A Birthday Celebration!

I know I have been MIA for quite a while, but excuse me as I was celebrating the big birthday...I had a great time exploring the big city with the besties and enjoyed a bake off with friends in town! Peanut butter, apples, and pretzels were the theme for the birthday potluck/bake off. I got lots of great snacks and it was hard for me to chose the winner, but an apple, Brie and prosciutto panini got the cake for the "real food" category and a peanut butter, pretzel amazingness ball got the baked good prize. I did enjoy baked apples, fresh ground PB, PB cookies, chicken with PB sauce, salad...lots of tasty things involving three of my fav things in life! :)

I also was spoiled with a peanut butter crumble cupcake and apple cake on my actual birthday! SO TASTY!! Went great with milk! :) My friends came over and joined in on the homemade pretzel and caramel apple making festivities! We had fun experimenting with chocolate infused pretzels and chocolate dripped caramel apples! Made some pretty nice designs! HA. I'll get better in the future. We did try to boil to the apples for a few minutes before coating them in the caramel to help it stick to the apple. While it did help the caramel stick, I would not do it again because it changed the texture of the apple and I was not a fan. Maybe we boiled them too long...not sure?! But be careful if you do boil them to watch and not do it for more than 1-2 minutes!

My contribution to the bday potluck was a rosemary, garlic, apple and chicken crock pot dish. We served it on top of couscous. It was super tasty and moist and def loved the flavors together! Made the house smell like fall! :)

2 chicken breasts (whole)
2 apples (sliced)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
2 small onions (diced)
2 TBSP fresh rosemary (chopped)
1 pint apple cider
1 pint water
pepper (salt if you must)

add all the ingredients and put the liquid on top to cover the food. let it cook on med heat for 6 hours. feel free to experiment with different types of apples...

Recently, I made almond and chickpea (garbanzo bean) burgers. I got the idea from my Women's Health magazine. Super easy and quick to make. Def a good change up from traditional burger. I did not add spices or anything to them, but it needs a bit more flavor. Instead of frying it in the pan with extra oil, I baked it for about 10-15 minutes (until golden brown) to make it a bit healthier/less fatty. There was a chipotle mayo that was supposed to go with it, but I despise mayo and all things related...I served mine with fresh avocado, spinach and tomato!! delish!!

1 can chickpeas
1/2 cup almonds
1 egg
fresh parsley
pepper
add whatever spices you enjoy maybe coriander, cumin, paprika....

grind beans and almonds in food processor. do not over grind the nuts (stop before it becomes a powder) you want it kind of chunky. add the egg, parsley and the ground mixture into a bowl. mix with hands until you can form into a patty. place on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Being in NY did put me in the fall mood. I had a GREAT pumpkin beer and enjoyed the fall leaves!! Cannot wait to make some pumpkin treats along with other fall tasties! :)