Cold comforts

We're still sick around here. I can't believe it. There has been sickness floating around here for 2 weeks working towards 3. blgh. I keep hoping Boo will hold out and not join the misery.

I thought I share a hot drink mix that I find comforting and possibly healing when faced with colds.

Russian Tea Mix
2 cups Tang mix
3 oz Lemonade mix (I did about 3+ Tablespoons of it)
1/3 C sugar
1/2 t  ground cloves
1 t cinnamon

Mix up it up- store in an airtight container and it should last you for a very long time. Supposedly 3 teaspoons to 1 cup of water (but I like more, I think).

Another thing that I'm finding comforting is boiling a pot of water. I threw in a cinnamon stick and some whole cloves. It makes the water a nasty color but it seems comforting...especially in this dry air to have some warm steam in the home.

Hope you are all avoiding the January sickies and blues. (I really do not favor January...it really is a bummer month.)

August Dinner Calendar

I'm getting all spiffy with my dinner calendar and I thought I'd share it for anyone who needs a little help figuring out what they are eating this month. I always love getting ideas from others-heck, that's why half of these are from Pintrest! I never stay right on with the dates on the calendar it just a nice guideline to go off of. I also went with a lot of easy meals since I really don't know when GG will be home for dinner and on those days I really don't feel like cooking.  Unfortunately, I don't know how to attach a PDF document on here so that the links to the recipes would work. If you are really interested in a recipe let me know-or the ones with pictures you'll find on my Pinterest board.

HAPPY EATING!

making my mouth happy

I really love food. I love it when I make food (most of the time) and I love it when others make it. I love looking at recipes at on pinterest.
One day I mistakenly said I had made 75% of the food items that I had pinned on Pinterest. I went home and counted. I had made only 25%. With probably good intentions of making at least 75% of them. :) So my new goal is to make 75% of them-to make my words true.

Here are a few that I've tried and loved!

This is Tuscan  Garlic Chicken and this is my picture. It turned out FANTASTIC.  It's a more involved recipe but so delicious. Hello homemade Olive Garden dish. yum.yum.

These Lemon White Chocolate Truffles

These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies taste like Reese's peanut butter cups.

These are wonderful in my mouth and in my tummy, not so much my thighs...ha. :) I need to learn to love to exercise again.

Passing time

I feel like its been awhile since I've posted.  Just haven't been sure if I've had anything worth blogging about. Thanksgiving was wonderful. It is one of my favorite holidays. I think Christmas will become one of my favorites now that Boo is barely learning that there is such a thing as Christmas. I think next year she'll understand it and maybe remember what's coming and get excited about it.

We have a wooden advent calender we bought from Target a few years back. It has little doors for the 25 days and on top is a wooden nativity scene. We have it up on top of our entertainment center. We get it down so that she can find the candy. After I put it back up one day she said, "Baby Jesus! Baby Jesus!!" I love that she was asking for Baby Jesus for something she wanted...granted it was candy.

I think I should share some recipes that I've made recently.

Taco Salad-My mother in law introduced it to me when we visited this last summer. One of my friends shared  her recipe for Taco salad but it called for Thousand Island dressings and it reminded me of the salad my mother in law made with Catalina dressing. Its soo good and easy. Well, really its just throwing stuff together, I really don't remember what the actual recipe said.

Lettuce
Ground meat browned and seasoned with Taco Seasoning (I did a little less than a packet for a approximately 1 pound of hamburger)
Can of Kidney Beans
Tomatoes, cut.
Fritos
almost 1/2 a bottle of catalina dressing
probably could throw in some cheese too, maybe even top it with sour cream. maybe.

Mix it all together in a bowl.


Another Recipe I received from a friend from our recipe group was for Chicken Milan. We made this Sunday night and we really enjoyed it. The chicken was fantastic. I was a little weary since there wasn't a sauce for the noodles but they had spices. I was delighted with the results. If you like Olive Garden like foods, I think you'll like this one.

Chicken Milan

Prep/total time: 20 mins

8 ounces uncooked linguine

1 tablespoon minced garlic

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

Cook linguine according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, sauté garlic in 1 tablespoon oil for 1 minute or until tender; stir in parsley and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove to a small bowl and set aside.

In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, basil, salt and remaining pepper. In another shallow bowl, whisk the eggs. Dredge chicken strips in flour mixture, then dip in eggs.

In the same skillet, cook chicken in remaining oil over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes or until no longer pink. Drain linguine and place on a serving platter. Pour reserved garlic mixture over linguine and toss to coat; top with chicken. Yield: 6 servings.

Enjoy friends.

