Apple Strudel Muffins

These taste best when they have a few hours to sit and the flavors to meld.
Apple Strudel Muffins
from AllRecipes, with changes from me
Prep Time: 20 MinutesCook Time: 20 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour Yields: 12 servings

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar (Use 1/2 brown and 1/2 white)
2 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups chopped apples (2 cups shredded, 1 cup chopped)

Strudel Topping:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.
2.In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3.In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.
4.In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.
5.Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

Granola Bars- Posted by Kate

All I can say is yum, yum, yummy! So chewy!-Kate
No-Bake Granola Bars
Southern Living Magazine

2 1/2 c crisp rice cereal
2 c uncooked quick-cooking oats
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c light corn syrup
1/2 c peanut butter (I use Jiffy, extra Crunchy, Mmmmm.)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c milk chocolate morsels

Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl; set aside. Bring brown sugar and syrup to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla until blended.

Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal mixture, stirring until coated; let stand 10 minutes. Stir in chocolate morsels. Press mixture firmly into a 13x9-inch pan; cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Best Marinara Sauce Yet

Seth & I have been experimenting with marinara sauce and we tried this one from All Recipes.com which is really good and inexpensive. It was rated 5 out of 5 by 654 users.

2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
4 Tablespoons chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 Tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup white wine (this is the original recipe but I used chicken broth instead - a lot of reviewers suggested that)

Directions:
1. In a food processor, place Italian tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped parsley, minced garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the finely chopped onion in olive oil for 2 minutes. Add the blended tomato sauce and white wine (or chicken broth).
3. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occaisionally.

We served this on top of whole wheat angel hair. We found a really good brand at Sprouts called Gia Russa - it's made in Italy so it's kind of expensive but it doesn't have that bitter taste that some brands do.