Dishes From Others That You Should Try!

Hello everyone!

When you are reading this, I am likely spending great family time with my son, his girlfriend and my husband.  I would guess we are laughing, eating, exploring and doing lots of chillin'!

I hope you are enjoying the lineup of guest blogs I have arranged.  I am proud and honored to have these women write a post to share with all of you.  It warms my heart that they would take time out of their lives to keep my readers fed with new recipes!

This is going to be a blog where I send you on a trip!  A trip to other blogs, specifically blog posts that include recipes I have tried myself!  Yes, I DO make other peoples recipes from time to time!  And a few of these are on my "to do" list! One that I am sharing with you is one I will be making for sure for my son.  Who cares if it is hot!  We WILL be having chicken and dumplings!!

Enjoy your trip around the blogiverse and make sure if you haven't "LIKED" these blogs on Facebook or joined up to follow them on their actual blogs that you do so!  I would never steer you wrong!

I can't wait to get back and cook again!

The Not So Desperate Chef Wife
http://www.the-not-so-desperate-chef-wife.com/2011/12/buffalo-chicken-dip.html

Southern Plate aka Christy Jordan's Southern Plate
http://www.southernplate.com/2008/07/how-to-make-southern-chicken-and.html

Toriology
http://blog.toriology.com/2011/10/10/roasted-red-potatoes.aspx

My Imperfect Kitchen
http://my-imperfect-kitchen.com/2012/07/15/buffalo-turkey-burgers/

It's Yumilicious!
http://itsyummi.com/zucchini-bacon-potato-pancakes/

This is just an article I found interesting as of late!
http://allwomenstalk.com/10-facts-about-how-colors-affects-our-appetite/

As a former floral designer, this really grabbed me .....EDIBLE FLOWERS!
http://shannonsshanonigins.blogspot.com/2012/07/bite-beautiful-blossom-edible-savory.html

Make sure to look through all the recipes at all of these blogs!  You will love that you did AND....you might find more new dishes to try!

I hope you are having a great day!!  Please keep posting pics of your food, questions and requests while I am away!  I will be reading each time I get a chance and would love to see everything you are cooking while I am away!

Your "Georgia On My Mind" Chefwannabe

Please welcome Sara from My Imperfect Kitchen.  Sara cooks meals that are fun, full of flavor and color and all around delicious.  She is a dear friend who I think you will love!  Make sure to visit her on Facebook as well!

Buffalo Turkey Burgers

We've loved these Buffalo Turkey Burgers since we first saw them in Rachel Ray's 365 Days No Repeats Cookbook. Over time, we've modified them to fit our tastes, but they're still our hands-down favorite way to make turkey burgers!

Simple ingredients make the taste of the turkey shine through. It's like Buffalo Wings on a bun! One taste and you'll be hooked too!

Start with a pound of ground turkey meat, some diced shallots, finely diced celery and a little ground nutmeg. Shhhhh, it's the secret ingredient! It adds that "this is good, but I can't quite place the flavor" element.

Yep, that's it. Just four ingredients for these fabulous burgers! Shape them into patties. A pound will make four nice patties. We only made three this time. I won't do that again, they were just too big!

We season them with McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning and grill five minutes per side.

Now, the not-so-healthy part of this equation. Melt equal parts butter and Franks Buffalo Wing sauce in a small pan over low heat. Once everything is melted, take the cooked burgers and coat them in the hot sauce mixture. Alternately, you could grill the burgers and simple top them with Franks Hot Sauce, leaving out the butter, but really... why would you do that? Butter makes the world better.

The toppings are simple too! A bit of blue cheese dressing on the bun, lettuce and red onion. It's a Buffalo Turkey Burger after all. I think blue cheese dressing is a requirement!

Serve them with a side salad or cut up carrots and celery! Perfect for a summer night when you're craving something spicy and a plate of hot wings just won't do it.

Buffalo Turkey Burgers

1 lb. ground Turkey (I used Jenni-O)

1 large shallot, finely diced

1 stalk of celery - with the leafy tops - finely diced

1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

2 tsp McCormick Montreal Grill Seasoning

4 TBLS butter

4 TBLS Franks Red Hot (or Buffalo Wing) Sauce

Mix the first four ingredients together in a bowl and shape into patties.

Sprinkle seasoning mix over the burgers and grill over medium heat for five minutes per side.

