We are continuing our Gifts You Can Make series with one of my favorite gifts to give...bath salts and soaks. Don't forget to also visit last week's tutorial where I shared two of my favorite hot drink mixes to make.

Making bath salts and soaks are easy and require little effort on your part. I love to make a giant batch of these and keep them on hand for unexpected holiday occasions like hostess gifts or as a return gift for someone that may have been forgotten on the holiday gift-giving list. These are a thoughtful gift just perfect for a friend that needs a little rest and relaxation during the busy holiday season.

Today I wanted to share with you my favorite homemade oatmeal bath. I call it Oatmeal Cookies & Milk because it blends together the ingredients of an oatmeal cookie with powdered milk to make a soft & soothing bath for anyone who has sensitive skin.

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Oatmeal Cookies & Milk Bath

1 cup cornstarch
2 cups powdered milk
1/2 cup oatmeal (not instant)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in blender or food processor until it is a fine powder. Just add 2 tablespoons of the mixture to your bathwater for a soothing bath.

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Once the oatmeal mixture is ground up, it will look just like this. I dumped the entire amount into one jar and it filled it to the top, with just a little leftover.


This homemade oatmeal bath can be packaged with a spoon, purchased from your local thrift store, and a little holiday ribbon. How easy and simple is that?

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The next gift I want to showcase is a very festive jar of Peppermint Bath Salts. I took a picture of all of the ingredients needed so you can see exactly what they look like when you go to the store. Don't you hate it when you can't picture what you should be looking for?

The kosher salt is over in the baking aisle with the regular salt, the Epsom Salts should be over in the first aid supplies of your superstore or drugstore, and the glycerin will be behind the drugstore counter where you pick up your prescriptions (and can also be used for your giant bubbles in the summer).

Now head to your craft store and go into the aisle where the soap making and candle making supplies are. There you will find colorants to dye your bath salts (you need the package with red in it) and the essential oils needed (for this craft it will be the eucalyptus mint). The last thing you can buy is some peppermint striped ribbon or whatever is on sale and festive will totally do the job!

As for jars, I found those at Big Lots and you can get a dozen of them for $6.50 or check the canning supplies section of Walmart (our store was out). I hope that helps with your shopping list and helps with the visuals for what to look for!

You will need two big bowls for this and a giant spoon to mix with. Don't you love crafts that don't require a lot of equipment? Now, empty one bag of Epsom Salts into one bowl. Next add 3 cups of your kosher salt, and stir well. Then stir in 1/4 teaspoon glycerin and eight drops of your eucalyptus essential oil. Mix well.

In your second large mixing bowl, empty one bag of Epsom Salts and add 3 cups of your kosher salt. Stir well. Next stir in 1/4 teaspoon glycerin and eight drops of your eucalyptus essential oil. To this bowl, you will add fifteen drops of your red colorant. This will give you a pale and pretty pink bowl of salts. Mix this side really well to incorporate the coloring throughout this batch.



Now grab a 1/2 cup measuring cup and start doing layers to create the peppermint candy look in the jar- a layer of white, a layer of pink, a layer of white, and then a layer of pink. I would recommend filling them on a cookie sheet to catch any runaway salts and to make clean-up a little bit easier. Once everything is filled, you should have 12 jars full and even a little leftover for yourself.

Now tie your gift up with a little festive ribbon and a beautiful gift tag instructing the recipient to put three tablespoons of salts in the bathtub to enjoy a relaxing holiday bath.

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Candy Cane Bath Salts

12 tall jelly (12-ounce) canning jars with lid and rings
2 bags of Epsom Salts, 4 pounds each (approximately 16 cups)
4 lb kosher salt (approximately 6 cups is needed, buy two boxes and cook with the rest)
1⁄2 teaspoon glycerin, divided
16 drops eucalyptus peppermint essential oil
15 drops red colorant

Empty one bag of Epsom Salts into large mixing bowl. Add 3 cups kosher salt, stir well. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon glycerin and eight drops of eucalyptus essential oil. Mix well. In second large mixing bowl, empty one bag of Epsom Salts, and add 3 cups kosher salt. Stir well. Add 1/4 teaspoon glycerin, eight drops of eucalyptus essential oil, and red colorant. Stir until completely blended. Color should be even. Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup and fill canning jars at an angle, layer salts in jars, alternating white and colored mixtures.

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Just to make your gifts a tad more festive and to ease the burden of making those gifts, we have included free gift tags to download and print for the holiday season!

Free & Beautiful Holiday Printable Gift Tags



Luckily for you, there will be just a tad too much of both of these bath mixtures to fit into the jars and you will be forced to partake of your efforts. Throw whatever is left in that food processor or bowl and put it into your bath. Now fix yourself a cup of vanilla chai tea, light a candle, and smuggle in a good book or magazine. Promptly, lock the door and pretend like you have no idea how that happened when everyone starts knocking. Enjoy a moment to yourself and relax, you deserve it!

Labels: Gifts, Holidays, Recipes, Things To Do

Over the years, I have shared many ideas that can be incorporated into your Thanksgiving planning. Today I just wanted to recap some of the best ideas and recipes that have been shared in one spot for your planning needs.



I had found a recipe for mashed potatoes that not only freeze beautifully, but they also can be reheated on low in the slow cooker. Both of these qualities make them a winner because I can keep the oven freed up for the other dishes and I can make them early.

Here is my recipe, adapted to our personal taste, perfect for any holiday get together! These are creamy and have a hint of tang to them from the sour cream. Sprinkle with a little paprika, if you so desire, and enjoy the convenience of pulling these out of your freezer for this holiday season.


Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Serves 15

5 pounds of potatoes
1 block (8 oz) of low-fat cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup low fat sour cream
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup milk (or more if desired)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Peel potatoes and cut into small cubes. Throw the potatoes in a large pot filled with cold water. Cook for 25 minutes or until fork-tender. Drain the potatoes and put them back into the hot pot. Add cream cheese, butter, milk, and salt. Mash with a potato masher or use a hand mixer to whip the potatoes. Spoon mixture into a freezer-safe container and label.

Thanksgiving Day: Put potatoes in the fridge 1-2 days before to allow them to completely thaw. Spray slow cooker with cooking spray and put potatoes in the slow cooker. Brush the top of the potatoes with a tablespoon of butter and sprinkle with paprika. Cook on low for two to four hours.

If you would rather bake these, bake the potatoes at 350 degrees for thirty to forty minutes or until completely hot.

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I have roasted a lot of vegetables during my lifetime, but I can honestly say that I had never roasted green beans before. I saw a recipe for roasting green beans and knew I would have to try it. I decided to use what I had in my produce drawer and pantry to make this great little side dish that I know you will absolutely love.

The original recipe did call for fresh green beans, but I had a bag of the fancy frozen ones from Aldi in my freezer that I wanted to use. I added an extra ten-fifteen minutes cooking time for these and they were perfect for our taste. You can roast them longer, if you like, but this amount of time seemed to fit well for me.

While these can't be made ahead, necessarily, they are quick cooking and could be thrown in the oven while you are carving the turkey. Within just a short time, you have an elegant side dish that will be elegantly plated with your turkey and mashed potatoes this year.

Roasted Green Beans

2 pounds fresh green beans (or a bag of frozen fancy green beans)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic (I use the bottled garlic to save a little time)
Salt & Pepper
Zest from one lemon (save the juice for later)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Grab a jelly roll pan and dump green beans on the pan. Sprinkle seasonings, lemon zest, and garlic over the green beans. Drizzle the olive oil over the green beans and then toss with your hands until they are all coated with the seasonings and zest. Spread out in a single layer and slide your cookie sheet into the oven. Roast fresh green beans for 20-25 minutes and roast frozen green beans for an additional 10-15 minutes. When they are done, pull from the oven and put them on a serving platter. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top (from the lemon you zested) and serve.


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This spread is unbelievably addictive and so festive on your holiday table. Just try and eat one cracker and don't be surprised if you are scraping the bottom of the bowl by the end of the day. This was a hit with everyone in our family and a nice change from the traditional cheese ball.

Cranberry Spread


16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup dried cranberries
1/4 c. orange juice

Do-Ahead: Mix all of the ingredients together and mold into a ball or leave loose as a spread. Wrap in plastic wrap, then wrap in foil, and store in a freezer bag. Make sure to label your bag so that you can find it again.

Thanksgiving Day: Let the spread thaw in the refrigerator 1-2 days before Thanksgiving. Place dip in a bowl (or on a platter if it has been molded into a ball) and serve with gingersnaps or crackers.

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This was my appetizer dish for a New Year's Eve bash that my husband & I attended. My husband absolutely hates spinach so I wasn't sure how well these would go over. If you can believe it, he really loved them so even if you aren't a spinach lover these are definitely worth a try. The chicken flavored stuffing throws you off from the spinach and because the spinach is fully cooked, the texture of these is so great.

I love any appetizer that you can pop into your mouth gracefully. The spinach between the teeth though...well, you may still have that problem. I am planning to make these often for future nights of board game fun because they are portable and come together in a flash. To save yourself from cooking on the day of an event, make these ahead and keep them in the freezer.

Spinach Balls

2- 10 oz packages frozen spinach
1 package chicken-flavored stuffing mix
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup butter, melted
Salt & pepper to taste

Do-Ahead: Cook spinach according to instructions, drain in a sieve, use back of a wooden spoon to press the spinach against the sieve to get as much moisture as possible out In a bowl combine the spinach, stuffing mix,cheese, eggs, butter, salt& pepper Mix thoroughly& roll into small balls 3/4 to 1" size. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze.

Thanksgiving Day: To serve place frozen balls on a cookie sheet and bake at 350F 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned If you are doing them fresh or thawed only bake for 7-10 minutes. Serve hot.

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I have prepared this recipe two ways for you! The first is the traditional way stuffed with cranberry deliciousness. The second version is as a muffin and minus the cranberries for the cranberry-haters. We have one of those in our family so I made the second batch just for him...To which my husband pronounced, "Perfection," and then he swiftly ate three!

Because these are better the second day, this is just another example of something you can make in advance so you can kick your feet up while the turkey is cooking!


Pumpkin Cranberry Cornbread

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
3/4 cup buttermilk (I substituted with regular milk and a teaspoon of vinegar to sour)
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, room
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 8" x 8" baking pan or a 9-inch pie pan. In a bowl, toss together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In another mixing bowl, mix with a wooden spoon, the pumpkin puree, sour cream or buttermilk , butter, eggs and honey, until well combined. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture just until combined. Mix in the cranberries. Transfer to a prepared baking dish. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until edges just begin to color. Cool to room temperature.



