Recipe Round-up

Here are some of my favorite recipes lately. Notice that none of them are healthy! I crave salt, dark chocolate, and bread. And if you're like me, I'm always looking for good, new recipes, I get bored making the same 'ole stuff!

Bread Machine Bread -  a few years ago I bought a bread machine for $5 at a garage sale and have made so much bread with it. Best $5 ever spent. For about a year, the boys lost the little piece in the inside that stirs the dough, but a few months ago I found it inside an air vent in the floor. Hooray! This bread recipe is very simple and I love that I can dump the ingredients in and walk away. I've even substituted half whole wheat flour and it turns out good!

Rice Pilaf - Awesome rice pilaf recipe! Justin and I are rice snobs, always trying new recipes trying to find good rice side dishes. This one is excellent, and I substitute broken up small pieces of spaghetti noodles for the orzo.

30 Minute Yeast Rolls- These are really more like 45 minute rolls, but still, that's super fast for any yeast bread recipe! I love it, because I am usually scrambling at dinner time, and these rolls make it seem that I worked really hard, when I really didn't. If they are too yeasty for you, add a dash of vanilla extract and it will cut the yeast smell/flavor and won't taste like vanilla rolls, I promise! :)

Homemade Nesquik or Hot Cocoa mix- Make this today. It's awesome! I am addicted to hot cocoa and this makes my hot cocoa addiction easier. I pulse the cocoa and sugar and salt in a food processor so it's really fine to make it dissolve better. If you use it for chocolate milk, put just a splash of warm water in the bottom of your cup and mix in the mixture to help it dissolve, then add your milk. For hot cocoa, warm a mug of milk and add 2-3 tablespoons of the mix and a splash of vanilla. Heavenly!

Seasoned Salt Popcorn- Bored of regular old butter popcorn? This is a great change! Justin found this recipe and we love it! We only make stovetop popcorn so it's fun to find different ways to make it.

Pretzel Deliciousness

Josiah LOVES pretzels. I could eat my weight in them myself. When we go to the mall his favorite thing to get is a pretzel. They are soo tasty. For $2.75 a pop though, I figured we could make our own at home for much cheaper.

Here is the recipe- at Mel's Kitchen Cafe, my new favorite place to find recipes. She recently posted a pretzel bite recipe that we are going to try this week (Once everyone recovers from the stomach virus, yuck.).

He loved helping me make them, and they were pretty easy! And very very very good. Next time we make them we'll omit the salt and so we can do a cinnamon and sugar version.

A Few Favorite Things

These are a few of my favorite things lately...

1. Vinegar- This cheap, non-chemical, no harsh smell (besides the pungent vinegary smell), has been my cleaning friend. I love vinegar. Have you seen the price of cleaning products on the shelves? My goodness, $3.50 for a spray bottle of window cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, antibacterial cleaner, or bathroom cleaner... and the list goes on and on. I remember buying all of these different things for years. It was expensive! Then I found vinegar. It cleans and disinfects without harsh smells, doesn't leave a residue, and is CHEAP!

Recipe for my All-Purpose cleaner:

Old Spray Bottle

Fill it with 2 tsp of dish soap (I use Dawn)

Fill halfway with vinegar

Fill the rest of the way with hot water

I also put a few drops of Tea Tree Oil in it too. Tea Tree Oil (essential oil) is a natural

antibacterial.

Shake and use on anything. It's great in the kitchen/bathrooms/floors.

Window cleaner:

Spray bottle filled with half water, half vinegar. Clean windows with this cleaner and

newspaper instead of a cloth or paper towel. Works great.

Carpet Cleaner:

I just use straight vinegar or the All-Purpose cleaner. A carpet guy told me that anytime

you use a cleaner of any sort on your carpet it will leave a residue that dirt sticks to.

That's why the stain seems to always come back. Vinegar is great because it doesn't leave a residue, yet still gets it clean. I recently borrowed my friend's carpet cleaner and just filled the cleaning solution part with vinegar. Yes, the house was vinegary smelling for a few hours, but the smell dissipated and our carpets and furniture are clean!

Vinegar can also be used in place of the jet dry in your dishwasher. And can be put in the rinse cycle of your washing machine in place of fabric softener. It does not leave your clothes smelling vinegary.

Go, get some vinegar! It's a cheap, useful, cleaning alternative!

