Adult Fun

There was a time, not too many years ago, when my definition of a glorious day involved doing nothing at all.  Pure laziness.  Maybe some unbaked cookie dough, a few hours of "Gilmore Girls" on DVD, and stretchy pants.

(Mind you this would've been in my grad school days, so student = acceptable occasional lazy days, right?)

But now at my age I am reveling in allllllllll the chores I accomplished this past weekend.

I mean, who knew steam cleaning carpets could be so satisfying?

Saturday was cold and rainy, so I focused on indoor chores.

 (My creepy hand is saying "ta-da!")

 Scrubbed the tub.

 Not a single piece of dirty clothing in our house. 

 Dusted and polished the food furniture.  Lemony fresh!

 Sunday was perfect weather for biking relaxing boating outdoor chores.

Sweeping the acorns from the driveway.  *My professional dietitian advice: never buy a house with a massive oak tree in the front yard. It's like we're the Walter White of acorn production and the squirrels 'round here be kraaaaaazy.

Scrubbed all the window screens and Windexed inside and outside.  Yes, that can be a verb.

Had my two li'l helpers.  What's worse- the one that sniffs the butt, or the one that enjoys butt being sniffed?

Trimming the hedges.  He cuts, I bag.  

The weekend wasn't all chores though- we got to have Sunday dinner at Benihana.  Shrimp, please.

 

And I did make a new recipe, adapted from Shelly over at CookiesandCups.com. 

I loves me some apples, and right now I have no fewer than 3 bags, including a new variety that was gifted to me:

INTENSITY!

The orchard must think highly of their apples to come up with this kind of name, but they are really good.  So good that I decided to *not* chop them up and use them in this cake.  I'll eat them plain.

Apple Spice Cake
1 Tbsp olive oil (or other oil)
8 oz unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 heaping teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or you could use just one type of flour)
3 cups chopped apples (about 3 large apples)- I used Granny Smith

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat the heck out of a Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray.
2. Beat together oil and applesauce with both sugars.  The mixture will look weird and discouraging- like this:

Keep ye faith.

3. Add eggs and vanilla.  Mix for 1 minute.  Add in baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and beat 1-2 minutes.
4. Turn mixer to low and add in flour.  Mix just until combined. 
5. Stir in chopped apples.  You will be thinking "no way- waaaaaay too many apples". 

Keep ye faith.

6. Spread evenly in the Bundt pan and bake 55-65 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

7. Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to continue cooling.

Makes 12 servings.  Per serving: 208 calories, 4 grams fiber, 19 grams sugar.  Ok let's be real- this is called cake, so low sugar it is not, but it is still a ton better than the original recipe, which was 400 calories and 35 grams of sugar per serving).

Perfect way to end a long productive satisfying weekend.  Who needs cookie dough anyway?