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Let's Get Cooking

Let’s Get Cooking: Apple Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Hey guys! Happy Wednesday! I don’t know about you, but there is something so sweet about baking in the fall and trying new recipes after a nice long walk!

Happy Fall!

After doing some apple picking, I couldn’t wait to search Pinterest for some new recipes to try. I made this Apple Cinnamon Swirl Bread a few weeks ago and it was a hit. Although it is a bread, it’s so sweet and flavorful, you can serve it as a dessert with a scoop of ice cream or on its own.

Without further ado, here’s a look at this tasty apple recipe.

Ingredients

1/3 cup of brown sugar

2  teaspoons of cinnamon

2 medium apples

2/3 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons

1 stick of butter

2 large eggs

1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla

1 ½ cup of flour

1 ¾ teaspoons of baking power

1 teaspoon of salt

½ cup of milk and 3 tablespoons

1 cup of powered sugar

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×5 pan with cooking spray, place parchment paper and then spray.

2) Mix brown sugar and one teaspoon of cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.

A look at your dry ingredients

3) Toss chopped apples with 2 tablespoons of sugar and one teaspoon of cinnamon and set aside.

Apple mixture

4) Beat butter and 2/3 cup of sugar with mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one and a time and vanilla.

5) Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in another bowl, add to cream mixture and blend. Mix ½ cup of milk until smooth.

6) Pour batter into loaf pan, add half of the apple mixture, sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon mixture on top.

7) Continue to layer and swirl the mixture once complete.

8) Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes and check with a tooth pick.

9) To make glaze: mix powered sugar with milk and pour on top of bread once cooled.

10) Serve!

This recipe was so easy to make and so tasty! I know I will be making it more this fall season. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch, a snack or dessert.

Tell me: What are some of your apple recipes?

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Let's Get Cooking

Let’s Get Cooking: Summer Drinks

Hi everyone! I hope you are having an enjoyable week.

As we make our way through July, my blog series about summer tastes and must haves continues.

Last week, I showed you how to make a super easy pasta salad that an be used for big gatherings or pre-made lunches. To check out my Pizza Pasta Salad check out my last post.

This week we are talking summer drinks.I drink water 99% of the time. I always have it with me whether I’m at my desk, on the go, or at home. In the summer, I do like to change up my drink choices for something a bit more fruity and fun.

Here’s my recipe for Sunrise Juice!

This drink can be served at any meal and just like the pizza pasta salad, you can tailor the portion to your liking. 


Here’s what you need:

-Orange juice

-Sprite or 7 Up

-Pineapple Juice 

-Lime Juice 

-Strawberries to garnish
You can serve this with alcohol but I prefer to drink it just with the juices.

Directions:

  1. In a large glass or cup, mix equal parts or orange juice, sprite or 7 Up (whichever you prefer), pineapple juice and a squirt of lime juice. 
  2. Stir it together and add ice.
  3. Add strawberries to garnish and to your mixture for an extra fruity pop.
    And there you have it, an easy and refreshing summer drink.

You can change out different fruit juices to your liking, but the orange and pineapple go very well together, and the lime juice and soda adds an extra kick.

Another shot of the drink


I like to enjoy this by the pool, when I’m reading or hanging out with friends.

This drink is fairly healthy, sweet and refreshing for the summer.

As we are talking about food and drinks for the summer, what your go-to’s for summer tastes?

Let me know in the comments below! Next week we will be talking about summer travel must haves. I can’t wait to be back here, same time, same place on Wednesday, until then, have a great week!

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Let's Get Cooking

Fall Recipe: Cake Balls

I always like to make a new treat/ snack/ meal every season. At the start of the year I was on a roll with cooking one meal a week, I have to admit, I have been slipping these past few months. I’m hoping to do more cooking these next few months as fall and winter settle in. I did manage to make a new fall dessert a few weeks back with my mom. Here’s a tasty recipe for cold days inside. This is a super simple, three ingredient dessert that’s perfect for any get together.

Cake Balls

Ingredients:

  • Cake mix (baked or pre-made)
  • Icing
  • Melting chocolate
  • Garnishes (sprinkles, chocolate chips, etc.)

Directions:

  1. Make cake (I used chocolate for this recipe, but any flavor works. I just made a cake from the box with eggs, water and oil. )
  2. Once cake is baked, let it cool.
Cake is done!

