On the agenda for today...

******* Edited to add recipe at the end *******

Scott went back to work. Early. Because the general in charge of the 1st Infantry Division is leaving (after 1 year). And because he (the general) LOVES his band and wants HIS band to be at the change of command ceremony. So Scott went back to work early, and most of the folks in the band lost a day of leave so they could be there for this guy. It's going to be different, since the general will be doing something that most division commanders don't do. Can't give it up right yet, as Scott would shoot me - not that anyone from the 1ID reads my blog, but hey...can't let the cat out of the bag, you know?

So - on the agenda:

Swim lessons for Hannah, and toddler pool play for Scotty.
Trip to the grocery store to get ingredients for some things I wan to make today (for Women's Night Out at church tonight)
Order this and this from Amazon - because, c'mon...they are GREAT deals!!! But only for today!!!!
Bake and prepare my stuff for WNO
Go to WNO (ah, 2 blessed hours of NO kids and good Christian company!)

I volunteered to make a salad and dessert for tonight. But I couldn't decide what I wanted to make, so I'm making a salad and THREE desserts, lol! I'm making a Strawberry-Spinach salad, Yvonne's Done-to-Death Apple Bread, Apple Betty, and Trash.

And yes, I WILL share the recipes:

Yvonne's Done-to-death Apple Bread

oven 325, bakes in about 1 hour and 10 minutes

3 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 cups chopped, pared, cored apples (about 3-4) (this puts to
good use that darned apple/peeler/corer slicer thing you got
at a Pampered Chef party years ago and never used!)
1 cup chopped pecans

topping:
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to slow 325. Grease and flour two 8 1/2 x 5 1/2
x 2 1/2 inch loaf pans (or I use those mini loaf pans)

2. Stir together the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla in medium
sized bowl until well mixed.

3. Combine the flour, soda and cinnamon on piece of waxed
paper, and then then stir into liquid ingredients until just
evenly mixed. Stir in the apples and pecans. The mixture will
be very thick and gloppy.

Divide between the loaf pans.

4: Prepare the topping: combine the sugar and cinnamon in a
small cup, and sprinkle over the loaves.

5: Bake in preheated slow overn at 325 for 1 hour and
10 minutes, approximately. Check it carefully with a tester
inserted in center comes out CLEAN. Make sure it's done.
Sometimes in my oven they take longer than the time specified.
Make sure they are done. Nothing worse than raw middle.

Let the breads cool in the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes.
Run a thin knife around the edges of the pans. Remove the
breads from the pans to wire racks to cool.

The breads are better the second day. Wrap them tightly
in plastic wrap or foil and store at room temperature.

Mom's Apple Betty (from Suzanne)

4 cups tart apples (peeled, pared and sliced)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup sugar ( use brown sugar, but white can be used)
3/4 cup all purpose flower
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter

Butter 9" pie plate, mound apples inside and sprinkle with orange juice.

In separate bowl, combine sugar, flower, spices; cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over apples and bake at 375° for 45 minutes, till apples are tender and topping is crisp.

Substitutions: you may use peaches (fresh, not canned) instead of apples. If you don't have orange juice, sprinkle some lemon jusice over the apples, just enough to dot the apples.

Can be served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

2 bunches of fresh spinach (or one bag washed baby spinach)
1 pint fresh strawberries (halved or sliced)

Dressing:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup vinegar (try red raspberry for something different!)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 1/2 teaspoon minced onion (optional)
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Mix dressing together, let stand before pouring on spinach. Immediately before serving, mix spinach and strawberries, then add dressing.

Trash

1 cup peanut butter (can be any kind, and reduced fat does work well)
1 bag chocolate chips (about 12 oz)
1 stick margarine
1 box powdered sugar
1 box Rice Chex Cereal
1 large trash bag, unscented (or you can use a very large (2-3 gallon) zip loc bag)
1 very large bowl.

On medium heat, melt the peanut butter, chocolate chips and margarine. Do not bring to boil, just heat till all melted and mixed.

Pour half of the cereal into large bowl, add melted mixture and top with remaining cereal. Mix well until thoroughly coated.

Pour half the box of powdered sugar into the bag, add the cereal mixture, then remaining powdered sugar. Close bag tightly, shake and turn the bag, working cereal around to get totally coated in sugar. This will also break apart any clumps.

Place "trash" into a large dry bowl and cover tightly.

Triple Cuppa
(so named because it's "cuppa this, a cuppa that)

1 cup Bisquick
1 cup sugar (Splenda works well too)
1 cup milk

fresh berries

Mix Bisquick, sugar and milk in a bowl. Grease or spray an 8 x 8 pan; pour batter in. Sprinkle with fresh berries. You can use any kind of berries; blueberries and raspberries work especially well. Bake at 350° for 40-50 minutes, checking for doneness. This is a very "watery" batter so you must check it often.

You can double the batch, but reduce the milk and sugar by 1/4 cup each.

You can also add 1 tsp vanilla or other flavored extract. Try lemon with blueberries! If you double the batch, use a 9 x 13 pan.