Layered Caramel Apple Dip

9 / 25 / 189 / 25 / 18

No joke – I think I’ve had ‘layered apple caramel dip’ in my idea book for a full 3 years now… It’s on a random page of fall ideas and says ‘layered caramel apple dip – like 7 layer bean dip but sweet – for apples’ – hah! I’ve wanted to make it for ages now, but we just finally got around to it and I’m so happy we did. Because daaaaang – is it ever delicious!

We made a plated version to enjoy immediately as well as several little pots to keep in the fridge and let me tell you – they didn’t last long! Brad and I enjoyed some as a treat while watching a show, Miss G got to take one in her lunch one day, and the others? I’m not sure, but they disappeared.

The best part? I was really hoping to include a caramel outside of my usual date ‘caramel’, and I was able to make a delicious version using coconut milk, pure maple syrup, and coconut sugar. Definitely a still a treat in my books, but no dairy, no butter, and no white sugar. We also used a non-dairy cream cheese for a fully vegan recipe.

For the full recipe and all of the details, pop over to CBC Parents and check out our Layered Caramel Apple Dip post.

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Play Dough Apple Tree Life Cycle

10 / 7 / 1610 / 17 / 16

If you know us well, you know we loooove play dough. We almost always have 3 or 4 play dough kits on hand and for the past several years, they’ve been something Miss G has regularly taken out and played with. That being said, we’ve sort of been on a play dough break recently… Miss G has other things she’s super passionate about at the moment {mainly ‘inventing’ and reading – always reading} and with her being in school full days this year, I honestly just find that there’s not a lot of extra time in our days {*insert sad face here*}. That being said, we’ve recently been all about apples and apple trees, and when Miss G asked about when the different stages of an apple tree’s life cycle occur, I figured it would be fun to explore the different seasons with some play dough and simple play dough mats.

Apple Peanut Butter Salad

9 / 25 / 159 / 27 / 15

Mmmm… Apples and peanut butter. Such a good combination. Even better? Apple peanut butter salad that incorporates crunchy grapes, sweet bananas and the yummiest peanut butter ‘dressing’ too. Miss G loves this salad and it makes for a perfect after school snack {or breakfast or lunch in Grae’s opinion}. It’s easy to make too!

Mini Apple Pies Kids Can Make

12 / 1 / 1412 / 13 / 14

Grae and I are very lucky to be part of a fabulous little play school co-op here in Kuwait. The whole thing is very low key. We meet at someone’s house every Sunday morning to partake in a few fun activities that go with our weekly theme, and then we meet on again on Thursday mornings for a less structured outdoor outing or ‘field trip’ of some sort. Since this week’s theme was apples, I helped to set up an apple pie making station for our little ones {ages 1 to 4} to enjoy.

10 Apples Up On Top Math Game

10 / 21 / 1410 / 29 / 14

$Ten Apples Up On Top Math Game | Mama Papa Bubba$

Not going to lie, this week’s preschool book club was a bit of a tough one… Tough because firstly, we couldn’t find the book anywhere. We visited bookshops, we visited grocery stores with book sections, we visited our school’s library, and we asked pretty much all of our friends. No book! Brad eventually scrounged up a digital version for us to see on the iPad, but after a friend suggested it this morning, I’m guessing that one of Kuwait’s many Instagram shops would have had it! I hadn’t thought of that. {Is this an around the world thing, or a Kuwait specific thing? Here you can order almost anything via Instagram and Whatsapp and have the items delivered to your door.} The second thing that made this week’s PBC challenging was that without the book physically in my hands, I had no inspiration. For the life of me, I couldn’t think of a fun activity to go with it. It was frustrating. Eventually though, I thought of something {a very simple math game focused on addition and subtraction} and it’s pretty awesome. Not awesome because it was crazy cool or unique, but awesome because Gracen did not want to stop playing. In fact, we played from about 9:00 to 10:45 a.m. yesterday morning. One round after the next – non-stop! I love when something that was initially challenging turns out so well.

{click to read more…}

Simple Apple Tree Addition Game

9 / 23 / 1410 / 8 / 14

Simple Apple Tree Addition Game | Mama Papa Bubba

Throughout our days together, it’s not unusual for Gracen to come up to me and say something like, ‘Okay, Mama. There are 3 little ducks swimming in the pond at the park. 2 more ducks come to swim. How many ducks are there now?’ The girl comes prepared, too. More times than not, she has a pencil sketch on a huge piece of white paper in her arms to help illustrate the problem. She waits for my response eagerly, then pauses to calculate the total herself once she’s received my answer. I get a peppy ‘Yup! You are right!’ and then it’s my turn to create a story problem for her to solve. This goes on again and again.