2.) Veggie Straws - Found this BIG bag of Veggie Straws at Sam's for $4.88. They are so good! There is real carrot and spinach puree in these. And no other yucky ingredients. Paul and Josiah love them. They are a great kid treat! And adults like them too. We had them at Josiah's party and the adults couldn't stop eating them.

3.) Handmade soap - My sister made some homemade soap and gave a bar to me. It was delightful, made my skin feel so good and not dry. When the bar ran out I have been itching to make my own. But, it requires ingredients such a lye and I need pans dedicated just to soap making, and there is a chemical reaction that occurs when the lye is mixed with something else and you shouldn't do it around children and... blah blah blah... I just don't have the time to experiment with soap making right now. Maybe another year. So I ordered 3 bars off of Etsy.com and I love them. We have hard hard water, even with a softener and filter and the dry air up here just makes my skin drier than it's ever been. These soaps are so different than store bought soaps. I love them! I wish they weren't so expensive... I am looking at buying some in bulk, it's a much better price that way. We'll see....

4.) Elderberry syrup - I'm pretty sure taking this thwarted me from getting a full-blown cold recently. I give it to Josiah every morning. Supposedly Elderberry is a natural anti-viral. We took it last year too and had very little colds/viruses.

5.) California Baby Products - I am loving these products!! I was introduced to this website a while back called Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews. Basically they review the ingredients in thousands of products we use on our skin and list how hazardous they are and detail why they are deemed harmful or not. I searched on the things I was using for lotion and bath stuff for the kids and couldn't believe what's in them and the hazardous level. Josiah has some skin issues and I thought the things we were using might be causing irritation. So I tried out the California Baby Bath/Hair wash, lotion, and sunscreen. The sunscreen works great! And we love the other products too. Paul had a nasty rash/irritation on his face that I just couldn't get to go away for several months. I got the California Baby Calendula Cream on it and within a few days it was clearing up. Josiah's skin is also looking better and less inflamed. Yes, it is more expensive, but if it is better for them, then why not? That's why I re-use and wash out my ziploc baggies, use vinegar, and we don't eat out very often. Save in some areas so we can spend in others that are important to us!
6.) needtobreathe's new album, The Outsiders - I just love it. Nearly all of the songs. It's like the album is telling stories. Listen the words of the songs, they are so good. My favorite songs are Through The Smoke, Stones Under Rushing Water, and Garden.

Caramel Popcorn

Can't. Stop. Eating. Tasty. Sweet. Popcorn.

Caramel Popcorn
my latest experiment!

Every Thursday for small group I try to make something different to eat. They don't know that they are my guinea pig taste testers. ha! This week caramel popcorn sounded good. Thank you to my all-time favorite recipe website allrecipes.com for not disappointing me. Click here for the link to the recipe. The only things I changed about the recipe were to decrease the butter to 1/2 cup, used popcorn popped on the stove top (used 1 cup kernels to make 5 quarts of popcorn), and put the popcorn in the oven to warm it before putting the caramel on it to make it easier to mix around. The caramel begins to harden fast. Oh and spray cooking spray on the pan before putting the popcorn in, otherwise it may stick after the caramel is on it.

This was very good and easy! Try it, you will not be disappointed and you will not be able to stop eating it. All 3 of us are addicted to it!

Wick it good

It's Valentine's Day and I have 3 handsome valentines in my house. I'm a lucky girl. :)

Earlier this week while the boys were napping I decided to make a little treat for my men, since I haven't done much cooking or baking in a month. Also, my brain was craving to do something creative and/or to be used at all. The brain starts to feel mushy and like it's intelligence is fading when all that is done day after day is laundry, dishes, breastfeeding, diaper changing, bathing of children, cleaning, trying to get little ones to sleep... ect. You get my drift. The creative part of my brain was crying out to be used!! So... I saw this recipe somewhere and have been wanting to make it because it's so easy and sounded really good.

They're called Sweetie Pies.

All you need is your favorite pie crust already made (or just go buy the pre-made stuff at the store; I made my momma's recipe), some fruit jelly/jam/preserve of your choice, powdered sugar, a cookie cutter, and parchment paper.

Roll out your pie crust really thin onto a floured surface.

Use your cookie cutter (the only cookies cutters I have are some heart ones,

2 snowmen, and a circle, ha!)

Moisten the edges of the cut-out with water, and place a dollop of

jam/jelly/preserves on them.

