Winter.. It's just starting baby!

Earlier today I sent one of my munchkins out to the mailbox to see what kind of not so great things my mailman had brought be for the day. I was expecting more doctor bills or some other not so great bill. lol All to my surprise what do you think arrives in my mail box instead? Are you sitting down? Are you ready for this? I received the first seed catalogue for next years planting. WOOHOOO! I felt like doing a happy dance and running around the house I was so excited! Seed magazines mean SPRING!

So while we may currently have a winter storm warming threatening us with 6-12 inches of snow, high winds and negative wind chill temps. Inside my home I am like a little kid at Christmas just looking at all the heirloom seeds and the thoughts of getting my hands dirty in the soil once again.. I sat down on my couch with my comfy blanket and a cup of coffee and began to day dream of all the yummy things to come. I decided I should start a small list of some of the garden "must haves" for this spring. After about 15 minutes I realized, I seriously need a bigger garden or yard! lol. So here is my "want list" so far...

1. Tomatoes
2. swiss chard
3. fennel
4. cutting celery
5. salad mix
6. sunflowers (I saved seeds from my giants from last year but I want to put some shorter ones mixed in.
7. cucumbers (large ones for just eating and small ones for pickling)
8. beans
9. peas
10. carrots
11. strawberries
12. sweet peppers
13. potatoes
14. basil
15. eggplant (never grown this one before.. we will see)
16. arugula
17. squash
18. onions
19. garlic
20. sage
21. rosemary
22. oregano
23. dill
24. thyme
25. spinach
26. melon (not sure what kind the kids will pick this one out)
27. Jalapeno
28. kale
29. broccoli
30. corn
31. radish
32. pumpkins

Now if all this actually makes it into the garden, I will be quite surprised. lol. I usually start out with high hopes and then realize that I'm only one person with limited time and yard space. I do however want to really try my hand and herbs this year. Anyone have any pointers or words of wisdom for a newbie at herbs? What are your all time favorite things to plant?

Bran muffins

Bran muffins... Hmm, not exactly what I think of when I want a quick breakfast. Though my husband told me they are one of his favorites so I figured I should start diggin through my cookbooks to see if I could find one that he would love. Little did I know that the ENTIRE family would love them. lol I have the kids asking for seconds and thirds. They want to eat them all the time! In the last week I have made around 6 batches.. I did stray a bit from the recipe and will put my changes in just in case you would like to try the tweaked version. I'm thinking this would also be fabulous with some grated carrots, zucchini or maybe some berries..

1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used applesauce)
1 egg
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins (I used 1/2 cup chopped green apples and also added 1 tsp cinnamon)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 and grease muffin tins or use paper liners.
• Mix together wheat bran and milk. Let stand for around 5 minutes
• Beat together oil, egg, sugar and vanilla.
• Add to bran mixture.
• Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into bran mixture just until blended.
• Fold in raisins (or other fruit) and spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Well here it is... Christmas Eve. Today is such a glorious day! Even though it is all cloudy, cold and we still have a ton of snow.. I am feeling so blessed and so thankful for all the wonderful and amazing people we have in our life who have been helping us through this small bump in the road..

Every time we receive a blessing from someone my eyes just well up with tears of joy! I thank the Lord each time and every day that he has provided us with and will continue to provide us with the help to get through this time.

With today being Christmas Eve we will be spending the day prepping and getting ready for tomorrows meals. Our dinner tomorrow will be far from the usual Christmas. lol We will be having a roast with all the trimmings! Our full dinner menu will be Slow Cooked Roast, Garlic Mashed potatoes, Asparagus, Fresh Garden Carrots, Homemade Sweet Rolls and Salad. For dessert we will be having some Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Warm Carrot Cake Jam on the top.. For breakfast the munchkins have informed me that they would like some cinnamon twist bars with maple frosting. YUM! It's one of my favorite baked things..

So all in all I have quite the busy day of baking and cooking ahead of me.. Tonight we will watch a Christmas movie or play a board game with some hot chocolate, birthday cake and of course a little snack food. A great way to wind down the day before Christmas morning!

I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve and an even better Christmas Day!

God Bless

Spring

Springtime.. this is what I woke up with in my mind. I must of been dreaming of green grass and garden vegetables. I woke up in an amazing mood! Wanting sunshine and to walk out in my ever small backyard to see how the garden was doing and to enjoy a cup of coffee out on the back porch..Unfortunately, my mood was dampered when I was reminded it was still very much winter here in Montana.. lol

Poptarts or Mini Pies

Poptarts. I used to buy them on occasion, until I actually looked at the ingredients on the box. Boy was I suprised! Needless to say I went on a search to try and make my very own healthier version. I decided to use a pie crust for the outter shell and strawberry filling. My kids and husband both love these more than the preservative and sugar packed boxed version. I cut these ones out with a biscuit cutter but have also made them square with a pizza cutter. I'm thinking of making some for christmas morning in the shape of bells and trees.. Use whatever you have on hand and go crazy with creativity.. lol Next I use a simple strawberry filling. Nothing too fancy but if you are short on time you could also use some of your favorite jelly and a premade rolled pie crust from your favorite grocery store. As most things that come commercially made I don't think it tastes as yummy but it will do if you ar in a tight spot. I hope your family enjoys them as much as we do!