3. Break apart cake until it’s all broken up.

Cake broken apart

4. Combine icing (I used chocolate) and cake and mix together.

The new mixture

5. Roll cake mix into balls and then place in freezer for 30 minutes.

The cake balls ready to go in the freezer

6. Once they were done in the freezer, I melted chocolate and dipped the cake balls in to completely cover them. It can get messy, so I would reccommend using a spoon to dip them.

The cake balls all dipped in chocolate

7. The chocolate dries fast, so make sure you dip them fast and add garnishes, whether it’s sprinkles or chocolate chips or nuts.

The finished product. I had some leftover melting chocolate so I made some dip pretzels. Yum!

Enjoy your dessert! You can freeze leftovers and enjoy at a later date.

Up close of the dessert

This is just a fun and easy dessert that I saw on Pinterest and wanted to try for myself. It was easy to make and tasty and was a great crowd pleaser. What fall recipes have you been making?

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Let's Get Cooking

Let’s Get Cooking: Margarita Chicken Soup

One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to do more cooking and make a meal a week for my family. For me, it’s a way to try out new recipes, brush up on my cooking skills, and do something nice for my family since they do so much for me.

 I have looked on Pinterest, blogs, and recipe books to find different and fun meals for my family and I have found a ton that I can’t wait to try out!

Shay Shull is a blogger and cookbook author. I read her blog every day and I love her posts about family, faith and life. Mix and Match Mama is my go-to for recipes. I have made so many recipes from her and I have been so pleased with every single one. From treats, snacks, dinners, and lunches…she has so many fun and creative ways to eat meals even on busy nights. 

Last week I made her Margarita Chicken Soup and it was incredible.  It was easy to make since it’s a crock pot soup, I put everything in at 3:00 p.m. and we ate around 7:00 p.m.. To see her recipe click here.

This soup as hearty and filling, there were lots of different flavors and it fed 4 with leftovers! I know this will be on rotation in my house for fall and winter months. Who doesn’t like a warm bowl of soup at the end of the day?!

Here’s how I made it:

The Prep

Ingredients 

1 pound of chicken breast (frozen or defrosted)

2 (10 oz can) of diced tomatoes

1 can of Sprite

1 can of Black Beans

Half a bag of frozen corn or 1 can of corn

1 packet of taco seasoning

2 limes 

Chips, Sour Cream or Shredded Cheese to garnish

Directions

In a slow cooker layer the ingredients (minus the limes and garnish)

Cover and cook on Low for 6-8 hours or High for 3-4 hours 

When done, separate the chicken with two forks in the slow cooker.

Slice limes in quarters and then add to the soup.

Serve and garnish with sour cream, cheese, and chips.

After!

Something else I have started to do is compile a list of my favorite recipes. This will come in handy when I am living on my own and I am craving some homecooked food or a yummy dish. 

What are some of your winter go-to meals?

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Let's Get Cooking

Let’s Get Cooking: Southwest Chicken Salad

Hi everyone! Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is off to a good start. As we embark on a new year, it’s time for some new and fresh content. Every year when I work on my blog, I always like to add new pieces and content. The closer I get to living on my own, the more I like to try out new foods and recipes. Get ready for some fun recipes that I plan on making and adapting. 

One of my favorite types of food or meals to make are ones with things I already have at home, not only is it resourceful since you aren’t wasting food but it’s also a creative outlet with cooking. 

This week’s recipe is Southwest Chicken Salad. This is so easy to make. I started with making some barbecue chicken. I just make regular chicken breasts and put barbecue sauce on top and cook them. Pretty simple, right?!

Southwest Chicken Salad

As far as the salad goes I start off with a simple garden salad. I added lettuce, celery, and onions. I then had little bowls for all the sides, but if you like them all you can just put it in the large salad. In smaller bowls I put black beans, corn, cheddar cheese, and taco chips. I also had dressing like Ranch and French available for toppings. 

All the ingredients

For my meal I added salad with black beans, corn, chicken, chips, cheese and dressing. 

This meal was fast and easy to make. I had all the ingredients in my fridge and it was very filling and healthy. I  was even able to have leftovers for other meals. 

This meal will definitely be on rotation for my meal planning. I can’t wait to learn more meals and share them with you too. 

What are some of your favorite go-to meals?!