While the burgers are cooking, melt the butter and hot sauce together in a pan. When the burgers are finished, coat them in the hot sauce mixture.

Serve on whole wheat buns with blue cheese dressing, lettuce and red onion slices.

Enjoy!

MARGARITA ANGEL FOOD CAKE (OLE!) ~ Guest Post for Chef Wannabe

Hi there from me and all of the BITCHES* at Hot Dishes for Hot Bitches* (FB page)!  I am so not a baker. Too precise for me. I am a dash, pinch, skosh kinda cook.  I can clean out cupboards and a fridge and throw something together (usually turns out ok but then sometimes not so much) but baking scares the bleepers outta me!

I enlisted the help of my friend, Myra, who loves to bake and garden. I bribed her by saying I would cook dinner (second night in a row) if she would bake this baby up!  Well neither of us blogs, either sooooooooo, we forgot to take pictures during the process.  Yeah, we suck. We promise to do better if we are ever invited back (ever). 

Myra just moved in earlier this summer, and so was not entirely sure what utensils and things she had or tossed so at first we couldn't find the zester so I tried some piece off of a grater gadget. Didn't work so hot.  I then switched to a steak knife. SO TOTALLY DANGEROUS...don't do it (yes, I have all of my finger tips and finger nails; not the cake did NOT turn out red!).  Then we finally found the zester (ANGELS sang...NOW I know why it is called ANGEL FOOD CAKE! Always wondered, never knew!).  Made things a lot faster and ultimately, prettier, too!

Myra knocked out the cake, dinner (Thin-sliced Sirloin Tip steaks, cut for stir-fry, with basil pesto, sauteed red onion, topped with fresh garden tomatos over, not mixed in with, spiral pasta and garlic knots (store bought....duh! NOT A BAKER!!) was ready as it went into the oven.  We ate, and drooled over the aroma of the baking cake.  

As dinner ended, the cake was ready to come out (yup, managed to remember to take a picture of at least that!).

Well, the heat might have baked our brains a tad because we skipped over "COOL COMPLETELY" part (we were dying to try it and like the little 5 y/o girls we were, rushed things a bit) so it stuck to the pan and came out not so pretty (AGAIN: NOT A BAKER!!!)

Well at that point, since it was a glaze going on top and not frosting you can use to "hide" such calamity of errors, we decided it would be best to cut a piece and purdy it up for you! (taking it out of the pan made it deflate more than it should have; some deflation is supposed to happen, ours compressed a bit more than it should but still tasted amazing and lighter than it ended up looking (thankfully or this would be the How NOT to make a Margarita Angel Food Cake post!).

We glazed up the slice, put on extra lime zest, (since we had done all that darn work to get it off the limes in the first place!)and added a gorgeous piece of mint from Myra's yard to show off a bit (hey, we are allowed!). 

This cake is amaz-balls as Chef Wannabe says, and I plan to actually attempt it at home (OMG, call the medics to be on stand-by just in case, please!).  I hope you will enjoy this as much as we did between making it, decorating it and eating it as we did!

~Kari McLaughlin

Queen BITCH* of

Hot Dishes for Hot BITCHES* (FB page)

Margarita Angel Food Cake (OLE!)

CAKE:

1 cup cake flour (produces a light and airy cake)

1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

12 egg whites

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons grated lime peel (fresh is best)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons lime juice (fresh is best, not from that little plastic lime dealio)

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

GLAZE:

1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice (see above...USE FRESH)

1 1/2 tablespoons tequila OR 1 tablespoon water and 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice (did I mention to use FRESH?)

1 1/2 tablespoons Triple Sec (liquor) (could use Grand Marnier for top shelf cake) OR orange juice (ok, fine, use the bottled kind if you want)

2 to 2 1/4 cups of powdered/confectioner's sugar

3 tablespoons butter, softened (not melted)

2 tablespoons grated lime peel (LAST TIME: USE FRESH (please/thank you!).

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F.  Whisk flour and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a small bowl.

2. Beat egg whites in large bowl on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes or until foamy.  Add cream of tartar and salt, beat until soft peaks form.  Add remaining 3/4 cup sugar 2 tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat until stiff but not dry peaks form, being careful not to overbeat.  Beat in all remaining cake ingredients except flour mixture.