Tried it and Loved it

I'm super excited about a new blog Stacey is starting called Tried it and Loved it. It's going to be a recipe blog where she *plans* to post a recipe a day of foods that she has tried and loved. I'm super excited about this...I just wish that I had thought of it first! ;)  She does have some pretty tasty recipes and generally if she likes it, I'll like it. So I'm putting a link her on my side bar and I'm sue I'll be linking back to her blog several times. :) 

Last night we had Pioneer Potato Soup-which Stacey actually introduced me to. I would have NEVER tried this recipe on my own because generally I do not like potato soups...and rarely even think of soups but I love this, its soo tasty.  I should have taken a picture but I forgot and GG has the left overs with him at school.

My notes on this recipe..It needs bacon. We made it once without it was definitely lacking. We also like to serve it with the Artisan Bread that I previously posted about.  This recipe is so tasty we ate it twice this month.

Pioneer Potato Soup
1 quart chicken stock (you can use canned chicken broth but once again my sister introduced me to bouillion cubes to make your chicken broth..I imagine it is probably much cheaper than canned broth)
4 potatoes, chopped (about 4 cups)
2 C. sliced carrots
1/2 C sliced celery
1/4 C chopped onion
1 t salt
1/2 t marjoram, dill weed, or cumin (I use marjoram)
1/8 t white pepper
1 C milk or half and half
2 T flour
Garnishes: paprika, sliced green onion, crispy cooked and crumbled bacon, chopped chives, parsley, or parmesan cheese (I have only ever used bacon, parsley and added a little cheese)

Directions
Comine all ingredients except milk, flour and garnishes in large saucepan. Bring to boiling; simmer 30 minutes. Gradually add milk to flour, stirring until smooth. Stir into soup. Bring soup to boiling; boil for 1 minute stirring constantly. Garnish. 4-6 servings.

Happy eating!!

I'm going crazy!!..crafting crazy

No, really I am. I've been visiting Pinterstt and my mind seems alive with ideas...not my ideas of course...somebody elses. (See told you I'm crazy). So not only am I collecting ideas from blogs but from Pinterest which is blogging on steroids...???(not sure about that analogy).

Here is a headband I made that I got the idea from Pinterest. It originally came from Alisa Burke's blog.

 I love it because braids are all the rage in hair...at least from what I can tell on Pinterest...(I'm crazy I told you). But I have a difficult time braiding my hair cute like everyone else does. So ahh, perfect solution...I just have to make sure my hair is teased big(and stays that way) so this headband doesn't look huge against my flat hair. :)

*******************************************************

Last night I made Orange Chicken, that I got from Sister's Stuff. I love this recipe but it didn't have all the veggies that I want in a good sweet n' sour/chinese recipe. I've been on the look out for a good one for a couple months now. And then last night, I said to myself, "why not?" I threw in half a green and red pepper and half a can of pineapple and it was delicious. The best I've come across so far. I seriously don't feel like I need to eat out at a chinese resturant. I love this recipe.

Serve it over rice. And we like to eat broccoli with it. So yummy.

Here are some other someday crafts that I wanted to show some my friends:

http://www.creationsbykara.com/2011/09/book-page-pumpkin-tutorial.html

I don't sew but I want to think that I might figure it our for this bag. It would be perfect for church!

http://iammommahearmeroar.blogspot.com/2011/09/tohoku-tote.html

http://choosetothrive.blogspot.com/2011/09/fall-lentil-frames.html

Here are some links to some quiet book pages, if anyone is interested. Sorry this is really for my future reference-this post was a file of things I was interested in.

http://jaysonandashley.blogspot.com/2011/04/quiet-book.html

http://jaysonandashley.blogspot.com/2011/09/puzzle-page.html

http://jaysonandashley.blogspot.com/2011/06/food-pages-for-quiet-book.html

That's all for now, there is more but we'll leave that for another day. :) Toodles.

1.2.3.

1.
I want to share this cute picture of Boo. Acting like a natural at the computer.

2.
Football and school have started. The long lonely days are here. :(  Boo and I just need to find lots of things to do and find things that take us out of the house without using the $$$. hmmmm. Ideas? We already do the park about once a week and walk almost daily.

3.
I also wanted to share a really simple recipe for Artisan Bread that my friend shared with me. I don't usually make bread except for breadsticks.  The mixing of the ingredients is easy peasy the only thing that really is a hassle is putting water in the oven with the bread.

