catching you up on recipes I've tried

Whew, it's been really difficult to catch the blog up lately! I've been keeping up with my goal of trying 5 new recipes a week, just have had no time to post them! So, I'm catching you up from this past week of recipes. I've tried some great new recipes, and one that was kind of a flop. I'd say those are good numbers! :) So far everyone's liked what I've made which is a great encouragement to me! I'm so sick of the same old menu that it's really exciting me to try all these new things! So read on my readers! And hopefully you will be inspired to try something new too!

Recipe – Best Ever Lasagna (5 stars)
From - Goose Berry Patch, Harvest Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
1t. Italian Seasoning
8-12 lasagna noodles, uncooked and broken into thirds
28 oz jar spaghetti sauce
1/3 c. water
15 oz container ricotta cheese
8 oz package of shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions:
Combine ground beef and Italian seasoning. Arrange half the lasagna noodles in a greased slow cooker. Spread half the ground beef mixture over noodles. Top with half each of remaining ingredients. Repeat layering process. Cover and cook for 5 hours on low setting. Serves 10.

My Notes – I also added about ½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese, ¼ cup per layer, and then sprinkled some on top as well. This is fantastic! Word of caution, don’t forget to spray. I did and my noodles tried to stick to my crock pot. Add a salad and some garlic bread and wah-lah! You have a great meal that didn’t take much effort!
 
Recipe – Chicken and Dressing Casserole (3 stars)
From – Goose Berry Patch, Harvest Kitchen

Ingredients:
½ c. margarine
1 c. celery, chopped
1 c. onion, chopped
2 c. cornbread crumbs
2 c. bread crumbs
Dried sage to taste
10 ¾ oz. can cream of chicken soup
5 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
10 ½ oz. jar chicken gravy

Instructions:
Heat margarine in a large skillet over medium heat. Add celery and onion; cook until tender. Combine celery mixture, cornbread crumbs, bread crumbs, sage, and soup. If desires, add water to reach desired consistency. Transfer to a lightly greased 13x9 baking pan. Arrange chicken over top; spread gravy over chicken. Bake, covered, at 375 for one hour. Serves 12.

My Notes – This was okay, but not something we’ll try again. The flavor was a bit “off” for us. You can substitute chicken broth for the water if you want. Also, this took longer than an hour for me.

 
Recipe – Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cake
From – Goose Berry Patch, Church Suppers

Ingredients:
6 T. butter, melted
1c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 ½ t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
8 oz container sour cream
6 oz pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:
Blend together butter and sugar in a medium bowl; add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition and set aside. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Add to butter mixture alternately with sour cream; mix well. Pour into a greased and floured 13x9 baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until golden and toothpick tests clean. Serves 12.

My Notes – This is terrific!!! I used mini chocolate chips and a Bundt pan and it still came out fabulous. You have to add about 5-7 min to the cooking time if you use a Bundt, but it still turns out the same.

 
Recipe – Shredded Baby Back Ribs Sandwiches
From – Jen Rector

Ingredients:
1 rack Baby Back Ribs
1 bottle Cattleman’s Original BBQ Sauce
8 hamburger buns

Instructions:
Place the ribs in a 13x9 baking dish and lather on ¾ of the bottle of BBQ sauce. Bake uncovered at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until done. Remove the rib meat from the bones and place in food processor. Add remaining BBQ sauce and pan drippings, and shred meat on low. Serve on buns; serves 8.

My Notes – You may want to use a larger size bottle of BBQ sauce. I found that reserving only ¼ of the bottle didn’t leave much sauce to shred the meat with. This is a fantastic recipe that I will be using again for sure! It is super easy!

 
Recipe – Cashew Beef Stir-fry
From – Best of Taste of Home

Ingredients:
2 T. Cornstarch
2 c. cold water
4 T. soy sauce, divided
1 bunch broccoli, chopped
2 T. canola oil
3 medium carrots, julienned
1 lb. beef top sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ t. pepper
2 medium green peppers, cut into strips
2 medium sweet red peppers, cut into strips
2 medium onions, halved and sliced
1 yellow summer squash, sliced
1 ½ c. salted cashews
Hot cooked rice

Instructions:
In a small bowl, combine cornstarch, water, and 2 tablespoons soy sauce until smooth; set aside. In a very large skillet or wok, stir-fry broccoli and carrots in 1 tablespoon oil until the vegetables are crisp-tender. Add the beef, garlic, pepper, and remaining soy sauce; stir-fry until meat is no longer pink. Remove and keep warm.

