[Fall Bucket List] Overnight Caramel Apple Rolls

Holy deliciousness. I made these (from scratch!) on Saturday for breakfast and they turned out better than I could have ever imagined! (And they re-heated wonderfully for breakfast on Sunday too!)

Ingredients

Filling

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 medium cooking apple, peeled and chopped (1 1/2 cups)(I used 2 smaller Gala apples)

Rolls

3 to 3 1/2 cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour or Better for Bread™ bread flour (I used all purpose)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

1 pkg regular or quick active dry yeast

1/2 cup applesauce

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup applesauce

3 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I left the nuts out)

2 Tbsp butter or margarine, softened

Directions

In medium bowl, mix filling ingredients. 

Set aside. 

In large bowl, mix 1 cup of the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, the salt and yeast.

In 2-qt saucepan, cook 1/2 cup applesauce, 1/4 cup butter and the milk over medium heat, stirring constantly, until very warm (120-130°F). 

Add warm mixture and egg to flour mixture; beat with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. 

Beat on medium speed 2 min. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

Place dough on lightly floured surface; gently roll in flour to coat. Knead about 5 min or until smooth and springy. 

Place in large greased bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover and let rise in warm place 45-60 min or until double. (Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.)

Grease bottom and sides of 13" x 9" pan with shortening (I used Pam cooking spray). Mix brown sugar, 1/2 cup applesauce, 3 Tbsp melted butter and the walnuts in pan; spread evenly.

Gently push fist into dough to deflate. 

Roll dough into 15x12" rectangle. Spread 2 Tbsp softened butter over dough; sprinkle with filling.

Tightly roll up rectangle, beginning at 15" side; pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Stretch and shape until even. 

 Cut roll into twelve 1" slices. Place slightly apart in pan.

Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hr but no longer than 48 hr.

Before baking, let rolls stand at room temperature 30 minutes (rolls will not rise during this time).
(I took them out before we left for swim and they were out for about an hour instead of the 30 minutes that it suggested and they turned out fine).

Heat oven to 400ºF. Bake 20-25 min or until golden brown. Cool in pan 1 min.

(I cooked for 21 minutes but I think 20 minutes would have been just fine.)

Place heatproof serving platter or tray upside down onto pan; turn platter and pan over. 

 Let stand about 1 min so caramel can drizzle over rolls; remove pan.

Serve warm.

Printable recipe here (from the Betty Crocker website).

Bake these now. Thank me later.

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Now, tell me!

What Fall fun have you been up to?

Pick an item, celebrate Fall, and link up with us!
I would love to see how you and your family are spending Fall.

 Desiree at Macke Monologues | Stephanie at Wife Mommy Me | Elizabeth at Chasin' Mason

[BOY MOMS] Natasha from Epic Mommy Adventures

Hi Everyone! My name is Natasha and I am a single mama to my amazing and rambunctious boy, Micah. I blog over at Epic Mommy Adventures, where I share our everyday life adventures. Thanks so much to Elizabeth for inviting me to share my experiences as a #boymom here today!

    

 I must admit - I didn't want children for a very long time. It wasn't that I didn't adore having children around me, it was just that I wasn't ready. One of my biggest worries was that I would have a girl. I knew that I didn't want a girl because I feared that she would be just like me as a teenager (I was that bad - really!) So I knew I would be getting it tenfold if I had a girl. So when I found out I was pregnant, I was so incredibly nervous. So when I finally went to that 20-week sonogram and found out I was having a boy, I was extremely ecstatic. But then I realized that I knew nothing about raising a boy! The panic and worry started up again, but now for the fear that I would not be able to raise my boy to be a great man. I questioned everything - Is it the right time? Will I be a good mom? Will my child love me? Will I be happy? Will my child be happy? Will I be able to care for my child financially? I would fall asleep exhausted thinking through so many different things. I didn't know if I had it in me to be a good mom to my unborn child.

   

 From the moment that I laid eyes on my sweet little boy, my world completely changed...for the better. I immediately wanted to protect and nurture and fulfill any and all of his dreams. For the first month of his life, I had the most difficult time letting anyone hold him. Even when I did, I would be itching to take him back. I loved looking at him and I loved that bright eyed look he would give me when he first woke up and noticed me. And he would give me such a beautiful shy smile. And my heart would melt each time... 

 

I mean come on...who couldn't fall in love with this chunky, grumpy baby??!!

On the other end of the fear and worries came the excitement - as I was a tomboy for the better part of my life, I knew that I would have so much fun being the mom of a boy - and was I sooo right!