Artisian Bread1 1/2 T of yeast
1 T regular salt
6 1/2 C of Flour
3 C of Water

Mix dry ingredients. (My friend likes to mix it in a icecream bucket but any Large bowl will do) Add water until all the flour mixture is incorporated.  Cover with cloth and let rise. (I let mine rise for 4 hours...I'm not sure how long you HAVE to do it for).

An hour before you want to eat divide out half of the dough and form it into a ball shape on a piece of parchment paper.** Let rise for 30 minutes.

Place baking stone and broiler pan in oven (i used a cake pan-something you don't mind if it gets beat up alittle). Preheat to 450 degrees.  Take stone out and place parchment paper and dough on the stone. Put in oven. Put 3-4 cups of water in broiler or cake pan.  The steam will make the dough crispy on the outside.

If you don't want to cook two loaves put the rest of the dough in the fridge for up to two weeks.

**I cut this recipe in half so I didn't have to divide the dough in half...I could pretty much just dump onto the parchment paper.

TRY IT! Oh by the way, my friend said wheat flour is NOT good in this recipe. Sorry healthy eaters out there. :)

mmmm I'm lovin' it

I have to share my love for these Chewy Cookie Crunch Bars from Amanda's Cookin

 Cake mix, chocolate and white chocolate chips, peanut butter and rice crispies-mmmhm so yummy. As I write this GG said they aren't that fabulous, their good but he wouldn't crave them. Me on the other hand, I crave them- maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm a girl and have cravings. ... do boys even have cravings? I suppose they do. I guess I just assume cravings are a girl thing. hmm.

Another Recipe that I tried that I like and will probably make again for a brunch or something like that are these Fresh Fruit Bruschetta with Orange-Honey Cream from Our Best Bites

I was a little worried about cream because it uses sour cream but I think it turned out pretty tasty. It's a nice switch up from just a fruit bowl.

Confessions

I didn't know it until recently, in fact I would have said gross, but I like Vitamin D Milk! I never knew. I never thought I would like it. I'm a skim milk kind of a girl  but on our trip we were packing around whole milk for Boo so that is what I ended up having on my cereal. I couldn't believe how much it improved my cereal.  I hope it ends there. I have enough unhealthy habits that I don't need to be adding a glass of whole milk to my oreos.

I must also confess, I have been forgoing my fruit and yogurt as part of our meal and just been adding whipped cream to my fruit. SO Good! Who knew it was so good to be unhealthy! 

Speaking of unhealthy...I've got another recipe for you. Chocolate waffle cone...bowls. 

They didn't really turn out like waffle bowls, they were more like brownie bowls.  I got the recipe from the Idea Room. The recipe was for a waffle cone maker but she just used a frying pan like you were making pancakes. I had a hard time making it thin enough. Next time I'm going to try the waffle maker and see what happens. On a scale of 1-10 for goodness I give it a 6. On a scale of 1-10 for fun-ness (or novelty, I guess) I give it a 7. Its a nice swtich up for a bowl of icecream.

I also made chocolate syrup that my mom has made since I was little. I don't know if others like it but I love it! She would make it for Banana Splits on conference weekend and store the rest in a bowl in the fridge.** Naughtiness ALERT, shh don't tell.** I would sneak into the kitchen and quietly open the fridge and dip my finger into the chocolately goodness. (yes, my finger... We couldn't use spoons that would only produce evidence to our naughtiness...and I'm mean "our" becasue I know I'm not the only naughty child in my family, I had to learn it from somewhere!) I do like this chocolate sauce but the only thing that makes it less than absolutely perfect is that it becomes grainy from the sugar when chilled. Obviously that didn't stop me from sneaking a taste.

Chocolate Syrup
2-4 T butter
2 sq of Unsweetened chocolate
6 1/2 oz evaporated milk
1 1/2 C sugar

In microwaveable bowl melt butter and chocolate. No higher than 70% power. Stir every 30sec to minute.
Add evaporated milk and sugar. Cook until thickened and sugar is dissolved.

And you're DONE! YUM!

Hope you love fat too because I can't seem to live without it! :)

Summer Recipes

A friend of mine was asking about summer recipes on her facebook page. I started listing different recipes and then I thought, I might as well put them somewhere I can look at it for my own use later.  And if you want to share your recipes that would be SOOO Awesome. :)

So here are a few of my favorite summer recipes that have some how been labeled "summer in my mind and or require minimal heating up of the house.

Southwest Egg Rolls from Sister's Stuff. I love this recipe. It's SO simple for the days I don't feel like cooking.  Granted, I already have chicken cooked and cut up in my freezer so I can just defrost it and throw it in.  I also think this recipe would be fine without the chicken.  I make the Alvocado sauce even though she says she just uses salsa.  And I don't grill it after I assemble them, we just eat them like a burrito or taco.

