Apple Pie Braid

I love apple pie, it's seriously one of my favorite desserts. When I found this recipe on Pinterest I knew I had to try it! I made it last year for Thanksgiving and it was big hit so I decided to make it again this year.

Here's what you need:

Apple Filling:
3 medium sized apples (whatever your preference is)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Pie Braid:
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon instant yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons vegetable oil

Glaze:
1/3 cups confectioners sugar
5 teaspoons whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


How to make the Apple Pie Braid:

Peel, core, and slice the apples into thin slices. Place in a pie pan mixed with all the other apple filling ingredients. Bake for 15 minutes at 350F

While that's baking mix together all the dry ingredients for the pie bread. Add water and oil and mix for 6 minutes in medium-high speed.

Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray (I found this the easiest thing to do) and roll out the dough to about a 12x16 inch size- using a rolling pin spraying with cooking spray makes it a lot easier)

Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut 1 inch strips in the sides of the dough leaving the middle third solid with no cuts.

Fill the center of the braid with the pie filling and then criss-cross the dough strips to make it into a braid.

Bake the braid for 25 minutes at 350F.

While it's baking you can make the glaze for the top of the braid. Whisk together the confectioners sugar, whipping cream, and vanilla.

After the braid is done baking allow it to cool for a few minutes before adding the glaze. It's also recommended to put a cooling rack on a cookie sheet under the braid so that the glaze doesn't soak into the braid and make it soggy.

Here's the final product! Slice, serve, and enjoy :) Vanilla ice cream is also a good addition to a piece.

16 Weeks

How far along? 16 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +7 at my appointment- I hate that my appointments are on mondays. I always eat too much on the weekends and go in there feeling like a cow haha. Usually by the end of the week I feel like I'm back to "normal".

Maternity clothes?. Still wearing my regular clothes! Still need a belt with my jeans so probably still have some time before I really need maternity clothes- hooray for having a long torso and room for baby to grow!

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Pretty good  most of the time, toss and turn a little but nothing too bad.

Best moment this week: Getting to hear the heartbeat is always a good moment for me. Other than that, Adam and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary last tuesday!

Miss Anything? Lunch meat! I hate heated up lunch meat so a cold piece of ham sounds so good right now.

Movement: Nothing yet, they say it could happen anytime now.

Food cravings:  Tacos! I could eat tacos every day.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Nothing really. I've noticed my sense of smell has started to increase a little though.

Have you started to show yet: Maybe a little but I'm still not quite convinced it's baby yet.

Gender: Don't know yet. We find out in 15 days! (december 4th)

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy.

Size of Baby: According to my pregnancy app baby is the size of an avocado, 4.6 inches long and 3.5 ounces.

Looking forward to: Finding out what we're having, picking out a name, and decorating the room.

Harris Teeter Super Doubles

I was finally feeling good enough to go early to Harris Teeter this morning and shop their Super Double sale (all manufacturer coupons $2 and under doubled)

Here's what I bought:

With coupons, and some online coupons loaded to my loyalty card, I got McCormick grill spices for free, McCormick cinnamon for free, Febreeze car vent for free, Dawn dish soap free, box of Triscuits free, and Glade air freshener free. I got the shaving cream for $1 each after coupon. Dog treats were $1.35 each after coupon.

The green giant canned veggies were buy 2 get 3 free and so was the Ragu pasta sauce. Ore-ida potatoes were buy 1 get 1 free.

I had to get some other things that weren't on sale but we needed for dinners and other things.

Overall I spent $45.81 and saved $57.75, over 50% savings!

12 Weeks

I promise this is going to be more than a pregnancy blog. I just haven't done anything crafty recently or made any new foods, I'm just starting to finally get over morning sickness!

How far along? 12 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +4 at my appointment yesterday

Maternity clothes?. Bought my first shirt a couple weeks ago, don't really need it yet but it will be fun to see it fill out throughout the weeks.

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Good!

Best moment this week: Got to hear the heartbeat for the first time in almost 6 weeks yesterday. The stinker was hiding low and to the left so it took the doctor a little bit to find it.

Miss Anything? Lunch meat! I hate heated up lunch meat so a cold piece of ham sounds so good right now.

Movement: Nothing yet, still have some time until that happens

Food cravings:  Tacos! I could eat tacos every day.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Nothing too much right now.

Have you started to show yet: Maybe a little but I'm still not quite convinced it's baby yet.

Gender: Don't know yet, we might get to find out the beginning of december.

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy.

Size of Baby: According to my pregnancy app baby is the size of a plum (2.1 inches) and weighs .49 ounces.

Looking forward to: Finding out what we're having!

Coming soon....

That's right! We're having a baby :) Estimated due date is May 6th, 2013 and we are so excited!

9 week survey:

How far along? 9 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +2-3, depends on my morning sickness

Maternity clothes?. Nothing yet, hopefully not for a while!

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Good most days, some days not so good.

Best moment this week: Being able to share our news on Facebook so everyone officially knows! I was tired of keeping it a secret :)

Miss Anything? Lunch meat! I hate heated up lunch meat so a cold piece of ham sounds so good right now.

Movement: Nothing yet, still have some time until that happens

Food cravings:  Not really cravings, just seeing commercials for certain foods or seeing them in the store make me want them.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  The smell of garlic powder almost made me sick, can't use that anymore. And some foods make me sick one day and are fine the next.

Have you started to show yet: Nope

Gender: Won't know for a while!

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy as long as I'm not feeling nauseous 

Size of Baby: According to my pregnancy app baby is the size of a green olive (.9 inches) and weighs about .07 ounces.

Looking forward to: Finding out what we're having!

Halloween Crafting

Yes, yes, I know it's been too long since I've posted. Shame on me.

Now that we're over that we can move on to my recent craft!

Kristine and I got together when she had a day off work and we did our Halloween crafts together, it was grand!

I was inspired by a pin on Pinterest and the fact that it called for scrap pieces of wood and we have plenty of those laying around our yard since Adam's building our new barn.

I got 3 skinny pieces of wood and a larger one for the bottom. I grabbed some halloween colors of paint and started.

I painted the smaller pieces orange, green, and white- for a pumpkin, frankenstein, and ghost.

Pumpkin, Frankenstein, and Ghost!

I had Adam screw them onto the  base and I plan on painting "Happy Halloween" in front of the monsters.

Kristine made her own craft also!

It was a good time :)

Buffalo Chicken Fingers

3 posts in one week! I'm on a roll! Woo!

I've been trying to find some new recipes to try since we're both trying to eat a little healthier and I was getting tired of grilled chicken.

Thanks to the lovely world of Pinterest I found this great recipe for Buffalo Chicken Fingers.

Here's what you need:
Chicken breasts cut into finger strip size pieces
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup bread crumbs
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon water

In a bag mix together the flour, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt

On a plate mix the breadcrumbs, 1/2 teaspoon garlic power, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt

In a bowl mix the egg whites with the tablespoon of water.

Take the chicken pieces and put them in the flour mixture bag

Sorry for the terrible quality, I was trying to take pictures with messy hands

Shake off the excess then put them in the egg bowl

Shake of the excess egg and roll it around in the breadcrumb mixture

Then place all the pieces on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray

Cook at 400 for 8 minutes then flip over and cook another 8 minutes.

They were amazingly delicious! They had a little kick to them and were perfect dipped in ranch or bbq sauce. I will definitely be making these again.