Today started off pretty much as a major "Fail". On my weekly grocery trip yesterday, I had bought a container of Greek yogurt to try, since I've been reading so many praises about the product. I was all ready to enjoy my breakfast of Greek yogurt, Grape Nuts, and mandarin oranges. I got a spoonful, chewed, and... *ick*. I was not a fan. At all. I could not even bring myself to eat the darn thing anyway even though the taste was bad. I had to rummage around downstairs for something quick to eat as I was now running late. Decided on strawberries smothered in Nutella and stuffed in half a pita and then hopped on my bike for the 3.5 mile, 20-minute bike ride in to work.
So weird going back after my 3-day weekend, and I have another one coming up this weekend for the Fourth of July. Work was fairly uneventful. I had my usual South Beach Protein Bar, soy nuts, and fruit. I got to go home a little bit early today, since I will be working late Wednesday and Thursday to go projects done. Since I had so much time to kill, I decided to get all "Donna Reed" and bake for the guys for tomorrow: Apple Pie! This was my first time attempting a pie, and an American classic at that, so I was a little nervous, but not for long...
You start by peeling, coring, and cutting Granny Smith apples and mix them up with sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and lemon juice. Then have the apples sit for about 15 minutes to create a kind of "syrup". I tasted-tested at this phase and it was amazing.
After putting it into a pie crust and closing the top, I put it in the oven and, about an hour later, I took this little beauty out, which my mother referred to as a "mile-high" pie:
The house smells heavenly now and I was quite proud of myself. Can't wait to give it to the boys tomorrow when I stop by to see Lyle. Dinner was leftovers from the fridge. Mom chose the Chicken-Tortilla Pie, I created a tortilla with salsa, chicken, and corn (all leftovers from the weekend).
It was decent and relatively healthy, with a wheat tortilla (only a little bit too small for all my fillings), fresh corn, and all-natural salsa, which I thought would be good for my evening run. The weather was almost as perfect as could be possible. Since the weather was so nice I had awesome times, too! 1.70 miles in 15:39. That's a pace of 9:10 (6.5 mph)! A-mah-zing. On top of all this goodness, I have several packages scheduled to arrive sometime in the next week or two that I'm really happy and excited about (I'll leave you guessing as to what they are). Now I'm off to write a 3-page paper for my online class. It's finals week and I need to kick it into overdrive until tomorrow night!
Mile-High Apple Pie
Ingredients
6 large Granny Smith apples
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. sugar (separate from above sugar)
2 pie crusts (homemade or store-bought)
Directions
Peel, core, and cut apples into 1/4in. thick slices. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Place apple slices in the bowl and coat with lemon juice. Toss the apples around in the mixture and let stand for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to coat the apples.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pour apple filling into 1 pie crust (which ever you decide to be the bottom half). Place the upper crust on top, trim, wave the edges with your fingers, and cut three small slits in the top or make a lattice design. Lightly brush the top crust and edges with a mixture of milk and sugar.
Slip a baking sheet under the pie and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for 35 minutes. Let cool for one hour before serving.
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