Who Says You Can't Bake in the Summer

I've got these brownies in the oven right this minute. And yummmmmmm do they smell good!!

They were a little more work than my usual brownie-from-a-box specialty, but totally worth it. The batter was beautiful and the taste test was delicious!

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Wake Me Up When Spring Comes

It's that point in the year when I feel like the word hibernation describes my life in so many ways. Although we are busy and out and about...I mostly just want to be home where it is warm and there are jammies.

At school, registration is revving up.
This is mind blowingly stressful and hard and...is the opposite of hibernation.

But I WANT to hibernate. So I get a little quiet...on the inside.

What I have been doing a lot of since Christmas is cooking. We've eaten out a lot less and I've been trying to cook as much as I can at home. It's mostly healthier (I am not yet cooking completely healthfully, but at least it's better than fast food?!) and a whole lot easier on the bank account.

I've been making lots of cookies and bars, which helps me feel like a nice mom sometimes. Tonight there are oatmeal raisin cookies in the oven and it smells fantastic! Guess what we're having for breakfast tomorrow?! (Update: My kids don't like the cookies. Bummer. I don't think they are sweet enough for them. So guess what I'M having for breakfast tomorrow?)
I'm addicted to this soup, so we've had it three times in the past six weeks. YUM.

The other night when I wanted to make a spicy meal that Hubs and I used to enjoy almost once a week (have you had Zataran's? Their Jambalaya is so GOOD.), so I made a bizarre little alternative meal for my kids and they loved it. Squid dogs. The name really yucks me out, but the kids thought it was so cool and ate 'em up. I even served them with ants on a log in my bid for COOLEST MOM EVER.

I received Pioneer Woman's cookbook for Christmas from my parents and have enjoyed several recipes from there. This one from her site is something I've made twice in the past month and it is really good. The kids prefer plain noodles, which is fine by me because the left overs make a great lunch.

I guess when the weather outside is constantly unpredictable and harsh and the work world can be a bit the same...I enjoy the control I can have in the kitchen and the smiles it can create at the table.

Tofu

Catherine Newman happens to be the first blogger I ever followed, in the days that she was writing for Baby Center and I was awaiting the birth of my first baby. It's even the reason I started a blog of my own.

Since then, she's moved on to writing about cooking and is quite good. So good, in fact, that I can no longer say that I've never liked tofu. I've always wanted to like tofu and really had never enjoyed the stuff.

Then came Catherine's recipe for Soy Glazed Tofu. I've made it twice now, so can confidently say that it is delicious.

While you're at Dalai Mama Dishes, go ahead and also give her Soy Braised Chicken a try. I also HIGHLY recommend the Warm Smoky Potato salad. That stuff is so delicious that you may find yourself eating embarrassing amounts of it before it even makes it to the table.

I plan to try some of her other recipes. I like that they are different from the things I normally make and it takes me out of my culinary comfort zone. I have yet to be disappointed.

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Sticking to Tradition

I like to make pies. But just mostly do so once a year in November. Sometimes maybe a strawberry pie in the summer, but mostly just Thanksgiving.

I realize tonight I should really practice more than once a year. My crust tonight is less than perfect. Which makes me grumpy. I'm using them anyway because I don't have the heart (or time...or energy...) to make them again. So my pumpkin pie crusts are TOO crumbly, but hopefully the wonderful filling will make up for the crust dust.

Making the same pies as last year.

And this one here.

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!

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I Think It's My Favorite Cake

If I had to pick a favorite, this cake would probably be it. My mom's best friend used to make it for birthdays and I have always liked it.

I don't know if this is her exact recipe, but I googled the ingredients and came up with this one. We called it Pig Cake. No, I don't know why.

I think it's a great way to send off summer. Before the heavy foods of fall and winter grace our ovens. A light and fruity treat, the perfect end to a grilled meal.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 yellow cake mix
1 11 oz can mandarin oranges plus juice
2 T flour
3 eggs
3/4 C oil

Frosting:
1 8 oz carton cool whip
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple and juice
1 small pkg instant pudding (I use vanilla, recipe calls for coconut flavored)

Directions:
1. Mix cake ingredients together, spread in lightly greased 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, until it tests done. Let cool completely, then frost.

I made this for Memorial Day barbecues and as I am typing this, want to make it again!

Got Zucchini?

Sometimes baking makes me feel such a sense of self-worth, I feel like I should've really opened myself a bakery and baked bread every single day. Really.

Tonight I made this zucchini bread. Which is really very much like cake. Delicious chocolatey cake. Mmmmmmm.

Does it count as a veggie. A healthy baked good. If you stuff it full of chocolate chips, melted chocolate, and a couple of extra tablespoons of cocoa powder - just to be safe?

