No Fuss Apple Pie

I don't know what was better, how this dessert tasted...or the smell of my house while it was baking. Both were amazing. The boys ate theirs in seconds. After they licked their plates they begged for more. Puff pasty is one of my absolute favorite things in the entire world though...so I may be biased.


Link to recipe: http://www.puffpastry.com/recipe/24047/no-fuss-fruit-pie#
Link to topping recipe: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Puff-Pastry-Apple-Turnovers

My notes: I omitted the egg wash as Declan is allergic to egg whites. I still wanted something sweet on top so I used a butter/sugar/cinnamon topping from another recipe, and doubled it. I dumped it on this time and the extra burnt on a bit around the "pie", I'll probably just brush it carefully on next time. We're on a "no high fructose corn syrup" kick so we used Premium Apple Pie filling which had nothing but apples, sugar and spices in it. A scoop of vanilla ice cream would have worked with it nicely.

Not the most beautiful dessert ever, but it got 5 thumbs up from the boys = WIN

Cinnamon Rolls, Baked Beans, & Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes,

I've been busy learning how to cook. I mean really cook. Dishes from scratch with no pre-made crap that contains a million ingredients. I'm fairly certain MSG is causing me to have horrific migraines so I'm slowly purging all boxed crap from our lives/pantry.

Cinnamon Rolls 
Ben's requested birthday breakfast. 

Link to recipe: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/cinnamon-rolls-recipe

My modifications: I doubled the amount of "cinnamon filling" and also doubled the amount of "vanilla glaze" and they were perfection. I don't like dry cinnamon rolls...the gooey stick to your fingers kind is what I was going for and got.

I did not get a finished photo of these...only because they were gone so quickly. Like the second the frosting hit them the boys devoured them.

Baked Beans
I've made them in the crockpot and although they are okay that way...they take forever to make. This recipe was much faster and tasted delicious. My molasses were a bit strong as we used blackstrap molasses but otherwise they came out perfect. 

Link to recipie: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/boston-baked-beans/detail.aspx
Modifications: I had to triple the recipe because I soaked our beans before reading that I only needed 2 cups of them. I obmitted the bacon and added a little extra onion. Since I took out the bacon I added a splash of olive oil to make up for the loss of fat/grease. As they cooked I added water as I prefer runny beans.

Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Link to recipe:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/pasta-with-sun-dried-tomatoes-recipe/index.html
Modifications: I ran our of mozarella so we added about 1/2lb, Shaun doesn't like olives at all so I only halved them so they would be easy for him to pick out. We are going to make this again but I'd probably double the dressing next time. I loved the flavor and wanted more (I actually added a splash of Kraft Zesty Italian to mine...Shaun didn't). Oh and we used Wacky Mac instead of real fusilli.

Riley Family Update

A little update, we've been busy with life and all the things that keep our household running (cleaning/laundry/working/school) and I've been working quite a bit.

Ben turned 6 years old on May 10th. I know it's said much too often but time really does fly. It really seems like just a year or two we brought him home from the hospital. That tiny baby who screamed and screamed and threw up constantly.

He's come a long way in the past six years. Today he's a thriving little boy who has an incredibly giving heart and is hands down the most agile child I've ever seen. He's learning to read and loves to draw. A few pieces of blank paper and a pen will keep him busy for hours. He's an amazing artist and has nearly perfect handwriting.

Opening a few gifts on the morning of his birthday:

We had a cookout and cake and ice cream for him on the Saturday following his real birthday:









Being the event photographer and hostess does not work well.
So there are only a few photos...but the food was good.

In other news...we moved Declan to a "big boy bed" at the end of April.


I've been working on my cooking skills. That's a whole 'nother blog post though. :) Oh!! AND there'll be a post about knitting, flowers, and chickens too.