3.Sift 1/4 cup of the flour mixture over beaten egg whites; fold in with wide spatula.  Repeat, adding 1/4 cup flour mixture at a time and folding until no steaks of flour remain. Spoon batter into the ungreased 9-inch tube pan, smoothing top.  With knife blade, cut through batter in broad swirls, to break any air pockets.

4. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until cake is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed.  INVERT pan (turn it upside down, literally/seriously) on legs of tube pan or onto neck of bottle (glass soda or wine bottle) to suspend above counter; COOL COMPLETELY (not hot, not warm but COOLED/COLD).  Run thin knife around center and edges of pan; invert cake onto wire rack.

5. Combine 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice, tequila, triple sec, in medium bowl (if not using alcohol, this is where you sub out for the juices mentioned above).  Whisk in 2 cups of the powdered sugar, adding additional powdered sugar if necessary for glaze consistency.  Whisk in butter (SOFTENED (not melted)) and 2 teaspoons lime peel; spoon over cake. Let stand until glaze is set (yeah, right, like that will happen after all that baking and cooling time!). Cover and store at room temperature.

16 servings (if you are fairies or gnomes...)  (I'm a big girl who eats big girl slices!) :)

*Original recipe from Melanie Barnard, a cookbook author and writer from Connecticut

Guest Post - It's Yummilicious! Coffee Rubbed Turkey Burgers!

Hi Everyone!  As Chris may have already mentioned, my name is Becca.  I've been given the tremendous honor of posting a recipe for you while Chris is off vacationing with her family this week!  When I heard that she was looking for some help, I jumped up and down and waved my arms around in the air because she’s helped me out on SO many occasions that I wanted to be first in line to help HER out for a change!  I'm hopeful that she’s having a blast and will return to her kitchen refreshed, renewed, and ready for more fun!

Chris asked me if I would make up something with a coffee rub to show all of you today.  Apparently, she must have a fear of cooking with coffee, which I can appreciate, but totally don’t get.  I mean, let’s call it what it is…it’s coffee.  It’s a cup of black, liquid gold.  A jolt-you-out-of-bed cup of loveliness!  What’s to fear?  OK, this is GROUND coffee, but it’s really harmless and OH SO DELICIOUS!  Coffee adds a depth of flavor that perks up anything it’s paired with.  Like these turkey burgers!

Over at It's Yummilicious, I try to share a balance of healthy and sinfully delicious recipes.  Be that as it may, I TYPICALLY tend to lean a little more towards the sinful side, primarily because I love baking so much.  However, I snapped the elastic on another pair of stretchy pants a couple of weeks ago, forcing me to take a cold hard look in the mirror and I did NOT like what I saw.  I decided that I have been eating “all things in moderation” very well, so I’ve put myself on a healthy eating plan for a while.  That’s why this recipe for coffee rubbed turkey burgers is so awesome.   The burgers are packed with spices and grilled up until they’re juicy and incredibly Yummilicious.  The very best part of the deal is that you can fix these burgers up with any toppings of your choice.  If you like the flavors of good BBQ, add a little sauce to the top of your burgers.  If you’re a cheesy person, stuff these babies with some shredded or crumbled cheese… YUM!  In my particular case, BACON was calling my name, but I just wanted to be able to taste the tender turkey in all of its java-loaded glory, so I stuck with the basics…. a little yellow mustard, some lettuce and tomato.  WHAM BAM… a big grand slam!

COFFEE RUBBED TURKEY BURGERS:
yield: 4 burgers, 4 ounces each (weight before cooking)

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound lean ground turkey, divided equally 4 ways and formed into patties
1 Tablespoon ground coffee beans
2 teaspoons brown sugar2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, finely ground
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

DIRECTIONS:

In a spice grinder, food processor, or using a mortar & pestle, combine all of the spices. (If you don’t have any of those tools, place the spices into a zip-top plastic bag and close the top.  Use a rolling pin to crush and blend the spices together.

Liberally apply the seasoning blend to both sides of each patty.  Rub the spices in so that it will form a nice crust when you cook it.

The burgers can be grilled, fried in a pan, or even cooked under a broiler.  Be sure to use proper food safety practices by cooking them until the juices run clear and the internal temperature reaches at least 165 degrees for optimal safety.     

Asiago Asparagus, Guest Blog from The Fountain Avenue Kitchen

It is such a pleasure to be a guest in FoodThoughtsOfaChefWannabe's kitchen!  I have long admired Christine for her sense of humor, witty writing style, and delicious recipes.  When she requested my Asiago asparagus recipe, I was only to happy to oblige.  

