You Don't See That Every Day

Actually today is the 21st. But it's the Princess' 7th birthday. And we're having a party! Oh boy are we ever! I decided that this year, starting with her birthday and working our way through the 4 other kids, each one gets to have a special birthday party this time around. So first up is the now-7 year old's Campout (Indoors) Birthday Party! She has invited 6 of her friends over (that was a hard list to pare down!) and some are even staying the night. Talk about an excited little girl! We set the tent up in the new playroom. We've got hot dogs to roast, and a bear hunt waiting. There will be potato salad and jello, per the birthday girl's request. Also on the menu - almost-orange-julius; chips, and carrots; And of course, there will be chocolate cake and ice cream. I just made The Best frosting to put on a cake, or in a cake. It reminds me a lot of the filling from ding-dongs (are those still sold anywhere?! ah, the memories.) All it takes is 2 cups of po...

School may be out for the summer, but I'm still making after-school snacks. Because these minions of ours just don't stop eating.Which is a good thing, I suppose! I tried a new recipe today, inspired by not having anything better to do (snort, chuckle, ha!) I got it from this awesome blogger otherwise known as Mavis . Of course the original recipe is what I started with, and like most things I touch, I didn't "stay-within-the-lines". I tweaked it to see if the final taste would match what my taste buds were craving. The recipe calls for flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. And then in another bowl vanilla brown sugar, butter, ripe mashed banana, and an egg. Finally add in the chocolate chips. So I had a ripe banana in the freezer waiting for a smoothie, but I decided to use it in cookies instead. And what goes better with banana and chocolate than peanut butter?! Oh yeah! So i scooped up two huge spoonfuls of peanut butter and added it to the recipe. ...

I mentioned on Facebook all the baking I am doing today (cinnamon rolls, cookies, granola bars, zucchini bread) and have been bombarded with recipe requests. Ok, well maybe not bombarded , but at least a couple of people want the recipe. In full disclosure I have to mention I got this from another friend at church, who took it from here at the food network Of course, me being me, I had to tweak it and not follow the instructions exactly. I seem to do that a lot with recipes. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. So here is the Granola Bar recipe - so good that we don't buy them from the store anymore. I'm going to post the Original Recipe first and then MY recipe 2nd. 2 cups oatmeal (old fashioned oats) 1 cup sliced almonds 1 cup shredded coconut 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ 2/3 cup honey 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter 1/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla  1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup hopped pitted dates 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots ...

It seems my life revolves around food. Feeding 5 little - well, some are not so little - mouths; And making sure the grown-ups around here are fed; and the two dogs need to be fed regularly also ... it all makes for a lot of food buying, prepping and consumption. So anytime I can find a quick, easy, and good recipe, I will try it out and probably make it way too many times! A friend passed this one on to me last week - Peanut Butter Cookies, without flour! The original recipe calls for 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar and 1 egg. That's it!! Mix it up, pop some spoonfuls on a baking sheet, bake for 6-8 minutes at 350 and they are done! Cool and eat - yum! But it you know me, I had to 'tweak' the recipe. I cut the sugar in half - it was way too sweet and 'granulary'; And then I added a half a cup of oats instead They still taste delicious - better I think! And the kids eat them up as quickly as I let them. Quick, easy and yummy. (it is also posted on my recip...

Some people are addicted to coffee. I can't get enough peanut butter. Seriously. In the morning I have pb toast; for lunch it's (still) pbj sandwiches; snack time = pb on anything - crackers, celery, bread, a knife. Dessert is usually Tillamook's chocolate peanut butter ice cream. And then I stumbled upon these little gems on the T asty Kitchen website . And I have probably eaten half the pan. I made my kids eat extra just so I wouldn't eat the whole 9x13 pan by myself!! Here is the recipe (I'll also post it over on my recipe page for future reference if needed.) Peanut Butter Fingers Cream together: 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 egg 1/3 cup peanut butter 1/2 teaspoon vanilla Add in : 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 cups flour 1 cup oats - instant or old fashioned Mix well, Press into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and pour 1 cup of chocolate chips over top. Put bake in oven for a ...