Pumpkin-y Cornbread Muffins (For the Cranberry Haters)

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
3/4 cup buttermilk (I substituted with regular milk and a teaspoon of vinegar to sour)
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, room
2 tablespoons honey
Sugar for sprinkling (I used the raw sugar)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners. In a bowl, toss together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In another mixing bowl, mix with a wooden spoon, the pumpkin puree, sour cream or buttermilk , butter, eggs and honey, until well combined. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture just until combined. Transfer to the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle with a little sugar (I used raw sugar) on top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until edges just begin to color. Cool to room temperature. Makes approximately 12-13 muffins.

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I am still the biggest fan of my bread machine. I do realize that they aren't for everyone. Some people love to knead dough and use their stand mixer to do the heavy duty mixing or even to do the process by hand. Not me! The bread machine is the way to go at this stage in my life and it is worth every inch of space that it takes up, residing on the top of the refrigerator.

This bread recipe is a no-fail bread machine recipe that I have used for years. The ingredients are so simple and it makes the perfect loaf of bread every single time.

Throw the ingredients in the bread machine on Thanksgiving morning or take advantage of that delay timer on your bread machine to wake up to the smell of freshly baked bread. This recipe is a tried-and-true in our family!


Portuguese White Bread

1 cup water
3 tablespoons margarine
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Add all ingredients in order listed into your bread machine. Choose the"basic" cycle and wait for the perfect loaf of white bread to appear! Yes, it is that simple!

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No celebration would be complete in our house without a big bowl of holiday punch. This is a cost-effective and elegant way to keep everyone hydrated without breaking the bank! I can't imagine hosting any holiday celebration anymore without my holiday punch and I hope you can try this fantastic recipe in your house!

Amy's Holiday Punch

1 (2 liter) bottle cherry 7-Up soda
1 liter (half a bottle) raspberry flavored soda (I found this at Walmart)
1 (12 ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 (12 ounce) can frozen pink lemonade concentrate
1 (1 liter) can pineapple juice

Mix all the ingredients together for the punch. This will fill one large punch bowl or two smaller ones.

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Last year, I saved all of my yogurt, sour cream, and whipped topping containers for our Thanksgiving feast. I found a bunch of them in my fridge with a scoop of this and a dab of that in them.

These were run through the dishwasher and are now waiting for all of those Thanksgiving leftovers. I am sure our guests will want to take home some of the leftovers from our feast so I am making sure we are prepared this year. No one likes the burden of returning a dish so these will make the perfect containers to send home all of the goodies without the hassle. Best of all, we are putting these containers to good use rather than adding them to the recycle bin.

If you were feeling ambitious, you could cover them with scrapbook paper. I, however, feel hosting Thanksgiving dinner is ambitious enough and I hope our guests will appreciate the thoughtful gesture of having these containers to enjoy a little of the feasting in their own home.

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What is your favorite Thanksgiving recipe, tradition, or time-saving strategy in your family? I would love your ideas!

Labels: Holidays, Recipes

I am trying to give as many precious homemade gifts that I can this year. Anything that I am unable to whip up myself, I plan to supplement with shopping on Etsy to fulfill my crafting skill downfalls.

First, I just want to say that I don't think you necessarily have to be crafty to offer up beautiful handmade gifts for your friends and family...you just need to be a little resourceful. Resourcefulness might be looking to craftier bloggers for inspiration, checking out magazines or books at the library, or just stealing awesome ideas off of a good friend.

I am going to showcase my homemade gifts over these next few weeks, in hopes to breathe some life into your gift-giving. My crafting skills are limited, but my resourcefulness...I would say that is one of my strongest attributes.

Today we are going to discuss making hot drink mixes for yourself and to share with your friends. This is one of my favorite gifts to give in jars or tins for the holidays. I love to tuck jars of these in with a few holiday treats for the gift-giving season. The best part is that making a drink mix only requires the necessary ingredients and a blender or food processor. It also requires zero crafty skills. Hurray!

Let's begin with my favorite cocoa recipe in the whole world. For this recipe, you only need a mixing bowl, a wooden spoon, and the necessary ingredients. If you don't want the cocoa powder to look coarse, pop it in your blender or food processor and blend until it is the powdered consistency of the store-bought packets. I usually skip this step though because, frankly, this lasts about half a second in our house and I am on to making the next batch. For gift-giving though, processing is a nice touch!

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Hot Cocoa Mix

4 cups nonfat dry milk powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup non-dairy coffee creamer
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 (4 ounce) package instant chocolate fudge pudding

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. If a finer consistency is desired, you can pour the mix into a blender or food processor and run it through that. Store in an airtight container. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup (depending on your cocoa preference) of the mix to an 8 ounce mug of boiling water.

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The next drink mix has been made every year for the past five years in my house. It is my favorite drink in the colder weather and is always an impressive gift to give or to receive.

After you are done making your cocoa mix, use that same exact bowl to mix up the Vanilla Chai Tea. I have experimented with what needs a whirl in the food processor and what doesn't this year. I discovered that if you give just the tea and spices together a whirl, that you don't need to add the rest of the ingredients in the food processor. Since I have a small food processor, this cuts down on the time to make this and the clean-up after I dump it all over the countertops.


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Homemade Vanilla Chai Tea Mix

1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup French vanilla powdered non-dairy creamer
2 ½ cups white sugar
1 ½ cups unsweetened instant tea
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
¼ tsp white pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until it is a fine powder (If you have a small food processor, you can combine just the instant tea and spices in the food processor & then combine everything together in a bowl). Add two-three tablespoons of mix to 8 ounces of hot water or milk.

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Packaging of your drink mixes can be done in jars tied with raffia or holiday ribbon or you can package them up in a green and lovely way... in those old Crystal Light containers. Use some holiday gift wrap to cover them and tie a gift tag with some raffia around the drink mix containers. These are ideal, particularly for teacher gifts, because I don't have to worry that my son will break the jar in route to school. Waterproof and airtight, it keeps the drink mix nice and safe. With a handmade or store-bought scarf, it makes a perfectly cozy gift to give.

Don't forget to make a batch of this for yourself. I shifted some items in our hutch and found the perfect corner to display our drink mixes. The marshmallows in our pumpkin jar add to my festive corner and make grabbing a hot drink for myself (or our guests) easy!

Do you have a favorite hot drink mix to share for the holidays? Feel free to share and leave your recipes in the comment thread!

Labels: Gifts, Holidays, Recipes

I am an appetizer kind of girl. When we go out to eat, I would be satisfied with three or four different kinds of appetizers so I could dip and gorge myself to my heart's delight. My top favorites? Fried mushrooms, spinach dip, chips & salsa, cheesy dip with french fries, and mozzarella sticks.

This recipe combines two of my favorites into one combination- my salsa dip and my spinach dip. The cream cheese adds a creamy consistency to the dip and the cheese adds the cheesiness that I can't resist.

The recipe originally stated to just microwave it until it is hot, but I prefer my dip baked in the oven so I am including the directions for that too. I doubled this recipe for a party and doubled the cooking time (40-45 minutes) and it still was absolute perfection. I do love reheating it though for a great little afternoon snack in the microwave with a stack of tortilla chips.

Serve this with your favorite dipper. I love a sturdy bagel chip, tortilla chips, or even fresh cut veggies. Keep the dish light with fat-free cream cheese and low-fat cheeses and you still get the dipping extravaganza without the guilt!

Spunky Spinach Dip (courtesy of Gooseberry Patch Cookbook)

2 cups salsa (approximately one standard size jar)
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese
8 oz low-fat or fat-free cream cheese, softened and cubed
10 oz frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)

Mix ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Stir well. Place in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until cooked through. If baking, cook at 350 for 20-25 minutes (double your cooking time for a double batch) in an oven-safe bowl (covered). Serve with your favorite dipper!

Labels: Recipes

Ah, the sweet smell of Fall is in the air and I am loving the vivid colors in the trees. Nothing says fall to me though like pumpkins and cranberries. When I happened upon this recipe for cornbread that incorporated my two favorite flavors of the season, I could not delay making it.

This recipe is so unbelievably fantastic! Perfectly moist and even better the second day, it is a cornbread that you can feel confident serving with a big pot of chili for tailgating or just enjoying a cozy night at home with your family.

I have prepared this recipe two ways for you! The first is the traditional way stuffed with cranberry deliciousness. The second version is as a muffin and minus the cranberries for the cranberry-haters. We have one of those in our family so I made the second batch just for him...To which my husband pronounced, "Perfection," and then he swiftly ate three!

Yes, this is a recipe for everyone and is the perfect way to use up the last of that pumpkin after preparing a pie, or pumpkin pancakes, or pumpkin pasta, or pumpkin spice latte, or pumpkin waffles.

Just consider me a resource for all-things-pumpkin this year!

Pumpkin Cranberry Cornbread

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
3/4 cup buttermilk (I substituted with regular milk and a teaspoon of vinegar to sour)
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, room
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 8" x 8" baking pan or a 9-inch pie pan. In a bowl, toss together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In another mixing bowl, mix with a wooden spoon, the pumpkin puree, sour cream or buttermilk , butter, eggs and honey, until well combined. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture just until combined. Mix in the cranberries. Transfer to a prepared baking dish. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until edges just begin to color. Cool to room temperature.



Pumpkin-y Cornbread Muffins (For the Cranberry Haters)

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
3/4 cup buttermilk (I substituted with regular milk and a teaspoon of vinegar to sour)
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, room
2 tablespoons honey
Sugar for sprinkling (I used the raw sugar)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners. In a bowl, toss together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In another mixing bowl, mix with a wooden spoon, the pumpkin puree, sour cream or buttermilk , butter, eggs and honey, until well combined. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture just until combined. Transfer to the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle with a little sugar (I used raw sugar) on top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until edges just begin to color. Cool to room temperature. Makes approximately 12-13 muffins.

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

I am still the biggest fan of my bread machine. I do realize that they aren't for everyone. Some people love to knead dough and use their stand mixer to do the heavy duty mixing or even to do the process by hand. Not me! The bread machine is the way to go at this stage in my life and it is worth every inch of space that it takes up, residing on the top of the refrigerator.

We haven't given up buying sandwich bread, but the bread machine is essential to me for easy entertaining and for our weekly pizza night traditions. It has saved me many a trip to the store for hamburger buns. For the holidays, I love to crank out a batch of fancy rolls with a little spread or dip. For the ultimate in special Saturday morning traditions, a little indulgence in monkey bread or fancy cinnamon rolls is a special family treat. Making these treats myself, I am assured that I am giving my kids those fun food memories, but am controlling the quality of the ingredients that are going into them.

