plan for that. They aren't ones you can take straight from the freezer to the oven. I'll have to try them sometime because it would be nice to have rolls you can take out early in the day and be ready by dinner time.  It was fun to meet and talk with her.  

3. It's been a little busy this week, so yesterday I was as finally able to catch up on some of my T.V. shows. Kylie just sat on my lap watching them with me.  I hope she wants to cuddle with me as she gets older. I loved just sitting there holding my baby.

4. I've gone out walking a few times with Kylie now.  Sometimes it's hard to get up and go because I am tired when I get home from school and just want to take a nap.  I have enjoyed it though because it's allowed me to explore my neighborhood a bit more and let me tell you, it is huge!  I never realized how big the neighborhood is we live in.  Kylie also likes the walks too. I try to go when she's already asleep so I don't have to worry about her crying the whole time.  Just yesterday, she was awake for about half the walk just chilling and then fell right to sleep. I think the bouncing from the sidewalk puts her to sleep.

5. I put up my Halloween decorations last week. I don't have a lot at the moment, but I do like the ones I have now.  I also have fall decor that I will stick up once Halloween is over. It's amazing how big a house can feel when you're trying to decorate it because you hope you have enough that's going to be noticeable.

To My Postpartum Self

1. Accept your body for what it is right now.

          For some reason, you forget that it took 9 months to make the baby and so your body will not bounce back right away after having it.  It will take time for everything to adjust back to normal.  If I want to have the body I had before, it will take effort to get there.  If I am unhappy with my body, it is my fault.  Just remember that you are beautiful and your husband thinks so too.

2. Becoming a mother takes time.

            You will not be a perfect mother right away.  It will take a lot of learning to become the right mom for my baby.  Do your best to not compare yourself to others as nobody is perfect. Wisdom will come with time as well as becoming the best mom you want to be.

3. Being a teacher should be your second job.

             Teaching is a job that you have enjoyed so far.  However, my baby should always come first and being stressed about my job will not help in taking care of her.  Know that this job is only temporary and that working now will help you reach your ultimate goal of staying at home.

4. The postpartum baby blues can happen to you.

             No matter how great you feel, there will be days when you will feel down.  It is okay to be emotional and cry.  There is no reason to feel bad about being sad.  Becoming a parent is such a huge change that will take time to get used to.  Give yourself that time and don't bottle your emotions. Lean on your husband for support. And cry on his shoulder as much as you want.

5. Make sure to take time for yourself.

              It is just as important to care of yourself as you do for your baby.  Find something that will help you relax and be happy, whatever it may be.  Don't lose who you are in the process of becoming a mom.  Your family will thank you.

6. Don't forget about your husband.

              Your new baby is fun and cute and so is your husband.  Make sure he knows you love him just as much now as before the baby.  Don't put him on the back burner.  Try to go out on dates to have one-on-one time with him.  Tell him you love him everyday.

7. Keep up with the blog.

               You will thank yourself for continuing with the blog.  You will cherish the memories you took the time to write down.  It is okay that it is your form of journal writing because it is better than nothing. Write in it as often as you can.

8. Have a Christ centered home. 

                Having a baby does make a shift in your priorities, but don't let the gospel be one that slips down.  Go to church as often as you can and for as long as you can.  Even if you sit in the foyer, it's okay.  You don't want to forget how important it is to go to church.  Always remember to pray and lean on God for support.

9. Take a lot of pictures.

                Pictures provide memories for you and for future generations.  Pictures will give a glimpse into your life and who was involved in it.  You can never have too many pictures.  Always have a camera with you as you never know when there will be a picture-worthy opportunity.

10. Enjoy the every-day little things.

                   As fun as it is to go out and do activities, the best times will be in your home.  Cherish the cuddles and time spent with just you, your husband and baby.  Those moments will go by faster than you think.  Live in the present and love it.