We have so much fun being silly together - we run and tussle and laugh and dance. We race each other to the front door, and go to the park just to hang on the monkey bars. We enjoy playing in the grass and the mud, but quickly realize that we both don't like grass and mud that much and run back into the house screaming "Ewwww..." We love baking together, and most of our time is spent licking the bowl after pouring the batter in the pan. We even get into batter throwing fights and tickle fights.

Not to say that I couldn't do this with a girl too, but my life is completely wrapped up in being the mom of a boy that I couldn't imagine doing the same with a girl.

 

 Micah is also the sweetest little boy in the world. He loves to give hugs and kisses and he gives the best hugs in the world! If he sees me sad for any reason, he will run over to sit on my lap, put his head on my shoulder, and hug me tightly. We spend loads of time just cuddling - he loves to hold either the side of my face or rub on my ear. It drives me nuts sometimes, but I love the connection with him. 

   

 But he is my complete world...every thing that I do in life is to make our lives better. Although I'm a single mom and raising Micah on my own, I wouldn't change a thing. I love being a mom to my little boy, and I look forward to the many years that we have together - that is, before he stops talking to me in his teenage years lol. Until then, though, I will enjoy and savor every moment with him.

 

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If you would like to share a post about you and your son, email me at chasinmasonblog@gmail.com .

I would love to feature you! You don't have to have a blog to participate!

TGIF and Five on Friday!

I, for one, am SO happy it's Friday. Seriously, all week I have been a day ahead and yesterday I totally referred to Saturday as tomorrow. Ugh. BUT luckily it is FINALLY Friday and we have a full weekend of celebrating our niece turning one on Saturday and Bubbie turning ninety-five on Sunday. Not too shabby of a weekend! But before we get ahead of ourselves, here's some things I'm loving right now...

ONE.

Birthday Gifts.

Well, September is officially over, which means I suppose I have to stop celebrating my birthday (boo!). Luckily for me, on the very last day of my birthday month, I got one very exciting surprise. My new iPhone 6 was on it's way to me! We had ordered it on the 19th when it came out and it wasn't due to ship until the middle of October so I was quite excited for it to show up a whole 3 weeks early!

 Oh, and I got the TOMS that I ordered for me and Mason with my birthday TOMS gift card from my Dad and step mom and the Skinny Taste cookbook that I pre-ordered came too!

Happy mail day!

TWO.

Oreos.

I am a sucker for all things holiday. Even though these Oreos are exactly the same as regular double stuff, I had to buy them. I told Seth I had a gift card (which is the truth) so I "bought them for Mason" (which is not true). I might have "bought them for Mason" but Seth and I have each enjoyed 2 per night and there might only be 3 left in the package.

But for the record, Mason has had some! ... aka maybe 5 total. Oops.

THREE.

Pretzel Crisps.

images via

Have you tried these? Seth and I (and Mason!) love these Pretzel Crisps. We have only tried the Everything and the Original ones so far and so far the Everything ones are my favorite. I love to dip them in cream cheese as a mid-afternoon snack on the weekends or a mid-morning snack at work. I recently just found out that they make mini pretzel crisps now too which would be perfect for someone's little hands.

And while browsing the Pretzel Crisp website, I found out that there are also honey mustard ones so I will definitely be on the look out for those. Oh and these Christmas ones! Holy yum. CANNOT WAIT for the holiday season to begin!

FOUR.

Fruit Infusion Pitcher.

I recently saw this fruit infusion pitcher in a magazine and thought it was genius. How awesome would it be to be able to infuse water with orange or lemon without having to worry about the actual fruit rind in the water? Or how awesome would it be to make sangria and not have to worry about rinds falling into your glass? Genius. Best part? It's at Target! If anyone needs a Christmas gift idea (hint, hint), I think I may have just given you one :)

FIVE.

Giveaway Winners.

My last two giveaways ended recently and I never announced them on the blog.

Congratulations to Jamie for winning the shop credit to Dear Owen Co!

And congratulations to Stephanie for winning the 4 cards of her choice to Molly's Etsy shop!

I emailed you both so please check your email :)

Happy Friday!

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Linking up with Momfessionals and the Five on Friday gals.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

me and mom - 1984

October is breast cancer awareness month. And for those of you know who me, know that this month holds a special place in my heart.

My mom died of breast cancer in 2003. And if you do the math... yes, I was only 18. I was a freshman in college when I got that dreaded phone call. I needed to come home. There wasn't much time left.

Without getting into too many personal details, she was first diagnosed when I was 11 (and my brother was 8). She went through chemo and radiation and surgeries and went into remission. Then it came back. In her lymph nodes. More chemo and more radiation and she went into remission. And then it came back in her lungs... and the doctors said there was nothing they could do. 

She was 51 years young.

She got to see me graduate high school, but not my brother.

She missed my college graduation.