This bread recipe is a no-fail bread machine recipe that I have used for years. The ingredients are so simple and it makes the perfect loaf of bread every single time.


Portuguese White Bread

1 cup water
3 tablespoons margarine
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Add all ingredients in order listed into your bread machine. Choose the"basic" cycle and wait for the perfect loaf of white bread to appear! Yes, it is that simple!

Do you have a bread machine? What is your favorite recipe to make with this appliance?

Labels: Recipes

While my kids have been enjoying Thrifty Banana Cream Pie Smoothies with their peanut butter toast for breakfast, I have started making smoothies for myself as my post-workout treat!

Yes, I am proud to say that my 30 day exercise challenge is turning into a way of life for me. I have continued to try and exercise three to five days a week, but this last month I started to feel like I needed something to help keep my blood sugar level. I headed over to to the nutritional supplement store and picked up a container of Strawberry Creme whey protein to add to my smoothies.

Buying smoothies can be expensive, but making smoothies at home can be inexpensive. Not only am I saving by working out at home, but I have my own smoothie bar upstairs in my kitchen to keep expenses down.

I freeze my banana slices in a shallow dish and then scoop them into a freezer bag to add to these smoothies. I can buy a large container of low-fat strawberry yogurt at Walmart (Great Value Brand) for $1.89. This large container has enough in it for eight smoothies! The protein powder is $14.99 at The Vitamin Shoppe, but contains enough protein for 30 smoothies. After some tough calculator-crunching, I know that I can make a protein-packed delicious treat for roughly eighty cents! I would love to see where you can find a large smoothie for that price!

The protein powder is an added expense, but one that definitely leaves me feeling fuller for longer. Fitness Magazine had a great article this last month entitled, "Alternative Energy," focusing on the protein hype because fit women are now the fastest growing market for sports nutrition products. They covered everything from those expensive protein-packed bars to gels and the protein shakes.

How much protein does your body need to support an active lifestyle? Well, some mixes contain 40-50 grams, but ideally women only need 20-30 grams. According to this figure, you might want to check the back of the containers to insure you are getting the proper amount of protein and not just extra calories!

Despite sharing that a lot of protein is a lot of hype and can be satisfied by our normal healthy diets, it concluded that whey-protein powder is absorbed into your system more quickly than other forms of protein, which makes it useful in muscle recovery.

This scoop of protein powder has helped a lot with keeping my blood sugar levels steady and has even been a nice snack instead of reaching for a bag of chips. For me, it works, and is a fantastic reward for completing a workout. Paired with a favorite read or a soak in the tub, it is something that makes me look forward to the completion of my workout. You could say that our blender is now one of our most used appliances!


Protein Packed Strawberry & Banana Smoothies

1/2 cup sliced ripe banana
1/2 cup low-fat or non-fat strawberry yogurt
1/2 cup milk
4 ice cubes
1 scoop of strawberry-flavored protein powder

Arrange banana slices in a single layer on a baking sheet, and freeze until firm (about 1 hour). Place frozen banana and remaining ingredients in a blender. Process until smooth.

What do you eat after you work out? Do you buy alternative protein products to feed your active lifestyle? I would love to hear your perspective on this!

Labels: Mommy Time Management, Recipes

I experienced quite the thrill this week at the grocery store and found a fully stocked aisle filled with canned pumpkin. Are these shortages real or do they do this to inflict pain on those of us intent on doing our fall baking a tad earlier than October 1st? Regardless, the pumpkin food trend continues in our house with a new recipe to add into our family rotation and we are thankful to have our pantry filled to the brim with cans of pumpkin to make our creations.

These pumpkin pancakes are truly light and fluffy with just the perfect balance of pumpkin and spices. I have never experienced a more perfect pancake and a drizzle of syrup with butter makes these a delicious morning treat on a cool autumn day.

See how perfectly those pancakes look? That is because I did not flip them. I am, perhaps, the worst pancake flipper in the world. My pancakes are weird shapes and are even peeled from the griddle in chunks.

We have found my husband's calling in the kitchen though and he is now the official pancake flipper in the house. He even cranks out shapes and spells things for the kids. The love it and I enjoy finally getting to enjoy a hot brunch with them instead of eating alone... like on waffle days!

By the way, a huge thank you to everyone for making this blog a place to visit for pumpkin ideas! Our Creamy Pumpkin Pasta was one of the 50 most bookmarked sites on the web one day on Delicious and that was a fantastic surprise! Seeing my recipes featured on Craftzine is such a highlight too! Thank you so much for sharing and trying these recipes!


Light & Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pinch clove
1 1/4 cup low-fat milk
1/3 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 egg


Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, spices and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together milk, pumpkin, melted butter, and egg. Fold mixture into dry ingredients. Spray or grease a skillet and heat over medium heat: pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side. This recipe makes six 6-inch pancakes.

Side Note- This can easily be doubled and frozen or stored in the refrigerator for a great breakfast later in the week.

Labels: Recipes

Experiment: Can I make a wheat pizza crust that the whole family will love?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 02.12.09

Materials Needed: Please see Day by Day for specific directions on how to make this pizza crust. I actually used my bread machine for this instead of using the stand mixer and just dumped the ingredients in like I would normally (wet ingredients, dry ingredients, yeast on top) and it came together great.

Results:


I ran my bread machine on the dough cycle and did have to add just a little bit of water to make the dough a little bit looser. I let it run through the entire cycle and then floured my counters and rolled it out for my lightly greased cookie sheet.

I baked as instructed and the results were great. The crust has a chewy texture and puffs up beautifully. I usually have to bake my crust first to get it to be nice and chewy, but I was able to top this crust and bake it right with the toppings and still have a nice firm crust.

The kids ate it and my husband really liked it too. It was a little bit healthier than our previous versions which made me feel less guilty about the slushie factor that I added in for our fun family night. It all balances out in the end, right?



Conclusion: I will definitely be making this crust again, but play around a little bit with the spices. I think it would be great with regular salt and garlic powder and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese instead, but it is a very versatile recipe that is a little healthier than our normal pizza crust. Thanks to Day by Day for sharing their family recipe!

Related Links:

Can I Make a Deep Dish Pizza?

Dinner is in the Bag

Freezer Worthy Pizza Sauce

Pizza Hut Pizza Dough Crust

**********************


I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Wednesday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original craftster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Notebook Experiments, Recipes

When I made my menu plan this month, I had no idea that finding canned pumpkin was going to be such a challenge. I drove to three different grocery stores in search of canned pumpkin and finally cornered a store manager to find out why I was unable to find any. Apparently, I was unaware that there was a canned pumpkin shortage and that most stores are out of this delicious treat until the end of the month or later. .. at least in Indiana!

The kids moped back to the car after being told that pumpkin pancakes and pasta would not be making an appearance at the dinner table. I posted on Facebook my dilemma and wondered what I would even have to write about with no pumpkin to make my recipes.

As we all wondered how our lives would go on without my favorite convenience food, I came home to a grocery bag on my doorstep with four large cans of pumpkin inside. A girlfriend saw a few cans left at her grocery store and dropped them off for me to make my recipes.

That night we dined on pumpkin pasta and dreamed of what we could do with the rest of our pumpkin. The dinner tasted so much more delicious with our extremely rare ingredient. Everything always tastes better when you know that you are using a sacred ingredient, doesn't it?

I could make my own pumpkin puree, but I admit that I really love the convenience of canned pumpkin in my pantry. If the shortage continues though, I will be making the real deal one of these days. I figure if the worst convenience food on my pantry shelf is canned pumpkin, then I can just pat myself on the back and know that I am doing a good job in the kitchen.

This creamy pumpkin pasta is one of my favorite fall dishes and my entire family loves it. The kids think it looks like macaroni and cheese so it doesn't take much coaxing to get them to try a bite. My husband loves the turkey sausage and the meaty flavor of this dish. Me? I just love the creamy pumpkin taste in my mouth!

If you are worried about how your family will react to pumpkin pasta, scale the pumpkin back. You can do between 2/3-2 cups of pasta, depending on your personal taste. Start with a little and ease your family into the two cup ratio.

Want to wow your company? Serve this with a loaf of fancy artisan bread and end the meal with a delicious apple crisp. It will be like you are literally eating the season of fall right off of your plate.

Creamy Pumpkin Pasta

2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
1 pound package of Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage (removed from its casing)
2/3 cup to 2 cups pumpkin puree (depending on your personal taste)
1 can chicken broth
¼ cup half & half
½ cup sour cream (low-fat or fat free)
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper
1 tsp sage
2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
¼ cup Romano Cheese, shredded
1 pound penne or rotini pasta

In a large skillet sauté the garlic in the olive oil on medium heat. Add the turkey sausage and cook until no longer pink, breaking the meat up with your spoon as you cook it. Remove turkey sausage and garlic from the skillet. Pour the chicken broth into the skillet and deglaze the pan using a wire whisk, to bring up all of the flavors stuck to the pan. Whisk in the half and half, sour cream, pumpkin, and seasonings. Simmer for ten minutes. Meanwhile, boil the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain pasta and stir into the pumpkin mixture along with the turkey sausage, simmering for another three minutes or until the sauce thickens and hugs the pasta. Stir in parsley and garnish with Romano and more parsley.

Side Note- If the sauce is too thick, thin it with a little addition of chicken broth until you get it to the right consistency.


Am I the only one feeling the canned pumpkin pinch? Is there a shortage in your area?

Labels: Recipes

Experiment: Can I switch up the Sunday routine and make a batch of apple cider syrup?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 07.15.09

Materials Needed: Please see goodLife{eats} for specific directions on how to make this delicious apple cider syrup. I did make my syrup with apple juice because that is what we always have on hand in the kitchen. You would not know the difference with all of the added spices and it still has a very developed flavor.


Results: I have had this recipe in my to-be-tried box for awhile. I couldn't wait until this fall weather came along so I would have an excuse to make this syrup.

I am a big fan of fun syrups for waffle and pancake topping. My regular pancake syrup is what we usually use and in the summer blueberry syrup is a decadent treat. I was hoping that this recipe would be just as good and I was not disappointed at all.

Simply cook the ingredients on the stove until it comes to a boil, throw in a little butter, and then serve with your favorite waffles. The whole process took about five minutes and was completely worth it.



