Pepitas Trail Mix from Pioneer Woman {THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS LINKY PARTY}

 

It's our very last LINKY PARTY {THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS}, I started this oh so long ago when I first started my blog and I think it has ran it's course. I still LOVE LOVE blogging, but I HATE HATE having a schedule and having to post on a certain day at a certain time. I am still growing my blog and looking for new avenues all the time, I just think linky parties are not it right now. Blogging is my outlet, my free time thing and I do it for my love of cooking. I am not making a million dollars  and I am not stopping anytime soon, but I just want it to be FUN FUN FUN and no presure, so I am sorry to say this will be my last THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS linky party (at least for now, never say never).

Today I am bringing you a recipe I made about 2 years ago (and never posted, yeah I have alot of those). This trail mix was the BOMB! It was so delicious and so yummy, I kinda wish I had some right now. It's a good healthy trial mix too, which would be perfect for my diet. Ya, who starts a diet in November (ME, that's who!). I have a small goal, a next goal and a BIG goal. My first goal before Thanksgiving is 5 lbs. I CAN DO THIS! 

First step is to clean out the punkpin seeds. I do this and then I take the pumkins and make homemade puree'. Yep, I love love having homemade puree in my freezer all year long.

Pepitas Trail Mix

adapted and made by me, taken from Pioneer Woman

1 whole pumpkin, seeds
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Pumpkin Spice Seasoning

Mini Chocolate Chips
Almonds, no salt
Vanilla Granola Clusters (any kind of granola will work)

Keep all the seeds from one or more pumkins in a bowl. Throw them into a colander and rinse them under cold water, pulling away the chunks of pulp as you go.

Spread the rinsed seeds out on a baking sheet. Allow the seeds to dry several hours or overnight. And beware: they’re quite sticky/slimy, so don’t place them on paper towels! Just leave ‘em on the baking sheet and they’ll be fine.

When they’re nice and dry, go ahead and preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Begin by drizzling the seeds with a couple teaspoons of olive oil. Use your fingers to toss the seeds around to coat.
Then salt and season the seeds to taste.

Pop ‘em in the oven for an hour or so, until the seeds are light golden brown. Let them cool for a few minutes…then let the snacking begin!

But if you wish to make the trail mix make sure the seeds are completely cooled and add chocolate chips, almonds and granola and toss.

Pepitas Trail Mix can be stored in an airtight container for a few days.

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS  you can now link up ANY recipe you'd like. Come one, Come all. NO rules, NO requirements, just link up any recipes (or food related craft items) and hop around to visit all the great recipes.

If you are a regular to THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky party, then link-up we're excited to see what you made this week. We are no longer sticking with ONE theme, so just link up any of your favorite recipes.

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Your hostess for this linky arty are: Tina from MOMS CRAZY COOKING, Nicole from The Daily Dish and Kristi from Veggie Converter.

THE LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week, come back and link up as many times as you wish, we can't wait to see all your fun and new recipes you made this week!

Homemade Granola Bars {SECRET RECIPE CLUB}

I decided it was time to try my hand at a Homemade Granola Bar, I can't believe how easy it was, and this batch made a large amount which was perfect for me to take to my daughter's dorm room in Missouri during my visit last week.

Of course, a granola bar isn't a granola bar (in my house) without a little bit of chocolate, so I added some of that into this already delicious recipe from Mele Cotte my Secret Recipe Club blogger for this month, and wah-la a perfect Homemade Granola Bar.

We had been BOO'ed! on our door step and thought it was the cutest thing ever (see photos below) and so we made little goodie bags for the 2nd floor dorm rooms and BOO'ed! everyone there! It was so cute and adorable and all the girls loved it.

My girls are LOVING College-Life.

My mom (g'ma) and I got to visit my twins in Missouri this past week for Parents Weekend and Homecoming festivities. We flew in on Wednesday night and spent 5-days there, shopping, cleaning, doing some laundry for them and just enjoying our time with them. Although I miss them very very much, I know there are exactly where God wants them to be. They are having so much fun meeting so many new friends and loving all that college-life has to offer.