She's never met Seth. She couldn't be at our wedding.

She's never met Mason.

And while I do believe that she is watching down on us everyday and has actually "attended" these events and "met" Seth and Mason, it's not the same. She was robbed of so much.

For breast cancer awareness month, my friend Katie (a Stella and Dot stylist) and I have teamed up to host an online Stella and Dot trunk show! I hosted my first online trunk show a couple months ago and Katie so generously donated part of the proceeds to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

This year, for breast cancer awareness month, Stella and Dot has come up with two beautiful bracelets. One is called "Strength"- it is rose gold and simply stunning. The other is called "Inspire" and it is gold and hot pink and has a adorable elephants cut into the band.

And the best part? ALL proceeds (100%!) of the bracelets goes toward the Noreen Fraser Foundation. 

[From www.noreenfraserfoundation.org] The mission of the Noreen Fraser Foundation (NFF), a 501c3 not for profit organization based in Los Angeles, is to raise funds for breakthrough research that advances precision medicine for the prevention and treatment of women’s cancers.  Our hope is that cancer will become a manageable disease that patients will live with and not die from, until it ceases to exist.

NFF supports research for all women’s reproductive cancers (breast, ovarian, cervical and uterine/endometrial) because not only is there a strong hormonal and biological link between the women’s cancers including hereditary cancer syndromes but also because research in one type of women’s cancer oftentimes progresses research in the other types of women’s cancers. A multi-disciplinary approach and collaboration among researchers in the various fields of women’s cancers is absolutely necessary to accelerate the development of reasonable treatment options and potential cures.

While we focus on several types of cancers as opposed to just one, the research we fund is focused on making a real impact on women’s lives quickly. We feel that while a lot of money has been raised in the name of cancer, it has been divided amongst thousands of researchers and thousands of ideas diluting its impact. We believe that more money needs to be channeled to a smaller number of ideas. Focused funding and focused research will afford us the best chance to make greater strides and give this generation more than just hope to pass on to the next generation.

Strength // Inspire

If you like what you see, or want to see more (spoiler alert : everything is GORGEOUS!), please feel free to shop my trunk show and help me donate money to help fund breast cancer research!

Happy shopping!

[It's the Little Things] Last Gymboree Class

This past Sunday, Mason had his last Gymboree class. Although there are still other levels of class that we could "graduate" to, Seth and I decided (for various reasons) that this past Sunday would be our last. It was kind of bittersweet.

We've been going for about 8 months now and to say that Mason has loved his time there would be an understatement. He's not always in the best mood before we get there, but once we tell him that we are going to see Gymbo, he is instantly happy and can't wait to hop out of the car. He runs around, climbs on everything, and has the best time. He also LOVES his teacher, Teacher Blaine, which makes it all the more fun.

These pictures might not be the best quality, but I wanted to make sure that I documented his last class at Gymboree since it has been such a big part of our life and his development for these past 8 months.

He LOVES the slides. He loves to slide down and climb up the slides.
He especially loved this one since it was propped up so high. He would climb up the stairs in the back and slide down so fast.

He loves this little slide too. Even though it definitely doesn't let him slide as fast as the big slide, he loves climbing up the stairs and sliding down. Sometimes he misses his footing though and ends up like this : butt on the last step, trying to push himself up and on to the slide to then slide down.

 His new favorite thing is the cones. He LOVES the stack and unstack them over and over.

He loves climbing on the obstacle courses that they set up. And running back and forth on this "bumpy slide" or the "noisy bridge".

Again with the cones. This time daddy offers him an "ice cream cone" as he wears a cone as a hat.

The air log.
Hands down, favorite thing at Gymboree since day 1.
So cool to see the evolution of play and teaching with it from day 1 to now.

Maracas.

One of the newer activities in level 5. Mason didn't really know what to do with them in the beginning and now he runs up to Teacher Blaine, grabs the maracas, sits down on Seth's lap and "shake and shake and shakes". Then after maraca time is over, Mason is so eager and so good at cleaning up and putting them back in the bucket.

And parachute time.
And bubble time.
We used to have to encourage Mason to sit down for bubble time and play with the bubbles. Now he runs up to Teacher Blaine and can't wait to try to pop all the bubbles that come his way.
And then parachute time. We actually have to encourage him to sit down and do the kid part as he now likes to sit on the outside and hold on to the parachute as the adults bring it up and down.

Gymboree, you have been so, so good to us. I can't believe how much Mason has learned and grown in these short 8 months. Hopefully this was just good bye for now and not good bye forever.
Thank you for everything!

You can read about his first day of Gymboree here.

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Linking up with Jess from Sadie Sky Boutique and Ashley from Words About Waverly