Conclusion: Our entire family loved this recipe and I love that this makes enough for two brunches in our house. I stored the leftover syrup in a canning jar and am keeping in the refrigerator. I also can't help but think what a fantastic gift this would make! Paired in a breakfast gift basket with a little homemade waffle mix, it would make a fantastic housewarming gift or a special treat for a friend. Thanks to Katie at goodLife{eats} for sharing this great little recipe!
**********************


I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Wednesday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original craftster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Notebook Experiments, Recipes

Between running children to school and activities, weeknight meals can be a challenge. It is hard to resist the urge to run to the fast food restaurants on many of the crazy nights during the week. Slow cooker dishes can be key in planning meals on those nights. The other key? Having just a few dinners that can be pulled together easily with ingredients already on hand.

I wanted to share with you 5 of my favorite dishes for busy weeknight meals. These dishes are fast, simple, and delicious. These are always in rotation in my menu plans and are just a few of my family's favorites!

Skillet Ziti With Chicken & Broccoli

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced into 1" pieces
Salt and pepper
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, minced (we omitted this due to personal tastes)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces ziti (2 1/2 cups)
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream (I substituted this with half & half)
1 bunch broccoli (1 1/2 pounds)
1 cup jarred roasted red peppers, rinsed and sliced 1/4" thick (we omitted these due to personal taste)
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (optional)

Pat the chicken dry, then season with salt and pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a 12" skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until it is lightly browned, but not fully cooked, about four minutes. Transfer chicken to a bowl. Add 1 more tablespoon of the butter, onion, red pepper flakes, oregano, & 1/2 teaspoon salt to the skillet. Cook until the onion is softened, about five minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Sprinkle the ziti evenly into the skillet. Pour the broth and cream over the ziti. Cover and bring to a boil, about five minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the broccoli and roasted red peppers. Cover and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pasta begins to soften and the broccoli turns bright green (approximately eight minutes). Stir in the chicken and any accumulated juice. Cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about three minutes longer. Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, the Parmesan, and lemon juice (if using). Season with salt and pepper to taste.


Yummy Sloppy Joes

1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onions (I omitted these because I don't like onions)
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

In a large skillet, brown beef with onions (make sure to drain or rinse your meat after this step). Mix the rest of the ingredients together. Add to beef and onions. Cook for 1 hour over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Serve on warm hamburger buns.


Chicken Broccoli Lo Mein

8 ounces thin spaghetti (if linguine is available, I prefer this over the spaghetti)
2/3 pound skinless, boneless chicken (3 chicken breasts, thawed overnight)
1 cup fresh button mushrooms
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 bag frozen broccoli pieces
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon ketchup

Cook pasta as directed. Clean & chop mushrooms. Heat oil. Cut chicken in bite size pieces. When all the chicken is cut, add it to the skillet. Add mushrooms and broccoli to the skillet. Cook for five to six minutes or until mushrooms have released their liquid and chicken is cooked through. Add soy sauce, vinegar, and ketchup. Stir to combine. Add cooked pasta and serve immediately.


Bow Ties With Sausage, Tomato, & Cream

1 (12 ounce) package bow tie pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage (removed from the casing)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (can omit/decrease if your family doesn't like spicy dishes)
1/2 cup diced onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 ounce) can Italian-style plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (or half & half to save on calories)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain. Heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Cook sausage. Stir in onion and garlic, and cook until onion is tender. Stir in tomatoes, cream, and salt. Simmer until mixture thickens, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir cooked pasta into sauce, and heat through. Sprinkle with parsley.


Whole Wheat Cinnamon Waffles

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (I substituted this with 1/4 cup rolled oats)
1/3 cup instant nonfat dry milk powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (separate the egg whites from the egg yolks)
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups buttermilk (I used regular milk and then added 2 tablespoons of vinegar & let it stand for five minutes)

In a large bowl, combine the whole-wheat flour, unbleached flour, dry milk, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, wheat germ, and salt; mix well. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. In a medium bowl, mix the yolks, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients. In a small bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight up). Gently fold egg whites into flour and egg yolk mixture, leaving a few fluffs of egg white, Do not overmix. Coat your waffle iron with vegetable cooking spray and preheat. Pour 1/2 cup of the batter into the center of the hot waffle iron and cook until the batter stops steaming, about 6 minutes. Cooking time varies according to the they type of waffle iron you have. Repeat with remainder of the dough, applying the cooking spray between waffles. Serve warm with your favorite syrup.


Do you have a favorite busy weeknight meal to share? What meals do you rely on to get dinner on the table quickly?

Labels: Recipes

I had to bring this experiment back one more time because it has been my new favorite Sunday tradition. There is rarely a bite of meat left when I make this chicken and my family looks forward to this dish more than I can say. I highly recommend giving this recipe a try- you won't be disappointed!

Experiment: Will my family love a chicken cooked in milk?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 04.02.09

Materials Needed: Please see The Kitchn for specific directions on how to make Jamie Oliver's chicken cooked in milk & lemon. I followed the instructions outlined by The Kitchn and left the lid on for the first hour of the cooking time, versus the chicken uncovered as Jamie outlines in his recipe. I also omitted the cinnamon stick to go with a more traditional flavor, but might give that a try next time.

Results: I love roasted chicken and it is the ultimate Sunday dinner for our family. When I saw this recipe, I knew I would have to try it. I happened to be out at Target so I picked up all the ingredients there including an organic bird since they had them on sale.

The main difficulty I had with the recipe was frying the bird in the butter. I think the butter could have been easily reduced to half the amount and still brought out a lot of flavor. I had a hard time flipping the bird without splattering myself, but got a good start on the skin before it went into the oven.

I added all the ingredients to the pot and then put the lid on it. It cooked for the first hour with the lid on and then I basted it and removed the lid for the last half hour.

Here is what you need to know about this recipe that makes it worth the little bit of effort. First, it made the whole house smell amazing and I literally wanted to eat it within the first fifteen minutes of cooking because the house smelled that good. Second, the meat literally falls off of the bone. There is no carving, it literally falls off. Third, the sauce is delicious and the "curdled" appearance was barely noticeable at all in the sauce.

All of that being said, the breast meat was drier than I would have liked so I am not sure if that could be remedied with a shorter cooking time or cooking it with the lid on the entire time. I am going to try a few different scenarios until I perfect this one because it is truly that good.

Make sure to have lots of bread for mopping up all that great sauce. If you pair this with a good white wine, a pile of mashed potatoes, and a great Etta James CD (like our family did), you will love every minute and bite that happens during that dinner!

Update: We tried this chicken again. This time I did not brown it, omitted the butter entirely, and cut the lemons in half and added two halves around the chicken and two halves stuffed in the chicken. I sprinkled the outside of the chicken with cinnamon instead of the cinnamon stick (which costs quite a bit more at our supermarket). I cooked it covered and then gave it twenty minutes with the lid off. The second time...absolutely perfect and lower calorie to boot!

Conclusion: This recipe will be repeated again and again! I thank The Kitchn for highlighting it and I can't wait to try some different variations to make this chicken the ultimate chicken in our house!
**********************


I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Wednesday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original craftster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Notebook Experiments, Recipes

Sometimes a girl needs a fantastic dish that she can whip up in no time and look like a superstar in the kitchen. I dusted off some old recipes and remembered this delicious pot roast I had for just such an occasion. My grandparents were visiting from Florida and my husband was out of town for the day so I knew I would need to come up with some that would be easy and impressive enough to showcase my cooking skills.

My Pot Roast Italiano is guaranteed to knock your socks off! At the end of the cooking, you whisk in a can of tomato paste, which finishes off the delicious gravy. I served the roast with my favorite cheesy orzo pasta, my lemony roasted green beans, and my fast peanut butter cookies.

Instead of spending the day in the kitchen, the kids & I decided to spend the day at our dollar movie theater and caught a movie together instead. I love when I can spend more time with my kids and less time in the kitchen! This dish will do just that for your family- I promise!

Pot Roast Italiano

3 pounds beef chuck roast
1 can diced tomatoes - drained
1 can tomato sauce - 12 oz
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 medium onions- sliced (I omitted these because of personal taste)
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon basil
6 oz. can tomato paste
Grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Place sliced onions on bottom of crock pot. Place roast in crock pot. Season with salt and pepper. Pour diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, vinegar, and spices over roast. Cook on high for 1 hour, and then low for 8 hours. Transfer meat to cutting board and cut into chunks. Meanwhile, whisk tomato paste into the gravy in the pot roast and add parmesan cheese to taste. Gravy will get thicker after a minute or two. Add meat back to gravy and serve.

Leftover Tip- If you have any meat leftover (which will be highly unlikely), shred it for sandwiches. Serve the shredded meat on hoagie rolls with chips and fresh veggies. Yum!

Labels: Recipes

I am heading out of town in the morning and am frantically packing and preparing to leave the family for a few days. I hope you will enjoy this notebook experiment repeat and can give this recipe a try!

Experiment: Can I make Starbucks Coffee Cake at home?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 01.22.09

Materials Needed: Please see Divine Domesticity for the full instructions.

Results: I have been looking forward to finding an opportunity where I could try out this copycat recipe for Starbucks Coffee Cake. I have never eaten it at Starbucks, but I have heard it is quite divine and I can never resist a good coffee cake.

I followed the instructions for this recipe exactly. I did bake the cake about five extra minutes to make sure that the topping wouldn't ooze into the cake. I also prepared the crumb topping with a pastry blender that I have in my kitchen for crumb toppings on cakes & muffins. It worked beautifully for this job and then I didn't have to get out the stand mixer to make the topping.

I waited until the cake was completely cool and then gave it a dusting of confectioner's sugar and then prepared for my event where I could serve it.

What event was that? Well, I actually hosted the first meeting for a little knitting club that I have been wanting to put together for quite some time. We had nine women who showed up for coffee, cake, and time to just sit in my living room and knit to their hearts content. We had women who were just starting out and plenty of experts in the group to offer guidance.

I got out my little stand and piece of tile that I picked up from the hardware store, and wrote down our menu on it- Starbucks Crumb Cake, Homemade Vanilla Chai, Homemade Hot Cocoa, or Decaf Coffee.

Everyone loved the coffee cake, but I think if I make it next time, I will probably reduce the crumb topping to half because it was a little too much topping for me. It was quite delicious though and looked very impressive for a get together. Best of all, the ingredients are always fully stocked in the pantry so it makes a true winner in my book!

The knitting night was a complete hit and it warmed my heart to look around and see all my friends knitting and gabbing together.

Conclusion: I can't wait to make this cake again and host another knitting night at my house. Next week I will show you what I have been knitting on! Thanks again to Alli, at Divine Domesticity, for sharing this recipe with me!


********************

I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Thursday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original crafster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Notebook Experiments, Recipes

It is that time of year again- hurray! Pumpkin eating is in the air as soon as my calendar flips to September. If there is a better fall ingredient in the world, I don't know what it is! I couldn't wait to whip out the waffle iron so I could make a yummy batch of my Spiced Pumpkin Waffles.


