CasaCullen

Recipe of the Week: Momma's Six Ingredient Apple Crumb Pie

Love my Momma's apple crumb pie. We recently had a few organic Braeburn apples that were super tart. I'm talkin so tart that our lips puckered when we ate one. You should've seen Nash's face. We knew right away these apples weren't for eating, they were for pie making!

So Walt set out to the store on Monday afternoon for a pie crust and some vanilla ice cream and we had quite the Labor Day dessert. Apple picking season is upon us to bookmark/pin this recipe to try. With only six ingredients needed, this a real crowd pleaser for sure.

Momma's Apple Crumb Pie

5-7 apples (Momma suggest Macintosh)

9" deep dish pie crust

1 cup sugar (divided in half)

1 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup flour

1/3 cup softened butter

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Lay pie crust in pie pan. Peel, core and dice apples into chunks. Arrange in uncooked pie shell. Mix 1/2 cup sugar and all cinnamon together. Sprinkle over apples. For the crumb topping; mix remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, flour and softened butter with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples.

Bake 40 minutes until tender. Serve alone or with ice cream. Momma also suggest drizzling warm caramel sauce on top too! Enjoy!

My two fave guys, busy bees in our kitchen. Walt was dicing up the apples (you can also used thinly sliced but Walt prefers diced) and Nash was obviously on the search for his 'pup pup' Zola!

Diced apples being loaded up in the store bought pie crust.

Cinnamon and sugar topping has been added. We used turbinado sugar because we were all out of the plain old stuff.

And now for the crumble!

Fresh outta the oven...delish!

So yeah, we're a bit heavy handed when it comes to slicing up pieces. Now really, is there any other way?

And per our usual, we like ours à la mode!

Recipe of the Week: Two Ingredient Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

I love easy recipes. Don't you? Especially those that can be made in a jiffy. I think we started these last night at 8:15pm and had a scrumptious treat by 8:40. I can't take credit for this one (thank you Beth Pemper for sharing it) but I did add a few additional ingredients to her original creation. If you want to keep it simple, just do the canned pumpkin and cake mix recipe below. I opted for a 1/4 tsp of both vanilla extract and pumpkin spice for a bit more flavor. Verdict from Walt? Two thumbs up!

I can't wait to make these again and add some walnuts or craisins into the mix. I also think a cream cheese frosting would be DELISH too. You'll have to try this recipe asap as it's a perfect weekend treat for the coming cooler weather on a fall weekend. Who am I kidding. This won't be until November here in Austin, ha! Pair these delish muffins with my Pumpkin Spice Latte (recipe HERE) and let's just go ahead and call this my own personal heaven. Enjoy!

Two Ingredient Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

1 package vanilla or white cake mix

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin

 

Directions:

Mix both ingredients together with a mixer.

Place in muffin tins and bake for 20 min at 400 degrees or until a toothpick inserted into muffin comes out clean!

Our recipe yielded 12 large muffins.

Food and Drink: Recipe of the Week - No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Squares

Being a Mom leaves me very little time for Pinterest (follow us HERE) and recipe searching. One of closest girlfriends is a great pinner so the rare moments I do get on there, I actually head straight to her and see what she's recently pinned (check out her boards HERE) and then I just mooch off of her. For this recipe, that's exactly what I did. I saw it via her recent pins and I knew we had to try it. I've made it twice in the last few weeks and it's been a really big hit, especially with Walt. He's suggested that next time I try to add some more oats, so we'll give that a go.

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Squares

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

2 cups white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

6 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 cup coconut milk

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3.5 cups oats

1/4 cip chocolate chips

1/4 cup peanut butter chips

Directions:

Line an 8×8 or 9×9 pan with aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray and set it aside. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, sugars, cocoa powder, milk and heat over medium-high to high heat, stirring to encourage the ingredients to melt and combine.

Once all items have melted and combined, allow the mixture to boil for 90 seconds, stirring continuously. After 90 seconds, turn the heat off and add the peanut butter and vanilla extract (careful when you add the vanilla, it could bubble up a bit on you) and stir until smooth. Then add the oats and stir to coat.

Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading it evenly into the pan. If adding any optional chips to the top of the bars, add them now; pressing them into the mixture lightly with a spatula. Place pan into the freezer and freeze at least 30 minutes, or until bars have set up, before slicing and serving. 

Store extra squares on the counter top, refrigerator, or freeze, plastic-wrap them for use in lunches or snacks.

The original recipe (which we modified a bit) was pinned from Averie Cooks, HERE. She has great suggestions for making this recipe vegan and gluten free too. Check out her site, lots of good recipes, mmm!