Kylie's 2 Months

Kylie is two months already!  She has grown so much.  She actually celebrated her two month anniversary on October 11 by coming to school with me!  For some reason, 8th graders now have to take a practice ACT test, which I think is crazy.  Because of that, our school had to make a weird block schedule and on Friday, I only had one class to teach in the morning.  It was an 8th grade class, so I also only had half of my students in class while the other half was testing.  Scott worked the night before and it just made more sense for her to come with me for a short time rather than Scott taking care of her and risking not getting good sleep.

Kylie was great and slept the whole time my class was going on.  She woke up after class was over needing to be fed.  After I fed her, I walked around showing her off to some of the teachers.  She was happy and smiling and talking to everyone.  I wish I could do this every Friday, but it was nice that I was able to do it and that no one cared I brought her.

Kylie was so great at her two-month appointment! She actually rolled over while waiting for the doctor and I caught it on video! We were so excited. Kylie weighed 11 lbs 9 oz.  She is 58% for her weight and 28% for height.  She did so well with her shots too. She cried when she got them then we gave her a little bit of Tylenol and she fell asleep pretty quickly after. We are so so proud of our baby girl.

Some things about Kylie:

• She is a happy and smiley baby for the most part.  She still has her fussy times during the day and is more fussy some days than others.
• She is "talking" a lot now.  I always wonder what she is trying to tell me.  It will be fun once she does start to talk.
• She is sleeping in her crib now and she is a mover in her sleep, so it's good we moved her to the crib which is more spacious.
• She seems to not need her pacifier as much as she used to.  She still needs it to help her fall asleep, but will spit it out pretty quickly after.
• She spits up a lot.  We have to keep a bib on her almost all the time and have a burp cloth always handy.
• She likes to grab onto things now and my hair is a favorite.
• Sleeping through the night is getting better.  Just the other night she slept from 8:30pm-4:30am, her longest stretch yet!  It's too bad she woke up so early though.  Luckily it wasn't a school night.
• Bath time is a favorite of hers still. She has loved bath time since her first bath at home.
• She likes looking at toys now and when she sits in her swing, she can stare at the monkey that's hanging for quite some time.
• She is fitting into 3 month clothes now.  Some 3 month clothes look larger than others; it just depends on the brand.
• She loves tummy time and I'm sure she'll be crawling here soon.
• She loves mommy and daddy and they love her too. :)

Outtake from the photo shoot:

Spitting up as always.

Ultimate Oreo Cupcake

Oreos are one ingredient in baking that is very versatile.  There are quite a few recipes out there that involve using Oreos and I've even tried a few.  I've made Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oreo Truffle Surprise Cookies, Oreo Truffles, White Chocolate Covered Oreos (the spider web ones I make for Halloween), Cookies and Cream Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookie Stuffed Oreos (there is a difference between this and the first one mentioned) and Cookies & Cream Ice Cream (recipe is one I teach at school)!!

Now that I write out what I've made with Oreos, it sure sounds like I like baking with them and I guess I do!  I think Oreos give a nice hint of chocolate to a recipe without being overpowering.  I don't think there's a recipe that I've made with Oreos that has tasted bad.  The recipe itself might not have turned out exactly like it should, but the taste is still delicious.

I have also made an Oreo cupcake and it turned out okay, but I didn't like it enough to continue making it.  This past Sunday, we were going to have dinner with some family and my mom asked me to bring cupcakes.  I started looking at my pinterest recipes to see if any jumped out to me.  I wanted to make more than just the basic cupcake and have it not be complicated.  Nothing on pinterest sparked my interest, but I did notice that I had a few that involved Oreos, so I decided to make my own Oreo cupcake recipe.

The Ultimate Oreo Cupcake was born!  Just having a new baby, it was nice to have this cupcake be quick and simple and I think pretty problem free.  My frosting wasn't exactly smooth, but I didn't really care to make it perfect.  It tasted fine, but I'm sure the appearance would look better with smoother frosting.  I just have the hardest time getting perfect buttercream frosting every time I try.  I'll have to keep practicing, but it sure gets frustrating when the outcome is unpredictable.  If you're like me, you could always buy canned white frosting and that would work just as delicious as well.  Word of caution with these cupcakes; they are pretty sweet, so make enough for friends to share!  Here's my recipe.