We did a little decorating for Halloween and here are my girls with their awesome room mates (Ashlyn & Elizabeth) and (Kayley & Keilah). Plus a fun MUG shot of mama bear and her twins. The BOO! letter is the cute letter we found on our door step one morning and this is the note we left for all the college girls too on their doors along with a good bag complete with the Peep Ghost S'more and a Homemade Granola Bar.

Here is my SECRET RECIPE CLUB post for the month of October. The blog I had was called Mele Cotte and I pinned a whole bunch of fun recipes to try.

Here we go with my 19th post for the Secret Recipe Club; Group C .

Homemade Granola Bars

adapted by me, original recipe found at Mele Cotte

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 cup heath (toffee) pieces
1/4 cup honey
1 cup raisins
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
5-6 cups rice krispy cereal (or 1/2 rice krispy cereal and 1/2 granola)
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Spray a bar pan cookie sheet with Pam cooking spray and then line with parchment paper.

In a large saucepan, melt butter, brown sugar, toffee, and honey over low heat, stirring frequently. Gently bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Add raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Add rice cereal and mix well. Wait for at least 3 to 5 minutes before adding in chocolate chips (because you don't want them to melt). Once mixture has cooled down a little add in chocolate chips and gently stir. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spread evenly. I like to add an additional sheet of parchment paper to the top and roll evenly with a roller, pressing firmly.

Cool, then chill until firm. Cut into bars. To give away or save until later, wrap individually in Saran wrap.

Here is a list of my past Secret Recipe Club recipes:

• Blueberry Muffins (Gluten-Free)
• Bean Roll-Up (extra post)
• Cucumber Salad
• Raspberry & Nutella Pizza (extra post)
• Pioneer Woman's Chicken Pot Pie 
• Frozen Breakfast Burritos
• Pink Pearl Applesauce (crock-pot)
• Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cake (extra post)
• Cake Mix Cinnamon Chip Brownies
• Sweet and Smokey Roasted Cauliflower
• Cheesy Bacon Ranch Dip
• Trail Mix Cookies
• Creamy Noodles
• German Chocolate Cracker Candy
• Brownie Trifle
• Raspberry Greek Breakfast Parfait
• Dutch Apple Pie
• Banana Bread (special post)

Pretzel Kisses {Pumpkin Spice}

It's Homecoming Weekend at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri and I am here with my girls to hang out for the weekend. I am so happy that even though they are 1837 miles away I still get to come visit and enjoy their college experience with them. So, BLESSED!

Here is a FUN treat for the Holiday Season. Make these ahead of time for a party and they are a great snack or just make some up and baggie them up for a Holiday gift for friends and family.

Pretzel Kisses
found on Cookies & Cups

2 bags of Hershey’s Kisses (we used Hugs & Pumpkin Spice)
1 bag of Pretzel Snaps
Big baking sheet
Waxed paper – for easy removal

Preheat oven to 300. Unwrap Kisses (this is the hardest part, hehe). Line baking sheet with waxed paper, this will ease the mess or use a non-stick baking pan (that's what I did and it worked fine)

Lay one pretzel down and top with a Kisses. Pop in the oven for 2 min, just until they are glossy and softish. Remove from oven and let sit for 1 more minute, to continue the softening process. (Just watch them if you leave in the oven too long they will completely melt and run through the pretzel). Now top each Kisses with another pretzel pushing down gently, so it sticks together

I pop the baking sheet in the freezer for a few minutes to cool them off, or leave on the counter to cool.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Chex Mix

I was making up a few goodies for a Fundraiser-Bake Sale and came across this recipe. I knew I had some Chex Mix cereal (that my girls have now decided they don't like), this was the perfect recipe to turn that unwanted cereal into a delicious treat! Of course, everyone loved it once I put a little chocolate with it.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Chex Mix
found recipe on Cooking with K

1 lb white chocolate melts
6 cups Chex cereal (any kind or mix a few together, we used rice and corn)
Chopped Pieces of Orange Chocolate
1 to 2 tsp Pumpkin Spice
16 oz. M&M'S Peanut Butter Chocolate Candies, or Peanut Chocolate Candies, or Plain Chocolate

In a medium microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute intervals, until completely melted; set aside. In a large bowl, add cereal, chocolate pieces, and M&Ms. Pour melted chocolate over the cereal mixture. Using a large spatula to mix and coat all the chex mix. Once all the mixture is coated real well with the chocolate, pour out onto a table lined with waxed paper. Once cooled, break up into piece and store in an air tight container.

