Apple Crumble Pie

*sigh* I really must blog more often. So there are 23 days left until the wedding. I have missed my baking, my bloging and at times my sanity. Seeing as I am not the best at pie crust, I tend to buy the crusts and elabortate on what I would like to make with them. I decided to use what I had on hand and made an apple crumble pie. An apple crumble pie is your typical apple pie with a crumble top crust.

Apple Crumble Pie

Ingredients:

Preheat Oven to 375 Degrees.

Pie Filling:

-3 Apples thinly sliced
-2 tbls Brown Sugar
-1 tps Cinnamon
-1/4 tsp Nutmug
-1 tsp Vanilla
-1 tbls cold water mixed with 1/4 tsp cornstarch

Crumble:

-1 1/2 tbls Brown Sugar
-1 tsp Sugar
-1/2 tsp Cinnamon
-1/4 cup Flour
-1 1/2 tbls butter

Diretions:

1. Add sliced apples to a bowl with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Mix well and add water and cornstarch mixture, mix and let sit for 30 minutes.
2. In another bowl start cruble mixture. Add brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon and flour and mix well. Add in butter and incorporate until it is a crumbly mixture.
3. After 30 minutes add apple filling to the pie crust and top off with crumble mixture.
4. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
5. Slice and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream

Apple Crumble Pie
Originally uploaded by Nahren

Peanut Butter, Honey, Banana and Nutella Cakies

Some days, one can't help but experiment lol... Well these were not all that bad, I think they could have used a little less flour, so please play with the recipe to your desire :)!

I wanted a really soft peanut butter cookie, almost cake-like so I made "Cakies". Cakies are a cookie that is soft enough to be a cake. I thought of a sandwich I make every so often, peanut butter, banana and honey. Well from there, add a touch of Nutella and here you have it. Maybe next time I will try these as a cupcake, who knows?

Peanut Butter, Honey, Banana and Nutella Cakies

Ingredients:

- 1 Ripe Mashed Banana
- 1 Egg
- 1 tsp. Vanilla
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup flour (Start off with half, and if the batter is still too wet, go up to 3/4 cup)
- Pinch of Baking Soda
- Pinch of Salt
- Nutella for the top

Directions:

Set oven to 350 degrees.

1. In a bowl, combine mashed banana, egg, vanilla, honey,brown sugar and peanut butter; mix well.
2. In another bowl, sift dry ingredients together (Flour, pinch of salt, pinch of baking soda)
3. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and incorporate.
4. Spoon drop cookies onto greased or parchment papered baking sheet.
5. Pipe a small dollop of Nutella to the tops.
6. Put into the oven for 10-15 minutes.
7. Once the cakies are done, let cool and enjoy.

Cheers,
Naho @ Scrumptious Foods

Peanut Butter, Honey, Banana and Nutella Cakies
Originally uploaded by Nahren

Guacamole

Okay so the photos isn't the best, but this guac is really good! One of my favourite summer dips would have to be guacamole... The vibrant colour, refreshing taste go great with some tortilla chips and a nice cool drink. This is a small batch of guac and can easily be doubled.

Guacamole

Ingredients:

- 1 Avocado (Peeled and mashed, keep pit on the side)
- 6 grape tomatoes (quartered) OR 1/4 cup of chopped tomatoes
- 2 green onions (Finely diced)
- Juice of half a lime
- Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Have the peeled and mashed avocado in a bowl and add the diced tomatoes and green onions.
2. Fold ingredients together and slowly add lime juice. You can add more or less lime juice to your desired consistency and taste.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Don't forget to put the pit back into the guacamole so that it keeps it from discolouring quickly.

Cheers,
Naho @ Scrumptious Foods

Guacamole
Originally uploaded by Nahren

Coconut Macaroons w/Milk Chocolate Dip

I made these coconut macaroons a few times this summer. I heard some pretty great reviews, but sadly this recipe does not belong to me! Check out this AWESOME recipe by Martha Stewart here: www.marthastewart.com/recipe/coconut-macaroons.

