Oven Glory

I have a new trick. It is a crafty and committed way to get a lot of things done in the evenings. I prepare chicken, potatoes, and vegetables so that they can be roasted. Then, I put them all next to each other in the oven, set it to a “good enough” temperature that they all can be cooked at, and leave! I go to the gym for the hour that my food is cooking, and by the time I get home, dinner is ready and I’ve gotten a work out in. So far, it is has cut down on my exercise procrastination by about 80%. Last night, I also made baked apples and they were AMAZING. However, until I start making my own ice cream, I had to buy some at the store. My new cheat is, when I have to buy something that I can’t (or don’t have time to make) I make sure that there are no preservatives, added color or corn syrup, and that the first ingredient is the product I’m after.

Example: ice cream’s first ingredient must be “milk”.

Example: jam’s first ingredient must be “fruit”.

And so on….

ANYWAY, baking saves me time and energy. It also frees me up to do other things that I would otherwise put off if I had to be actively cooking dinner. Thanks oven. I love you.




Baked Apples
2 large apples, cored (but not all the way through at the bottom)
4 slivers of butter
2 T brown sugar
2 T crushed walnuts or pecans
½ t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg

1. Place a sliver of butter in the bottom of each cored apple.
2. Mix sugar, nuts, and spices together and spoon into each cored apple
3. Place another sliver of butter on top of the mixture in the apple
4. Cook apples at 375 degrees for 40 minutes in a baking pan filled with 1 inch of water


They really are best with a little vanilla ice cream on top. Also, you can use raisins in the filling, but I hate raisins. Sorry.