Apple Dumplings

My daughter was anxious to try these apple dumplings that she found on allrecipes. They were delicious. They didn't last the afternoon at my house.

Ingredients:
2 large Granny smith apples, peeled and cored
2 (10oz) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
12oz of sprite

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 inch baking dish. Cut each apple into 8 wedges and set aside. Separate the crescent roll dough into triangles. Roll each apple wedge in crescent roll dough starting at the smallest end. Pinch to seal and place in the baking dish. Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar and cinnamon. Pour over the apple dumplings. Pour Sprite over the dumplings. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown.

Strawberry Cake

I've been wanting to find a good strawberry cake recipe. This was the top rated recipe on allrecipes. It was very good but like many of the reviews said, it was a little dense. The denseness didn't bother me but it did bother my kids. The cool whip frosting was very good.

Ingredients:
2 cups white sugar
1 (3oz) pkg strawberry flavored gelatin
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs (room temp) separated
2 3/4 sifted cake flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup whole milk, room temp
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup strawberry puree made from frozen sweetened strawberries
1 cup strawberry puree to put between layers of cake

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and dry strawberry gelatin until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each. Take the egg whites and whip them unitl soft peaks form. Fold them in the batter at the end. Conbine the flour and baking powder, stir into the batter alternately with the milk. Blend in vanilla and strawberry puree. Fold in the egg whites. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Alow cakes to cool in their pans for at least 10 minutes before tapping out to cool completely.

Cool Whip Frosting
Ingredients:
8 oz cool whip, thawed
1 3.5 oz vanilla pudding mix
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

In medium bowl combine pudding mix with milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth, gently fold in whipped topping. Spread evenly over cake.

Meatballs

My next door neighbor is in incredible shape. I could only dream of looking like her. So when she tells me something I listen. For instance when I found out she eats the egg rolls Wal-mart sells, you better bet I went out and bought them for myself. So when I ran a half marathon recently she gave me advice on what to eat to prepare for the race. She gave me a bean salad to eat 2 days before and these meatballs to eat the afternoon before the race. She said they would both give me so much energy--and I think they did. I got the recipe from her so I can make them for myself. It may be my new ritual for long distance races.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs lean (93/7) ground beef
3-4 stalks celery chopped up fine
1 small yellow onion, chopped up fine
bundle of parsley chopped up
4 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
1.5 cups wheat germ

Directions:
Put the first 4 ingredients in a big bowl. Add the eggs, salt, pepper, and wheat germ and mash it all together. Place water in a big pot and bring to a boil. Make meatballs and add them to the water to boil. Boil for about 40 minutes until done. Boiling the meatballs draws all of the fat away from the meatball so they are healthier.