How Bout them Apples...

We've been really into apples around here lately.  Of course, there was our big apple picking trip...

But we also did some apple print painting (can you tell I used to be a teacher?!?)

And we even made some caramel apple slices**

So, with apples everywhere, I got the hankering for a fall classic dessert.  It had been a few years since I had made an apple crisp, but remembered my recipe being a pretty good one.  And after looking at the ingredients and such, I determined that it really was pretty healthy, at least for a dessert (and before you drown it in ice cream/caramel sauce as I, of course, did).  So I picked up a few more apples at the grocery store, and when Colton's teachers reported that he had a good day (we've been having a "nice hands" problem recently!), I decided to go for it.

I'll be honest with you...slicing all those freaking apples sucked...I hate the peeling/coring/slicing process...and I have two wounded fingers to prove it ("haste makes waste" as my father would say).  BUT, once that part was over, the rest of the assembly process was a breeze, and as I remembered, the end result was delicious...especially after drowning in the aforementioned vanilla ice cream/caramel sauce.

Apple Crisp

• 3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1.  Preheat oven to 350.

2.  Fill 8x8 baking dish with sliced apples. Sprinkle apples with cinnamon-sugar mixture and pour water over top.

3.  Combine oats, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and melted butter in small bowl.  Sprinkle over the apples.

4.  Bake 45 minutes.

***Btw: Levi was present at all these activities, but obviously Colton was much more involved than his baby brother, hence his domination in the pictures...one of my family members would have surely pointed that out, so I figured I'd beat them to it