About to go into the freezer! What I love about this recipe is it literally only takes 10 minutes to make and it contains ingredients that you likely have in your pantry. Win, win!

Seriously scrumptious and a perfect treat for a warm summer afternoon.

Food and Drink: Duncan Hines Simple Mornings - Packaged Muffins We Can Get Behind

We love making these muffins about once a month. Walt takes them to work and it's a great snack for me.

I'm not implying they are healthy but their ingredients are MUCH better than most packaged muffin mixes. And you gotta splurge every now and then, right?

To keep them soy, dairy and egg free...we substitute applesauce for the eggs! We just made them last night and used the applesauce for the oil too. Delish!

So just use the mix from the box and add applesauce and you'll have these yummy muffins!

Food and Drink: Caramelized Sesame Roasted Asparagus, Best Steak Marinade Ever and Easy Crockpot Greek Chicken

As promised, here is our post about the delish meals the Riley family whipped up for us this past weekend in Houston. You can find more about our trip HERE since it was Nash's first road trip and what a success. We love going to visit the Rileys for many reasons but one imparticular has to do with food. They are both such amazing cooks. Creamy casseroles, decadent desserts, smoked meat and buffet breakfasts used to be on the agenda. But this family has recently caught the healthy eating bug and I am amazed at the changes, both in their life, pant size and pantry.

It's almost like I have to joke and ask, 'Who are you people and what did you do with our Rileys?' Some serious healthy changes are taking place under that roof. You can read more on those HERE but I'll share what I noticed. They're up before we wake up to get their daily run in and are frequenting a pick your own strawberry farm (HERE). They're eating kale chips for snack and doing Insanity workouts during the weekday. They're picking up co-op produce boxes (HERE) and Luann is now a wealth of information on her healthy eating/cooking crusade.

Ok so now that I've laid the groundwork for you, I can honestly say that Justin has lost some 50+ pounds so far and really does look like a new person. Luann has always looked absolutely amazing (even after giving birth to two twins) but I just have to point out that her bottom has never looked better. That is one tight tush, haha! So not only internal changes are taking place but some pretty drastic physical changes too. Justin swears his massive dietary changes have even cured his ongoing battles with eczema and athlete's foot too. How awesome is that? They're GONE!

So here are some health(ier) recipes that Luann whipped up this weekend. I will absolutely be trying the asparagus, but adding my own spin on things. As for the Greek Crockpot Chicken, Luann used the So Delicious brand coconut yogurt instead so that it was dairy free to Justin and me and it was so delish. The steak marinade is one that I know Walt will love in the coming months. Although for us, just like the Rileys, steak really is a rarity anymore and such a treat. Thank you Rileys for all the awesome meals and insight into all the changes y'all are making. We're so proud of all four of you!

PS - If you're a big Pinterest user, make sure to follow Luann HERE. I love her board 'Can You Taste the Love In It' (HERE) for many reasons. First and foremost, this is a lady that cooks from the heart and loves to entertain. She really is a kitchen whiz but I love looking at this particular board and seeing her lifestyle change right there. Scan to the bottom, all cheesy and gooey goodness. Now back to the top of the board and fresh ingredients abound. She's also quite crafty as evidenced HERE...love me some Lu!

Carmelized Sesame Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients:

1 bunch of asparagus, about 20-25 spears, stems removed

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack on top. Spray the rack with nonstick spray. In a small bowl, whisk together oils, brown sugar and garlic. Using a pastry brush, a spoon or even your hands (I did this…), brush the spears thoroughly with the oil/sugar mixture. Give the whole tray a hefty sprinkle of sesame seeds. Roast for 20-30 minutes, or until spears are crispy. Serve warm.

 

Best Steak Marinade Ever

Ingredients

1/3 cup soy sauce (Luann used Bragg's amino acids)

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder

3 tablespoons dried basil

1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes

1 teaspoon ground pepper

1 teaspoon dried minced garlic (optional)

 

Directions

Place the soy sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, basil, parsley, and pepper in a blender. Add garlic, if desired. Blend on high speed for 30 seconds until thoroughly mixed. Pour marinade over desired type of meat. Cover, and refrigerate for up to 8 hours. Cook meat as desired.

The yummy grilled veggies we had 'on the side' with our steak and asparagus! What a delish and yummy meal! I'm soy/citrus free right now for Nash so I just had a tiny bite of Walt's marinated steak and yummers, it was great!

And the twangel (twin angels) shenanigans that were going on while we all cooked dinner. Such gorgeous little smiles and souls.