One of the many pie crust recipes out there...

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (cold)

2 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup cold water

• Cut butter into 1/2 inch cubes. Make sure butter is thouroughly chilled. If you need to throw it in the freezer for about 20-30 min
• Combine flour salt and sugar into a bowl and mix well.
• Once your butter is cold enough add it to the flour mixture and mix well with hands or pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs. You can use a food processor if you prefer.
• Add a tablespoon of the cold water at a time until the dough is all moistened.
• knead on a lightly floured surface until dough holds together well.
• Form into a ball and pat down to about 1/2 inch thickness.
• Wrap dough in saran wrap and place in refridgerator for an hour to chill.

While the dough is chilling I start my filling

Strawberry filling:

2 1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 tab cornstarch

• Remove stems and leaves from strawberries and place in a medium sized pot.
• Add in the sugar and cornstarch.
• Bring to a boil over medium-medium/high temperature stiring constantly crushing berries with back of spoon as you go along.
• Once you are at a boil continue to stir for 2 minutes to thicken.
• Remove from heat and pour into bowl to cool.

Hopefully your dough is all done and your filling is cooling down nicely... Now for the fun part!

• Remove dough from fridge and roll out to about 1/8" thick.
• Cut out into desired shapes and place a small amount of filling in the center. Depending on the size of your cutter will vary at the amount of filling to use. just make sure to leave enough edge for pressing together later.

Place the tops on and press around the edges gently with a fork to seal and poke a few holes in the top for steam to escape.

• Bake in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 min (again depending on the size of your poptarts) or until lightly browned. Allow to cool if you can and Enjoy!

I hope this all makes sense... If you have any questions or have any trouble please let me know.

Oat Bread

This is an amazing loaf and has become a family favorite!

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 c water (110 degrees F)
• 2 tab Butter (softened)
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 c Flour
• 1/2 c Oats
• 2 tab Brown Sugar or Honey
• 1 1/2 tsp Yeast

Combine Water and Sugar. Stir until sugar is disolved then add in yeast. Let proof (about 10 min.) Stir in salt and butter then add flour and oats. Stir until well mixed them pour on floured surface and knead until soft ball is formed.

Place dough in a lightly greased bowl and let rise until double in size (about an hour). Then punch down and knead a few times and form dough into loaf shape. Place in a lightly greased bread pan and let rise again until it reaches the top of the loaf pan.

Bake 30 minutes in a 350 degrees oven.

Strawberry Kiwi Jam

My daughter decided she would like to try canning too. She help me to make this super tasty jam. I wasn't too sure about this recipe at first, but it turned out really well. This is super yummy on toast!

Ingredients:

3 c crushed strawberries

3 kiwi (peeled and chopped)

1 tab lemon Juice

1 pkg powdered pectin

5 1/2 c sugar

Combine strawberries, kiwi, lemon juice and pectin in a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add Sugar, stirring until dissolbed. bring to a rolling boil. Boil for one minute stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam, if necessary. Fill hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Add lids/rings and process 10 min in water bath. Making sure to adjust to your elevation.

Graham Crackers

This has become one of our family favorites! It's really hard not to eat the entire batch when they just come out of the oven and are still warm! I hope you family enjoys them as much as my family does.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 c. whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 c. cold butter cut into 1/2 inch squares
• 2 tab honey
• 2 tab molasses
• 1/4 c cold water
• 1 tsp vanilla

In a food processor, mix together the flours, sugarsm baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add the cold butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. about 3o sec. or so. add the honey, molasses, water and vanilla. Mix until the dough starts to come together in a ball. Scrape dough out of the mixer.

Between two sheets of waxed or parchment paper, roll the dough 1/8 of an inch thick. Chill for at least one hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Retrieve dough and roll if a bit more if it is not yet 1/8 inch thick. with a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 2 inch squares and prick each square a few times with either a fork or toothpick. Arrange on parchment paper lined sheets

Bake for 10-15 min or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool on the pan.

*note*

If you cut the dough and leave the squares together you can break them apart after they are baked. Also the thicker the dough the less crunchy they will be. We like them chewy.

In the picture above I made cinnamon sugar graham crackers. I sprinkled with the topping then lightly pressed down so the cinnamon/sugar mixture will stick while baking and wont just roll of.. once they are done baking. I bet a chocolate sprinkle mixture would be awesome too!

Pardon the spilt flour

I'm currently rearranging my cupboards and changing up my layout.. :) I always have to tweak things a little. lol So over the next few days/weeks (or as time allows lol) I'll be working on my little kitchen on the net to make it more comfy and cozy..

In the mean time.. Feel free to kick back relax, maybe grab a cup of coffee and check out some of the latest recipes. I'll try to clean up all this mess as soon as as possible..