The kids were all smiles and hovered around my waffle iron the entire time, impatiently waiting for their waffles to be cooked. The house smelled of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. As each waffle hit the hot iron, our house smelled like pumpkin pie.

No waffle house would be complete without a fresh batch of orange juice. These are our favorite juice glasses and come from my grocery store indulgence. The bottles are those little frappe coffees that you can get in the cooler. These little drinks are my treat to myself if I stay under budget on the groceries. After I drink them, I peel the labels off and put them in the dishwasher after my little treat. If one should break, it just gives me an excuse to indulge the next time I am at the grocery store. Aren't they just perfect for little hands?

These waffles were not just for us though. They were too delicious to not share. My grandfather has been very ill and had an operation last week. He just came home from the hospital and I knew that a stack of these waffles and a heartfelt card from each of the kids would really brighten his day.

I love how anything can become a present... even a stack of pumpkin waffles. These were wrapped in parchment paper on top of an antique platter and tied with a masculine bow. I tucked in some magazines that would have made it into our recycle bin, for reading material for my grandma. The days can be so long when you have to be home so I know she appreciated this small gesture.

If you are the praying type, please say a prayer for a swift recovery for him! It would mean the world to me! In exchange, I will share with you our pumpkin waffle recipe!

Deliciously Spiced Pumpkin Waffles


1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 pinch salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 2/3 cups milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in large bowl. In a second bowl, add eggs, sugar, pumpkin, milk, and butter; beat well. Gently fold in the flour mixture. Spoon in about 3/4 cup of batter into the waffle iron. Cook each waffle for 4-5 minutes. This recipe makes approximately 5 waffles on my waffle iron.

Additional Notes- I double this recipe to make an extra batch to freeze or when entertaining. Make sure to spray your waffle iron well with nonstick spray or these will stick to the waffle iron and make a big mess. Also, be sure to leave these on at least four to five minutes. If you try to take them off sooner than that, they will not taste as good or set up as nicely.

What is your favorite fall food? Feel free to share your recipes or a link to one of your family favorites!

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

Both of my children love to help me in the kitchen and when I found this fun little recipe for a snack, I had to try it with them. Longtime readers may remember my failed attempts at pretzel-making. While I was discouraged by that experience, I haven't given up on it. I will say though that when I found a quick and easy way to achieve the pretzel goodness without the mess, I had to give these a try.

Store-bought bread stick dough is what makes this recipe so quick and easy. The dough is easy to roll, without any flouring of your surface, and little hands can help roll out the pretzels for you. Within fifteen minutes, we were able to eat some delicious pretzels and everyone enjoyed helping with this project in the kitchen.

This would make the perfect snack for after school or serve when tailgating with friends. I can't wait to make another batch of these fun little treats again and neither can my kids!

Soft Pretzels with Sweet Mustard Dipping Sauce
1 (11 ounce) can refrigerated bread sticks
1 egg white, lightly beaten
coarse salt
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Roll out each breadstick into a 20-in. rope; twist into a pretzel shape. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10-13 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack. For mustard dip, combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Serve with pretzels.

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

Experiment: Can I make my own salad bar?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 08.05.09

Materials Needed: Please see Mighty Girl for the full instructions.

Results: I know we have talked a lot about making school lunches for kids, but I what I find with myself is that my own eating seems to take a backseat when I am busy. I think that is why I loved this fantastic idea for creating your own salad bar.

I stocked up on salad bar ingredients that I really like- romaine hearts, cherry tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, blue cheese crumbles, mushrooms, olives, and dried cranberries. I also prepared my favorite balsamic vinaigrette dressing and roasted chicken breasts for salads.

I had a little helper with me who was intrigued by all of the bright colors. This gave us an opportunity to talk about eating the rainbow of vegetables and, to my delight, she wanted to try every single thing that we were chopping.

Clearing space in our fridge was a challenge, but I managed to clear one of our produce drawers for the ingredients. I washed out and used cottage cheese and sour cream containers to store everything in. Everything looked so yummy and fresh! The best part is that one of my favorite things to eat when I go out is to visit places with a salad bar. Now I can enjoy all of that convenience at home with just an hour of chopping.

Conclusion: Thanks to Mighty Girl for this idea to help me eat healthier! It has been delicious salads all week and has even helped encourage my daughter to eat outside of her comfort zone.


********************

I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Wednesday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original crafster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Notebook Experiments, Recipes

In our house, we celebrate just about everything. If there is a reason to do some celebrating, our family will find it. We had to break out the celebration plate twice this past week to celebrate our first day of school. Ethan started on Tuesday and Emily started on Thursday. Next year I plan to combine the celebration into one because doing this twice was a lot of work in that busy first week of school. Hindsight is always 20/20 though, but I wanted to share with you some pictures from our parties.



For Ethan's big day, we all worked together to make the Family Fun school bus cake (there is also a video tutorial here). This cake was absolutely adorable and will be the new Clark family tradition. We found angel food cake loaves at Aldi over by the bread which helped make this cake a little bit lighter. Four people fit on the bus, so we added our family on the bus, complete with a hair bow in Emily's hair! The kids adored this cake. After we cut into it, we headed over to the neighbor's house to share it with the other little boy in our neighborhood who just started his first week of school.

Served with the cake, I made my simple pizza crust in the bread machine so that we could enjoy a little pizza with our cake.



In case you missed Emily's theme for her school year it is purple and flowers. Unbeknown to me, as we sat down for the "back to school party" on Tuesday night, Emily said she could not wait for her perfect purple flower cake for her party. With weary eyes, I looked at my husband over our pizza. "I hope you like pizza," I said.

For her party, I just used store-bought cake mix and frosting. I used tip #129 to pipe flowers and then used tip #4 for the center dot in white on each flower. Prepared icing is a pain to work with, but the day had been too crazy to make a batch of icing. She is three so I didn't think she would mind that the flowers were not as perfect as I hoped.

I love to pipe a little border on the cake plate to go along with the toppings on cupcakes. I think it pulls it all together. Just as her brother's party, Emily's flower cupcakes were served with my simple pizza crust in the bread machine so that we could enjoy a little pizza with our cake.

I am thinking we will be skipping our Friday night pizza routine this week!


What are your back-to-school traditions? Do you do anything special for the big day?

Labels: Family, Holidays, Kid Recipes, Parenting, Recipes

If you have a big eater like me, making a breakfast that will fill your child up in the morning can be a real challenge. Although my little guy looks like a lightweight, he has been known to put away three to four bowls of cereal in the morning. This makes breakfast one of those meals that can really add up in our grocery budget.

Since his school year started, I am getting up early with him and have been making affordable breakfasts a priority in our house. Eggs, bread, oatmeal, and milk are inexpensive ingredients that I am trying to work into our morning meals.

One thing that I know my children really love is milkshakes. When I happened upon this recipe for banana cream pie smoothies, I knew that this would be a thrifty solution to get my kids fueled in the morning... in a really fun way.


When I got home from the grocery store, I sliced bananas and put them in this little dish in our freezer for our smoothies in the morning. I can get a whole bag of bananas at Aldi for $.99. I also bought the large tubs of low fat vanilla yogurt to add to the smoothie mixture. This is also an affordable steal compared to those small containers of yogurt. One tub equals approximately four batches of smoothies (eight smoothies in all).


To round out the meal, I make one or two slices of whole grain toast with a little smear of peanut butter on it. The kids love the combination and feel like they are getting a special treat in the mornings. I love to have one of these myself because they fill me up in the morning and have been a nice addition to my "only coffee" routine.

Just as one more fun idea to add to your morning routine, my son gets to choose his favorite breakfast on Fridays. They have a, "Fun Friday" at school where they get to wear their school t-shirt instead of a uniform. To go along with that theme, I make a "Fun Friday Breakfast." He gets to choose what the breakfast will be that morning and all other days, I get to choose based on our time constraints. Can you guess what he chose this week?

I highly recommend adding this fun and thrifty smoothie to your morning routine!


Banana Cream Pie Smoothie (Courtesy of Cooking Light Magazine, makes 2 servings or 4 smaller servings)

1 cup sliced ripe banana (about 1 large)
1 cup vanilla low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk
2 tablespoons whole wheat graham cracker crumbs (about 1/2 cookie sheet- we have been omitting this ingredient)
1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ice cubes (about 1/4 cup)
Graham cracker crumbs (optional)

Arrange banana slices in a single layer on a baking sheet, and freeze until firm (about 1 hour). Place frozen banana and remaining ingredients in a blender. Process until smooth. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 216 (12% from fat)
Fat: 2.8g (sat 1.5g,mono 0.8g,poly 0.3g)
Protein: 9.8g
Carbohydrate: 39.3g
Fiber: 1.9g
Cholesterol: 9mg
Iron: 0.4mg
Sodium: 145mg
Calcium: 315mg

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

Sometimes it is nice to have a recipe in your back pocket that you can throw on the dinner table in minutes and that will leave everyone feeling full and satisfied. This week my children will both start school and for the first time in my life, I am going to have a few hours on my own. I am sure there will be many more blog entries about this momentous occasion, but in the meantime I want to focus on the usefulness of that slow cooker that might be gathering dust in your kitchen.

When the school season starts, our slow cooker is the best tool that I can arm myself with to get dinner on the table. There are so many things that you can make in the slow cooker that are satisfying and will leave you with lots of yummy leftovers for the week.

This recipe is one of my favorites from our One Month with Your Slow Cooker article. If you haven't seen this article, it is THE best tool for busy moms who want ideas for slow cooker meals that are true show-stoppers in the kitchen. I entertain with these dishes, I share them when I bring meals to families in need, and our family eats from these thirty recipes about once a week.

You will notice that few of our recipes have convenience foods or mixes in them, but this roast is my one exception to the rule. Do your best to look for low-sodium mixes though and avoid adding any salt to this recipe. These three little mixes and some water make the most flavorful roast. Not a hint of dryness in this roast and the leftovers heat up perfectly for a special lunch.

I shared the leftovers with my mom and served these sandwiches with multi-grain chips with salsa and a delicious batch of blueberry iced tea.

To Die For Pot Roast

1 beef roast - any kind (I look for roasts that are between 3-5 pounds)
1 package dried brown gravy mix (look for low-sodium varieties)
1 package dried Italian salad dressing mix (look for low-sodium varieties)
1 package dried ranch dressing mix (look for low-sodium varieties)
1 cup water

Place beef roast in slow cooker. Mix the dried mixes together in a bowl and sprinkle over the roast. Pour the water around the roast. Cook on low for seven to nine hours.