Gooey Trail Mix {Nestle Toll House Morsels}

This recipe is for sure GOOEY and for sure DELICIOUS. It's a very tasty {but} gooey candy Trail Mix. It's simple, it's versatile, it's easy to customize to your liking and it's SO good you can not stop eating it.

You can make it with almost any kind of cereal, you can add in pretzels, switch up the nuts to your favorite kind, if you don't like coconut leave it out and you can pick any kind of Nestle Toll House Morsels to add into your trail mix.  We choose this awesome Nestle Toll House Morsel mix of Peanut Butter Chips and Chocolate Chips and a bag of Nestle Toll House Mini Chocolate Chips, what an easy way to give it that peanut butter and chocolate flavor all in one.

We had so much fun in the kitchen cooking away and creating recipes. My twin daughters are off to college so with the help of one of their friends and my son, we had a blast cooking, baking and of course lots of taste testing. We started our day at 7:30 am apple and raspberry picking and then we came home to bake the night away. We made so many recipes the kitchen look like it exploded at one time. We not only created this delicious Gooey Trail Mix, but we baked a few apple pies, we made homemade raspberry muffins, a caramel apple cupcake and birthday cupcakes for my twins, then we added in banana bread for another blog post I need to get done before I left on vacation and well when it came dinner time we had so many sweets, we had to find some left overs in the refrigerator to eat. It was SUCH a fabulous day and so many amazing things came out of the kitchen yesterday, that I can tell you it was a blast and we can wait to get together again soon. This CRAZY mom was still going strong when the kids checked out.

Gooey Candy Trail Mix

2 (12 oz) boxes of your favorite cereal
1 (7 oz) bag shredded coconut
4 to 6 oz of your favorite nuts (we used peanuts)
1-1/2 cups butter (yep, that is 3 whole sticks of butter)
2 cups sugar
2 cups corn syrup
1 tbsp Sea Salt (optional)
2 bags Nestle Toll House Morsels (any flavor, we used Peanut Butter & Chocolate and Mini)

Combine cereal, coconut and nuts in a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine.

In a large sauce pan, cook butter, sugar and corn syrup to a soft ball stage, this is best with a candy thermometer, cook until about 234 degrees. Pour the syrup mixture over cereal mixture and stir until all is well coated. Then wait until mixture has cooled down a bit before adding in chocolate chips, you don't want them to melt. Then add in one bag of the chocolate chips and fold in carefully.

Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper and pour out mixture flat, add the second bag (the mini morsels at this time on top of the flat mixture), then let cool. Stir it around occasionally to prevent clumping. Store in an airtight container.

This post is sponsored by Nestlé® Toll House® Morsels, the perfect special ingredient for all of your family’s favorite treats!

Caramel Apple Dip - IMPROVED {THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS LINKY PARTY #100}

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS has changed, you can now link up ANY recipe you'd like. Come one, Come all. NO rules, NO requirements, just link up any recipe (or food related craft items) and hop around to visit all the great recipes.

I have always loved my apple dip that originally came from a Pampered Chef cookbook long long ago, but lately my friend has been making this great apple dip and so I thought I'd give it a try. It's actually almost exactly like mine, see original recipe here, but even better.

Caramel Apple Dip

idea from my friend Joleen, adapted by me, original idea from Pampered Chef

8 oz package cream cheese

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans (or use your favorite kind of nuts)
Caramel Ice Cream Topping
Heath Bar Crunch Topping (found in the baking isle)
Apple Slices (soak in Pineapple Juice)

In a small mixing bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla beat until smooth. Add in pecans and beat until combined. Transfer to a serving bowl and then cover the top with Heath Crunch Bar and drizzle with lots of caramel on top.

Core and cut apples slices into wedges and then soak in pineapple juice. You can remove apples and serve on a platter with the dip and the apples will not go brown.