Asiago cheese is a wonderful alternative to Parmesan and ramps up the flavor of simply roasted asparagus beautifully.  This is one of those easy side dishes that doesn't taste easy!  Lemon slices make a pretty garnish.  

And because I am always looking to stretch a meal or reinvent leftovers, I like to make extra for another night and toss with sliced grilled chicken, fresh pasta, tomatoes and a handful of mixed greens.  Drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and another grating of Asiago and you will have an amazing meal in a snap!

Asiago Asparagus:

asparagus, tough ends snapped off

olive oil

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

about 1/2 cup asiago cheese per bunch of asparagus, or to taste

lemon slices, optional

Place asparagus on a greased baking sheet and coat lightly with olive oil.  I like to use my olive oil mister. You want just enough to make the salt and pepper stick but not enough to make it soggy.  Sprinkle asparagus with the salt and pepper to taste.  Bake at 400 degrees.  Depending on thickness, this could take anywhere between 6-12 minutes.  Don't hesitate to prick the thick end with the tip of a knife to check.  The asparagus should be slightly undercooked at this point.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with asiago cheese.  Broil for 1-2 minutes, watching closely, or until cheese is melted and turning golden brown.

Squeeze a bit of lemon juice overtop and garnish with lemon slices, if desired.

And THIS is what she does with leftovers!

Make sure to visit Ann over @ The Fountain Avenue Kitchen or find her @ The Fountain Avenue Kitchen on Facebook.  Thank you Ann, I can't wait to try this, and I appreciate you sharing your talent with my readers while I am away!

Roasted Red Potatoes, you know, how TORIOLOGY does it!

Good Morning foodies!  This poor blog has been a trainwreck!  I have collaborated with my newest foodie friend Victoria over at Toriology, I made my dish, *we recipe swapped*, left it in the oven 10 minutes to long because the dog ran out the front door, had it all typed up and apparently forgot to save it.  So this is going to be try number 2!!

So as Victoria puts it, she was all alone on the foodie playground, when in reality, who could resist her kindness and sweetness?  I am so thankful she is part of my foodie world *and my non foodie world*.  I love when you find that handful of people you just know you would be great friends in the flesh, if you didn't live 1500 miles away! 

So I was reading through her recipes and this one caught my eye for a couple of reasons.  First, it was going to go perfectly with my roasted chicken, and secondly, it was potatoes, WITH breadcrumbs.  I am sorry but for a carb-a-holic, this is my heaven folks.  They looked delicious, yes, please look at HER photo because her dog *if she has one* obviously didn't decide to sabatage her blog recipe!  Even though they look a little more brown than they should in my photo, they were NOT burned and tasted amazing.  The texture of them is like so amazing.  The potatoes get a little crunchy and with the addition of the bread crumbs and parm, seasonings and olive oil it makes this crunchy breading almost on the outside.  I don't know guys, just make them, just do it, because you are missing out if you don't!  They  are so versatile as well, you can use any spice you want on them so you can suit them to your families taste!
Oh and I tripled the recipe because I was serving 4 hungry adults.  And FYI the leftovers are awesome with eggs the next morning.  Just sayin....

Here is what you need to get going on these crispy, crunchy, SO flavorful gems....

4 Red Potatoes
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Bread Crumbs (I use fresh, always)
1 tbsp Parmesan Cheese

Extra seasonings which you can change out for anything you like.  I used..
1tsp each, dried parsely, rosemary and basil.  I peppered them and salted them when they came out of the oven, ya know, AFTER I got the dog back in the house.  *insert eye roll*

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Make sure to wash and slive your potatoes.  I quartered mine because they were so cute and little.  Add all of your seasonings, breadcrumbs, cheese and drizzle with your olive oil.  Toss to combine.  It will look something like this!

I lined my baking sheet with parchment paper, just because I like easy clean up.  Dump your potatoes on and do NOT cook them 10 extra minutes.  Bake them at 30-40 minutes, and halfway through give them a flip, toss or shake so they can get crispy and good on all sides! 

Like I said, these are SO good.  I can't think of much they won't compliment in a meal.  Try them, and then come back and let us know how you loved them too!

