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You surely can't beat a good 'ol apple pie on a crisp fall day... or can you? What if I told you it was a good 'ol apple pie, without any sugar? I hear ya, I hear ya - Oh, then it must not taste nearly as good as a regular apple pie. FALSE. This pie is party-approved, dessert-lovin' husband-approved, and grandparent-approved, which are three of the highest qualifications in my book!Before you start, don't let the "total time" scare you. This recipe is ridiculously simple. If you must must must shorten the time, you might be able to get away with taking the crust out of the fridge a half an hour sooner (and please oh please don't use store-bought crust!). You might even be able to slice into your fresh-from-the-oven pie 30 minutes after you take it out of the oven -- they're not hard-pressed time estimates, but even if they were, it's 100% worth the time it takes to make!So light up your favorite fall candle and get baking!Honey-Sweetened Apple PiePrep Time: 20 min | Inactive Time: 2 hour | Cook Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 3 hours, 20 min Serves: 8

Ingredients:

Pie Crust
  • 2-1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 20 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes (2-1/2 sticks)
  • 4-8 tablespoons ice water, as needed
Filling
  • 5-6 large apples, peeled and cut (I like to use Gala since it adds additional sweetness)
  • 1/3 cup honey, plus 2 tablespoons for brushing
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

Pie Crust
  1. Add flour and salt to food processor and pulse to combine.
  2. Add butter to food processor and pulse until bean-sized crumbs are formed.
  3. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until dough just begins to form.
  4. Split dough in two, form into disks, wrap separately in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days.
Filling
  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. In large bowl, mix apples, honey, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg, tossing to coat.
  3. Roll out one disk of dough to 1/4 inch, or desired thickness, and press into pie plate. Cut off excess dough from sides.
  4. Spoon apple mixture evenly into crust.
  5. Roll out second disk of dough to 1/4 inch, or desired thickness, and cut into 12, 1-inch strips.
  6. Arrange 5-6 strips along pie, then make a lattice pattern by arranging another 5-6 strips the other direction across the first strips.
  7. Place pie plate on cookie sheet and bake in oven for 1 hour.
  8. Brush lattice with honey after removing from oven, then let cool for 1 hour. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.
It's faaaaaaall! And don't give me that "Actually, the first day of fall is the 22nd" bologna. The weather has turned and fall festivities have begun in the Artman household - life is good!One of the things I've really been trying to focus on recently is keeping added sugars out of my food, and honestly? It's tough. You'd be surprised where sugars hide - peanut butter, ketchup, bread, pretzels. You name it and it probably has sugar in it. It's crazy. Often times I just resort to making meals from scratch, which I love doing, but what about dessert? I may not like the idea of sugar, but I've got as much of a sweet tooth as anyone. How does one make that work?Well I'm all about natural. That's a funny word though - "natural" is used haphazardly in the food industry. Specifically, it has zero meaning. Any company can put "natural" on their packaging and it doesn't mean anything. What I'm talking about is natural versus regular/artificial. Like the sugar found naturally in fruits - no one tells you to limit how much fruit you eat because of the sugar content. That's silly!My favorite kind of natural sweetener is honey (second would be maple syrup). What's more natural than the stuff that comes from bees? Bees are responsible for pollinating our flowers and crops, so the stuff that they create from that is about as natural as it gets. I don't load everything I make with honey, but if something calls for sugar, I try my best to incorporate honey instead.So when it came to making apple pie, I wondered if it was possible. I'm not brave enough (yet) to attempt it on my own, so I spent a good amount of time on Google trying to find a recipe, and I found one! I tweaked it just a tad to make sure it incorporated all my favorite elements in a traditional apple pie. I'm never going back to a sugar-laden apple pie ever again.So what are you waiting for? Try it for yourself!

Chicken Strips with AioliPrep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes Serves: 4Ingredients:6 tbs butter 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs (unseasoned) 1/2 cup shredded parmesan 1 tbs parsley 1 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 2 - 2 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts 1/2 cup mayo 1/4 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp lemon juice 1/2 tsp parsleyDirections: 1) Preheat oven to 400F and spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.2) In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat; as butter starts to melt, add minced garlic into the saucepan.3) Once butter has melted, remove from heat.4) In a bowl, combine panko, parmesan, parsley, salt, and pepper.5) Cut breasts into 1 inch thick strips.6) Coat chicken pieces in garlic butter, completely dredge in panko mixture, and place on prepared baking pan.7) Sprinkle leftover panko mixture and drizzle leftover melted butter over chicken strips.8) Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until internal temp reaches 165F or is no longer pink.9) While chicken is baking, combine mayo, garlic powder, lemon juice, and parsley to make aioli.10) Serve chicken alongside the aioli.

Our little girl turned 6 months old on Christmas Eve Eve, and we couldn't be happier to spend every day with such a sweet baby! These last few months have brought so much joy and more love than we ever imagined to our lives, and we love watching her grow! Recently she has grown by leaps and bounds, showing her spunky personality and total fascination in everything (especially things that make a crunchy noise!). She loves oatmeal and applesauce, but could definitely live without sweet potatoes. She loves to roll, but doesn't like getting stuck on her belly. She likes her pacifier, but prefers to chew on her hand instead. We are seeing her develop more and more everyday, and we absolutely love it! We are so looking forward to seeing her learn more in the weeks and months to come!

I want to start off by saying that Nick and I consider ourselves very, very blessed! Ever since Lily graced her way into our lives, we say it even more. We are so blessed. She’s the sweetest little bundle of pure joy and we love her to the moon and back. We like to say she fits into our lives like a puzzle piece we didn’t know was missing - she’s such a perfect addition to our family!—I learned something a year or two ago that I’ve really had to be intentional about; the realization that people’s lives are not exactly what you see on social media. I heard it from listening to one of my favorite pastors, and though it wasn’t earth-shattering, it left me thinking and dwelling on the concept; what one sees on social media is what one chooses to reveal, and there’s a whole life behind the screen that someone is living. Sometimes it’s not all bliss. I’m not saying this is a bad thing entirely - it’s good to share in one’s successes and joys, but a lot of the time the things we see and post can really mislead people.

7 years without my Mimi and I sit here trying to find the words to say. Facebook is often riddled with pictures of late grandparents, and sometimes I find it difficult to grasp the significance of them all. All express the same sentiment: I miss you. But yet with each loving statement are stories upon stories of all the times spent with a person that made life that much better.

Sometimes I find it difficult to wrap my mind around the last few months, as if I’m still trying to grasp reality. Life has a funny way of making it seem as if things are being thrown at you, when you actually planned for them to happen. As a child you imagine your life unfolding in the way one always dreams it would, without really stopping to think of the plans God has for you, and that they’re, more often than not, radically different.Sometimes you find yourself getting caught up in the “norm.” Everyone says “Dare to be different,” but when you step outside of society, it’s uncomfortable. You almost don’t feel safe, and you crawl back to the other side where you don’t have the fear that comes along with not being normal. I’ve found it takes a strong will and trust and faith in God to really break those chains, and that’s where I am at this very moment.