Easiest Apple Cinnamon Puff Pastry

Hey friends! Since Thanksgiving is only a little over a week away, I thought I would 

share a quick and easy apple cinnamon puff pastry tart that I made last year. I actually 

made it twice in one week because it was so good!

Winter Chicken Bake

I haven't posted many dinner ideas lately, so I thought I would share one of our favorites.
Winter Chicken Bake is an easy one dish meal that is perfect on a cold winter evening.
The flavor combination is delicious!
Sweet potatoes, onion, carrots, apples and chicken baked in a cranberry barbecue sauce.
I use fresh cranberries, but frozen would be fine too.
Not fond of sweet potatoes?  Use Russet or little red potatoes.
This dish has so many possibilities!

I usually serve Winter Chicken Bake with roasted green beans or broccoli.
Add it to your dinner rotation and let me know what you think!
Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Applesauce {Unsweetened}

What do you do when your mom gives you a huge bag of apples?
Make slow cooker applesauce!

I use unsweetened applesauce instead of oil in a lot of my baking recipes, so I
thought I would make my own and freeze it for baking this winter.

Homemade applesauce is super easy and my unsweetened applesauce recipe only
has 3 ingredients!
The hardest part is peeling all of the apples!
The best part is how amazing you house smells while the apples are cooking!

Fall Smoothies to Celebrate #Smoovember and a Giveaway

When I'm in the mood for a healthy snack or a quick breakfast, I often whip up a smoothie.
By keeping banana slices and other frozen fruit in my freezer, I usually have everything I need to make a healthy smoothie in no time. 

I was recently given the opportunity to try two Smoothie Blenders from Hamilton Beach.
Hamilton Beach has been making blenders for over 100 years, so I was excited to give them a try!

The Smoothie Smart blender has a dedicated smoothie button to help take the guess work out of making a perfect smoothie.  The Single Serve blender makes it easy to take your smoothie on the go.
I loved how the single serve cup fit perfectly into my cup holder!
Both blenders worked great and were easy to clean.
Check out the mess-free spout on the Smoothie Smart blender - I loved that feature.

I definitely use the single serve blender more often, but I can't wait to have my girlfriends over for Girl's Night wine smoothies using the Smoothie Smart blender :)

Here are two of my favorite fall smoothie recipes.
Hope you like them too!

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1 very ripe banana (or 1 cup frozen banana slices)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (I use Libby's)
3/4 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 cup ice

Combine all ingredients into the Hamilton Beach Single Serve Blender.
Blend until smooth.
Serves 1.

Apple Almond Smoothie

1 apple, peeled and diced
1 cup frozen banana slices
1 T almond butter
1 T ground flax seed
sprinkle of ground cinnamon
3/4 cup almond milk

Combine all ingredients into the Hamilton Beach Single Serve Blender.
Blend until smooth.
Serves 1.

Note - I prefer my smoothies not to be too sweet.  You may want to add honey or Truvia to sweeten.

Now for the giveaway!

Hamilton Beach has offered to giveaway a Single Serve Blender and a Smoothie Smart Blender
to one of my readers.  How nice is that!!

HOW TO ENTER
To enter to win, simply leave a comment on this post and answer the question:

“What is your favorite smoothie?”

You can receive up to FIVE additional entries to win by doing the following:

1. Become a fan of Me and My Pink Mixer on Facebook. Come back and let me know you became a fan in an additional comment on this post.

2. Pin an image from this post on Pinterest. Come back and let me know that you did in an additional comment on this post.

3. Follow @meandmypinkmixer on Instagram. Come back and let me know you’ve followed in an additional comment on this post.

4. Follow @mypinkmixerblog and @HamiltonBeach on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway. Come back and let me know you’ve followed in an additional comment on this post.

 

5. Subscribe to Me and My Pink Mixer by email. Come back and let me know you’ve subscribed in an additional comment on this post.

Deadline to enter: Thursday, November 7, 2013 at 11:59pm EST.

Winner: The winner will be notified via email; if the winner does not respond within 48 hours, another winner will be selected.

 

Disclosure - I was sent two Hamilton Beach blenders to review. I was not compensated for this post and as always, all opinions are my own.

Contest is now closed.
Congratulations to Comment #7 - Missy McDaniel!

 

 

 

Crock-Pot Apple Pie Steel Cut Oats

It's been over a month since my last oatmeal post. 
Time for another one people!
You know how I LOVE my oats :)

I'm planning ahead for the week and thought apple pie steel cut oats would be the perfect breakfast
to celebrate fall.  I let my crock-pot do all the work, so I can just reheat individual portions in the microwave each morning.
Now I have a quick and healthy breakfast for the entire week.
Yay!

This crock-pot was a wedding gift 26 years ago and it's still going strong!
Do you call it a crock-pot or slow cooker?
Just wondering :)



















Crock-Pot Apple Pie Steel Cut Oats

1 cup steel cut oats
4 cups water
2 apples, peeled and cut into bite size pieces
2 T pure maple syrup
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
dash of ground nutmeg
dash of salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Place ingredients in a crock-pot; stirring to combine.
Cook on low setting for 5-6 hours. 
Stir and serve or store in a sealed container in the fridge.
Just reheat individual servings in the microwave and top with a drizzle of almond milk.

Follow Me and My Pink Mixer on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram!

Linking to:
Buns In My Oven