French Dipped Sandwichs- I just recently discovered these but they are so yummy to me. I originally made the Our Best Bites recipe but I also found this one from Barefoot and Baking I kinda of want to try.

BLT Chicken Salad- I don't know what blog I got this one off. sorry
8c Salad greens
2 large tomatoes chopped
Green onions, sliced
Croutons
1 1/2 lb bonelesss, skinless chicken breasts cooked and cubed
10 Bacon Strips, cooked and crumbled
2 Eggs, boiled and sliced

Dressing
1/2 c Ranch dressing
3-4 BBQ Suace
2 T onion chopped
1t lemon juice
1/4 t pepper

Combine the dressing ingredients, mix well, cover and refridgerate until serving.
Place salad greens on a large serving platter. sprinkle with tomatoes, chicken and bacon. Garnish with egges. Drizzle with Dressing. Avocados also make a yummy addition.

P.S. Plain ol' BLT's are an awesome Summer meal. yumm.

Chessy Rotini and Tuna from Kraft my mom also made one growing up that was served cold. She used rotini noodles, tuna, peas, olives, cubed pieces of cheese and anything else you want to throw in there. And maynoaise I believe. 

Chicken Salad in a Puff Bowl- I love this one. Its one that my mom made. The GG has gotten a little sick of it but I still love it. I'll have to make it one more time this summer.

Puff Bowl

1/2 C water

1/4 C butter

1/2 C flour

1/8 t Salt

2 eggs

Salad

2 C cutup cooked chicken

1 C celery chopped

1/2 C olives

1 small onion, chopped

1 T lemon juice

2 Hard boil eggs, diced

3/4 C mayonnaise

Heat water and margarine to a rolling boil, add flour and salt together and stir over low heat till it forms a ball. Take off heat and stir in eggs, spread evenly in pie plate. Bake 400 degrees for 45-50 minutes (mine gets done in less time than that I'd start checking on it about 25 min). Cool completely. Combine Salad ingredients and fill puff bowl.

Barbecued Burgers from my Sister's blog-not sure where she got it but I LOVE THEM!!!! They remind me of winger's hamburgers maybe because they are yummy messy. You can use the bbq sauce for other things too. My sister used for fajitas (different but still good). We used it on our chicken the other night.

Just some ideas. If you've got them PLEASE share. I love getting new recipes! especially ones that other's say are good. 

Parenting and Muffins

Hey Hey!!! I'm baking some yummy Apple Pumpkin Muffins(recipe below) while Miss Boo takes a nap. I LOVE nap time. I'm fearing the day that she refuses to take a nap. I think nap time is what keeps me sane.

I'm currently in the middle of evaluating my parenting approach. I feel like a helicopter mom, hovering anxiously waiting for my child to freak out. I keep telling people that my daughter is crazy (she's not really, just busy and hilarious) but I think I'm the one that is on the verge of crazy. When I take her places, like the children museum I feel tense because its a situation I can't control. Church is another place that I get tense just waiting for her to do something that creates a scene. I just find myself trying to take deep breaths. 

When she's in a fight with an object or with another child over an object her eyes get so big and her mouth opens wide for her "AHHH" scream.  She can be a feisty one.

We just need to find a way to teach her how to share, not to hit me, or whine to get what she wants. And I have a suspicion that it will have to do more with training us, the parents, rather than her. 

Despite all this I can't tell you how many times my heart just overflows with love and joy for this sweet girl.  She makes my heart happy.

This is her playing with her newest cousin. She's learning how to be a helpful, loving sibling someday.

 The last few days she's found my old headbands and started wearing them. She also loves playing with my nailpolishes. Taking them in and out and lining them up.

Here's the recipe for the muffins I'm making:

APPLE PUMPKIN MUFFINS..YUM
2 1/2 C Flour (you can sneak in wheat flour here, you really can't tell)
2 C Sugar
1 T pumpkin pie spice
1 t soda
1/2 salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 C pumpkin
1/2c vegetable oil
2 C peeled, finely chopped apples (about 2 apples)

STEUSEL TOPPING
2 T flour
1/2 C Sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
4  t softened butter, cut into dry ingredients

Directions: Combine first 5 ingredients in bowl. Set aside. Combine egg, pumpkin and vegetable oil. Add to dry ingredients. Stir in apples. fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Top with Stresuel topping. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes (I found it takes less, I'd start checking on them 20-25 minutes)

Lilacs. Lemons. Berries.