Place another cut-out on top of the jellied ones and press together to seal them. Then take a fork and crimp the edge like the picture below and also stab the fork into the middle of the heart. (ha ha, that sounds funny writing it!)

Put some parchment/wax paper on your baking pan, place hearts on pan, and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Let cool on wire racks then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Then let your 2 year old taste them.

He has a sweet tooth like his mommy, therefore after one bite he decides he doesn't want to eat the cookie, he just wants to "wick it" and then wants more powered sugar.

He tells me, "Gotta wick it good mommy."

"More sugar, pleeeaaasse?"

Can I Make....?

Stewed Tomatoes??

I was in a pinch for a can of stewed tomatoes but did not have any in my pantry.  So, I pulled out my trusty brain to see if I could make some.  I did not have a recipe so I just winged it...something I never do because I usually mess things up if I don't have a recipe.  

All I used was a can of diced tomatoes, 1 tsp of sugar, salt & pepper, 1 clove of garlic, onion & bell pepper chopped (about 1/4 cup each), and fresh parsley, thyme, and basil chopped up (you can use dried if you don't have fresh).  I sauteed the onion and bell pepper until they were soft then added the diced tomatoes, sugar, S&P, garlic, and herbs.  I let it simmer for about 10 minutes and then threw it into what I was making that needed it.  

It turned out great and I was glad to be able to use my fresh herbs that are growing on my porch. So when you're in a culinary pinch... improvise! It's kind of fun! 

Strawberry Preserves

Recently I got some fresh picked strawberries from a local farm. Ohhh my, were they delicious. They were small, but they were red all the way through and soooo sweet.  I really love strawberries, especially juicy sweet ones.  I got 2 lbs of them so I decided to make some preserves.  It is really easy and the result is wonderful! 

You just put the strawberries in a pan with some water, sugar, and pectin. Let it boil a bit and you are also supposed to stick your nose way down into the pot and smell it too.  It is heaven on earth. Justin kept laughing at me because I couldn't stop smelling it. 
Next, get your canning jars washed, lids boiled and ready to go. Pour the strawberry mixture in the jars, leaving 1 inch headspace.
Process the jars for about 15 minutes in a boiling water bath, take them out and let them sit for 12 hours.  Thankfully all of my lids sealed! 
Now comes the BEST part.... eating it.  I made some biscuits for church the following morning and we ate the preserves on them. Oh my, were they ever good! It was sweet and bright red from the fresh strawberries. I am so glad I didn't mess them up this year!  It is delicious! 

Is your mouth watering? Because mine is! 

Can I Make......?

Chocolate Syrup??

I LOVE Chocolate. In any form or fashion it is good to me.  I really like chocolate milk and I drink it a lot.  I do not like paying so much to buy chocolate syrup at the store and I'm not a big fan of 'high fructose corn syrup' that is in it.  So I set out to make my own.  

Here are the ingredients- 

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 cup water

2 cups sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

Find a 2-quart saucepan. Mix together cocoa and water with a wire whisk.  Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the sugar and stir until it dissolves.  Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and boil for a full 3 minutes.  Remove the syrup from the heat.  

Add the salt and vanilla to the mixture.  Let cool, then pour into a container and store in the fridge.  

This tastes very similar to Hershey's Syrup and waaaayyyy cheaper. I always have these ingredients on hand, so it's simple to whip up a batch when I run out. I just use an old chocolate syrup container to put it in.  Try it, you'll like it! Next I want to make my own hot fudge syrup, mmmhhh, yummy! 

Can I Make...

....Cream of mushroom soup so I don't have to buy the cans anymore? That was my learning quest this week. And I found that Yes, I can make it! And it's easy! I never really like using my cans of cream of mushroom soup because once I read the ingredient list and couldn't pronounce many items on there I got really grossed out. This is what is happening to me now that I am trying to educate myself on what is really in the things we buy. So, I am trying to learn how to make a few more things that I would normally buy at the store, see if it's easy and if it tastes alright. (Complete recipe at bottom of page; I doubled the recipe)

Can you believe, these are the only ingredients you need to make your OWN cream of mushroom soup!! Simple as pie! Milk, flour, olive oil, butter, salt, and fresh mushrooms.



Now you just chop up the mushrooms, make a roux with the butter, olive oil, flour, and salt. Add the chopped mushrooms and cook them for 1-2 minutes.

