Happy Birthday, Jeff!!! (And a Recipe for Cinnamon Apples)

I have to kick this post off with a shout out to my baby sister, Melissa (in case you aren't following me on Facebook...which begs the question: why aren't you following me on Facebook?!?). She just finished her first round of a P90X/Insanity hybrid. She was tiny to begin with, but she lost EIGHT pounds and went down a dress size!!! Be looking for a guest post from her soon about her experience.

Today was my beloved's birthday. I won't tell you how old he is. All you need to know is he's older than me.

Anyway, around here birthdays tend to mean lots of good food. I started off the day by making him his favorite Shakeology: chocolate with peanut butter. I had to have a tiny sip myself. So good!!!

After he left for work, baby girl and I got started on his cupcakes. The man loves yellow cake with chocolate icing. But not too much icing. I honestly didn't realize there was such a thing as "too much icing," but I try to take that into consideration when I'm making something for him. Baby girl was anxious to assist me!

The finished product.

Next, I started a London Broil for dinner. Then is was time to tackle his all time favorite: Susan's Apples. Don't let the name confuse you. Apples may be a key component of this recipe, but that's where the good nutrition ends.

First, you take about 3 lbs. of washed apples and removed the peel. That's right; start by taking away the part of the apple that packs all the fiber and nutrients. We wouldn't want to compromise the integrity of the dish.

Then we cut the apples into thin slices and place them in a greased casserole dish.

Time for some sugar and cinnamon. Cinnamon is actually not bad for you. We'll just pretend that sugar isn't so bad either.

Now comes the best part: the crust. Combine melted butter, brown sugar and flour until it's the consistency of soft clay. Then pat it all over the top of the apples. I like to flatten a little of the mixture out at a time then place it on the apples.

Bake at 300 degrees for about an hour. You want your crust to brown a little.

Give the apples a few minutes to cool before serving so the juices won't run all over your plate. When we added mashed potatoes and fried okra, it was pretty much Jeff's dream meal.

Hey, birthdays are special, right? Might as well live it up one day out of the year!

After dinner we headed to a soccer game then came home for cupcakes.

Happy Birthday, Jeff!!!

Susan's Apples

• 2.5 - 3 lbs. apples, washed and peeled
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• cinnamon to taste
• 1 stick melted butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3/4 cup brown sugar

Grease small casserole dish. Fill dish completely with thinly sliced apples. (They will shrink when they cook.) Sprinkle white sugar and cinnamon on top of apples. Mix butter, flour and brown sugar. The mixture should be the consistency of soft clay. If it's too runny, add more sugar or flour. You need to be able to manipulate it with your hands. Pat the mixture on top of apples. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour.

Question of the Day:

How do you celebrate birthdays?

Thankful

The past 24 hours have involved a lot of Clorox wipes and medications. I think I'm ready for spring now, please. Thankfully, things have stayed contained to one child so far.

Now that my blog is off and running, I need to thank a few of my peeps. Starting with my husband, who is and always has been my #1 fan. He believes in me even more than I believe in myself, and I like to think I have a pretty healthy self-esteem. :) Thanks, Jeff!!!

Try not to swoon, ladies! He's taken!!!

Seriously though, is there anything better than a man who loves his kids?!

I also want to thank Robin, who is an amazing writer and blogger. Some of you may have seen her blog, Pensieve. It you haven't yet, it's definitely worth taking a moment to check it out. Robin was kind enough to sit down with me and give me all the ins and outs of blogging before I got things started. That was greatly appreciated because I am far from technically savvy! 

Finally, I'd like to thank Audra from Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. She taught my oldest in school last year, and we've shared some of our common interests over the last few months. Second to Jeff, she has been my biggest blogging fan! She diligently attempted to post my blog's first comment multiple times when I was having technical difficulties. Once things were running smoothly, she came back again to recreate her comment. Talk about a dedicated blogger friend!

Then she went above and beyond and devoted a whole post on her blog to how much she enjoys reading my blog!!! I'm pretty sure we're BFFs now. That kind of stuff bonds you for life. She's also got 2 adorable kids and an inspiring fitness story that I love.

AND she likes making PB&Js on Sundays just like me. I'm thinking we were somehow separated at birth. I also want her to come be my stylist and decorator because she has amazing taste. Thank you, Audra!!!

To all those that have taken the time to leave comments, message me, or stop me in person and tell me how much you like the blog - THANK YOU!!! Your comments mean the world to me, and I appreciate you taking the time to let me know that I'm not just writing to Jeff and my mom. :)

Do you have a blog I should be reading? Tell me in the comments below!