 

Easy (Diary Free) Crockpot Greek Chicken with Quinoa

Ingredients:

1 Small Whole Chicken (3-5 lbs.), skin removed

(Luann used chicken tenders and it turned out great!)

1 Red Onion, diced

2 Cups Vegetable Broth

1/2 cup Greek Yogurt (or So Delicious coconut yogurt for dairy free)

1 cup Quinoa

Juice of 1 Lemon

1 Tbs. Oregano

1 Tbs. Basil

 

Directions:

Place all ingredients except chicken in crock pot and stir well. Add in chicken (you can keep it whole or break it into breast, thigh, leg wing etc. This recipe also works with frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts). Cook on low for 6+ hours. Use a thermometer to make sure the internal tempature of the chicken has reached 165 degrees (F). Serve chicken on top of quinoa dressing.

Nash was too busy tending to his sippy cup of milk to even notice all the good eats that were going on around him. He also loved sitting in one of the big boy's high chairs. He was snug as a bug!

And I'll leave you with this hilariously adorable pic. Eli jumping away on his trampoline in MY COWBOY BOOTS! Hee hee, I love it!

Recipe of the Week: Three Ingredients - Homemade Dairy Free Whipped Topping

You know how I love me some sweets. So being dairy-free for Nash's sensitivities means no more ice cream for this chica. Hard? You betcha! Worth it? For sure. Nash is such a happy boy. Avoiding dairy has me searching for new after dinner sweet treats and berries topped turbinado sugar and cool whip or homemade hot cocoa have been our go-to option for a while. Just like anyone else, I love cool whip but I knew this was a 'habit' we needed to break or figure out another substitution.

Hello whipped coconut milk goodness...you are my post-dinner snack bff! Naughty? Not really, except for the fat content (but that's good fat, people!) And since I'm nursing, I really do find myself craving and wanting to eat every sort of 'good' fat imaginable. There are days I feel like I could drink olive oil. Anyone else experienced this? I nosh on whole avocados all the time and eat coconut oil by the spoonful.

Ok, enough about good fats and back to the easy recipe at hand. I can't WAIT for y'all to try this. There are a ton of homemade whipped topping recipes floating around the blogosphere and Pinterest (follow us HERE) but many of them include sugar and we are really trying to limit our sugar intake. I've substituted local honey in place of sugar and even added cinnamon as a yummy topping too. Such an easy recipe and a grand ending to a great day. 

Coconut Milk Whipped Topping

Ingredients:

1 can of Coconut Milk, refrigerated overnight

1-2 tbsp local honey

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 

Directions:

Remove coconut milk from fridge and spoon out the thicker, creamier top half (as the can has separated) in a large mixing bowl. Make sure to leave the watery bottom half in the can. You can either a) drink it or b) save it for a smoothie. Of course I chose the first choice.

Add the honey and vanilla extract and whip the entire mixture until desired consistency. Either serve right away or refrigerate for a few days.

Only three ingredients...that's always my type of recipe!

Creamier part is on top. 

With the liquid/watery part left in the bottom of the can.

And while I was whipping up (pun intended) this recipe, these two cuties weren't letting a little sunshower slow their roll. They headed out on their daily Daddy/Baby walk with an umbrella. I just had to snap a pic of their unbelievable duo of cuteness! Seriously...love...these...two!

Honey and vanilla added in.

Whipped goodness!

Mmm, mmm...nom nom nom!

Like I said above, a lil' cinnamon does a body good.

Stored for later...tonight, haha!

And Walt snapped this on the fly. My little man was trying to grab for that spoon. Before we know it he'll be noshing on his own coconut milk whipped topping and saying, 'Mmm!' It's all going way too fast. Like I tell him daily, I just want him to stay this little and dear forever!

Do you love a good dessert? Check out the other great recipes we've featured that'll surely have your sweet tooth thanking us!

CasaCullen Desserts

- Easy Fruit Cobbler HERE

- Momma's Famous Rum Cake HERE

- Chocolate Chunk Surprise Cupcakes HERE

- Caramel Pecan Cake HERE

- Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie HERE

- Banana Whip HERE

- Nana's No Bake Cheesecake HERE

Recipe of the Week: 'Packs a Punch' - Our Morning Oatmeal Combos

So I used to be a die-hard steel cut oatmeal kinda gal. Not anymore. Why? Well Mr. Nasharooni seems to be sensitive to the steel cut variety. I've tried multiple times but they just ain't his thang. As soon as I switched to organic rolled oats, we were back in business. So as of late, I'm a rolled oat girl. But obviously this recipe is just as scrumptious with steel cut, which we microwave on high, for 10 minutes, in a HUGE glass bowl so we don't have to hassle with the long cooking time!

