Apple Nut Sticky Buns

It's September, September means the return of my beloved book club meetings! Hallelujah! Coffee, chat, books and treats. What could be better? Our first book of the year is The Five Love Languages for Children. Interesting read, not sure I subscribe to the theory 100% but I definitely see how my kids respond differently to different expressons of love. But I digress, let's talk about the most important part of book club... the treats!

I'm usually the baker in the group (they're my guinea pigs) and I like to bring something new every week. I was checking out lifemadedelicious.ca the day before our first meeting and I saw these Apple Walnut Sticky Buns and I knew I had to try them! I substituted pecans for the walnuts because that's what I had in my baking pantry.

The ladies loved them and they were really quick and easy which was nice because I don't have a lot of time in the morning to bake while getting 4 kids ready and out the door for school. These would be a great lazy Sunday breakfast too. 

Apple Nut Sticky Buns

2 tbsp (25 mL) butter, softened

1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3/4 cup (175 mL) chopped walnuts or pecans

1/2 cup (125 mL) packed brown sugar

1 can Pillsbury Refrigerated Cinnamon Rolls with Icing 

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375ºF. Generously butter 8 regular muffin cups with softened butter. 

2. In bowl, mix apples, nuts and brown sugar; divide evenly among muffin cups. Separate cinnamon rolls; reserve icing. Place 1 cinnamon roll in each cup.  

3. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Place baking sheet upside down over muffin pan; turn over. Remove pan. 

4. Remove lid from icing; microwave on Medium (50%) 5 to 10 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over warm buns. Serve warm.

Please read my Disclosure Page to learn more about my relationship with General Mills Canada. 

5 Thanksgiving Recipes for Your Table

Thanksgiving is only a couple of weeks away, how the heck did that happen? Weren't we JUST celebrating Canada Day? I offered to host my family for Thanksgiving this year. If everyone comes we'll be about 30 people. I've done it before, and I enjoy cooking for a crowd. If you're hosting this year and are looking for some ideas, I've got a few!

Small family? You can always just roast a turkey breast instead of a whole bird. This Oven Roasted Turkey breast is basted in thyme, butter and wine.... *drool*

 

Tired of traditional mashed potatoes beside your turkey? Why not try these French Onion Scalloped Potatoes? Your guests will be pleasantly surprised!

My family is French Canadian so we don't have ANY holiday meal without a Tortiere. This Tradtional Beef Tortiere looks easy and if you;ve never had a tortiere you HAVE to try it! 

Everyone knows pumpkin pie comes at the end of any Thanksgiving meal, but why not try this gorgeous white Chocolate Cranberry Pecan Tart this year too? I have a serious Pecan addiction this year.

And lastly, leftovers.  Leftovers can be as delicious, if not more so, than the original meal. I love turning leftover turkey into soup. This Southwestern Turkey Soup looks hearty and spicy!

Happy Eating!... I mean Thanksgiving!

Review - Old El Paso Chicken Tinga Tacos

I recently signed on for yet another year as a Life Made Delicious blogger! I love working with a brand that has such a wide range of products like General Mills Canada . As part of my blogging contract they routinely send me new products to try out. I got this box of goodies last week!

My kids dove right for the Dunkaroos of course (thank goodness they come in 5 packs!) and I ripped into the now "peanut free" Nature Valley bars (delicious!). But what I was most eager to try were the Chicken Tinga Tacos. Mexican night is big at our house. We love our tacos. The whole family cheered when I declared Sunday "Taco Tuesday" (my kids are obsessed with The Lego Movie)!

I always like to try a new product out the first time exactly how they instruct to get a feel for it. Then I customize it to meet my kids' picky palates. 

The husband and I had our first round of tacos loaded with the mildly spicy, smokey chicken and onions, the chipotle taco sauce that comes in the kit, chopped tomato, shredded lettuce, avocado and cilantro as the box suggests. So. Good. The flavours were authentic, much like the tacos we had on our honeymoon in the Mayan Riviera. The tortillas seem slightly thicker and fluffier and the chipotle taco sauce just kicked it all up a notch.

The next round we added cheese and guacamole and sour cream, also delicious! My oldest daughter (8), who will only ever have a tortilla with cheese in it on taco night, tried the chicken in her tortilla and declared it "pretty good!". Very high praise from the kid who's practically living off air and cucumbers. She devoured her taco and asked if we could have them again the next night. Wow. Just wow. My 4 year old loved the taco sauce but the other three found it a wee bit too spicy so we left it off theirs. No big deal there! My 5 year old had two tacos, which was a first and the 2 year old had his taco deconstructed because that's what toddlers do, deconstruct things. Plates were pretty well clean at the end of dinner and there was no dessert bargaining!

Any meal ALL my kids will eat is a keeper in my books. The next time I make this I'm going to try cooking the chicken and onions in the seasoning in my slow cooker which will be great for our busy night of ballet. I'm looking forward to trying the Carné Asada and Fish Taco kits!

Please read my Disclosure Page to learn more about my relationship with General Mills Canada.