Tastespotting is back!!!

Food Gawker never liked any of my photo's.  Let's hope the new Tastespotting has better taste...

Cinnamon Chocolate Apples and a Meme!

I have been using these bags for quite a while now, and I must say that I buy a lot more fresh vegetable since using them. They take no time at all in the microwave and add some butter and salt before cooking and they turn out perfect and flavorful! And the very best part is NO CLEAN UP! Yes, that is pure heaven to me. After I bought them last, I turned through the recipes that were inside the package and found a recipe for these Cinnamon Chocolate Apples and I had to have them right then and there. These are soooooo good! I can't even explain. Cut up some apples, add some chocolate and spices and in 3 minutes you have soft, tasty apples. How can that not be the best thing ever? You must try them! Make sure you drizzle some melted milk chocolate after they have cooked, and it just puts the cherry on top! This recipe easily serves 4 people, so make sure you half the recipe if you are not wanting to eat 4 whole apples!  Kids will eat this up like it's candy!  My daughter fell in love and asks for these apples all of the time now!


Chocolate Cinnamon Apples

Combine in Medium or Large bag:
3 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup raisins
4 teaspoons slivered almonds
1 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons heavy cream
4 medium Granny Smith Apples (I used Gala and Granny Smith) cored and sliced into 1/2 inch wedges (peel if you prefer)

1. Seal Ziploc Zip 'n Steam bag and shake to mix ingredients Place bag in microwave.
2. Cook on full power 2-3 minutes or until apples have softened. (I did 3 1/2 minutes, I like them really soft)
3. Allow bag to stand 1 minute before handling. Gently shake and squeeze bag to combine the melted chocolate and warm cream to smooth sauce.
4. Open bag and allow to cool slightly before serving.
5. Drizzle with additionally melted chocolate, if desired.

And now for a Meme!

I have been tagged twice now for a meme, once from Megan from Megan's Cookin and Bunny from Bunny's Warm Oven. And though I don't usually do these, I think it's quite fun to learn more about the person behind the blog, so I decided to go for it!

The Rules:

Each participant answers questions about her/himself.  At the end of the post the participant tags 5 people.  Their names are posted letting them know they've been tagged.  They then have to read the participant's blog.  The tagged let's the tagger know when he/she's posted his answers.  Here we go!

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Wow, I was a year out of high school and just finishing my first year of college.  I had just met my future husband.  I was pretty much just working, playing, and trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up....

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today?

1. Mail my many Father's Day cards. (I'm a procrastinator)

2. Play with my kids.

3. Work on my blog.

4. Figure out what in the world to make for dinner?

5. Sweep my floor for the 10th time today.  (My daughter decided to empty out my spice cupboard this morning on to my kitchen floor!)  

Five Snacks I Enjoy:

Chocolate

Chocolate

Chocolate

Oranges

Strawberries

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Pay off my house and travel the world with my family!

Places I have lived:

Illinois

California

Oregon

Utah

Jobs I have had:

Arby's (my first job)

ZCMI (a department store)

America First Credit Union

Goldenwest Credit Union

Mom/Waitress/Cook/Maid/Wife

I tag:

All of Y'all!  Do it, it's fun!

My Daughter The Baker

I went to the Williams-Sonoma store a couple of days ago.  My absolute favorite store on the planet!  I found the cutest little 6 inch kids cake pan, made especially for kids.  It came with a little recipe on the back and everything.  I had to get it of course!  So we went home and put our aprons on and did some baking!  My 3 year old daughter loves to cook with me in the kitchen. This was the first time I actually let her measure everything out and mix it and the works.  She was very excited and very proud.  She insisted on hot pink frosting, so that is what she got.  She couldn't wait until after dinner to share her special cake with us, and it was actually very good! Just thought I'd share...

Under Construction...

Please excuse the mess! My adorable husband was so sweet and bought me my own domain name for my blog. So, everything is changing. Now, I originally came up with the name, Apples and Bananas on a whim, it seemed simple, just like me and my cooking habits. But the more and more I thought about it, I wanted something different. And then Nate came home one day and hoped that I liked what he had done for me, and I did, so whala...here is my new name for my blog. I'm still trying to come up with a cool Header and everything so this is it for now. Hopefully next time you look at my blog, it will knock you off your feet!
Keep on cookin'!

Welcome to Steph's food blog

I just recently found out about the food blog world. Until a few days ago, I was completely clueless. I had no idea that such a thing even existed, or how big it actually was..I just came across a blog from a friend's blog and...whalah...there it was. I was in food heaven if there is such a thing. And I thought to myself, gees Steph, why don't you sneak your way in...you love to cook, right? Even if no one ever reads it, it would be a great way to record my passion of cooking, baking, creating....so yes, I am very excited about this new blog. I hope that if anyone out there actually reads it, that you thoroughly enjoy every second, and if you don't....well, sorry.