Your "potatoes with crunchy breading are ya KIDDIN' me" chefwannabe

Chris

Make sure to visit Victoria at Toriology, or LIKE her on Facebook Facebook-Toriology, or on Twitter.  Let her know chefwannabe is gonna work her way through her recipe index as soon as possible and you should too!!!

Guest Blog: Thinking Outside the Megamart

Denise is Korean. She always jokes that she was "adopted by two fantastic white people who sent her to school to become a Spanish teacher". She has also taught an Italian class. She is borderline obsessive about American craft beer, cooking, sports, and has a bit of NY-NJ Metro Area Superiority Syndrome. She likes her cats better than most people because they don't say stupid things or wear pink hats to Yankees games. 

Taking the Monotony out of Food Shopping 

It is so easy to hit up the nearby Megamart for groceries.  The shelves are always well-organized, the waxy fruit shines under the fluorescent lights, and if you have a Shoppers’ Card, you can definitely save some money on those boxes of pasta and pre-bagged lettuce mixes. But there is more to life than those commercialized shiny aisles and freezer cases. 

I live in Jersey City, which is just a stone’s throw from (what I believe is) the Greatest City in the World: New York. As a result, I am surrounded by family-run ethnic markets, artisanal butchers, CSAs, and even street vendors who hawk produce instead of hot dogs. It is a fantastic thing that I try not to take for granted. But of all these, I admit, I love the farmers’ market the most. 

Many of you who live in smaller towns and suburbs probably do not have access to as much as I do. But that certainly doesn’t mean you’re restricted to wilting pre-packaged herbs and beef that may or may not be tainted with the ubiquitous “pink slime.”

The farmers’ markets may not always be heavily advertised, but chances are, they are there. Even in the most seemingly middle-of-nowhere towns here in Jersey have them. And don’t forget one important tip: just because it’s called a “farmers’ market” doesn’t mean it’s going to be all produce. Our vendors sell handmade cheeses, fresh meat (slime-free!), eggs, fresh pastas, and more. One vendor at my favorite market, the Union Square Greenmarket, drives from Sussex County to sell ostrich meat and eggs. Another sells not just lamb meat, but also yarn. 

Perhaps one of the greatest parts about the market is its ever-changing seasonal offerings. At the Megamart, you pretty much know what you’re going to get, and where you can find it. At the market, though, the selection will differ according to season. Right now in New York, it’s all about ramps, nettles, and asparagus; within weeks, the ramps will be gone, but we’ll be able to get all the fiddlehead ferns we want.  If you’re OCD and overly organized like me, it will throw off your usual grocery list-writing ways. But it will also challenge your creativity in the kitchen, which is always fun and never a bad thing.

The two gripes people usually have about the farmers’ market is that they may not find everything they need, and that what they do find can be much more costly than the same product at the Megamart. I’d be lying to you if I said I only bought from the markets; I like my Whole Foods granola and Canada Dry seltzer just as much the next person. And my salary doesn’t always let me buy the $25/lb sirloin. But know that when you do pay the extra bucks for these things, your money is going to the farmer, the butcher, the fishmonger, and the cheesemaker. It isn’t supporting any huge commercial chain. It is going to the guy who makes sure your product is at its freshest, its finest, and hasn’t been sitting on a shelf loaded with preservatives for the last two weeks. Many vendors, at least the ones in my area, also take EBT and food stamps, which makes great-quality food accessible to everyone. 

So take the monotony out of your grocery shopping. If you are passionate about good food and its source, do your research and find your nearest market.  You will be glad you did. 

Katie Parker explains it all! Vegan/Tofu/Apple Pie!

Hello FTOACW fans! My name is Katie and I'm a childhood bestie of Chris. I'm so proud and amazed at what Chris has done with this blog, that I begged her to let me do a guest blog. Being the awesome person that she is, she gave in and let me do it. Thanks, Chris! :)  