Then add your milk and stirring occasionally, let simmer until thickened. I let mine simmer about 15 minutes. Then just let it cool, and put it in ziploc baggies and put in the freezer. Is that easy or what! 
Today I'm also cooking a chicken and making broth from it. When I'm boiling my chicken I just add carrots, onion, celery, garlic cloves, basil, thyme, ground/whole cloves, pepper, rosemary, parsley, and bay leaves. I let is simmer until the chicken is done. Take the chicken out, pull all of the meat off, then put the bones back in. Let simmer for 5 or so more hours. Skim off the frothy/oily stuff that rises to the top once you're done. Then I put the broth into containers, freezer bags, and ice cube trays so I can pull out as much as I need later on for cooking purposes. It works great, tastes fabulous, isn't high in sodium like most store bought chicken broths, and makes your house smell wonderful all day!

 

Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe

2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 c whole wheat flour (or white, I use wheat to annoy Justin) :)
1 tsp. salt or more to taste
12 fresh mushrooms, chopped
2 cups of milk (less for a thicker soup)

Heat butter and oil then add flour and salt, stirring to make a roux. Add mushrooms and cook about a minute, just to soften. Add milk and stir until thickened. This is a substitute for two 10 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup. To make cream of chicken, simply omit mushrooms, add 1 tsp. chicken base (a paste, like bouillon but without the MSG) and substitute half the milk with chicken broth or stock. To make cream of celery, substitute celery for the mushrooms and proceed as listed above.
(Recipe courtesy of Passionate Homemaking)

Stay tuned for more "Can I Make This?" posts! Who knows what I'm going to try next. :) And if you have any suggestions I'll certainly try them as well.

Tasty Yogurt

As I mentioned in a previous post, Josiah can eat 32 oz of yogurt in a day if we let him. He is fanatic about yogurt. It's the first thing he wants when he wakes up in the morning and after naps. I buy him the organic stony*field yogurt and it is expensive when I have to buy it so often. So this past week I decided to try to make my own. I figured it couldn't be too hard. I searched the internet and found a recipe to try. Click here to go see it. All I needed was milk, powdered milk, sugar, vanilla bean, and starter yogurt.

First you have to bring the milk just up to a boil. When it was heating it smelled soo good because I had the vanilla bean in it.


Then you let it cool, add the starter yogurt, and put it in jars. You then wrap the jars in several towels and let sit in a warm place for 12-15 hours. I was amazed and shocked that after 12 hours it had set up like yogurt!! Then you put it in the fridge to stop the yogurting process.

The next morning we ate it with breakfast and it was rather tasty. It was not as tart as the store bought stuff, but it was good. I also had some fresh strawberries that were about to go bad so I put them in my food processor to puree them up, then warmed them on the stove with a little sugar. I also did the same with some frozen organic peaches I had. That way I can just add whatever topping I want.

Here is the price of it:
Organic Whole Milk- $4.45/gal (used a half gallon)
Vanilla Bean- .75
Powdered Milk- not sure how much I paid for it
Starter yogurt- .50 (next time I will just use some of my yogurt that I already made)

Homemade Total price- $3.47 for 64 oz of yogurt

Store bought yogurt price- $3.50-$3.99 for 32 oz of organic yogurt (yikes!)

So I am saving 50% by making my own. Pretty good I think! And now I won't have to run to the store just to buy yogurt which I have been known to do. :)

I Made BREAD!

I went to the store, list in hand, to get some basic necessities on Thursday before Justin's family arrived... And as usual, I forgot something... the bread... and didn't want to go back to the store, so I just decided to make my own. I decided it was either going to be a flop or turn out good. It was SO easy and the dough rose beautifully. I used my stand alone kitchen aid mixer and my trusty hands and arm muscles to knead the dough (I think I worked my ab muscles kneading the dough because they've been sore ever since.. Maybe I'll get a 6-pack from kneading bread. ha ha!). There were only a few ingredients- wheat flour, white flour, honey, salt, butter, and yeast. It tasted fantastic! I honestly never thought it would be easy or turn out good, especially since I don't have a bread machine. We have been using it for sandwiches and toast and it is just wonderful and heavenly. Sorry I didn't take pictures! I'm going to make some more next week and I'll talk a picture of the finished product.

Oh yeah, this week Josiah turned 11 months. {Tears in my eyes} I can't believe it. My baby is almost 1! Why do they have to grow up so fast? I better get to bed and get some shut-eye before he wakes up. :-)