Baked Apples in a Bag

The other night we were making breakfast for dinner and I had some fresh apples so I wanted to make some baked apples.  I checked on Pinterest just to see if there was a new recipe for me to try.  I found this simple and no cleanup recipe for baked apples.

What could be easier?  You might even have all these things in your pantry.

Slice and core your apple.

Put pieces in a zip lock bag.

Add 1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon water

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cornstarch

Shake the bag to mix the ingredients.  Place in a microwave and cook on High for 2 minutes.

They were really good and would make a nice quick afternoon snack too.

Chili's Copycat Salsa

We love Chili's salsa, well I think it's their chips we really like and use the salsa as an exuse to order the chips.  I have been on a quest to make a good salsa.  I have tried a couple and they were good but when I found this recipe that says it is a copycat of Chili's I had to try it.  I put it to the husband test.  While it was good, it was missing some heat.

I ended up adding two more jalapenos to the recipe to try and add some heat.  Even added some of the seeds.  The recipe calls for 3-4 cans whole jalapenos (not pickled) I could not find them at the store so I resorted to fresh.

Drain the 2 cans of whole tomatoes, and place in the food processor.

Add 1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Quarter an onion and place in food processor.

Slice and deseed the jalapeno.  Yes I wore gloves when cutting the jalapenos.

Chop.  It is looking good. I tasted it and this is when I decided to add the additional jalapenos.

2 teaspoon lime juice.  I only had Key lime juice.  You could use the juice on half a lime too if you like

I added a few sprigs of cilantro too.

It turned out pretty good.  I will try it again. I do think the canned tomatoes were the key.  They have more flavor than the fresh ones.

Chili's Copycat Salsa Recipe
2 cans (14.5 oz each) whole tomatoes, drained
3-4 canned whole jalapenos ( not pickled)
1 onion quartered
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoon lime juice

Apple Butterscotch Magic Bars

We really like the regular 7 layer magic bars and when I saw one that included apples I just had to try it.  We had been to the Apple Barn and bought some fresh apples and I found this recipe when looking for new recipes for apples.

This recipe is great because instead of making a 9x13 pan of bars this one makes an 8x8 pan.  Which if you are not having company or taking them somewhere it is great.  And also trying new recipes sometimes you don't want to make a lot just in case.....

Melt 1/4 cup butter

Add to 1 cup graham cracker crumbs.

Mix well.

Spray an 8x8 pan and then dump the crumb mixture into the pan.

Press them down in the bottom and up the sides a little bit.  Press hard so they will stick together and crumble when you cut the bars.

Add 1 cup butterscotch chips and 1/2 cup chocolate chips.  You can use either milk or semi sweet chips.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips.

Then sprinkle the butterscotch chips.

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Sprinkle that on top of the chips.

Peel, core and chop one apple which is about 1 cup.

Toss the apples with 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Smells so good.

Sprinkle the top with the apples.

Add about 3/4 cup chopped walnuts.

Measure out 8 oz of sweetened condensed milk.  This is over half the can.

Pour the milk on top of the apples. Place in a preheated 350 oven.  Bake for 35-38 minutes or until the center is set.  Let cool completely before cutting.

The baked bars.  The apples smell so good.  A nice addition to the regular magic bars.

Apple Butterscotch Magic Bars Recipe

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup butter melted

1 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup peeled apples diced

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

8 oz sweetened condensed milk

Mexican White Cheese Dip

This recipe was billed as white cheese dip like the Mexican restaurants.  We like our local Mexican restaurant, Rosies, white dip so I had to try this for gameday.  Better to eat chips than finger nails during this game.

The original recipe said that it was kid friendly.  That translates into not very spicy.  We like really spicy foods so I played with it a little, a little bit too much.  I will explain as I go.

They cooked it on the stove in a double broiler but, it's gameday and I have football to watch and do not have time to stand over the stove stirring all day. I put it in my small crock pot and put a liner in. Whenever I put cheese in the crock pot I try to use a liner because it really makes a mess.

I cubed the Velveeta cheese.  This is their white cheese.

Add 1 Tablespoon butter.

1/2 cup of milk.  You can add more later if it is too thick for you. Let the cheese melt before adding the additonal ingredients that follow.

This is the first thing I changed.  The recipe calls for 2 cans of green chilies.  I know that green chilies are not very spicy so I exchanged one for jalapenos.  The recipe did not say if you were to drain them or not, but when I opened the can there wasn't much juice on either can so I dumped both without draining.

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoon onion powder

This is an addition by me and I probably wouldn't put it in again.  1 teaspoon chili powder.

This was another of my additions 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.  I would probably do either the jalapenos or cayenne pepper.  This dip has a slow burn.  It wasn't hot at first bite but it came back to bite you.

Mix well and let the flavors blend.

It's ready to eat with chips.  It was very good even though it was a little spicy.  If you are fixing this for kids just add the two cans of chilis and you will be fine.

Mexican White Cheese Dip Recipe

1 lb white American cheese cubed
1/2 cup milk
1 Tablespoon butter
2  4 oz cans chopped green chilies
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon onion powder
cayenne pepper to taste.