Do you have a favorite slow cooker recipe to share? I would love to get some new ideas for the school year! Please share!

Labels: Recipes

This sinful cornbread is a "sometimes food" in our house, but a delicious addition as a special side treat. My family is from the South so I have a deep fondness for sweet tea and sweet cornbread. This cornbread takes the cake literally, in my opinion, because it is deliciously sweet and tastes almost like a little bakery cake with your dinner. Unlucky for me, it is made with all the items I have in my pantry so it is far too convenient to make!

You need to balance this side out with something nice and light though to make up for it so I love to pair this with a delicious summer salad. My Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad is loved by all and is a favorite recipe from my Cooking Light Magazine.

If you have a garden, don't be afraid to work in whatever you have on hand. I tossed in a handful of fresh parsley and garden tomatoes from our little patio garden. Whatever you have on hand or see at the farmer's market is fair game for this yummy dish.


Sinfully Sweet Cornbread

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray or lightly grease a nine inch round cake pan. In a large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk, and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.


Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

1 pound chicken (about three small breasts)
½ pound penne pasta (can do regular or whole wheat pasta)
1 romaine heart, chopped
½ pint cherry or grape tomatoes (I did regular tomatoes from our garden, but placed them on the side for those that wanted them)
1/3 cup Caesar dressing (I love the Kraft fat-free Caesar Dressing)
A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top

Bake chicken breasts as directed on package on a cookie sheet. While the chicken is baking, chop the romaine heart and halve the tomatoes. Cook pasta until al dente, as directed on package. Drain and rinse pasta with cold water. Dice the cooked chicken and put this in a bowl. Toss in pasta, tomatoes, lettuce, and the dressing. Mix until all the ingredients are incorporated. This can be served with a little sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.


Amy's Notes- Because I wanted plenty of food for leftovers, I actually cooked the entire box of pasta and kept all the other ingredients the same. This stretched the dish further and we have enough for four more lunches. Additional dressing can be added to leftovers to keep pasta from tasting dried out. Basically, for forty more cents you can feed another four people! That makes this a great dish to entertain with!

Labels: Recipes

Experiment: Can I make oatmeal in my slow cooker?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 02.14.07

Materials Needed: Please see Tip Nut for the full instructions. I decided to attempt cooking the oatmeal in my slow cooker and followed the instructions exactly except I substituted the steel cut oats for regular rolled oats because that is what I had in my pantry. I wanted to see if the experiment worked well before heading to the store. My slow cooker is the standard size and I poured the ingredients in there. I was really intrigued by the water to oats ratio because it just seemed like far too much water. I flipped the slow cooker on and let it cook for eight hours.

Results: I programmed my coffeemaker for the same exact time and woke up to a steaming bowl of oatmeal and hot coffee this morning. The oatmeal still seemed a little thin, but I let it set up for a minute or two before I tried it. Within minutes, it thickened up and I had a perfect bowl of oatmeal.

This oatmeal is extremely creamy and tastes delicious! It tastes more on par with restaurant oatmeal because of the great consistency of it. With a lump of brown sugar and some dried fruits, it would make a wonderful way to start the day.

Conclusion: I will definitely be buying the steel cut oatmeal to eat this again. It was a wonderful way to walk up and motivated me to have breakfast which is very hard to do! Thanks Tip Nut for sharing all of your tips with your readers!

********************

I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Thursday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original crafster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Notebook Experiments, Recipes

I love meals that are fast, elegant enough to entertain with, and will free up needed pantry space. This dish fit the bill when I overbought on pesto for my son's birthday. I kept thinking that the pesto would be fantastic mixed in a sauce. When I happened upon some chicken and cheese stuffed ravioli while perusing the wholesale club, I knew I would be able to whip something amazing up.

The flecks of green and foreign stuffing in the pasta would have been a turn off for many kids, but after a good five minutes of coaxing, the forks plunged into the dishes and quiet smacking was all that was heard the rest of the dinner hour...

Well, that and the request for more "honey" for bread by the sweet voices gathered around the dinner table. Yes, my children believe olive oil is a common commodity, much like other children request ketchup for dipping. Oh, if I only had such a gourmet palate when I was a child, I know I would be destined to create great things in the kitchen. Let's hope these extravagant luxuries can be endured on a teeny grocery budget.

Ravioli With Pesto Cream Sauce

1 pound fresh or frozen ravioli
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk (we used skim milk)
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
1 1/2 cups grated Romano cheese
1 cup prepared pesto

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook as directed and drain. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in garlic and butter, and saute until garlic is soft and fragrant, about 1 minute. Dissolve flour in milk, then stir in. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add cheese, and stir until melted. Stir in pesto. Dish ravioli on plates and then drizzle the pesto cream sauce over it. Garnish with a little fresh basil or chopped parsley.

PS- Be sure to serve with oodles of bread with "honey" for dipping for those gourmet palates!

Labels: Recipes

Experiment: Is WHO bread really and truly delicious?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 02.14.07

Materials Needed: Please see SouleMama for the complete recipe and instructions.

Results: I have had this recipe bookmarked for a very long time and have finally replaced my bread machine so I can test another fun bread machine recipe.

We grilled out last night and I thought I would make a loaf of this bread and (just because I am over-the-top kind of gal) I decided to make a batch of my Honey Butter to spread on top.

This bread is delicious and smelled like heaven as it baked. It has all of my favorite elements in it- a dash of brown sugar, honey, oatmeal, and cinnamon. I did substitute one cup of the white flour with whole wheat flour, which gave it a deliciously chewy texture with a nice firm crust.

Conclusion: I would definitely make this bread over and over again. It is such a perfect balance of flavors and adding my addition of the honey butter really made it even more delicious. Every single person in the family loved this bread and I look forward to smearing some jam on it for toast in the morning.

If you don't have a bread machine, don't despair because Soule Mama also has an acoustic version for those without bread machines. Many thanks to Soule Mama for generously sharing her wonderful recipes!

Labels: Notebook Experiments, Recipes

Making homemade syrups for drinks is something that I love to keep in our refrigerator to fancy up a glass of iced tea or a mug of coffee. Making homemade syrups does not take a lot of time, but it can make a regular glass of iced tea go from a standard glass to a fantastical gourmet treat.

Today, I wanted to share with you a fun recipe for making Blueberry Drink Syrup that can be added to your iced tea, your coffee, or even your margarita! Whatever gets you going in the morning, I promise not to judge!

To begin with, you will need four cups of fresh berries and two cups of water. Put these two ingredients into a pot and bring it to a boil. Once it is boiling, you can turn it down and let it cook for ten to twelve minutes on the stove.

While that is boiling away, grab a glass bowl (or something that won't stain easily) and put your strainer on top. Line your strainer with a square of heavy-duty paper towel or cheesecloth.

Now bring your berries over to your bowl and pour them over the strainer. While you are doing this, stand way-the-heck-back because you will get splattered and it will be difficult to get those stains off of everything.

Once you have all of the juice strained, put it back on the oven and add one cup of sugar (or a 1/2 cup of sugar for each cup of juice that is strained). Reheat for two minutes or until the sugar is dissolved.

Now your syrup is all done and you can pour it into a clean jar. This can be stored in your refrigerator and you can use it whenever you feel like a little blueberry pie in your coffee or tea.


Add two tablespoons of blueberry syrup to your drink and please sit back with your feet up when you drink this! It is that kind of drink that speaks of summer and laziness to me. If you add a little cream to your coffee, I bet it will taste just like that slice of blueberry pie you have been craving!

This would also make a lovely summertime gift for a friend or loved one. Add a bowl and a label to the front with the instructions. I bet your friends will think you have truly risen to Martha Stewart status with this one!

Blueberry Syrup for Coffee or Iced Tea

4 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups water
1 cup sugar

Place blueberries in a saucepan with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Set sieve or colander lined with cheesecloth or paper towel over a bowl and pour in the blueberry mixture. Gently press out the juice with a spoon or by twisting the cheesecloth. Discard the pulp and measure the juice into saucepan. Add 1/2 cup sugar for each cup of juice and cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes. Chill and pour into covered jar. Store in refrigerator. Add two tablespoons to each glass of prepared iced tea or coffee. Stir well.

Labels: Crafting, Frugal, Recipes, Things To Do

I sincerely hope you love blueberries because I am afraid it is blueberry week on my blog. We brought home a ton of fresh berries that were dying to be poured on top of some deliciously light waffles this week.

I love making pancake syrup, but this is my first attempt making a berry syrup. It is amazing how sugar, water, a little vanilla, and fresh berries make such an incredible difference on a plain old waffle.

The burst of flavor, the happy dance in my mouth, and the smacking of lips at the table make me so incredibly joyful. The berries coat the waffle perfectly and add a little sweetness to my waffle without a sugary overkill.

This is really and truly a fantastic indulgence that takes about the same amount of time to cook as it does to make up a batch of waffles. Fast and delicious!


Fresh Blueberry Pancake Syrup

1 pint (or two cups) fresh blueberries
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup water

Place all ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Allow it to cook for 12-15 minutes and give the berries a little smash with your wooden spoon to break them up into the syrup. This syrup can be served warm over The Best Waffles Ever or you can serve the syrup cooled.



1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 egg whites

In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center. In another bowl beat egg yolks slightly. Stir in milk and oil. Add egg yolk mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just till moistened (should be lumpy). In a small bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight up). Gently fold egg whites into flour and egg yolk mixture, leaving a few fluffs of egg white, Do not overmix. Spoon waffle batter into your waffle iron, making sure not to overfill it. Side Note- I doubled this recipe for my family of four and we had enough for three extra Belgian waffles.

And what did my children think of the new blueberry addition to their plate?

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

It is the berry season and nothing says summer to me like a big blueberry muffin. I am hoping to make it over to do a little berry picking with the kids this summer. This batch of berries was bought at our supermarket for only $.99 a pint. When berries are in season, they make a budget-friendly addition to the grocery cart.

I wanted to share with you my favorite little recipe for Blueberry Muffins. Growing up, my mom bought the Jiffy Blueberry Muffin Mixes. Did anyone else grow up on these? We always thought my grandmother's blueberry muffins were so fancy because they were homemade. It is times like these when I reflect on how far I have come in the kitchen and the ease and pride I feel when making things myself. I will say though, those Jiffy mixes aren't too bad, but to have the fresh blueberries makes all the difference in a muffin!