Perfect dip for my fresh picked apples from Oak Glen, it's apple picking season and I LOVE IT!

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS has changed, you can now link up ANY recipe you'd like. Come one, Come all. NO rules, NO requirements, just link up any recipes (or food related craft items) and hop around to visit all the great recipes.

If you are a regular to THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky party, then link-up we're excited to see what you made this week. We are no longer sticking with ONE theme, so just link up any of your favorite recipes. 

Please Grab Our Button!!!

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Your hostess for this linky arty are: Tina from MOMS CRAZY COOKING, Nicole from The Daily Dish and Kristi from Veggie Converter.

THE LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week, come back and link up as many times as you wish, we can't wait to see all your fun and new recipes you made this week!

Pineapple Banana Smoothie {Sweet'N Low}

On vacation still and loving every minute of it. Even though this is a "busy-working" vacation, I am still having so much fun. (I never went to a 4-year college and lived in a dorm, so I am livin' it through my girls). Ya know it's fun when you stay up until midnight and then wake back up at 7am the next day just to go at it again all day long. We've shopped and shopped and organized and organized, we've done so much preparing and planning and creating great spaces in their dorm rooms that they are unbelievably awesome, if I must say so myself.

But one still must eat, right? Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (what's that ?). I have been going hundred miles an hour and then some. This quick breakfast in the motorhome was a perfect pick-me-up.

Where am I ? St. Charles, Missouri. What am I doing? Dropping my twin daughters off at their first year of college (OH MY!), 1837 miles away from home. Why so far a way? An awesome dance scholarship with an amazing dance team. They are attending Lindenwood University a 4-year private college, for those who haven't heard me say it yet and they will double major in Marketing and Dance, plus be debt free when they graduate. NO STUDENT LOANS. That is why we are in Missouri and not in California. The school was half the price of a California Private University, and sticking with our Dave Ramsey CASH ONLY plan, my girls were able to land a great scholarhship and the little money they did have to pay, they both paid for in full, in cash, in advance for their first year of college. PROUD MAMA!

Above is a sneak preview of their college dorm room and I can't wait to show you all the details and all the AMAZING Pinterest ideas we made happen in their tiny little space. But, while on the road we needed to eat. Oh, eating Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner (what's that?), I am afraid sometimes I am starving the other members of my family because I've been so crazy busy (they've had many fast food meals too). We drove our motorhome from California to Missouri filled with all the twins belongs and so while on the road I still managed to do a little cooking and baking. Here is a great recipe for a quick and easy breakfast on the road, that I created with the compliments of FoodBuzz and Sweet'N Low.

Pineapple Banana Smoothie with Sweet'N Low
recipe created by Tina Hudgens

1 cup apple juice
1 banana (cut in slices)
1 to 2 slices of fresh pineapples (or from a can)
1 pkg Sweet'N Low
1 tbsp Honey
1/2 cup crushed ice

Put all ingredients together into your blender or smoothie maker and blend until smooth. Serve cold for breakfast or an after school snack. Great way to get in a few bananas for those of us who don't like to eat them on their own (like me!).

In the Colorado Rockies on our way home from Missouri to California. JUST BEAUTIFUL.

"As part of the DailyBuzz Food Tastemaker Program,

I received Sweet'N Low packages and a stipend."

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS #72 (EVERYTHING GREEN) and Mint M&M Pretzel Bites

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky Party #72

(St. Patricks Day... and EVERYTHING GREEN)

Mint M&M Pretzel Bites

These cute little Pretzel Bites are so creative and I suppose the four little white chocolates and the green M&M in the middle could represent a four leaf clover... kinda, I guess. But, anyway they are cute and they are delicious. It's one of those things you set on the counter and everytime you walk by you pop one into your mouth and then all of a suddent they are ALL gone! Uh-Oh!

