Nature's Pride: Honeycrisp apple and sausage stuffing

Confession: I am obsessed with Thanksgiving foods. OBSESSED! My absolute favorite dish at Thanksgiving time however, is my dad's sausage stuffing. My sisters and I gobble it up. (LOL gobble)

So when Nature's Pride hosted a contest on Foodbuzz, I knew what I had to do. Recreate Dad's stuffing with a healthy twist and with fresh bread instead of breadcrumbs.

Through Foodbuzz's tastemaker program, I received a free coupon for a loaf of Nature's Pride bread.



I chose 12 grain because it's hearty, whole-wheat and full of flavor. Perfect for my stuffing!



I used 4 cups of bread cubes which equals 5 slices of bread.



Leaving the bread cubes out overnight so they harden up would work best but I didn't have a lot of time. I laid the cubes out on a cookie sheet, sprayed them with EVOO and toasted them in the oven. (400 degrees for 5-6 minutes but keep an eye on it.)



For the sausage, I used some sage pork sausage which I cooked with celery and red onion. I'm normally not a celery person but it gives this stuffing some delicious crunch.



Then I slowly add in the bread cubes, butter, broth and 1 diced honeycrisp apple. Put it in a baking dish and bake for 45 minutes.



The onions and the apple caramelize while cooking, leaving a fantastic sweetness throughout the stuffing.



And yes, I know stuffing isn't photogenic but MAN is it good! I ate this for dinner last night and for lunch today. YUM! Totally gets me in the mood for fall.

Want the recipe?

Ingredients

1 pound Sage Sausage (feel free to use pork, turkey, non-meat whatever!)
1 large red onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 large Honeycrisp apple, diced
5 slices Nature's Pride bread, cubed and toasted
1 cup veggie broth (chicken is fine)
1/2 cup melted butter (I highly suggest Kerrygold butter, unsalted)
Salt to taste* (I didn't salt mine)

Cook sausage, onion and celery together in a large skillet. Make sure to crumble sausage while it cooks.

As soon as the sausage is cooked through, add in bread cubes, broth and butter. Stir to combine.

Add in honeycrisp apple pieces last, then transfer to a 9X13 inch baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Enjoy!

This post & recipe are part of a contest entry to win a trip to the Foodbuzz Festival in November.

I don't wanna

I am so tired today. I had the hardest time sleeping last night. I am one of those people who needs eight hours of sleep a night to be decent. I rarely achieve this goal. (More than eight hours of sleep is not a good thing either.)

I'm training myself though. My new 5:30am wake up time is not loved or appreciated. My morning routine is pretty nutty too. The alarm goes off. I tell Andy to let me sleep for "5 more  minutes" and toss and turn trying to convince myself that early mornings are a good thing. Eventually I convince myself to get up, spend one hour flat-ironing my hair so I don't look insane, chug some coffee and drive to work. (Andy makes me coffee daily, he is an angel for doing this. I still have no idea how to make coffee.)



Because I am tired and we are running low on groceries, I decided to klss. (Keep lunch simple stupid!) I microwaved 1/2 cup of edamame.



This Kashi meal (I bought a 4 pack at Costco for a great price. Mama said we'd have days where we wouldn't want to cook. Mama knows best.)



Yum!



I mixed the edamame with the Kashi meal, added sliced granny smith apples and some grapes and called it healthy.



I am in love with Kashi's pilaf. I'm not a big fan of rice or pilafs either so this is saying something. It's nutty, chewy and filling.



This sriracha seriously improved the meal. My mouth likes to be on fire.

Do you ever eat frozen meals because you're too busy or too lazy like me? Do you jazz them up somehow?

Also am I the only person alive who has a rough time eating apples (aside from honeycrisp. I love those.) I swear the texture bothers me so much. I can only eat apples if they are sliced. Weird?

Fall

I think it's safe to say that summer is over. While we'll miss the warm summer nights, time off from work and laying out on the beach, we're looking forward to the start of fall.

Fall for me means cardigan weather. I own 20-25 cardigans. I have an obsession with them. I tried to wear a few during the summer but it was too dang hot. Now that it's starting to cool off in the evenings, I have a perfect excuse. Plus, cardigans remind me of teachers and going back to school.

Fall also means pumpkin-flavored things. Which I love. I'm a huge pumpkin fan. I can burn out on it though so I try to enjoy during the fall only.



This Dogfish Head Punkin Ale was really good but heavy. I suggest drinking it with a lighter meal. (We had this with a serving of dry-rubbed pork loin and PW's Potatoes au Gratin and it was a bit too much.)

The beer tastes like pumpkin pie spices in a full-bodied brown ale. Amazing.



The proportions look skewed but I promise this is a kid's plate. I use smaller plates when serving heavier dishes to ensure a smaller portion. I halved the cheese in this recipe and still felt like it was perfectly rich and cheesy. PW does it again.



Breakfast this morning was pumpkin waffles. The waffles were great but I'd add it more pumpkin pie spice next time.



I served the waffles with more potatoes because I am glutton.



And organic pears and plums. I'm pretty sure I have to say goodbye to some of my beloved summer fruits (pluots!) and I'm sad. Good thing honeycrisp apples are on their way back to me. Jessica posted this delicious honeycrisp apple recipe and I am determined to recreate it. Her blog has me starving on multiple occasions.

I'm not going to lie, I'm looking forward to morning hikes and runs too. My physical therapist and podiatrist promise that I'll be running pain-free in a few weeks with the help of stronger hamstrings, custom orthotics and no more flip flops. Running in the fall trumps running in the fall. If only the leaves changed their color here. California doesn't have REAL seasons.

What is your favorite thing about fall?

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