I added chocolate to the recipe for taste and decoration, apparently they taste like bounty bars (use milk chocolate).

Cheers,
Naho @ Scrumptious Foods

Coconut Macaroons w/Milk Chocolate Dip
Originally uploaded by Nahren

Simple and quick dessert :)!

Do you ever find yourself a bit tired to turn the oven on and bake due to the sweltering heat? I do, as much as I hate to admit it lol. This recipe I threw together many years ago when I wanted to mimic a fruit tart.

The Very Simple and Quick Dessert

Ingredients:

-1 pkg store bought dessert shells
-1 pkg Vanilla Pudding, prepared
-1 pint blueberries
-1 can Whipped Cream/Topping
-Powdered Sugar

Directions:

These can be made in small batches or the whole package, it's to your liking:

1. Spoon vanilla pudding in dessert shell
2. Add blueberries in a stylish fashion
3. Add a dollop of whipped cream and another blueberry for decoration.
4. Dust on as much powdered sugar as you like

Note: This can be made with any size dessert shell as well

Cheers,
Naho @ Scrumptious Foods

Simple and quick dessert lol...
Originally uploaded by Nahren

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

It's been quite a bit since my last post, apologies. With the wedding coming up in 99 days, things are starting to get even more busy by the minute. I made this pasta salad twice this summer, it's very simple and refreshing. Great for a picnic, a potluck or a quick lunch.

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

-1 pkg fuselli pasta, cooked and chilled
-1 pkg pasta salad seasoning
-1 small red onion, sliced
-1 red pepper, sliced
-1 package grape tomatoes, whole or sliced in half
-1 cup black olives
-3/4 cup chopped cucumber
-200 g of feta cheese
-4 tbls. Mediterranean salad dressing

Directions:

1. In a large bowl add cooked pasta and sprinkle dry seasoning mix. Mix well until evenly incorporated
2. Add in sliced red onion, toss
3. Add in sliced red pepper, toss
4. Add in grape tomatoes
5. Add in black olives, toss
6. Finally add in chopped cucumber and toss. Make sure all veggies and pasta are mixed well and seasoning is even throughout
7. Add chopped or crumbled feta cheese and toss lightly
8. Fold in Mediterranean salad dressing and toss until evenly distributed

Cheers,
Naho @ Scrumptious Foods

Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Originally uploaded by Nahren

Berry Cheesepie (Small Cheesecake)

Sometimes when I only want a small cheesecake, I make a cheesepie, because it's the size and form of a pie. Others use different ingredients for a softer texture, I just use the same ingredients as I would for a cheesecake.

Cheesepie (Small Cheesecake)

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.

Ingredients:

Crust:
You can either buy your own ready made crust from the grocery store or make a quick one out of graham cracker crumbs.

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tbls. melted margarine or butter
2 tsp. sugar

Filling:

1 package brick cream cheese, softened
1 egg
2 tsp. Vanilla
1/4 cup plus 1 tbls. sugar

Directions:

Crust:
1.Mix all the ingredients to form a crust and press firmly into a pie dish or an aluminum pie pan.
2. Bake for 10-15 minutes and let cool.

Filling:
3. Soften cream cheese in a bowl and add egg, vanilla and sugar.
4. Using a mixer or blender, mix until smooth getting rid of all the lumps.
5. Once the crust has cooled, add cream cheese mixture and set the cheesepie on a cookie tray and place in the oven for 25 minutes or until top forms a golden brown colour
6. Let cheesepie cool for about 30 minutes
7. Once the cheesepie has cooled down add preferred topping or fruits (cherry, strawberry, blueberry, peach, etc) on top and set in the fridge for at least one hour or until cold enough to preference.

Cut, serve and enjoy!

Cheers,
Naho @ Scrumptious Foods