In the same pan, stir-fry the green and red peppers, onions, and squash with the remaining oil until crisp-tender. Return beef to the pan.

Stir cornstarch mixture and gradually add to pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in cashews. Serve with rice.

My Notes – This is great! I didn’t add in the cashews but it was still wonderful.

 
Recipe – Blueberry Almond Coffee Cake
From – Best of Taste of Home

Ingredients:
1 c. all purpose flour
½ c. sugar
¾ t. baking powder
½ t. salt
¼ t. baking soda
1 egg
2/3 c. buttermilk
2 T. butter, melted
1 t. vanilla extract
¼ t. almond extract
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries, divided
½ c. sliced almonds
1 T. brown sugar
¼ t. ground cinnamon

Instructions:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk the egg, buttermilk, butter, and extracts until blended. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in 2/3 cup of blueberries.

Pour into a greased 8 inch square baking dish. Top with remaining blueberries. Combine the almonds, brown sugar, and cinnamon; sprinkle over the top. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

My Notes – This is very tasty! I used frozen blueberries and it came out just fine. If you used stoneware to bake this be sure to add about 10 baking time.

cooking challenge week 2

Alrighty friends, we are headed into week two of my cooking challenge to myself :) I'm excited to try some more new things. Starting with tonight's Scalopped Potatoe recipe. Should be yummy! I can't wait to try it out. Not sure what else I will be trying this week just yet, but I will let you know! I do still have three more recipes to post from last week, but rest assured, I met my goal of 5, yay! Wish me luck!

3 recipes

So far I have tried three great recipes - Golden Cheddar Biscuits, Mile High Chocolate Meringue Pie, and Scratch Brownies. As I type this the brownies are plumping up in the oven. I've never made brownies from scratch. I realize now what I've been missing! Wow! That batter was out of this world! Below you'll find the recipes that I tried out :)

Golden Cheddar Biscuits - Gooseberry Patch

Ingredients:

1/4 cup shortening
1t. sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 t. salt
1t. garlic powder
1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Instructions:

Cream shortening and sugar. Mix dry ingredients together; add to shortening and sugar mixture. Blend in egg, milk, and cheese. Divide evenly into a greased muffin pan and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes until golden brown.

*My notes - this is very easy to mix with a spoon, be sure to grease the muffin pan well, and 20 minutes was a bit too long for my oven - try 16-18 minutes but don't go over 20.

Mile High Chocolate Meringue Pie

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/4 t salt

4 egg yolks beaten (save the whites for meringue)
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 cup flour
2 cup whole milk
9 inch pie crust baked and cooled (from scratch is best, but can be store bought)

Instructions:

Mix sugar, cocoa, salt, and flour in a medium bowl and set aside. Place egg yolks in a medium heavy sauce pan. Whisk in sugar mixture and milk alternately until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir in vanilla. Bring to a boil stirring regularly until thick. (about 10-15 min) Remove from heat and beat smooth. Pour into pie crust and spoon meringue over hot filling. Seal to edge of the crust. Bake at 350 degrees until meringue is lightly golden - about 12-15 minutes. Cool completely in fridge before serving. Store in the fridge.

Meringue Recipe:

6 egg whites (at room temperature)

1/4 t cream of tartar

6 T sugar

1/2 t vanilla extract

Beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Reduce speed to low and add tartar. Gradually add sugar one tablespoon at a time. Beat until stiff, glossy, peaks form. Add in vanilla. Beat until vanilla is fully mixed in and peaks are firm. Spoon meringue on top of pie.

*My Notes - I do like this recipe but it makes a dark chocolaty flavor. Instant chocolate pudding might be an easier and better tasting flavor if you don't like that dark chocolate taste.

Scratch Brownies

Ingredients:

1 cup melted butter or margarine
2 cup white sugar
1 t vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup baking cocoa
2 cup flour

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 350. Cream margarine/butter and sugar with whisk. Switch to using a spoon to mix the rest. Add vanilla and eggs and mix until smooth. Add in cocoa and flour, again, mixing until smooth. Add in any extras (nuts, chocolate pieces, caramel chunks, etc.), fold in. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. You can use either two 8x8 pans or one 9x9 pan. Using one pan will make brownies thicker, and may take a bit longer to bake.