So about these here oatmeal combos. I like a variety but I'm also the kind of girl that gets in eating ruts. I love the energy that oatmeal provides, but I miss my morning hard-boiled eggs and their protein punch. Yes, Nash is also quite sensitive to eggs so I've had to eliminate them, for now. So this is how I've decided to add a hit of protein back into my morning routine, all in one bowl: NUTS! Well duh, right? But it's funny how you get in a routine and forget about other options.

Why I love this recipe is because I mix and match every morning and never tire of my oatmeal. Some morning I'm in an apricot and walnut mood (above) so that's what I opt for. Some mornings I'm craving peanuts and raisins. Other mornings I like craisins and cashews. We buy all the toppings in the bulk section and create the crazy combos and gobble up this delish oatmeal daily. Enjoy and let us know if you have any great oatmeal toppings that rock, too!

Here are the nuts we love in our oatmeal: walnuts, peanuts, almonds and cashews.

Here are the sweet toppings we love: craisins, dried apricots, dried apples and raisins.

 

Packs a Punch Morning Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp local honey

hand full of nuts (examples above)

hand full of bit size dried fruit (examples above)

1 tbsp coconut oil (don't leave this out)

Directions:

Add boiling water to just cover the oats and toppings. Stir together so the coconut oil melts and the cinnamon and honey are mixed in. Let sit for 5 minutes and then enjoy!

 

Do you love breakfast recipes? Check out more of our fave morning starters below. Some are super, duper healthy and others are on the decadent side. But you have to kick back and splurge every once in a while, right? Enjoy!

- Dairy Free Craisin and Peanut Breakfast Cookies HERE

- Momma's Monkey Bread HERE

- Homemade Raisin and Almond Granole HERE

- The Best Banana Bread HERE

- 15 Minute Cream Biscuits HERE

- Quiche Lorraine HERE

- Momma's Breakfast Strata HERE

- Eat Clean's Constitutional Morning Muffins HERE

- Poached Egg Ramekin HERE

- The Green Monster Smoothie HERE

 

Recipe of the Week: Easy Three Ingredient Cauliflower Soup

Oh how we love and adore easy, healthy and scrumptious recipes and this Cauliflower Soup totally fits the bill. Three ingredients (two of which are kitchen staples) and voila, you have yourself a scrumptious soup! I can't take credit for such a fabulous recipe as my good friend Jordan was here visiting and shared this with me. She said she stumbled upon it on Pinterest (follow us HERE) but forgot to pin it.

So we did some detective work and she found THIS pin and she said it was the one she used. So here's our version of the recipe with some adjustments for my dietary restrictions. You know how Nash has dairy sensitivites so no butter for this lady. Oh how I miss my BUTTER! Ok, so you better try this one on for size, it's so unbelievably delish!

PS - Happy Leap Day!

Three Ingredient Cauliflower Soup:

Ingredients

Florets from one head of cauliflower (tough core of cauliflower discarded)

1 quart of water

Olive oil

Directions

Bring 1 quart of water to a rolling boil in a medium-sized pot. Add 2 teaspoons of salt to the water. Add the cauliflower florets, and cook until cooked through, about 4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove florets to a bowl. Reserve cooking water.

Working in batches, fill a blender half-way with cooked cauliflower, add enough cooking water to the blender bowl so that it comes up a quarter of the way. Purée until smooth. You want the consistency to be that of soup, so if you need to add more water, do so.

Since you are using only lightly salted cooking water for a base, not stock, you will need to salt this more than you would otherwise. Serve immediately into bowls. Drizzle olive oil over the top. Serves 4.

Florets boiling! We made the soup in the evening so these pics are HORRIBLE! I love shooting food photography in natural light, during the day.

All I used was a mini pyrex measuring cup to scoop the florets and some water out of the pot. Too much water in this batch so I had to dump some back in. You only want the water to come up a quarter of the way!

I see SOUP!

It really is so absolutely DELISH for only being cauliflower, olive oil and salt. We also added fresh cracked black pepper and that was scrumptious too. And I had leftovers for the following week which I quickly re-heated, on the fly, in a mug!

And per our usual, while I'm in the kitchen, someone has to be watching the baby. This particular evening the boys decided it was time for Mr. Chunkster to hit the baby weights. Thanks to my brother-in-law Ryan, Nash has his very own baby dumbbell (aka: a rattle) for working out those rollie pollie arms. 

Two funny boys and their dumbbells! You must click this image and enlarge it...Nash's expression might be the funniest ever! He's giving his best 'Strong Baby Competition' expression. LOVE IT and this soup recipe. Try it asap!

