Saturday Substitutions

Our family had some fun plans for today, but with such cool, dreary and wet weather, we had to nix them.  That's how our day of substitutions started.

We substituted attending a Halloween festival at a local park with a quick trip to a nearby orchard where got several pounds of apples, mostly to make applesauce.  While there, I tried to get the kids to pose for a pumpkin picture, but had absolutely no luck.

"No, thank you, Mama
I want nothing to do with those pumpkins."

" I see the one I want,
that one, that one, going for it."

Being cooped up indoors all afternoon made me a little more ambitious with today's dinner, so I decided to fix a favorite casserole.  The problem was that I did not have cream of mushroom soup at home and the kids must have hidden the green chilies somewhere in the pantry.  I am sure I will find them tomorrow while looking for something else.  So, I substituted canned soup with this concoction and added a quarter cup of homemade spicy salsa in lieu of the green chilies.  It worked out well.

I always have to double this recipe now and make two pans if I want to have leftovers for lunchboxes.  Of course, Emilia cannot eat this casserole as it is loaded with dairy, so I usually set aside some zucchini and plain stuffing for her.  She enjoys this mix as much as we enjoy our casserole.

To make us feel better at the end of a rainy day, I knew we needed dessert, so I used some of the orchard apples to make an apple cinnamon upside down cake.  Normally we'd just have a bowl of icecream, but this seemed like a more delicious substitute on a chilly evening.

My day was also much improved with the season's first taste of freshly pressed apple cider which I bought at the orchard. And there's simply no substitute for that!