How about if your flour is 1/2 wheat and you sprinkled in a tablespoon or so of flax seed just for fun?

It's a fuzzy line between healthy and not. The two cups of sugar make it a little less fuzzy, but still. It's so stinkin' delicious and there are 2+ cups of zucchini in there!

There are also three plastic freezer jars of grated zucchini (how much do I love my food processor?) to make three more batches of this deliciousness just waiting in my freezer for another day. Mmmmmmmm.

Oh. I did really add the flax seed. And a little sour cream. A dash extra of zucchini. And two or so tablespoons of cocoa powder. So I'd say I didn't follow that recipe exactly.

Go on now. Use those zucchinis that you let get way too big. I did. And they worked perfectly.

Did I mention - mmmmmmmmmmmm.

I Heart Brownies

I have mentioned before my affection for brownies.

Aliki tempted me this morning with a post about chocolate. And this recipe.

I love that it allowed me to use up the rest of our hot cocoa mix left over from winter. I'm planning to put them in snack baggies for our upcoming road trip. Yummmmm.

Never mind that I didn't have any chocolate chips. I put in a little extra cocoa to make up for it. Never mind that the cocoa mix had mini marshmallows. I'm sure they'll melt in and sweeten them up even more. I added in some flax seed, to add a little crunch in the absence of any nuts or chips.

They are almost done and smell divine. I may have to taste test them, just to be sure they are good enough to pack up for the trip.

I may not have the opportunity for a morning coffee klatsch with friends, but isn't it fun that we can still share recipes and stories over our morning cup just the same. From thousands of miles away.

Thanks for the recipe, Aliki. I needed some chocolate today too.

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Update: I just sampled the brownies. Oh my heavens they are gooooood. The cocoa gives them a different flavor that I enjoy. I can even taste a hint of those fake marshmallows. This recipe is a keeper!
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Muffins

I've been hunting for the PERFECT banana muffin recipe. Trying out several varieties in the last week. I made some whiz-bang muffins. They were good, but not quite what I'm looking for. Right now, there are Banana Crumb Muffins in my oven and I'm very optimistic. How can anything topped with brown sugar and butter be bad?

My nephews, ages 5, 3, and 1 are coming for an overnight stay in just under an hour. The thought of entertaining and feeding five children on my own for 8+ hours has me itchy. I know some women have that many every day. Or those who run a home daycare and have even more five days a week. We'll see how it goes, I'm sure they'll have lots of fun. I have bubbles, popsicles, and a movie or two planned. The interesting part will be this evening, when I think they all need to go to bed. That has me the itchiest!

So the baking is therapy, it's calming me down. Knowing I'll have a healthy, wholesome snack for them.

Wish me luck!

Edited to add: The kids were great. Energetic, but great. Busy, but great. The sleep was very light, but it was a good night all in all. The muffins? Really good. The only bad part was that I ate more of them than the children. B liked them, but the nephews were not crazy about them.

Mother's Day was lovely. We planted some flowers that the kids had given me and they gave me all sorts of lovely treats. I felt like the queen, just the way a mama should.

And yes, Mimi and Beck, send those recipes over my way. I would love to continue the quest. There seems to be no shortage here of over-ripe bananas. I keep buying the bananas and we keep not finishing them.

Super Supper

It all started with this post from Aliki. She discusses the wide variety of banana recipes she used this week. The banana pancakes she mentioned sounded so good to me, having never tried putting a slice of banana on one side of a half-cooked pancake before flipping it.

I used our whole wheat pancake mix, which I was nervous to try. Threw in a little milled flax seed, just to up the ante a bit.

And wow! They were so...yum.

We had fruit and sugar-free, fat-free pudding that I had made (from a box) as sides. Such a delicious supper.

My kids, well they are not 100% sold on the pancakes. But they will be. They are so good, just a little different than what they are used to.

This will definitely be a meal we have again, it's going in the rotation.

I have received some precious gifts in the past year, as my grandparents said goodbye to their homes, as they parted with items that I imagine they had pictured passing on to family. I hope to do the same thing some day.

I hope to have something that someone would want. It will probably be my grandparents' things!

My favorite has got to be a cookbook with my grandmother's name handwritten on the front cover. It is a local Legion Auxiliary cookbook, an organization I belonged to in my youth.

Her notes make me feel like I'm in on a fantastic secret. The pages with drips and slops cue me to take notice, there must be a gem near!

Vodka Slush
[you just can't find this one just anywhere, so pay attention! Mom - is this the bucket recipe you talked about that made tupperware parties extra special?!]