Now, let's talk food. I don't know about you, but I always think about food. ALWAYS.  Kinda like they say men think about sex. Anyway, as much as I think about food, you'd think that I would be a good cook. I'm not. In fact, I kinda don't know how.  Before you start thinking that I come from a line of people who don't cook, or do it well, let me set the record straight. I come from a family of wonderful cooks. I've just always been more interested in the eating part. Someone else can prepare it and I'll devour it. Alas,  I don't  think that I'm a hopeless case.  I can boil water, follow instructions and put frozen entrees in the microwave with the best of them. I've even made-get ready for it- AWARD. WINNING. SALSA. Yeah, I know. Award winning  (okay, so it was just first place at my friends' annual salsa tasting party. I got a prize and there were like 70 entries. Big time for me). Now that I'm 38, I've decided to be a grown up and learn how to cook and do it well. Being completely honest, part of what's fueling my interest in cooking is that I'm in a local ultimate makeover contest. I'll spare you all the gory details of that, but I will tell you that we're on our own for the diet portion. I'm in it to win it, so I've been looking up healthy recipes to cook up. I was fortunate enough to find some delightful recipes for Vegan Sloppy Joes, Tofu Finger and Red Hot Apple Pie in a Mug.  All I can say is that all three were total yum! I know that you probably can't wait to make this for your family or yourself, so without further ado, here are the recipes! 

 Vegan Sloppy Joes: 

1 package (it's actually a box) of Boca Original Vegan Meatless Burger patties. I tried to find some meatless vegan crumbles, but was unable to (Morningstar crumbles are not vegan). You'll be crumbling the patties up, so 2 patties would possibly serve 4-6 people and 4 patties would serve 6-8 people.
Depending on how many  people you're cooking for, put either 2 patties or 4 patties into a non-stick skillet or microwave. Tip: It helps to crumble the patties if you break them up into pieces before you put them in your cooking device.

Stovetop: cook on medium heat until cooked through to 160F. As the patties, cook, take a fork and crumble them into tiny pieces. 

Mircowave: The Boca box says to only cook 1 patty at a time, but I've cooked more than one at a time before without incident. Follow the directions on the box for the time, but be sure that the patty is cooked to 160F. You can crumble after the patty is cooked. I used a fork to do this, but do what is easiest for you. 

Pour Manwich Sloppy Joe Sauce ( I used the original style) into skillet until heated

Viola! You're ready to serve your Vegan Sloppy Joes on your choice of bread! 

Tofu Fingers: 

1 pound firm tofu, sliced into wedges/fingers/strips, 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs (note: you will not need this many breadcrumbs, but using this much will ensure easier breading) 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain the water off of the tofu, rinse it, and set it in a colander to let excess water drain off. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Cut the tofu into 1/2 inch wedges/fingers/strips, and spray both sides of the tofu wedges with the cooking spray. 

                           

Roll them in the breadcrumbs. Lay the wedges on the cookie sheet and give the tops one more spray. 

Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with dipping sauces (ketchup, honey-mustard, ranch, etc.). In my apartment oven, which is from 1985, I had to bake for close to 30 minutes to get them golden brown. 

Tip: I used some additional Italian seasoning for some additional flavor. 

Red Hot Apple Pie in a Mug 

• 1 medium Fuji apple, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 12 - 15 pieces Red Hots Cinnamon Flavored Candy
• 1/2 sheet (2 crackers) low-fat cinnamon graham crackers
• 2 tbsp. Fat Free Reddi-wip (or more!)
• Dash cinnamon

Put apple cubes in a microwavable cup or mug.  Top with Red Hots -- the more you use, the hotter your pie in a mug will be. 

Cover and microwave for 2 minutes.

Stir well. Re-cover and microwave for an additional 1 - 2 minutes, until apple cubes are soft. Additional time may or may not be needed, depending on your specific microwave. Container will be HOT when removing from microwave, so please be careful.

Meanwhile, crush/crumble graham crackers in a manner that you see fit. I just used my clean hands to crumble; set aside. Once cup or mug is cool enough to handle, mix contents well. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes.Top with most of the crushed graham crackers followed by the whipped topping. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

I loved this receipe, but my can of Reddi-Whip was defective, so the "whip" was mush. Lol!

This was a yummy meal! It may be a "go-to" meal for me from now on. Easy to do. Although I will say that the Vegan Sloppy Joes make for great leftovers, the Tofu fingers do not. I ate the Hot Apple Pie in a Mug right up, so not sure how that fares as a leftover. 

Thanks Katie!  It is so fun to share in your personal transformation!  You are such a positive role model for women, young and old.   I am so honored you would want to write a post for my blog!  

xoxo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katie Parker is a breast cancer survivor, speaker and writer.  Katie was a 2011 Pink Together Ambassador, a breast cancer writer for the "Fight Like A Girl" website, blogs for the Pink Lotus Breast Cancer's, "Breast Cancer 101" blog and is a volunteer speaker for the American Cancer Society.