Easy Fall Recipe: Batter Fried Apple Slices

I've said it before, my daughter (almost 4) loves to help in the kitchen. I try to give her any task like stirring, dipping, taste testing, that she can handle. She's pretty good but I do have to remind her that we cannot reuse any utensil she "tastes" from. Sometimes she'll sneak and stick her finger in whatever we're working on if I've got my back turned. I have to promise she can lick the bowl once we're finished.

Its apple picking season in New England. I didn't know I lived so close to some orchards! An old friend invited us to go with her and her 11 yr old daughter to a popular one called Silverman's Farms. They have pumpkins,apples, a general store, and a petting zoo. Check out some photos we took there.

So, my plan was to attempt an apple pie with the apples I got from there. I've never made an apple pie before but I can follow a recipe. After I got home I thought about how I'm not a big fan of pie in general and really didn't want to make a crust and dough from scratch. I didn't feel like making a grocery store run for a ready made pie crust either. I thought about coring them and baking them like my mom used to do but that didn't seem very exciting. I mentioned the pie dilemma to my best friend in Georgia and she remembered making fried apples with her daughter some years before. She thought the recipe may have been from the Food Network and said it called for pancake batter. I had some "just add water" mix in box that has been in my cabinet for a while and I wasn't a fan but maybe if I spruced the batter up a bit I wouldn't have to throw it away?! I tried searching for the recipe she alluded to with no luck. So I decided to wing it. My daughter mixed water, a tablespoon of vanilla extract, cinnamon, dash of nutmeg and stirred. Looked a lot like tempura batter. I sliced the apples into half moons about 1/2 wide on the skin end (yes I left the skin on). I let her coat the apples with a spoon. I fish them out with a spoon and dropped them into hot canola oil and to my surprise they kind of poofed up and floated, They browned quickly (about 1 min) so I watched intently so they didn't burn and flipped for a minute on the opposite side. I drained the oil and let cool. DELICIOUS! I wanted to eat with a scoop a vanilla ice cream but alas, none in the freezer. Maybe that store run wasn't such a bad idea. I resisted the urge to sprinkle powdered sugar because I didn't want the toddler to overdo it on a school night. They were so good, I was kind of mad when I came back about an hour later and my husband had eaten the last few. Warning these are really addicting!

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Summer Fun Project: Making Healthy Yogurt Fruit Popsicles

As I gear up for a heat wave with estimates of 100 degrees with the heat index I figure what better way to beat the heat than a popsicle? I saw some fancy schmancy popsicle molds in a magazine about a month ago and planned to order online. Of course I was going to look for a bargain because $30 seemed pricey for popsicle molds. So, I was perusing the newly opened Whole Foods market in Fairfield, CT to see what all the hype was about. Talk about pricey! The things I sprang for were gourmet and worth every penny because you can't get them elsewhere, like the poppy seed chicken salad in the deli. I justified my purchases in my mind by telling myself "it's cheaper than a meal eating out at a restaurant". But I'm a frugalista so will continue buy my produce and canned goods at a discount store like Price Rite. But I digress, on my way to the checkout line I see an endcap display with nothing other than POPSICLE molds! $11.99? Ok, I'm in Whole Foods so I'm sure I could hunt down a  better price if I looked. But if I consider the precious time spent bargain hunting online or gas used to drive elsewhere, I'd probably break even. So, Tovolo popsicle molds it was. They came in a few shapes. I chose the star shaped mold. I knew my 3 yr old would be stoked!

We used fresh strawberries, a banana (both easy for toddlers to cut with a butter knife which also exercises fine motor skills).  

And We used lowfat Dannon yogurt with blueberries. She loved dumping everything in and licking the utensils.

 

 She loves being my kitchen helper. And I recently began letting her press the buttons on the blender. Who doesn't like that?

The hard part is waiting the suggested 4 hours for the pops to harden before enjoying. Run them under hot water for a few seconds if you have trouble with them releasing from the molds.

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Woombie: A Love Story.

I'm in love with a Local Mompreneur's products! It all started innocently enough when I accepted a "connection" on MerchantCircle from a woman named Karen and her business, Woombie. "Funny name. Never heard of it." I thought to myself.  So, I visit their website to find out what a Woombie was. I was blown away! I LOVE finding other local mompreneurs. I instantly feel connected to other mompreneurs. I know we drank the same tainted Kool-aid. Every time I find a new one, I think to myself, I'm not the only crazy one to step out on faith and start a business? This time was more special because I also thought, This woman is running THIS business in my backyard? Why are we not best friends? MY customers would her products! How can I get involved? So, instead of putting it on my to-do list which is infinite and hardly gets revisited, I just did it. I became a seller of all things Woombie.

Check out http://Woombie.com/ and then order through me for my special 10% OFF deal and have your purchase shipped directly you OR pickup in the store! Great gift item for yourself or someone else!

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Frugal Foodie Find!

I've shared another local frugal food find a while back. Snappy Dawgs is a food cart that serves delicious food during the week on the corner of Main St and Fairfield Ave in front of the Fairfield County Courthouse. But I work on Saturdays and they don't come on the weekend. I am partial to restaurants that deliver because I can't afford to close my business to go get lunch. So, one of my customers informed me that Amici Miei delivers too. Well then, I put that on my to-do list. And today I ordered a thin crust pizza from there called "Rurale" and had to share this with you!

It is topped with red sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms (fresh ones not those slimy ones from the can either), and big slices of prosciutto. And get this! With tax, I paid (drum roll.....) $8.50! I gave the delivery girl a $10 and told her to keep the change as her tip. I was in NYC the other day and paid $9 for a panini that wasn't even half the size of this pizza. What a rip off that was! These personal size pizzas are pretty big and a great value. Could easily share among 2 people. And if you live or work in downtown Bridgeport, I suggest having it delivered.

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