Fried Apples Recipe!

So I'm a sucker for Fried Apples at Cracker Barrell. Ever since I was little it was my choice for a side with my meal. So when I had a few leftover apples from our Pumpkin Patch trip, I HAD to give it a shot.

This is a super easy recipe too! 

1/2 C. Brown Sugar

1/4 C. Butter

1 tsp. Cinnamon

8-10 Apples, Cored

{these pictures are from my phone-Not the best, sorry!}

Slice apples, I used my Pampered Chef Apple Slicer again, from my Apple Pie Recipe :)

Melt Butter in Skillet and add Butter and Cinnamon until all melted, Add Apples and let simmer on low-medium for about 25 minutes

Add some Ice Cream if you wish---We wished ;)

Chicago

Vacation posts are always so difficult for me. I think that it is because there is so much information and so many pictures that It's hard to figure out what to say and post. I'm going to split our vacation into 2 posts so they aren't so lengthy! We had such a great time in Chicago. I try to go once a year and the perfect time to go is Fall. It's not too cold but it's chilly so you able to pull your 'winter' clothes out and enjoy them sooner than in South Carolina. We had a packed schedule! We ended up leaving Wednesday night because of the flight schedules. We use my Aunt's companion passes and that means we are on standby. The flight on Thursday were all booked and we had little choice but to leave Wednesday when there were available seats. An extra day in Chicago, okay by me! My sister and her baby Kipton and Lanie and I had a BLAST. Here are some highlights from our trip!

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Our first stop was the Museum of Science & Industry. I came here about 10 years ago and had "Breakfast with the Dinosaurs" I still remember the museum and how much fun I had. I also remember the baby section...they have a life-like baby through all stages of pregnancy so you can see how it develops. Since I'm super into pregnancy and pregnancy health and all things having to do with babies, I'm not surprised I remember it. Lanie also loved this section and had so many questions!

The place is huge, you really need 2-3 full days to appreciate the museum. Lanie loved seeing all the displays! 

We toured this Smart Home

The toddler area had a cute reading 'loft'

A huge rock climbing wall about the stock market

Can't remember exactly what this was, but awesome falling mist

Watching chickens hatch- so cool!

This tells your how old your organs and cells are in your body and when the last time

 they regenerated, very neat!

Let's not forget the food...we went to some awesome places, BUT the 2 most worth noting are Giordano's and Sprinkles!!!

Lanie playing with her new AG stuff @ Giordano's

The Lego store is in the Water Tower, it is so neat. There is a huge place where the kids can go and play with Lego's (all day if you want!) and then of course, tons of Lego kits to buy

Woody- Made COMPLETELY of Lego's!

Ok, I'll make Post 2 shortly :) 

Halloween Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkins!

Well, I will never ever ever forget Lanie's first pumpkin carving memories. It was hysterical. She went through a stage where she was terrified of anything orange...the fire, a Nerf ball and unfortunately a pumpkin. 

Now don't get me wrong, she loved the idea of a pumpkin and was completely fine until:

#1 We showed her the guts:

Lanie's Second Halloween 1 year old

#2 We lit the candle:

Lanie's Third Halloween 2 years old

Totally off topic, but WOW look at how different our kitchen is!!

#3  She was fine this year (from what I can remember and documented by pictures)

Lanie's Third Halloween 3 years old

#4 And We're Back

Lanie's Fourth Halloween and Addison's Second

Lanie-4 years and Addison -1 year

Addison LOVED it!!

Look at this comparison:

LOL

I love posting about the changes in my babies, it helps me remember what they used to be like. It is so hard to forget those baby stages. God has blessed up with 2 beautiful baby girls who are very different. I'm loving every minutes of each of their lives.

Little miss brave girl

I love her sweet cheese!

Our cool pumpkin!

Homemade Apple Pie

On our trip to the Apple Farm we picked up a peck of Jonathan apples! I got about 40 apples for $9.00. I didn't think that was too bad considering how fresh they were.  I am not a cook from scratch kind of person, but decided to try a 'homemade' apple pie, I found a simple recipe and it was sooo delicious, especially with some whipped cream and vanilla ice-cream.

I made 2 pies, one with the peeling on and one without. I think that i prefer the peel on the apples ; it reminds me of fried apples from Cracker Barrell :) 

My Pampered Chef apple slicer helped tremendously!

Of course you have to have the right helper ;)

Fill the crust with the yummy apples

While filling the crust, melt the butter ...

Then add in the sugars, flour and water

I used pre-made pie crusts and cut them into strips for the top of the pie

Weave the strips and pour the mixture over the top of the lattice

Bake for 15 minutes @ 425 and then reduce to 350 for about 40 minutes

Mmmmmmmmmmmm

I have found some really great recipe's online and through some blogs that I follow. I hope someone out there can use or modify this one in some way :) I'm thinking about trying a version of the Razzleberry Pie we pick up randomly at the grocery store, they are AMAZING!

This is the original recipe I followed 

Philly Cheese Steak Recipe

Justin and I discovered a very easy recipe for Philly Cheese steaks! It is seriously so simply and really good. I never have been a huge fan of them but I could add this to our meal rotation on a regular basis!

We bought a bag of rolls, 1lb of London Broil (deli section), provolone cheese and an onion. We already had the mayo.

• Step 1: Put the meat in a heated skillet, it will take about 1 minute to brown
• Step 2: Put your provolone cheese over the meat and let it melt, then mix it a tad
• Step 3: In a separate skillet, brown your chopped onions
• Step 4: Stuff your roll with the meat and cheese turn upside down in the skillet to make sure it's really hot and to lightly toast the roll
• Step 5: Flip the sandwich over and put on your plate, add desired amount of onions

This entire process takes about 6 minutes, and it is sooo good!

1lb of the meat will make 4 good sized sandwiches

My Next post will be able these :

mmmm

Pumpkin Patch and Apple Farm

ahh...the sweet smell of Fall...seriously, I love it! I also love how Niven's Apple Farm is 5 minutes from my house.We took Lanie back when she was 2 years old and decided to take both girls yesterday. It was packed and oh so fun.  Lanie wanted to play on the playground, there are lots of really neat little things to do there! I remember going here as a kid for a field trip, I was probably only 5 or 6. I hope Lanie remembers us taking her!

Lanie absolutely LOVED these tire things

It is very hard to get them looking at me!

Addy bug in the Tee pee

I love my Little girl!

Daddy and Addy

We also ran into Tina, Tj and Brielle! She is sooo adorable!

Lanie loved looking at all of the pumpkins...She smelled a rotten one, lol

She also couldn't figure out what sound to make , so she went back and forth between maa, moo and finally figured out baaaa. :)

We bought a peck of apples for $9.00, we got about 40 apples! They are "jonathan" apples and I will be posting shortly about the Apple Pie we baked with them :)