An Apple Taste Test

9 / 18 / 139 / 18 / 13

Today, instead of preparing a post-nap snack for Miss G as I usually do, I set out this… A collection of 4 different apples waiting to be observed and tasted.

Caramel Apple Pie Play Dough

9 / 17 / 139 / 17 / 13

One day, while playing with our well-loved pumpkin spice play dough, Gracen asked if we could have some friends over so she could share her new dough with them. She’s always adored having friends come over, and now that we’re in an apartment building filled with teaching families, arranging play dates is easier than ever. A play dough play date sounded like a brilliant plan to me, so I agreed and immediately started thinking about another fall-scented play dough we could create. I quickly remembered the apple play dough post I’d seen on Fantastic Fun & Learning, and knew that Miss G and her friends would enjoy something similar. Because I was on a bit of a roll with the dough containing real pumpkin, I decided our apple dough would contain real apples and would be further fall-ified by making it apple pie scented. The good news is that my mission was a total success! The dough turned out soft, squishy, and smelled deliciously of warm apple pie drizzled with caramel sauce – yum! In fact, as I was making it, Brad came into the kitchen with eager eyes and asked what I was baking because our house smelled so delicious. Oops.

Apple Sandwiches {An Old Favourite}

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I’ve been making these fun and easy apple sandwiches for Miss G for a long time now (we didn’t follow the usual no nuts until the age of 2 rule) and they’ve always been a total hit. And because we load ours up with all kinds of healthful fillings, they make a perfect breakfast or even lunch!

You certainly don’t need all of these things, but since we almost always have them all on hand and Miss G enjoys the variety, we usually go for it. In today’s lineup was peanut butter, almond butter, and a pink lady apple, plus unsweetened coconut, pumpkin seeds, sliced almonds, old-fashioned oats, sunflower seeds, and hemp hearts. Also needed is a sharp knife and small cookie cutter of some sort (though you can do without if needed).

Apple sandwiches are really so simple to throw together that I’m sure instructions aren’t needed, but this is how we normally make ours… First off, I slice them up quite thinly. We usually get 8 or 9 slices (not including the 2 end pieces) per apple. Then we separate them into two piles – one where the seeds have to be cut out, and the other where there really aren’t any seeds at all.

Next, we use our small heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut the centres out of the seedy slices. You can use an apple corer or a sharp knife to the trick too. These pieces will become the sandwich tops.

On to the bottoms! Since these really don’t have any seeds, there’s no cookie cutter needed. Just slather them with your favourite nut butter…

And have your munchkin sprinkle them with the toppings of his or her choice.

Then pop the tops on and you’ve got a yummy snack or meal ready for your little one (or you!) to gobble up!

♥

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Apple Crumble Dessert Popcorn

4 / 23 / 134 / 25 / 13

Oh my goodness. After our morning cooking class at Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co. where the lovely Suz shared more of her secrets, Gracen and I whipped up a batch of this sweet, satisfying popcorn treat. It’s ridiculously delicious.

Here’s the line-up of ingredients… Pure maple syrup, coconut oil, dried apples (we dehydrated our own, but you can just as easily buy unsweetened, unsulphered ones at the store), popping corn, cinnamon, and sliced raw almonds (not pictured because ours were toasting in the oven).

To start off, we added our coconut oil, popping corn, and cinnamon into a pot (thanks to my lovely friend Tairalyn who reminded me that putting seasonings directly in the pot is a brilliant idea). We have this fancy popcorn popping pot (which we adore!), but any decent quality pot will do. Warm your oil, popcorn seeds, and cinnamon over medium heat until the seeds start popping. Shake the pot back and forth over the element almost constantly once the popping begins.

When the popping has finished, we had a delicious, slightly coconut-y popcorn, evenly coated in warm cinnamon.

Next, we chopped up our apples, put them in a bowl, and drizzled our maple syrup on top.

Then my freshly bathed sous chef dumped the mixture on the popcorn and mixed it all up with her hands.

The last step was sprinkling the generously toasted almonds on top and giving the popcorn one final mix.

Depending on how much will power you have, you can either eat it immediately, or lay it out on a baking sheet and let it lose some of its stickiness for a few minutes – both ways are delicious (though we definitely know how the ‘served immediately’ kind tastes like better than the ‘wait’ kind).

When I asked Grae what she thought of it, she replied with “Nummy!”, “Sweet!”, and “Delicious!” in between ‘mmmmmmmm’ sounds. My guess is that she liked it every bit as much as I did.

