What a great weekend!! I just had a great visit with my friend Bev from Kansas! She came up Friday and is going home tomorrow :( I got to cook her lots of great things, so it was a bunch of fun! Here we are together.... goofs! :)

Haha... just have to share these! Bev snapped some pictures of dad picking tomatoes in our "jungle" of a garden. She called him Mr. McGreggor (like from Peter Rabit)! :) Haha. He does look pretty intense! But it paid off... he left with a bucket full of tomatoes!


Now for some food!! :) This is called TOPSY-TURVY APPLE PIE because it is an upside down apple pie. It was delicious with a big scoop of ice cream!

Ingredients

• 2 (9 inch) pie shell
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup pecan halves
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 5 large apples - peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Spread butter or margarine evenly on bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Press pecans, rounded side down, into butter layer. Pat brown sugar evenly over nuts, then lay one pastry shell over brown sugar layer.
3. Place apples in a large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice.
4. In a small bowl combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Mix well. Toss mixture with apples, coating thoroughly.
5. Spread apples into pie plate. Cover apples with second pastry shell. Crimp edges of pastry and make steam vents in top.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes. Cool 5 minutes then place serving plate over top of pie; invert pie onto plate. Carefully remove pie pan. Serve warm or cool.

Ooooohhhh boy! These are my absolute new favorite muffins! :) I love the "fall feeling" and nothing makes it more realistic than pumpkins! :) Next I will share my recipe for PUMPKIN APPLE STREUSEL MUFFINS. Now... just hold on before you run out to the grocery store for pumpkin. They apparently don't stock it until Thanksgiving. You wouldn't believe how the Wal- Mart lady treated me when I asked. I simply asked "do you have any canned pumpkin? I haven't seen any." "No, probably not, that's a seasonal item... usually here around Thanksgiving" Well thanks for clarifying dummy... I just thought you might keep CANNED PUMPKIN around year-round since it's stored in a can!! You keep cranberries year round don't ya??!?! Well, she proceeded to say "I have 5 cans at home, but that doesn't help you now, does it?" Thanks. Thanks for your assistance.
Oh, please try these muffins. They are a delight!!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apple
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 18 muffin cups or use paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, pumpkin and oil. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stirring just to moisten. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping evenly over muffin batter.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

I also made a yummy lasagna, but this post has gotten pretty long, so I will share that another time!

Omelette & Guacamole Chicken

I have 2 of the most simple recipes to share with you today, and both of them quite tasty! :) First, my favorite omelette-


3 eggs, scrambled with a Tbsp or 2 of milk
Salt & Pepper
Spinach, torn
Mushrooms, chopped
Tomatoes, chopped
Swiss cheese

Heat oil over medium heat in a small non stick skillet. When hot pour in eggs and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Turn heat down to warm/low. Sprinkle mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach over half of the eggs. Cook until egg mostly set. Top veggies with Swiss cheese, flip "egg side" over the "veggie/cheese" side and cover skillet with lid or plate. Let set for 1-2 minutes. Enjoy!!


Next, I have Guacamole Chicken-


4 chicken breasts
4 -6 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 avocado
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
Salt & pepper
Splash of lemon juice

Cook chicken breasts according to your tastes (George Foreman, skillet, grill, baked). While chicken is cooking, peel avocado and mash in a small bowl. Add sour cream, tomatoes, salt & pepper to taste and lemon juice.
When chicken is cooked top with bacon and guacamole.