9 c. water
2 c. sugar
4 green tea bags
12 oz. frozen lemonade
12 oz. frozen orange juice
2 c. vodka
7-up or Sprite

Boil sugar and water. Add the tea bags. Cool 2-3 hours. Add the lemonade, orange juice, and vodka. Freeze at least 24 hrs. Serve with 7-up or Sprite. Optional - you may double the vodka.

I love that option. Sort of the kicker - just how tipsy do we want to be???


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Pie Time

Today we head to my in-laws' for an early Thanksgiving celebration.

Aside from one finger tip burn, and a nearly burnt crust (don't answer the phone while making baked pie crust!), the pie making has been pretty good today. I make pies every Thanksgiving and have been making pumpkin pie for several years when I found a great recipe in Parade magazine. You can find the recipe here, though I use the one I snipped out of Parade and taped into my Better Crocker cookbook. I get nostalgic about the goofiest things.

Pie crust is surprisingly easy to make, albeit a little time consuming. I learned how in my high school foods class and have been doing it a few times a year ever since. The recipe I use is in my Betty Crocker cookbook. Here is the secret to pie crust success: roll it out between two pieces of wax paper (use some flour too). When it's all rolled out, remove one piece of wax paper and fit it into the pie plate. Then you peel the other piece of wax paper off and you've got a perfect crust. It works every time!

Today I am also making a very fun kid-friendly pie. When I saw mini graham cracker crusts at the store, I couldn't resist. Mini chocolate pies with whipped cream for the kids, what could be better?! For older kids, they could easily make this one on their own. I made the instant chocolate pudding from the pie filling directions on the box, poured it into the mini crusts, and topped with cool whip and sprinkles.

Yummmmmmmm...

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Snickerdoodles

There is something about this cookie that is SO good, that it is hard to explain. Try it for yourself.

Beck is a heck of a cook, but these cookies take the cake.
Or something like that.

Really, I've made 'em twice and they are hella good. Whatever that means.


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Miscellaneous Monday

We had a little Halloween party this weekend. The Hubs' sister, myself, and our five kids (her three, my two) made these spiders and created this web. We also ate pumpkin shaped sandwiches and jello with eyeballs for lunch. It was a great way to spend the day, while the dads were off hunting.




Then yesterday, the kids and I made a beautiful yellow cake that was, I think, a little bit healthy. You use pumpkin and yogurt with the cake mix. It's one of those Deceptively Delicious recipes from Jessica Seinfeld. I'm not sure if the cake is just that good (it is really, really good) or if I'm just being tricked because I used cream cheese frosting and I'd eat just about anything if it had cream cheese frosting.



Then tonight I made a quick and easy meal, which I felt deserved a mention. I'm skeptical of all quick and frozen meals because I'm terribly picky about mystery meat. I don't really like the chicken that comes in any of those frozen throw-together meals. Well, tonight I tried one and was not disappointed. The meat was not scary, the sauce was delicious, and it was truly quick and easy to make. It did not make a lot, so if your kids eat more than mine (which is not much at all) then you'd probably need two, which would be a little expensive. Anyway, Aliki just got me thinking the other day about easy meals for "those" days. And this meal would be perfect to have on hand just for that. Obviously not for the vegetarians in the bunch, but delicious all the same. My kids didn't really eat it because a) it's not orange mac n cheese and b) garlic = too spicy. Sigh. The Hubs and I thought it was yummo. The kids ate bread and butter and fruit. Whatever.


If you haven't checked out Family Education, you should. Aliki's blog there is great. She's informative, insightful, and educational. All of that while also being crafty and a creative cook. Alliteration anyone?
I digress. Go check her out.

This post was brought to you by no one. While it contains a few of my opinions, I received no free samples from T.G.I.Fridays, nor am I drumming up business for Family Education. I just like Aliki's writing, that's all. I'm just spreading the love, ya know?

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Apple Pancake?

I'm getting in a cooking mood in a big way. The tug of autumn has got me itching to turn on the oven! So how about apple pancakes? I've never had them, but this recipe looks so good to me. Please share your thoughts.

And while I'm on the subject of baking, I've just made these, which are way awesome for the exact reason that Beck shares. Definitely worth a try. I have to bake mine a bit longer for whatever reason, but we all like them lots.

Is it bad that I'm eating them now, warm on the plate, with a cup of milk? What if I told you I haven't even shared them with the children yet? For them, I like them to cool off. For me, I'll sneak off and eat one (or five...) and they are none the wiser. For now.