Old Fashion Pumpkin Cookies

I absolutely love the season of fall. And since we have had so much stinky cold weather here and WAY to much snow I decided to go backwards in time and pretend that winter really isn't here. lol. I found this recipe @ verybestbaking.com. These are really good with a cup of coffee. If you don't like coffee, my munchkins say they are good dunked in milk and the insist that I should try them in hot chocolate. I'll pass on that one though :)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 c four
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 ts baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 1/2 c butter (softened)
• 1 c Libbys 100% pure pumpkin
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Glaze (directions below)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease Baking sheets.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in a medium sized bowl. Beat sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until well mixed. Mix in pumpkin, egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually stir in flour mixture. Drop by spoonfools onto prepared sheets.
3. bake 15-18 min or until edges aree firm. Allow to cool for a few mintues then remove and place on wire rack to completely cool.
4. Once cooled, drizzle with yummy glaze.

Glaze:

Combine 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 tsp vanilla in small bowl. Stir until smooth.

OR

You could use the very yummy cream cheese frosting to drizzle instead. ENJOY!

Cheese Crackers

I found this recipe on the net a while back. I can't remember where exactly so I can't give proper credit. Sorry.. But it sounded good and I decided to give it a go..

• 1 stick of butter at room temperature
• 2 cups Cheese
• 1 1/1 c all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp water at a time if it doesn't come together

Directions:

1. preheat oven to 325
2. Put all ingredients into the food processor and pulse until well mixed.
3. Scrape mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and use hands to bring together forming a ball. Add 1 tsp of water at a time if you are having difficulty.
4. Roll dough out between two pieces of parchment paper. About 1/8 inch thick. if the dough isn't cooperating with you, throw it in the fridge for about 20 min.
5. Once rolled out cut the crackers. I used a pizza cutter, but you could use other cutters to make them fancy.
6. Place crackers on parchment paper and bake for 11 min or until edges are golden on the edges.
7. Place on cooling rack until the crackers are no longer warm.
8. And my favorite part of the recipe.. Never buy store bought cheese crackers again! lol

Feel free to experiment with these.. In the picture above I used 1 cup kraft parm. cheese and 1 tsp California garlic powder and omitted the cheddar and cayenne

Bean Taco Filling

I'm always on the lookout for a new vegan recipe and I came across this online and printed it out. (Sry I can't remember where). Tacos is one of my all time favorites for dinners and I was curious how well this would actually mimic ground beef. Let me just say... WOOWZERS this was awesome! My kids thought it was a tad spicy so next time I will cut back on some of the cayenne. But this is one super yummy recipe! Next time I think I will add in a little rice just to change it up a bit. I hope you will give this one a try. Let me know what you think and if you made any changes that made it even more delish!

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 (14.5 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed, drained
2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 tablespoons cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup of your favorite salsa

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion, garlic, and bell pepper; cook until tender. Stir in the mashed beans.(I mash one can and leave the other whole.) Add the cornmeal. Mix in cumin, paprika, cayenne, chili powder, and salsa. Cover, and cook 5 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

This is my all time favorite recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting. I put it on cookies, cupcakes, crumb cake... You name it! After all, the whole reason to bake things is for the yummy frosting.. Right? Well, that's what I tell myself anyways... :)

Ingredients:

8oz cream cheese

5 tab. butter softened

2 tsp vanilla

2 c. powdered sugar

Directions:

Beat cold cream cheese with softened butter and add vanilla. Continue to beat until well combined. Slowly add in the powdered sugar that has been sifted after measuring. Continue to add powder sugar until you reach the consistency and/or the sweetness you prefer.

I use a small Ziploc back for piping and decorating. (see picture above)

Knit Wash Cloths

One of my favorite mindless things to knit is washcloths. I never seem to have enough! On my last errand trip I picked up some cotton yarn. One of my favorites brands is thesugar and cream brand. I absolutely love love LOVE the colors! I made two tonight and have about eight more colors to still play around with. Hehehe. My plan is to knit a bunch up to give out for Christmas presents this year.

Here is the pattern I have been using tonight. This is a very simple pattern and I would classify it as easy.

Instructions:
CO 35 stithes.
Work Seed Stitch for 3 rows: *k1, p1; end with k1
Row 1: k1, p1, k1, k to last 3 stitches then k1, p1, k1
Row 2: k1, p1, k1, p to last 3 sts, k1, p1, k1
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until you get desired length.
Work Seed Stitch again for final 3 rows.
Bind off

If you have any questions feel free to ask..

Caramel Popcorn

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 quarts popped popcorn

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Place popcorn in a very large bowl.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.

Place in two large shallow baking dishes and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.

For a more gooey popcorn don't bake. let cool then place in airtight container.

Days of Christmas

This holiday season has been quite the challenge so far. We have been spendy many days driving back and forth from the oncologist and setting up appointments and paying all those wonderful doctor bills as they start rolling in. lol But there has also been many many amazing blessings! We have an amazing group of people around us who are Awesme and i thank them for the meals and help with all the trials e have had lately.

Anyways.. Back on topic.. in order to share the love we have been given I plan on giving some love back to those close to us with some homemade gifts. Over the next few weeks I'll be posting some of my inexpensive gift ideas, favorite recipes and some random pictures that strike my fancy. I hope all of you are having a truly blessed holiday season and some of these ideas will also help you as well!