Lemony Blueberry Muffins

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cups sugar
4 t baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 beaten egg
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup cooking oil (I like canola oil)
1 lemon (zest & juice)
1 pint blueberries (two cups)
Sugar for dusting

Mix together all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix together beaten egg, milk, and oil, lemon zest, and squeeze in the juice from one lemon. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just moistened. Try not to over mix your batter- I know it's hard! Fold in blueberries. Place in prepared muffin pan and sprinkle the tops with a little sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for about 22 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. Be careful not to overcook these- they cook quickly!


What is your favorite berry recipe? I would love to get your favorite recipes!

Labels: Recipes

I love making homemade dressings and it truly takes so little time. It is always funny how impressed people are about something that takes two minutes to whip up in the kitchen. The taste transformation that it has in your mouth though is considerable and worth those two minutes of effort.

I had to run a meal to a friend and wanted to bring her a side salad to accompany the dinner. I thought this thrifted sugar canister would be cute to put the dressing in and also make it easier to pour on her salad. I will say that you want to have an extra tight grip on the pour spout when shaking and it might not be ideal for transporting, but it certainly did look cute tied with some gingham ribbon.

Basic Vinaigrette (courtesy of, "How to Cook Everything")

1/4 cup good vinegar (you can use sherry, balsamic, red, or white wine vinegar)
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more if needed
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons minced shallots (optional & I leave these out)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Briefly mix the vinegar, salt, and optional mustard with an immersion blender, food processor or blender, or with a fork or wire whisk. Slowly add the oil in a stream (drop by drop if whisking) until an emulsion forms or just whisk everything together briefly. Add the remaining oil faster, but still in a stream. Taste to adjust salt and add more oil or viengar if needed. Add the shallots and pepper. This is best made fresh, but will keep, refrigerated for a few days; bring back to room temperature before using.

To make a small amount of Basic Vinaigrette: Combine 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon mustard, 3 to 4 tablespoons oil, and 1/2 teaspoon minced shallots as above. Add pepper, then taste and add more vinegar, salt, or oil as necessary.

Labels: Recipes

I made piggy pancakes for the kids and they were a huge hit! I wasn't sure if they would be able to figure out what they were so I let them guess. They decided these were cow pancakes instead so who knows what animal your own kids might pick?

I made a batch of this pancake batter. It is my absolute favorite because it doesn't require any fancy ingredients and can be made out of everything in your pantry. The pancakes remind me of the McDonald's pancakes and I absolutely could devour a few stacks of those in one sitting.

To save a little bit more money, I make a batch of powdered milk to mix into the pancakes. It isn't a huge savings, but it saves me from making multiple trips for milk throughout the week.

You will want to make one large pancake and two silver dollar sized pancakes. When you see the bubbles bubbling up on top, give them a flip and cook until they are cooked through.

I used kitchen scissors and cut one of the small pancakes in half and slipped it under the large pancake, to make the ears. Plop a small pancake on top for the snout and use blueberries or chocolate chips for the eyes.

For preschoolers, you could tie in any good barnyard book or my personal favorite..."If You Give a Pig a Pancake."

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

I don't know why it has never occurred to me before, but we decided to have a patriotic themed birthday party for my son's birthday this year. His birthday is just a few days after the Fourth of July and so we decided to host a backyard barbecue for our family and friends.

We kept the decorations simple and I tried to buy a lot of things that we could reuse for future parties. These paper lanterns offered a little festivity to our space and I found blue star garland to decorate around our patio doors.


To save on drinks, we used this tin bucket and filled it with a huge batch of birthday punch instead of cans of soda. For each of the kid's birthdays, I try to do a festive punch to go along with our food and a batch of strawberry punch was a perfect accompaniment to our fun little barbecue. I filled this tin clear to the top and my husband laughed and told me there was no way all of that punch would be drank. He was wrong and we had enough for one glass left at the end of the day. It is always amazing how quickly you can go through things like that!

Instead of buying paper cups, I got plastic cups in red & blue that we could use for all of our parties. The price was right at Walmart (in their summer supplies- only $1 for six cups). They will definitely come in handy for playgroups and future birthday parties.

I rolled all of the silverware in paper gingham napkins. I had yarn leftover in my yarn stash to use for tying the rolled silverware sets. When I hosted my last party, I found inexpensive sets of silverware at our wholesale club in the restaurant supplies. They aren't the best quality, but they work so wonderfully for occasions like this. Thrift stores also sell silverware and you can often find bags of it very inexpensively. Rolling these into sets made it easier for everyone to grab what they needed and kept the line for the food moving a little quicker.

Each year I make a little slide show for the kids that the family can view before we cut into the cake. Amazon sells songs for $.99 and I try to pick one great song to go along with their three minute movie. This year one of our son's favorite albums is Justin Roberts, "Meltdown" and his, "It's Your Birthday!" song fit the bill perfectly. The grandparents love this and I think my kids watched this movie sixteen times before the guests arrived. There is nothing like seeing tons of pictures of themselves set to their favorite tunes to put a smile on their faces. I recommend saving this and putting it on when you need to get your party preparation done- it works like a charm!




I found these adorable mini burgers at Walmart and they had 24 in a package for $7.00. I got wheat and white rolls in the bakery and got a variety of cheeses and toppings to make a little burger buffet for our guests. We also grilled hot dogs for the kids, but I have to say the mini-burgers took center stage. People could really load their plates up with the sides or have a burger and a hot dog on one plate.

I served that Pesto Pasta Salad which was a hit again at another get together. I also found an amazing recipe for Hot Potato Salad from French Knots (hat tip to Make & Takes for sharing this one) that had everyone talking because it was so different. I followed her recipe, but omitted the green onions and substituted those with fresh chopped flat leaf Italian parsley from our garden. I also added 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese on top before I baked it and substituted the regular sausage with Italian turkey sausage to cut down on the fat a bit. By substituting with these flavors, it gave it more of an Italian flair and everyone really seemed to enjoy it!

In case you missed the post yesterday, this was the big birthday cake- an Oreo Fudge Ice Cream Cake. The patriotic pinwheels were a steal at the Dollar Store. They had six in a package for $1 so I used three of these as a cake topper for his cake and cut them in different lengths to add a little pizazz to the cake. The best part about these is that when Ethan blew out the candles all of the pinwheels spun around too. I wish we were able to capture that in motion because it was really cute.
As our party favors, we gave each of the kids a bag with a pinwheel, glow-in-the-dark bracelets and little patriotic bracelets, and some candy all courtesy of the Dollar Store.




Recipe Highlights From Our Patriotic Party:


Pesto Pasta Salad (courtesy of "The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen") and you can visit The Farm Chicks Blog too!

3 cups bowtie pasta (about 8 oz)
1/4 cup pesto (Sam's Club has pesto for really cheap, if your garden isn't ready for pesto-making yet)
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes (about two medium)
1/2 cup halved pitted black olives
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)

Cook pasta as directed. Drain and rinse under cold running water and let cool. Place in a salad bowl. In another bowl, mix the pesto and sour cream together and add to the pasta, tossing to coat. Add the tomatoes, olives, parmesan cheese, and pine nuts and toss to mix. Serve.


Patriotic Strawberry Punch

1 (2 liter) bottle strawberry-flavored soda (I found this at Walmart)
1 liter (half a bottle) Sprite or 7-Up
1 (12 ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 (12 ounce) can frozen pink lemonade concentrate
2 (1 liter) cans pineapple juice

Mix all the ingredients together for the punch. This will fill one large punch bowl or two smaller ones.

Playtex Gloves wanted to share about their products with us and offered to help us host our patio party if we would give their products a try. This year , Playtex gloves introduced three new gloves that help with everything from grilling burgers to cleaning up dirty dishes. The best part about all of this though was that they offered to host a patio party for one of our readers and send them their products too! I loved all of the products they sent, but have to say these purple gloves took the cake!

Playtex will be sharing with one of our readers a $50 gift card to any grocery store of your choice and a set of their gloves for you to try! To enter, please leave a comment and tell me one way you make preparing for your parties easier. Not required, but you could also share what you loved from my party...because I truly would love to hear your thoughts on our little traditions. Please leave your comment by Tuesday (07/14) at 8PM EST!

Editor's Note- I hope that it won't bother you that I am now putting our name in the corner of our pictures. For some reason, it has always felt conceited for me to do this because I just didn't think my photos were worthy of crediting. Unfortunately, I have started to see my pictures being used without credit and it has become necessary to do this. I hope you understand!

Labels: Giveaways, Holidays, Recipes

We celebrated another birthday in our family this week and my summer child always seems to get all of the fun cakes for the warmer season. We made this same cake two years ago and I decided to dust the recipe off again for another fun celebration.

This cake is just as good as those DQ ice cream cakes for a fraction of the price. The ice cream sandwiches help eliminate the need for cake leveling and provide a smooth and crumb-free surface to swipe with the whipped cream layers.

The best part about this cake is how forgiving this cake is to being adjusted to accommodate your party size. We have celebrated this cake with ten and this time we celebrated with thirty and you just add an extra batch of ice cream cakes to feed the extra mouths.

This cake pictured had 36 ice cream sandwiches and we ate almost all of it. The original recipe says it will feed twelve people, but you would be surprised how quickly this gets consumed!



Oreo & Fudge Ice Cream Cake

1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed
1 tub (8 oz.) whipped topping, thawed, divided
1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) chocolate instant pudding
8 Oreo cookie sandwiches (approximately 1 cup)
12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches

Pour fudge topping into medium bowl. Whisk in 1 cup whipped topping. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 min. Stir in chopped cookies. Arrange 4 ice cream sandwiches, side-by-side, on 24-inch-long piece of foil; top with half the whipped topping mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining sandwiches. Frost top and sides with remaining whipped topping. Bring up foil sides; double fold top and ends to loosely seal packet. Freeze (at least) four hours.

Amy's Notes- One year I had difficulty with the tin foil sticking to my cake so this year I prepared the cake in a cupcake tote container with a lid and that worked much better than wrapping in tin foil and was easier to stack with other items in our freezer.

Labels: Holidays, Kid Recipes, Recipes

Experiment: Will my family love oven fried drumsticks?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 06.03.09

Materials Needed: Please see Simply Recipes for the full instructions on this task. I followed the recipe except for using Italian breadcrumbs instead of regular and I omitted the chives.


Results: I was looking forward to having a picnic night with the family since we had that on our summer list of activities. The weather was extremely hot this last week though and no one was ready to brave the heat again for a picnic. We ended up having a picnic night indoors instead and I prepared these yummy oven baked chicken drumsticks for our main course.