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Summertime Antipasto for Kids

We've enjoyed being able to eat right outside during the day this summer. I fill a tray with various things my kids will like and bring it out for them to eat with their hands. It works well since it's fast and convenient. I can run inside and have it together in five minutes or less. They drink water with it, happily thirsty from their active play. We usually finish it off with a popsicle. Since they're outside, there's no mess. No fuss.

It's a great way to do summer lunch!

Menu Plan for June

When we got back from Florida, my mind raced and raced. I honestly thought I was losing it, I couldn't slow down the barrage of things going through it. To help, I started to get myself organized. It calmed me down a lot.

One of my tasks as to make a supper menu for June. It was so easy, to think of what to make each night, for the entire month. Last week's meals were super-simple, because we had VBS each night. This weekend, I went all out, with Father's Day to celebrate. I picked three new recipes to try in the month of June from my Casual Cooking Pampered Chef cookbook. It's something I've had for five or so years, and never used. I also picked a recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook, a new entree we've never tried before.

As far as the menu plan goes, the week that we had VBS, I put on my menu plan that we would have mac n' cheese one night. Tortillas w/ cheese and fresh salsa another. Fast and simple. Something that has stopped me from planning during weeks like that in the past is that it seems too easy. That if you're making a menu plan, it all has to be four course meals with new recipes. Not so. I've simplified and it made all the difference.

This weekend, we had a new recipe, Citrus Shrimp Skewers. So good (we had it for supper tonight). That will be simple to make again with no recipe. The juice of two limes and two lemons , 1/2 C orange marmalade, a little garlic, parsley, a dash of ground red pepper. A tablespoon of veggie oil. I marinated the shrimp on the skewers and then grilled them. You reserve a little of the marinade to baste them with on the grill. They were sooooo good.

So we are good to go for June. This week, we are having Broccoli and Chicken w/ noodles stir fry. I'm making Uncle Ben's fried rice from a box to go with it. We are also having pulled pork sandwiches. I'm making the pork for folks from church that I'm making meals for and am going to save some back for us. Super easy and so good!

I also left Fridays for pizza or take-out and left Saturdays blank for us to be flexible. I wanted to keep it easy.

The best part about the plan is that now we've shopped ahead one week at a time and even if I switch the nights around a little (I always do), I've got the plan in place to help me with a jumping off point.

We're eating lots of fresh fruits and veggies now, so that makes great snacks and side dishes. I even cut the fruit up in different ways and call it dessert. The kids love it. Oh and popsicles, they love popsicles!

Some stand-by favorites for meals are BLT sandwiches. Grilled anything. My new shrimp recipe, for us grown ups anyway. For whatever reason, my kids love hot dogs. So we've usually got a pack of those in the fridge. Right now, we're eating 99% fat free ones from Hebrew National. They're actually tasty and my kids like 'em.

My main goal is to keep it all stress free. I've been trying to keep up with the dishes as we go. Some days that works better than others. One thing I have found out is that I like to plan suppers for a whole month. I'm going to try it again for July. It takes the weekly crunch of planning out of the equation. Hopefully it will also work when we're back to school. Hope nice it would be for it to be this easy!

Dinner Tonight

It will be a late dinner this evening. We didn't make it to the store until 4 and then came home to fix up a delicious meal. I'm making the ultimate comfort food, thanks to my cousin, Nikki. So I'm going to post the meatballs recipe - I hope it's not a family secret!

BBQ Meatballs

Balls
3 lbs ground beef (I'm sure you could use ground anything)
1 C milk
1 onion
3 C oatmeal
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp salt
2 eggs

Sauce
2 C ketchup
1 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 C onion
3 T liquid smoke

Make balls ingredients into meatballs. Make sauce ingredients into sauce. Brown balls in skillet then put in pan to bake. Pour sauce over. Bake at 350 for one hour, or use crock pot (high for 2-3 hrs, low for 4-6 hrs).

You can obviously modify this recipe to your heart's delight. You could make them spicy, sweet, whatever. Also, you could use ground turkey or chicken. The possiblities are all there. The great part is that this basic recipe is fantastic. It's baking in my oven as I type. They are so good! Oh - and of course, every time I typed balls, I turned into a giggling jr. high girl. Balls. Tee hee.

Then, the potatoes. The good, company potatoes. Also a basic recipe from a hometown (my hometown) church cookbook, ready to be modified to your own tastes.

Potato Casserole
2-lb pkg frozen hash browns
1/2 C melted butter
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp mustard
2 T minced onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pt sour cream
2 C grated American cheese

Thaw potatoes. Mix ingredients and put in 9 X 13-inch pan. Top with 1/4 C melted butter, mix with 2 C crushed cornflakes. Bake at 350 for 45 min to 1 hr.