Apple Crumble Dessert Popcorn (inspired by Suz of Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company)

2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1/2 cup of popcorn seeds
2 teaspoons of cinnamon

1 cup of unsweetened, unsulphered dried apples
2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup

1/2 cup of raw sliced almonds, toasted until golden brown

Toast sliced almonds in an oven set at 200 degrees.

Put coconut oil, popcorn seeds, and cinnamon into a large, heavy pot and pop over medium heat.

Roughly chop dried apples and drizzle the maple syrup on top. Dump the apple/syrup mixture on top of the popcorn and mix well by hand. Sprinkle toasted almonds on top and mix again.

Serve immediately or let sit on a baking sheet for 5 – 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

♥

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Apple Pear Carrot Fruit Leather

1 / 25 / 138 / 27 / 13

After getting our batch of banana berry fruit leather in the oven, Gracen and I decided to give round two a go, this time with a different combination of ingredients…

We had a couple of bruised pears that I really wanted to use, and while digging in the fridge for an apple, Grae suggested carrots too (sure, why not?) We added the other half of our lemon to the mix and called it good.

This batch took a wee bit more prep than the last one. Grae peeled carrots {ever so cautiously}…

While I prepped the apples and pears (I peeled the apple, but not the pears).

When everything was ready to go, my little sous chef added the produce to a big pot…

And attempted to squeeze the juice from the lemon. (Her exact words just before this shot was taken were, “Com’on, lemon… Why you not working??”)

Then she poured in some water (quite a bit more than with our first batch because carrots don’t produce their own juice while stewing).

Then we popped our pot on the oven, put a lid on it, and let everything simmer for about half an hour on medium heat.

It looked absolutely horrible when it was done cooking (like some kind of veggie stew gone terribly wrong), but smelled delicious.

During the stewing process, my little girl helper was replaced by this equally cute kitty helper. Luckily, she likes to help just as much and saw to it that our mixture was pureed perfectly.

Then we poured it out onto a parchment-lined sheet.

This time we were a little more careful to make sure the mixture was an even thickness all over the base of the pan. Then it was into the oven on the lowest temperature.

After eight hours, we had a lovely sheet of fruit leather.

Once again using kitchen scissors, I cut the sheet into strips…

And rolled it up using strips of parchment paper and baker’s twine.

And though our berry banana version is very tasty {despite being a tad over dried}, I think these are even better. They’re sweet and flavourful and have just the perfect bit of tartness.

Gracen seems to agree. She gobbled up this entire strip in 3 minutes flat and promptly asked for another.

Carrot Pear Apple Fruit Leather

2 Red Anjou pears
3 large carrots
1 Granny Smith apple
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 cup of water

Peel the carrots and peel and core the apple. Put all of the produce into a large pot along with the water and the juice from the lemon. Cover the pot and stew the fruit/veggies on medium heat for 25 to 30 minutes, then remove from heat and let cool a while.

Pour the stewed fruit and veggies into a blender or food processor and puree.

Pour the pureed mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and use a spatula to evenly distribute the mixture over the base of the pan. Bake at 150 degrees for about 8 hours, removing it from the overn when the leather is no longer sticky to the touch.

Peel away the parchment paper and cut into strips using kitchen scissors or a pizza cutter.

Enjoy immediately or roll using parchment strips and baker’s twine and store in an airtight jar.

♥

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Fall Fun: Apple Stamping

9 / 6 / 129 / 11 / 13

After our awesome magic milk paint experiment today, Gracen and I took advantage of the overwhelming amount of apple pears our tree has this year and did something that reminds me of making homemade gift wrap as a child… Apple stamping.

Needing to dedicate a day (or an afternoon at the very least) to picking the ridiculous amount fruit our tree is currently carrying, much of our backyard currently looks like this. Sadly, once they’ve fallen to the cement pad, most of the apples are left badly bruised, a little mushy, and not all that great for eating purposes.

So today, while we were picking them up and putting them in the compost, we saved a few of the better ones to use for stamping purposes. Grae picked two “baby” apples and one “biiiiiiig” apple for the project, and then we collected a roll of art paper, some paint, and a knife (for Mama’s use only of course).

I chopped the apples both vertically and horizontally, trying to get rid of the really yucky parts and keep the more decent parts all at once. As you can see, some of these are still pretty yucky, but that doesn’t really matter when you’re just using them for stamping.

Grae got started right away – dunking and stamping, dunking and stamping, again and again.

Stamping of this sort often has better results when the paint it brushed onto the object, but since dunking the apples into the paint is much easier, and let’s face it – more fun, we just went with that technique. Grae didn’t seem to mind one bit.

The end result {besides a toddler with multicoloured hands}? A beautiful masterpiece that could be hung and displayed or used to wrap a fall gift.

♥