And did everyone know they sold MINT M&M's? I did not. I went searching for green M&M's and my grocery store only had Easter color M&M's and then I thought, well I could buy a bag of regular M&M's and pick out all the green ones and I still wasn't sold so I ran over the the regular candy isle and behold look what I found. An entire bag of ALL green M&M's (but mint flavor), which I think made these even better. So, score one for me! :-)

Mint M&M Pretzel Bites

idea found at My Little Gems

Butter Snap Pretzels (the square ones work best)
White Chocolate Chips (4 for each pretzel)
Mint Green M&M's (or green or whatever color you wish)

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Lay out your pretzels on the cookie sheet and 4 chocolate chips on each pretzel (make sure your white chocolate chips are very close together). When the chocolate is soft- after about 5 minutes in the oven, take out of oven and swirl the chocolate chips a bit to make them look like a clover, then place the mint M&M in the center and lightly press down. Let them set and they are ready to serve.

This week's theme is: EVERYTHING Green (all links must be green food)

Please only link recipes with our theme!

If you are a regular to THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky party, then link-up we're excited to see what you made this week. If you are new, please just follow our simple rules, so that everyone can enjoy the linky party! If you forget to follow the theme, your post will be deleted. Please don't feel hurt, just come back and link up a recipe that follows the theme. Thanks a million, we look forward to blogging with you!

Please Grab Our Button!!!

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This Week's Cravings Upcoming Linky "THEMES"

Here is a complete list of the past and what's coming up next on THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS!

March 19 - Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate

March 26 - Freezer Meals (fix and freeze for later)

April 2 - Easter Cookies & Treats

April 9 - Show Us Your ULTIMATE SANDWICH

Your hostess for this party are: Tina from MOMS CRAZY COOKING, Angela from Big Bear's Wife, Nicole from The Daily Dish and Kristi from Veggie Converter. We host this theme linky party every Monday (and the party stays open all week long)! We hope to inspire you to make something with our theme or get an old post notice by linking it up to the linky party below. 

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.
This week's theme is: EVERYTHING Green (all links must be green food)
Please only link recipes with our theme!

This week's theme is: EVERYTHING Green (all links must be green food)
Please only link recipes with our theme!

Red Hot Apple Pie in a Mug

This is the easiest, fastest, apple pie tasting treat ever! And it's low calorie and taste delish!

Red Hot Apple Pie in a Mug
from Hungry Girl Show

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.

Meanwhile, place graham crackers in a plastic bag and thoroughly crush through the bag; 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. (Use a double serving, if you like!)

Sprinkle with cinnamon and remaining crushed grahams. Voila!

Nutty Marshmallows from GUEST BLOGGER: From Grandma Loy's Kitchen

Let's meet Loy of From Grandma Loy's Kitchen, she is a almost 70 year old wife, mother, and grandmother. she has 3 children and 3 grandchildren. Besides cooking, she enjoys knitting, sewing and quilting. She reads cookbooks like novels and spends way too much time reading blogs.  (me too Loy, me too! I love reading blogs and I hope when I am almost 70 that I am still blogging away with ya!)

Blog: From Grandma Loy's Kitchen

TAKE IT AWAY: I want to thank Tina so much for allowing me to guest post on her blog. This is so exciting for me. My name is Loy, and I blog over at From Grandma Loy’sKitchen. I am a fairly new blogger since I just started my blog in May. I share recipes from my vast collection with an emphasis on DIY groceries. I also highlight other bloggers in my Friday Finds and Cooking from the Blogs posts. Come on over and see, you might like it.

Today I am going to share a favorite family treat: Nutty Marshmallows. This is especially good for the holidays. I got this recipe from a friend and coworker at Sears many, many years ago. The recipe is quick, easy, fun and delicious and takes only three ingredients.

Marshmallows, toasted ground nuts, and half and half, whole milk, or light cream. These are best made with a fresh bag of marshmallows, but older ones can be revived with this recipe. Any favorite nut can be used, but be sure to toast them for best flavor. Since they are a main ingredient, each kind of nut will give a different flavor to the finished product. The half and half, whole milk, or light cream is used for dipping the marshmallows so use whatever you have.

A small, deep saucepan is needed for heating the half and half. If you have a small fondue pot that would keep the milk hot, that would be ideal. Left over half and half can be kept for a few days and reused.

Simply put, these are marshmallows which have been softened in the hot half and half and rolled in ground nuts. This is a fun activity to do with kids, with an adult doing the dipping and the kids rolling the marshmallows in the ground nuts.