*My Notes - It did take a bit longer to bake one pan of brownies, but they are amazing! This is a definite MUST try!

a chef is born

Or so I wish! Lol :) I've always had this urge inside to cook these fabulous things. An inner-chef waiting to burst forth. But she's been quited with a fear of not being able to cook those fabulous pretties in my head. Then along comes the movie "Julie & Julia" and it inspires that inner-chef to break out. And boy do I mean BREAK out! I've been cooking up a storm! I've tried new recipes each day since watching the movie and so far they have all turn out well! So I've decided to challenge myself. At least 5 new recipes a week. I'm not bold enough to do 7 because I know I won't make that and I'll feel defeated. So, 5 is a good # to me. I've always wanted to bake so don't be surprised if I post baked goods recipes more than the rest. I will (hopefully) try to post pics along with the recipes I try out. Some will be my own, most will be from cookbooks that have piled up and collected dust in my cupboard. I'm spending the next week going through them, marking them, and menu planning with them :) I'm totally excited. The boys (and Scott) are a bit more hesitant than I am, but we all need to try new things! Scott keeps cracking up when I am in the kitchen. Apparently I have been humming, giggling, and 'prancing' around the kitchen with a goofy grin on my face. I am having FUN in the kitchen and I love it! So here goes, challenge on! If you go on the journey with me, lemme know! I love comments :)

bullet points

* I am tired. Very tired. I need sleep. It's only 9:30, sigh.

* We are no longer at Trinity - I have not shared my emotions about that. That is not like me.

* I've endured gossip, lies, and guilt trips over the past few months. I have still kept silent. Again - not like me.

* I want to talk about it. I can't bring myself to. I was asked not to by someone I respect a great deal and so I've not dealt with it verbally. This I have come to realize also means I have not dealt with it emotionally.

* Saying goodbye didn't happen. I thought that was okay. I missed saying goodbye to the one person I really wanted to talk to. I've now realized that's okay.

* I'm going through a plethora of emotions now that I've allowed myself to feel.

* The biggest hurt is the dissapointment. Not with myself.

* The gossip didn't affect me like before. This time I let it roll off. That has been freeing.

* I truly now realize how much I just don't care what others think of our leaving.

* I never really grieved the loss emotionally. I think that is how it was meant to be.

* A huge weight lifted once the final decision was made. It was followed by a cloud of unspoken, unfelt, emotion.

* I vented in my prayer time the other day. That's what woke me up to the clutter within.

* I need to get it all out. I refuse to do that publiclly. The gossip against me was done publiclly. By those I'd thought were better than that. They are the ones who dissapointed me.

* Not sure why/what I'm sharing here. Just trying to unclog the webs...

brothers

So over the past several months the boys have been putting up boundaries. And they've been warring over them. They fight A.LOT. these days. David is highly bossy and Daniel is a screamer when he is frustrated/mad/sad/irritated - you get the point. So there are days when all I do is say BE NICE or STOP YELLING or SEPARATE ROOMS NOW. It's been frustrating. Why won't my two boys get along? They're brothers for goodness sakes! I've read up and realize this is normal, but at the same time it's irritating. I wish they would get along like those angelic kids you always see. Never calling each other ugly names, never being mean to each other, never taking toys away or saying you can't play with me. I guess it feels like a failure when they don't act nicer to each other.

Fast forward to last night. It was our first night of Awana in our new church. The boys have not been to Awana for about 2 months so they were very excited to be going back. I watched them stick together like glue! At one point even holding hands down the hallway to get to their room. Neither was nervous, they just both wanted brother with them. It was a very sweet moment :) Then Award time comes. Daniel earned a green jewel but it was forgotten when they mentioned awards so when he got it there wasn't clapping. Okay things happen, no biggie. I talked to the leader and she realized she'd forgotten him and went right over to give him his jewel. Then David did something that made this mommas heart soar. He applauded his brother. All by himself, no one prompting, he starting clapping big and loud for Daniel. Talk about one proud momma!

I realized then that I may not have gotten the kind of kids that are crazy obedient and never argue, but I did get some awesome crazy boys that, despite all the boundaries and arguing, love and are proud of each other. I'd take my boys over those others any day. Just reminded me yet again that God sure did know what He was doing when he gave me my boys.

on of my favorite photos

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic (sp?) after reading Debra's blog today so I dug up some of my all time favorite photos of the boys. :) Enjoy.