So after cleaning the house on Friday we had a little dinner party. Here's what was on the menu: Lasagna, bread, salad, and for dessert - hot fudge pudding cake. The lasagna, well I saved myself from stress, and bought it at Costco, knowing it would taste good and be enough for all of us to eat. The bread was in the bread maker, from a recipe in the manual. It is soft and fluffy for the first day; after that it is good for toast. The piece de resistance was the dessert, in my humble opinion. My mom used to make this "cake" back in my youth, and I love it. I would choose it over Costco round chocolate layer cake anytime (you know the one I'm talking about!?!) So I thought I would share it with those who might not be in the know. Make it for dessert tonight - you won't be sorry. Unless you don't like nuts, and then you might be sorry. Or you could just leave them out. It will still taste great. And it is even lovely the next day. I finished it up for lunch o...

Tonight for dinner I made one of G's favorite dishes, Potato Casserole (courtesy of my dear friend C.H.) I don't normally make this dish very often, mainly because it is full of processed items, and because it was messy to mix up. That is until I got this bowl: My wonderful mother in-law gave me a set of these large bowls and colanders! And now I can mix to my heart's content. I am a messy cook. Messy! We will find splatterings across the kitchen and up on the ceiling weeks after making something. But this big bowl! Yay! I can mix this meal up and actually not make (as much of) a mess. So basically all you do is mix up frozen hashbrowns, sour cream, cream of soup, and cheddar cheese in a LARGE bowl. Pour it into a pan. Top with buttery crushed ritz crackers and bake for an hour at 350. Voila - happiness at the table.

I thought I was all set. Lists and lists were made for preparations of this upcoming holiday. I've gotten a couple of items made ahead of time, so I won't have to worry about those on Thursday. I have my tasks broken into certain days so I won't be doing it all on Thursday morning. I even have my weekly menu planned out. Every day except today that is. I drew a blank on what to cook for supper tonight. Usually it's Friday nights that are questionable - and we end up eating pizza. Because why cook when I can go order my favorite bacon bacon bacon pizza a few minutes down the road?! Yes, if we had no children we would support the entire staff of that certain pizza shop! But thankfully for my  health, we don't get to order pizza every night. So I had to come up with something from the cupboards tonight. And even though it is not a 'favorite' of anyone in the family but me, I went ahead and made my chicken rice casserole. It comes from a recipe my mom passed o...

I am the queen of substitution. And whenever I mention how I made a recipe my husband usually whips this little poem out: " I didn't have potatoes, so I substituted rice. I didn't have paprika, so I used another spice. I didn't have tomato sauce, so I used tomato paste, A whole can, not a half, I don't believe in waste. A friend gave me the recipe, she said you couldn't beat it. There must have been something wrong with her, I couldn't even eat it! " -- author unknown Today I made breakfast again for lunch. The recipe, breakfast pizza, calls for bran cereal to be sprinkled on top. I don't have bran cereal. (Rarely do I have it.) So I crushed up some other cereal, sprinkled some oatmeal on top also; and it worked! Admittedly, some of my substitutions have not worked. I like to throw leftovers together and make soup; so the one time I had spaghetti leftovers ... well let's just say the mention of spaghetti soup brings a grin and a grimace t...

I ran out of food to eat. Ok, not really, but nothing looked good. I have had weeks, months, of farm carrots and cucumbers and just want a little something chewy and bread-like. So I whipped up my sister-in law's Graham Cracker recipe. And I think you should run and make it right away! You'll never want to eat those store bought ones again. Maybe. If it turns out right; which in my house is a 50-50 chance of happening. Anyway, here is the recipe (and thanks to CK for it!) 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 cup white flour 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup margarine, melted Mix together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and soda, and salt. In a separate bowl mix together the honey and margarine. Blend the honey/margarine into the flour mixture and drop onto a greased baking sheet (like a cookie pan works well). Roll it out to the corners or close to it - depends on how thick you want the end result. Bake for 1...