Apple Bread

I had some apples that were a little too ripe to just chomp on, so I went for it.

Its my mini-loaf stone pan's debut performance, and it surpassed expectations. The stoneware really cooks things evenly and nicely. My favorite stoneware piece is my pizza stone. Whether you are making pizza from scratch or cooking a frozen store-bought one, it cooks the dough so evenly with out any burnt/raw spots.

Here is the apple bread recipe courtesy of AllRecipes.com (such a great site).

I switched things up a little... used 1 egg + 1 egg white, only 2.5 cups of flour then 1/3 cup flax seed, 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar (you could probably cut the sugar a little more too), 1/2 cup of apple sauce instead of veggie oil (I topped off the half cup of apple sauce with a little oil, maybe 1/2 Tbs). This adds protein and fiber while cutting carbs and calories, as well as skimming off some cholesterol and fat.

I peeled the apples with a standard veggie peeler.



I cored them with my apple corer/slicer. Then I used a cheese grater to grate them instead of chopping them.



Delicious! And pretty easy. :)

Dust is for suckers...

Ug. Talk about sneezefest! Not only is it ragweed season, but I decided to dust my apartment today.

It felt good to dust though. I feel like the apartment is cleaner. I even vacuumed the vents to get the dust off them. I never really was a believer in dusting, but then again, I never lived in my own place before.

The mister did the dishes... and I did pretty much everything else (bathrooms, vacuuming, dusting, folding, laundry). It all kind of balanced out though, because it takes him a long time to do things sometimes, so he stayed out of my way on a day when I was in one of 'those' moods.

Year One: Green Living

The hubbs and I have been in our apartment for a year (already?). Since we moved in we implemented a few easy peasy eco-friendly practices:

1. Instead of paper towels we use cloth towels. The ones I have are crocheted cotton ones that my grandmother's friend made. If I spill something in the kitchen, I wait until I am done cooking then clean the whole counter-top with one. If there is a big spill, I use an older bath towel we keep around for such a purpose.

Result: We have bought a grand total of two paper towel rolls in the past year and are not even halfway through the second roll. (We do realize there are somethings that just need a paper towel)


2. No plastic baggies! have some reusable plastic containers for sandwiches (the black, round Chinese food containers are perfect for sandwiches, we also have some square ones). For other snacks for our lunches, we use other reusable containers and we save the plastic containers we buy butter, sour cream etc in.

Result: We moved in with a 3/4 of a box of freezer bags and we have used them for traveling mostly.


3. Recycling! We have a container for trash, plastics/aluminum/glass, and papers. We line the recycling ones with a plastic bag, but don't throw it away (essentially it doesn't get dirty if you rinse the items).

Result: Less "trash", fewer trash bags used. We are on our third box of trash bags.


4. Use cloth grocery bags. I started with using backpacks and whatever other cloth bags I have around the house. At my bridal shower, several people gave me gifts in a reusable grocery bag and I started using those. I try to keep some in my car, in case I go to the store on a whim. And you can use them for other kinds of shopping too! i.e. clothes shopping. When I grocery shop, I try to bag stuff myself at the self-checkout. Baggers tend to put one thing per bag and end up using the plastic bags for the over flow.

Result: I rarely use plastic or paper grocery bags, when I do I return them to the recycling bin at the store. I know some people need plastic bags for their pets, but I suggest using mostly cloth bags, and a few plastic bags.