Nutty Marshmallows

1 1/2 to 2 c. half and half, whole milk, or light cream
1 pkg. (10 oz.) regular marshmallows
3 c. toasted nuts, ground (nuts are measured before grinding)

Heat half and half in a small deep saucepan until very hot but do not let it boil. You want the half and half deep enough to cover a marshmallow. Start with the 1 1/2 cups, adding more if needed. Place nuts in a shallow container. Place a plate to put the rolled marshmallows on close by.

With a pair of tongs, dip a marshmallow into the hot half and half. Leave the marshmallow in for 10-15 seconds. Drop marshmallow into the ground nuts. Use a spoon to drop nuts onto the top of the marshmallow then roll to completely cover with nuts. Set onto plate to cool. Makes about 36 marshmallows. Put in a single layer in a shallow container and cover to store. These are best eaten within two or three days of making. At our house they never last that long.

I hope that you enjoy making these, they are sooooo good.

Blog: From Grandma Loy's Kitchen

These are such a fun treat. I would love it if Loy was my neighbor and she brought me over a baggie of these for Christmas (hint-hint)! But for a really easy gift you could tie some cute red and green ribbon around a clear baggie of these fun tasting treats and deliver them to your own friends or neighbors.

Pink Pearl Applesauce (crock-pot): SECRET RECIPE CLUB

SECRET RECIPE CLUB

Pink Pearl Applesauce

Today is Group B: Secret Recipe Club reveal. And I am the fearless-host of Group B and YES I LOVE IT!!! Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I hope that we see lots of ideas that we can use for this upcoming feast, I made this scrumptious applesauce that is PERFECT for Thanksgiving. If you haven't heard of the Secret Recipe Club or you'd like more information click on over and read all about it, there may be a little waiting list, but feel free to sign up anyway.

When I found out who my assigned blog was, I clicked right on over. (I don't assign the blogs, so my new blog each month is still a secret to me). I was assigned Fifteen Spatulas and I just have to say her blog is A-MAZ-ING and everything, I mean everything looks so SCRUMPTIOUS! You should see all the recipes I've pinned on Pinterest, I hope to make ALL OF THEM, sooner rather then later. But first, it will be the Caprese Pasta Salad, followed by Ooey Gooey Rocky Road Cookies. (maybe even both the same night)

The recipe that made the post today is Pink Lady Applesauce (I had a handful of Pink Pearl apples from apple picking and I knew they would make great applesauce)! This recipe was perfect. I changed the recipe from Pink Lady to Pink Pearl and from stove-top to crock-pot plus took out the cardamon (only because I didn't have any on hand). This is the second applesauce crock-pot recipe I've made (click here to see the first) and I like BOTH! Yes, both of them are equally delicious and both of them are very different too. One sweet, one more tart. One cinnamon'y and one not so much! So, you can bet in the near future I will be making BOTH of my applesauce crock-pot recipes I've discovered.

Yes, Pink Pearl Apples REALLY are pink inside (see photo)! This apple cutter makes cutting all these apples so easy!
And yes you are seeing a BAG in my crock-pot, they sell them at Target or local grocery store and I LOVE THEM!

Pink Pearl Applesauce (crock-pot)
adapted from Fifteen Spatulas

We also freeze individual servings for later.
They go great in the kids lunches frozen and then by lunch
time they are ready to eat cold Homemade Applesauce

6 or more Pink Pearl Apples
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
dash of ginger
dash of cloves

Peel your apples, core them, and cut them in into small chunks. I love using my slicer and then just peeling them. Place the apple chunks into crock-pot with the water, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. When the apples are soft enough to mash, mash to your liking. Chunky or Silky Smooth. That's it! Transfer to individual servings or to a big bowl and cool in the refrigerator.

Here are a list of my past Secret Recipe Club recipes:

• Raspberry & Nutella Pizza
• Cucumber Salad
• Bean Roll-Up
• Blueberry Muffins (Gluten-Free)
• Pioneer Woman's Chicken Pot Pie 
• Frozen Breakfast Burritos

This post is linked up one, two or all of these FABULOUS Linky Parties!