Ultimate Oreo Cupcake

Ingredients:
    1 box white cake mix & ingredients to make mix (eggs, oil)
    1 package Oreos
    For frosting:
        1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
        2 1/2-3 cups powdered sugar
        2 Tbsp. milk
        1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

     Pre-heat oven according to cake mix directions.  Make cake mix according to directions.  Put cupcake liners in pan and spray with cooking spray (this helps the Oreo not stick to the paper).  Separate 24 Oreos and put the half with the most filling in the liner, with filling side up.

Take the other half of the separated Oreos and put them in a plastic bag.  Crush Oreos into little pieces.  Add crushed Oreos to cake mix.  Scoop mixture into cupcake liners, filling 2/3 full.

Bake according to cake mix directions or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.  

Frosting directions: 

     Place one stick of butter in mixing bowl and beat with electric mixer until creamy.  Once creamy, add one cup of powdered sugar at a time, beating in between each cup.  Add milk and vanilla after first cup of powdered sugar.  If frosting is too liquid, add more powdered sugar.  If it is too stiff, add some more liquid.  Play around with it until you get the right consistency.  

     Take the Oreos that you did not separate and use a food processor or blender to crush Oreos into powder.  Gently fold the powdered Oreo dust into your frosting.

Pipe frosting onto cupcakes.  Top with crushed Oreos, mini Oreos or a whole Oreo.  Whatever suits your fancy.

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Kylie's Newborn Pictures

Like I said in an earlier post, the experience in getting these pictures was not the greatest, so sometimes it is hard to look at the pictures and not think about how they were taken.  Luckily, Kylie is so photogenic that no matter what the setting, she will look good. :)

Recipe Update

I got really sick at the beginning of my pregnancy and so I didn't cook a lot.  I got out of the habit of making dinner every night pretty bad, so even after Kylie was born I still didn't have much of a desire to cook.  I'm starting to get back into cooking and I tried out this good recipe on pinterest and made some yummy cookies.

I found this super easy Skillet Lasagna recipe that turned out to be perfect for a quick weeknight meal.  I truly love how easy and quick it was.  I also liked the addition of the sour cream to give it that creamy texture.  This is definitely one that I will put on the dinner rotation!

 

I also made cookies that night.  I used the same recipe for these Chocolate Chip Oreo Stuffed Cookies, but stuffed them with mini Snickers, Milky Way and Twix.  Super yummy and it will be a great way to use up leftover candy from Halloween.

Getting the Gang Back Together

On Saturday, the 28th, our good friends James and Nichole got sealed in the Salt Lake City temple.  It was so great to be in attendance of this sealing.  The Spirit and love they have for one another was felt throughout the whole room.  One fun note is that they were able to get sealed on their anniversary.  What a special day for them.

They had a lot of family in town, so we didn't get any pictures with them and a few of us went out to eat afterwards.  We were going to see them a few days later for a party at our house.  Scott didn't work the night before, so he was able to come with.  Because of that, we needed to get a baby-sitter for Kylie.  My mom was able to come and watch Kylie for a couple of hours while we were out.  It was our first outing together without the baby and it was enjoyable! I didn't worry too much about her, however when one of our friends brought their baby, I started to miss her. 

Of course when I wanted a picture of us on our first outing sans baby, Scott has to close his eyes.  The sun was too bright, he said. ;)

 A few days later, on Tuesday October 1st, we had a party at our place with my group of friends from the singles ward I was in.  It was a celebration of James & Nichole, so it was a perfect opportunity to see everyone.  We bought another one of the 46" Big Daddy's pizza and surprisingly, all of it was eaten! Everyone brought desserts.  I made these brownie cheesecake bites, which were good.  They were a little hard to get out of the pan, but still delicious.

 It was such a blast to have everyone together and it was a little humorous to see the boys and girls separated. Good food, great friends and great fun.

Doing the Superman pose