Recipe of the Week: Dairy Free Craisin and Peanut Breakfast Cookies

So we're a dairy free, soy free, citrus free and egg free household now. Phew, that was a lot of free's in one sentence. Well, I guess we are only until little man weans. Figuring out Nash's food sensitivities could've (and should've) earned me a detectives license. But once we figured them out, we are smooth sailing in the fussy category. It was like someone handed me my baby back. He cries only when he needs to, which makes parenting life so much easier for both of us.

But with that being said, our diets have sort of changed dramatically. I've always loved nut milks and rice milk, but you know how I craved cow's milk non-stop when I was pregnant? Yep, gone are the days. And ice cream...don't even get me started. It's my one true foodie love and indulgence. So it's time to bust out the ol' ice cream maker and figure out some dairy free dessert concoctions for this lady. 

I was also a boiled egg annihilator for my protein kick in the morning. I've had to really learn to add nuts to my morning oatmeal and make sure I'm getting a full serving of protein to start my day. If anyone else is in the same boat and loves a certain protein powder that covers these parameters, PLEASE share the details in a comment below. Our whey powder isn't dairy free...boo!

But these here delish breakfast cookies...ARE DAIRY FREE, yay! We love grabbing them if it's a morning on the go and Walt has been taking a few with him in the morning...and we all know how annoyed I get with my non-breakfast eating man. So I'm super pumped to find a recipe that he likes too. Plus, it's so easy and healthy! Love me some breakfast cookies...nom, nom, nom.

 

Craisin and Peanut Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of oats

2-3 super ripe bananas

1 cup of unsweetened applesauce

1 cup craisins

3/4 cup peanuts (whole or crushed)

1 tbsp Cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Directions:

Mix all and spoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

 

As my niece Minnie would say, "These look like banana slugs!"

Anything with these two ingredients...I'm always a fan of. Love me some cinnamon and applesauce!

And I never tire of these little guys. They're my healthy candy!

Gotta pack in some protein for good and lasting measure.

The mix master flex, showin' off his skills! And another gold star for this recipe is the fact that you can EAT THE DOUGH and not worry about salmonella - SCORE!

"What are you making over there, Momma?"

The goods are ready for some oven lovin'!

And the house smelled like breakfast cookie heaven. We popped them right into a tupperware and have been noshing on them ever since.

Not to mention, they gave Walt some good Daddy energy after a long day at work...which is perfect for airplane flying time with his Bubbarooni.

Recipe of the Week: Curry Lentil Stew and Red Cabbage Slaw

You know how I love quick and easy recipes that are also healthy and packed with veggies too! Today's lentil stew packs a serious winter punch and is pretty easy to make. I made it on Monday night while we watched The Bachelor (there, I said it) so that I could have warm soup for lunch all week long. The only problem is that I don't think the curry is making the cut when it comes to Nash's digestion. I'll try it one more day and if not, then our neighbors are going to get some delish stew...or maybe I'll just freeze it.

Also the cabbage slaw is super easy. Walt made that for the game night we hosted on Saturday night. He threw the ingredients together and into the fridge it went to 'slaw up' all day long. Only problem? We forgot to take it out for the party. Oh yeah, we have buckets of red cabbage slaw in our fridge, haha! It makes a heap ton! But cabbage is one of Walt's favorite so he's been snacking on it and we've been noshing on it as a side dish too.

PS - Make sure to check out the original lentil stew recipe HERE. I'm off citrus (for Nash's sake) and we didn't have any celery and I just went with our curry powder instead of the garam masala, which would've been way better, most likely. And I added some fresh corn in the mix too, which was dynamite! Enjoy!

 Curry Lentil Stew

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small white or yellow onion, finely chopped

4 cups water

1 cup lentils, rinsed

3 small potatoes, cut into 1/2" pieces

2 ears of corn with kernels cut off

2 medium carrots, 1/4" slices 

6 ounces torn spinach leaves

1 teaspoon curry powder

 

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and saute for a couple of minutes. Add water and lentils; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add potatoes, corn kernels and carrots; cook uncovered until potatoes and carrots are tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Stir in spinach and curry powder into the stew. Cover and simmer until spinach wilts, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

(recipe adapted from Eat You Vegetables or You Don't Get Dessert)

 

Red Cabbage Slaw

Ingredients:

1/2 cup canola oil

2/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1 head red cabbage, cored and shredded

 

Directions:

In a bowl, mix the canola oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, seasoned salt, pepper, and onion powder. Place the cabbage in a large glass bowl. Pour dressing over cabbage, and toss to coat. Cover, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight, stirring occasionally. Drain before serving.

(recipe from Allrecipes)