In about 40 minutes, we will be sitting down to a warm, delicious meal. And obviously low-fat (ha, ha).

Also on my menu this week?
Some soup recommended by Beck (check in comments on my previous post), both recipes.
A few new recipes: broccoli soup, cheeseburger and fries casserole
Some old stand-bys: spaghetti and meat sauce (I use ground turkey) with breadsticks and green beans, hamburger helper with a side of biscuits (a super easy meal for later in the week when we are all weary)

I'll take some left overs for lunch. I also bought pitas, hummus, turkey, and some veggies to make some turkey pitas for lunches when I don't have left overs. I'm still trying to eat smarter. Small portions, less junk, eat at home. The basics.

I'll let you know how my new recipes all turn out!

Much Brownie Love

Time to tackle another hard hitting topic: Brownies.

That's right.

Beck wrote of her recipe in a controversial post. I call it controversial because she dogged my favorite, the brownie mix. I think she compared the flavor to rotten cheese? I couldn't help but wonder though, because she seems like such a smart lady, whether she was on to something. You really should go read what she writes about them, it's harsh.

Here at my house, we love the Betty Crocker fudge brownies from a mix. It's one thing the Hubs makes fairly regularly, if there's a box in the cupboard. They're so easy to make and so yummy.

So today, I'm finally trying Beck's recipe. They are in the oven as I type. I will review in a bit how they turn out.

All this thinking about brownies reminded me of a recipe I learned to make as a child. I think they were a recipe that my mom got from my grandmother. I made them a lot with my mom when I was still living at home. A friend of mine still speaks fondly of those brownies. I thought I'd share my recipe now.

My Brownie Recipe

1 cup oil

2 cups sugar

6 eggs

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup cocoa

Cream together oil and sugar. Beat in 6 eggs, 1 at a time. Slowly stir in cocoa, flour, and salt. Add vanilla and stir. Pour in greased and floured jellyroll pan. Bake 15-20 min. at 350 degrees. Test with toothpick at 15 minutes for doneness. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top if desired.

Yum. I haven't made these for so long, but will have bake some now, to compare to the ones currently in the oven. The recipe above are a cake-like brownie.

Fudgey or cakey. I love brownies!

I think I hear the timer going off. Time to go try some.

Brownie review: The flavor is fantastic. I think I just did something wrong, maybe set the mixer speed too high? The top got extra crunchy and the middle sort of flopped, so there's this weird space between the two. Again, flavor - fantastic. I just have to work on the delivery. I think Beck's brownies do beat the box, except for the fact that I've never screwed up the box kind. And honestly, ours have never tasted of rotten cheese. I asked Beck if perhaps Canada's box brownies are made of something different than here? :-)

I guess brownies are kind of like pizza to me. Cheap pizza? Good. Homemade pizza? Good. Bad pizza? Still good. All good. It's like that.

Grains of Gratitude - The Pie Edition

I'm grateful this week is over! Isn't that a terrible thing to say?!

It's so true. Last week sucked. I fully intend that this week will be better.

I'm making sure of this by baking a delicious dessert for this evening. It's the second time I've made it and if it is as good as last time, then we are in for a treat!

Brown Butter Creamy Apple Pie
Prep Time: 30 min ; Start to Finish: 3 hr 40 min
Makes: 8 servings Nutrition Information
A crumbly brown sugar streusel tops a classic apple pie made easy in a frozen pie crust.

Filling
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 cups sliced peeled Granny Smith apples (5 medium)

Crust
1 Pillsbury® Pet-Ritz® frozen deep dish pie crust

Streusel
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup firm butter

Topping
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 . Heat oven to 400°F. Place cookie sheet in oven to heat. In 1-quart saucepan, cook 1/4 cup butter over medium heat, stirring constantly, until melted and lightly browned. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
2 . In large bowl, beat 1/2 cup granulated sugar and the egg with wire whisk until light and fluffy. Beat in 2 tablespoons flour and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in cooled butter. Gently stir in apples. Pour into crust-lined pan.
3 . In medium bowl, stir together all streusel ingredients except butter. With pastry blender or fork, cut in 1/4 cup butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over apples. Place pie on cookie sheet in oven.
4 . Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and cover edge of crust with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Bake 40 to 50 minutes longer or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Cool 2 hours.
5 . In small bowl, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add remaining topping ingredients; beat until stiff peaks form. Pipe or spoon onto pie.

I make my own pie crust, only because I like my pie crust. Tonight I'm not making the whipped cream, only because I forgot to buy cream. So we'll have vanilla ice cream with it. Yumm! I highly recommend.

I'm glad that there is a pie baking in my oven, it gave me something special to be thankful for!

Have a great week!