Doesn't that title shout SPRING?!! (Just don't put the smell of lilacs in combination with your mental taste buds of lemon and berries together. ew gross.)

Today,  my wonderful neighbor lady brought me some lilac branches. Wasn't that wonderful of her? I love lilacs. They remind me of my mother. That and lilies of the valley. When I was a pre-teenish, I used to make my mom Mother's Day corsages out of lilacs and sometimes lillies of the valley.  When I grow up I will have lillies of the valley and a lilac bush growing in my yard. And with that we will have whatever those white flowering trees are too..and since I'm dreaming well also include the pink ones. I  LOVE SPRING!


In preparation for this lovely holiday to celebrate moms, I've done a little searching for a yummy dessert and this is what I came up with (which shouldn't have been so hard since it was right on my blog list from Barefoot and Baking but I had to make sure it was the "one")

Lemon Berry Trifle

Doesn't it look delicous?

It looks simple but unfortunately there are lots of steps to this one so hopefully I don't screw it up! :)

...I'll let you know how it goes.

-night

Yesterday I didn't get on the computer until 10:00 in the evening. It felt great. As much as I like just mindlessly looking at other people's lives through their blogs and facebook it was just refreshing. I should have more days like that. 

Instead I read a book. I was at the library, child free on Saturday, and so I had time to look at books for me. I saw this one called the Cinderella Pact by  Sarah Strohmeyer.

 I rarely pick up a book without a recommendation because there are so many dirty or frustratingly lame books out there-you know the ones where you just HAVE to finish but its painful to do it.  Anyway, this one somehow appealed to me.  It's like Confessions of Shopaholic meets, uh...how do I put this...fat girl???  I enjoyed it until the last two chapters where the main character became weak and I felt like I was watching a tween movie's rendition of Cinderella. 

....And Since I've been a food kick lately, I'll share the biscuit recipe I used for Strawberry Shortcakes that I thought turned out pretty good.  I got the recipe from my mom and I'm not sure where she got it from.

1 3/4 c flour
2 T Sugar
1 T Baking Powder
1/2 t Baking Soda
1/2 t Salt
1/4 c Cold Margarine
1 Egg
3/4 C Sour Cream

Mix the dry ingredients together. Cut butter into mixture. Cream egg and sour cream together then mix into dry mixture until moist. Take out and knead about 25 times. Roll out and cut into biscuit size pieces. Bake 425 for less than 10 minutes until golden. 

*************************************

And just for kicks her's Boo all dressed up Sunday. She is almost ready for nursery, HALLELUJAH!!!!

Until next time....bye

Oreo Goodness

Just made some fantabulous cookies (yes, that is my made-up word). Double Fudge Oreo Crunch Cookies.  Pretty tasty.

I saw the recipe the other day and decided I had to make them so I went out in the pouring rain last night to buy some oreos. Totally worth it.

I also started browsing her blog, How Sweet It Is. YUMMY. I copied at least 10 recipes from her so that I can make them in the future. I think she goes over the top with some of her dessert recipes, like cake batter cinnamon rolls, really? Cinnamon rolls are a treat and I can imagine trying to make it better by adding cake batter flavoring. But I admire this woman's sense of adventure in trying new things out.

Dinner, mmmm good.

Hi! Has anyone else felt like the blogworld has been a little slow lately? Maybe people have lives and they don't look at blogs a hundred times a day. hmmm. I know I haven't posted much, not that I haven't had time lately, its just that our lives have been a little, uh, well, un-exciting.
Last night as I was enjoying my dinner I thought I should share the recipe with you. RUNZA CASSEROLE. I used to be a fan of Runzas (a Nebraska food, HERE is a little bit about its history if you're interested) but they changed it up several years ago and in my opinion they're not that great anymore. But this is a easy, yummy dinner. Victory, who wasn't a fan of Runzas, has come to really enjoy this meal too. (THANK GOODNESS).

RUNZA CASSEROLE

2lbs Hamburger
2 Onions, finely chopped
4C Cabbage, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste
2 lbs mozzerella cheese (get the kind with a "touch of Philedelphia" it makes it extra creamy)
2 tubes refridgerated crescent rolls

Brown hamburger and onion and drain. Put cabbage on top of meat and steam for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper. Cook for about 20 minutes until cabbage is almost done. Using one tube of rolls, pat pieces over the bottom of a 9x13 pan and spread hamburger mixture on top. Add layer of cheese. Using second tube of rolls, put pieces on top of cheese. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes covering with foil the last 10 minutes if softer top is desired. (I only bake mine for 15-25 minutes- you only need the cheese to melt and the crust to be golden.)

ENJOY! It's delicious!