Munchie Monday: Apple Pancake Wontons

One of my favorite blogs of the moment is Emily Bites. It's no wonder that as I've been getting back to healthy eating that a food blog would make my top ten. After I made her lasagna "cupcakes" I was not only thrilled to add this recipe to my regular dinner rotation, but I was also sold on wonton wrappers. How had I never seen their potential?

The morning after the very successful "lasagna" dinner, I was considering how to use the rest of my wonton wrappers while also craving one of my favorite breakfast foods--German apple pancake. I can't express to you how much I LOVE these things! My mom makes four to five of these every year for Christmas breakfast (mostly because my brother and I can take down one a piece if we're hungry enough). The original recipe calls for lots of eggs, butter, and flour. Weight Watchers friendly it isn't. So, I decided to do a little recipe revamp and guess what? I hit the jackpot! Without further adieu, I bring you my latest original (I'm saying this original, but truthfully, it probably exists somewhere out there already) recipe:

Apple Pancake Wontons

Ingredients:
-24 wonton wrappers
-1 large apple
-3/4 c. egg substitute
-1 tsp. vanilla
-Stevia (or your choice of zero calorie sweetener)
-Cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray and place two wonton wrappers (situated to make a star) into each opening.

3. Cube apple and toss with cinnamon and Stevia to taste (I use 2 packets of Stevia)

4. Spoon apples into wonton wrappers.

5. Mix vanilla, egg substitute and 1-2 packets of Stevia together. Spoon egg mixture into wonton wrappers over apples. Apples should still peek through the mixture

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes before carefully running a knife along the edge of each "pancake".

7. Enjoy with a little zero calorie syrup!

These refrigerate well. I haven't tried freezing yet, but if you do, let me know how they are.

WW Points +: 4 "Pancakes" for 5 points

Quick & Easy Homemade Bread...Yum!

Well, welcome to 2012! I can't believe we're here already. This last year went by so fast! I wasted no time getting a jump start on my resolutions for the year. Yesterday, I tackled bread baking in an effort to accomplish resolution #10: Cook/bake more of our own food. (It also accomplishes one of my unofficial goals of actually making stuff I pin on Pinterest!)

As a true carb-addict, I've always loved bread and been very picky about what kinds I buy. It's hard to find an economical bread that isn't made with a bunch of hard to pronounce ingredients. As you know, I'm trying to get back to a more holistic and healthy lifestyle. (Resolution #5: Work toward an organic, homemade lifestyle.) With this in mind, I decided that I would give making our own bread a try. I have to say that for a first attempt, I was more than pleased! In fact, the loaf has been baked for less than 24 hours and it's already half way finished!

I should have called my mom for one of her recipes (I have many childhood memories of my mom baking bread), but I thought I'd go with something super easy my first time out. I chose to use the recipe I found here. 

Here it is for your convenience: 

1/4 cup milk
5 teaspoons sugar (or 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoons salt
5 teaspoons butter (or 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1 package active dry yeast 
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups flour (get unbleached white for your first attempt) --Good tip from original source!
Corn starch or nonstick cooking spray (just to prevent the bread from sticking to the bowl or pan)

Putting it together: 

-Dissolve yeast in 1 c. warm water. Mix until there are no lumps. (I used my Kitchen Aid to combine all ingredients.

-Add melted butter, sugar, and salt. Mix until thoroughly combined.

-Mix in first 2 cups of flour 1/2 cup at a time.

-Continue adding the rest of the flour 1/4 cup at a time. Mix each 1/4 cup in completely before adding the next 1/4 cup. (I did end up using 3 1/2 cups total in my loaf.)

-Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead dough for 10 minutes.

-Form dough into a ball and place into a bowl sprayed with cooking spray. Place in a warm place and allow to rise for 1 hour. (I set my oven to the "Warm" setting and set it there.)

-After the hour is up, punch down the dough 3-4 times; flatten into a rectangle (1 loaf pan size by 1 1/2 loaf pan size).

-Roll into a log; tuck sides under and place into a greased loaf pan. 

-Allow the dough to rise in the loaf pan for another hour. When it's finished, it will look like this:

Sorry about the quality of the pictures; my camera wasn't charged, so I used my phone. 

-Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes (This was the PERFECT amount of time for my loaf of bread!)

-Remove bread from pan immediately. Allow to cool a bit before cutting.

So...the first attempt at homemade bread was an AMAZING success! For my first time I just used all purpose flour and it was wonderful! I'll be branching out to whole wheat bread flour next. Since this bread recipe is so easy, I'll probably make two or three loaves at the beginning of the week for us. 

Sumptuous Summer Ribs

Remember when Mike asked me to focus on a few things and do them well? I'm still working on it. Part of the plan is to only maintain one blog. I was a little too crazy when trying to update this blog and DD. So, everything is going to be here. Fortunately for you, there's only one blog to follow. :)


I didn't really try/like ribs until I was in my early twenties. Since then, I anxiously await trips south or summer fests for finger-lickin' good ribs because I've been too intimidated to try making them myself. Horror stories of dried out, bland meat kept me from trying. However, last year we bought a 1/4 of a grass fed cow with Mike's parents, and I still had country ribs in the freezer. It was time; I had to face my fear. Armed with the following recipes, I not only conquered the ribs, but I will never buy store bought BBQ sauce again!

I didn't do process pictures this time around, but here's a quick shot of the final product.

Bourbon Whiskey BBQ Sauce I made this sauce the day before and refrigerated it. It was SO EASY to make, and Mike said it is his new favorite BBQ sauce! I'll probably buy Mason jars to store this year round!

Ingredients

• 1/2 onion, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup bourbon whiskey
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 2 cups ketchup
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons liquid smoke flavoring
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic, and whiskey. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Mix in the ground black pepper, salt, ketchup, tomato paste, vinegar, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and hot pepper sauce.
2. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Run sauce through a strainer if you prefer a smooth sauce.

Simple Country Ribs I did do a few modifications: Instead of water, I used a can of beer to cover the ribs in the stock pot. Awesome! Be sure to baste often during cooking. You can also bake these ribs in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350. Finally, I boiled down the left over sauce and saved it for later use. These came out tender and falling off the bone. Good luck!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds pork spareribs
• 2 (18 ounce) bottles barbeque sauce
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place spareribs in a large stock pot with barbeque sauce, onion, salt, and pepper. Pour in enough water to cover. Bring to a low boil, and cook approximately 40 minutes.
2. Preheat grill for high heat.
3. Lightly oil grate. Remove spareribs from the stock pot, and place on the prepared grill. Use the barbeque sauce in the saucepan to baste ribs while cooking. Grill ribs, basting and turning frequently, for 20 minutes, or until nicely browned.

*I found both of these recipes at allrecipes.com--It's hands down my favorite recipe website! Sign up...it's free!