Healthy and Yummy!

Ok, ok!! I know I've posted like 3 things today! But I just fell across this fabulous website and I thought I'd share it and a few of its recipes with you!!!! I plan on a cooking day here soon where I will pre-make and freeze alot of these foods for quick grabs in the time of need! lol I hope you enjoy this website as much as I did!

http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/



The following directions are for Mini Apple Pies:
Crust:
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 t. sea salt
1 cup melted butter
1 cup plain yogurt
Stir ingredients together until thoroughly mixed.  Use the dough right away to create pockets or pies…or let the dough sit overnight to break down the phytates and make the grains more digestable.  This dough is MUCH easier to work with if you work it like playdough in your hands a while before you try to roll it out.
Filling:
3 pounds of apples – about 11-12 smallish apples (any kind you like)
1/4 – 3/4 cup sucanat (your preference)
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Topping:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2-4 Tablespoons sucanat
3 Tablespoons melted butter
To make Mini Apple Pies:

 

Peel apples and cut them into bite sized chunks.

 

Add sucanat and cinnamon.

 

Stir well and cook over medium heat until apples are
tender and a syrup has formed (about 10 minutes).

 

In the meantime, separate dough into 21-24 pieces.
Roll each piece into a little circle with a rolling pen.
As you can see, I am NOT a perfectionist.  If I was making these for a
ladies’ brunch or something…I might take the time to make them pretty.
But for my family of boys?
Do you think they really care if their pies are pretty?
They eat them in three minutes flat.  Thus my sloppy dough squishing.

Squish (or place nicely) your dough circles into well buttered MUFFIN PANS.  Using a muffin pan for these Mini Apple Pies eliminates the need to go buy 24 little mini pie pans.

 

Fill each (unbaked) crust with apple pie filling.

In a bowl, stir together topping ingredients until the dry ingredients are moistened.
I find that melting the butter and stirring it into the flour, oats and sucanat makes a great crumb topping…much less effort than “cutting in the butter”.

 

Sprinkle topping all over the top of your little pies.
Try if you can to be as messy about this process as I am.  Sheesh.

Freeze your pies in your buttered muffin pans for a couple of hours.

 

Remove your muffin pans from the freezer and allow them to sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes.  Use a fork to gently pry the pies out of the pan.  Place them carefully into freezer bags and put them bag into the freezer.

To bake your Mini Apple Pies:
Take desired number of pies out of the freezer and place them on a baking pan.  Bake in a 375° oven for 35-45 minutes.  You can let them thaw first if you want…but I find that the frozen pies bake just fine!

And now I’d like to point out that (depending on how much you use) there is about 1/2 cup of sucanat divided by 24 little pies…making this a very healthy, very low in sugar breakfast.  Much less even than my Applesauce Bread or something otherwise considered a breakfast food.
Bring on the Breakfast Pie!  Shucks…maybe we should even serve it with Ice Cream!

 Healthy, Homemade Pizza Pockets
These Pizza Pockets are a perfect treat that you can make ahead put in the freezer…then throw in the oven at lunchtime.

Here’s how I made these:
I used my regular pizza recipe…
Crust
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 t. sea salt
1 cup melted butter
1 cup plain yogurt
Stir ingredients together until thoroughly mixed.
Pizza Sauce
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 1/2 t. oregano
1 1/2 t. basil
Stir together and simmer for a few minutes.
Pizza Pocket Fillings
Grated mozzarella or white cheddar cheese, cooked hamburger, pepperoni, olives, peppers, mushrooms
To form a Pizza Pocket
Roll a small ball of dough into a circle.  Place one tablespoon of pizza sauce in the center.  Put in a small amount of your choice of toppings.  Fold the dough in half.  Use a fork to pinch the edges together.
Lay Pizza Pockets on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Freeze for about one hour.  Pop them off the cookie sheet and put them into a freezer bag…and back into the freezer.

Bake your Pizza Pockets
For frozen Pizza Pockets, bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.  If the Pizza Pockets are thawed, bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
I love the convenience of this nutritious ”fast food”!  Serve them with fruit and veggies(God’s fast food!)…and you’ve got yourself a quick and easy lunchtime treat!!