Even if you are not a mayonnaise or mustard fan, this blend of the two ingredients seems to take away the strong flavors and creates a really yummy place for the coating to stick. The meat remained moist underneath because of this layering of ingredients and the coating stuck easily to the meat when preparing it.

Conclusion: The entire family loved this recipe and I will definitely be adding it into our rotation. It was an easy and economical dish to prepare and was a hit at our indoor picnic complete with a pasta salad, biscuits, and cheese and crackers!


********************

I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Thursday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original crafster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Kid Recipes, Notebook Experiments, Recipes

I love any dish that I can whip up in the summertime that doesn't require me to turn on the oven. I happened upon this great little side dish and we have been eating it about once a week since I added it to our dinner hour.

This side dish has big flavor so if you are not a fan of garlic, you can substitute it with garlic powder. If you are not a fan of lemon, you can cut the lemon juice back to half a tablespoon. It has a teaspoon of salt and that too can be adjusted to your family's taste. You may have to experiment with this one, but it will be worth it!

Our family embraces the bold flavors of this side and it has been a welcome addition to our dinner table. Pair this with a little grilled meat and my favorite brown rice and you have a perfectly balanced and delicious dinner!

Microwave Lemony Broccoli

1 (14 ounce) bag frozen broccoli florets, cleaned and cut into florets or 2 heads fresh broccoli, cleaned and cut into florets (I prefer fresh)
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice, bottled is fine
2 garlic cloves, minced or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1 teaspoon salt, adjust to your liking

Microwave broccoli, minced garlic, and water in covered bowl on high for 6 minutes or til crisp tender. While it is cooking mix the rest of the ingredients together. Drain cooked broccoli. Pour lemon garlic mixture over broccoli and mix to coat.

Labels: Recipes

We really put our blender to work in the summer and I wanted to share with you one of my kid's favorite treats for our homemade pizza night.

This is another fantastic recipe that I found on Hillbilly Housewife called, "Magic Milkshakes." To me, this recipe tastes just like a Wendy's Frosty with a fantastic balance of chocolate, creaminess, and the spoonable or sippable goodness that makes them one of my favorite summertime treats.

The magical component about them is that there is no ice cream in this yummy milkshake and that all the ingredients can be found in your cupboards. I adore recipes that can be whipped up as a fun surprise without the need to run to the store.

If you haven't tried this recipe before, do not let another summer pass you by without putting this into your rotation! These are inexpensive, delicious, and will score coolest mom every points!


Homemade Wendy's Frosty (The Magic Milkshake courtesy of Hillbilly Housewife)

1-1/2 to 2 cups ice water
1-1/2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 1-1/2 trays of ice cubes, as much as you can spare
2 tablespoons corn oil plus a 5-second squirt of non-stick spray for emulsification purpose (I substitute the corn oil with canola oil & you can read her notes on why you need that non-stick spray)

Place all of the ingredients into the blender, including the oil and the non-stick spray. Use less water for thicker milk shakes and more water for shakes that are easy on your blender motor. The blender should be about 3/4’s full. Place the lid on. Process for a full 2 minutes. Pour into cups and serve. Makes 4 - 12oz servings.

Related Links:

Homemade Slushies

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

You know something is good if it can't even be photographed before being devoured. These Cinnamon Whole Wheat Waffles are a new favorite Sunday brunch for our family and I love that they incorporate a bit of healthy in them to balance out the mounds of pancake syrup.

The first batch we made of these, I found that they were extremely dense and a little too heavy for my liking. I remembered the tip from my Notebook Experiment where you whip the egg whites to a stiff peak and fold them in and decided to give that a shot. This little step added a bit of airiness to the waffles and balanced out the heaviness of that whole wheat flavor.


Really, there is just nothing more to say except that we love these as our Sunday treat. This batch is enough to make 5 waffles in my waffle iron. You can make a double batch of these for some delicious leftovers.


Whole Wheat Cinnamon Waffles

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (I substituted this with 1/4 cup rolled oats)
1/3 cup instant nonfat dry milk powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (separate the egg whites from the egg yolks)
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups buttermilk (I used regular milk and then added 2 tablespoons of vinegar & let it stand for five minutes)

In a large bowl, combine the whole-wheat flour, unbleached flour, dry milk, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, wheat germ, and salt; mix well. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. In a medium bowl, mix the yolks, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients. In a small bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight up). Gently fold egg whites into flour and egg yolk mixture, leaving a few fluffs of egg white, Do not overmix. Coat your waffle iron with vegetable cooking spray and preheat. Pour 1/2 cup of the batter into the center of the hot waffle iron and cook until the batter stops steaming, about 6 minutes. Cooking time varies according to the they type of waffle iron you have. Repeat with remainder of the dough, applying the cooking spray between waffles. Serve warm with your favorite syrup.

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

If you would have asked me I thought I could whip up some pitas for my family a few years ago, I would have told you no. I have had this recipe in my collection for so long that I don't even know where it originated from, but I decided to dust off the old recipe collection and see if these could come together for me. After all, if it was a complete failure...well, at least I tried!

This dough is incredibly easy to work with, especially for a novice! It is not too dry and it is not too wet so you don't have to use a lot of flour to roll these out.

These pitas are so yummy and the whole wheat flour adds a yummy dimension to the flavors. The kids loved these and my husband could not get over that I had made them because they looked just like the store-bought variety.

Now that I have made them though, there is no turning back. I will never buy these at the store again. In fact, I am whipping up my second batch for the week today! I hope your family will enjoy these as much as we have!

Pita Bread (for the Bread Machine)

1 1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons yeast

Put ingredients into the bread machine in order listed. Run the dough cycle on your machine. When the bread machine beeps, pull the dough out of the bread machine and divide the dough into ten pieces. Roll each piece into a six inch circle. Place these on a baking sheet (or your pizza stones) and let them rise for twenty minutes (I can fit about four rounds per pizza stone or three pitas per baking sheet). Bake at 500 degrees for three minutes. Using a spatula, flip the pitas and cook for another three to four minutes on the flip side.

Amy's Side Notes:

- When you pull the pitas off of your baking sheet, wrap them into a damp kitchen towel for a few minutes. This helps keep them from drying out. Once they are cool, you can store them in a food storage bag.

- Freeze extras for a rainy day! After the pitas have cooled, slip a piece of wax paper between them and store in a freezer bag. You can take out what you need...when you need it!

Labels: Recipes

Rice is truly one of my favorite side dishes. It goes perfectly with everything and it is frugal to boot! I love white rice, but have been working lately on adding more whole grains to our family's diet. The problem with my family is that they are really resisting the whole grain switch. It seems to be all about texture with them so it takes a really great recipe to get them on board with the changes.

These days, I have been working really hard to find a recipe for brown rice that my whole family would enjoy. You may remember my Notebook Experiment where I attempted cooking brown rice the same way as you cook pasta. My concern with that version was that I was boiling out the nutrients of the rice.

A couple of great people suggested trying Alton Brown's method of cooking brown rice and I am so glad they did! I had been on a search for the perfect brown rice and stumbled upon the same recommendation to try Alton Brown's recipe.

We have already eaten this brown rice four times in the last two weeks and I know that I will probably never make another version of brown rice again. It is perfectly fluffy, delicious without the grainy taste, and has been devoured by all in our family. My son has been begging for brown rice with our meals and that is how I know that this recipe will a repeat performer each week.

Alton Brown's Baked Brown Rice

1 1/2 cups brown rice, medium or short grain
2 1/2 cups water (we substituted this with chicken broth instead)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the rice into an 8-inch square glass baking dish. Bring the water, butter, and salt just to a boil in a kettle or covered saucepan. Once the water boils, pour it over the rice, stir to combine, and cover the dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove cover and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve immediately.

Amy's Notes- When I package this up for leftovers, I add a tablespoon or two of water or chicken broth to the rice before storing it for later. This seems to help keep the rice more moist and helps it hold it's texture a little better.

Do you have any whole grain recipes your family enjoys or any creative ways of adding more whole grains to their diet? Please share!

Related Links:

Presto Pesto Rice
Yummy Mexican Rice
Lemony Rice Pilaf

Labels: Recipes

I think the best part about the summer season is all of the outdoor eating and grilling. I can admit, we are still getting the hang of grilling and learning about all of the fun things we can eat out on our grill. I am determined to try new marinades, sides, and even grilling some pizza this year. We have a full summer of learning ahead of us!

One thing that has been helping me get the hang of grilling is a remote digital thermometer to monitor the meat temperature. We were taking our food off too soon or too late and this gadget helps us get the perfect steak or piece of chicken every single time.

My girlfriend was the one who shared this gadget with me and I found a very inexpensive one at Walmart over in the grilling supplies that was about $16. I can't seem to locate what I bought, but this Taylor Weekend Warrior Digital Thermometer ($15.98) is the same price and does the same exact thing. Mine was a no-name brand that has worked just as good as the fancy models and has saved us from nuking our meat in the microwave after grilling. If you are looking for a handy gadget for Father's Day, this is a thoughtful gift to give with an oven mitt or a book of new barbeque recipes.

We tried a new marinade recipe that is so delicious and offers a great deal of flavor to our chicken. I throw this marinade together and then let the chicken marinate all day in the refrigerator. This makes the most juicy and tender chicken. Serve with some yummy lemon rice and my roasted green beans for the perfect summer dinner.

Zesty Chicken Marinade

(Marinade for 12 pieces of chicken, halve this recipe for four to six pieces)

1 cup oil
1/2 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons Miracle Whip or Miracle Whip light
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon salt (to taste)
1 tablespoon pepper
2 tablespoons thyme
1 tablespoon garlic salt

Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Use to marinate chicken pieces at least 30 minutes and then to baste the meat as it cooks in the oven or over hot coals.

Do you have a favorite grilling recipe to share? Please share here!

Labels: Recipes

I stumbled upon a technique for cooking corn on the cob that I had never thought to do before. As I state in the title though, this is the only way I will ever make corn on the cob again so you should definitely try it.

I will began by openly admit that I don't always buy the best quality corn that I could buy. Maybe that is why I am more open to splurging on these additional ingredients to achieve a better tasting vegetable. If corn is not in season or you are worried about the flavor of the corn, I would definitely recommend these small additions to your cooking water.

Since you are adding butter to the water, I didn't even need to add a pat of it to my corn. It coats the corn cobs and gives you the buttery taste without the messy butter drips. Love the taste of a good sweet corn? The addition of milk and sugar adds the sweet taste to the corn that is sweet, but not too sweet.

I can't recommend this recipe enough and hope you can give it a try this summer. If you don't believe my guidance on cooking, seeing my son down three ears and beg for more is a great testimony to this tasty goodness.

Milk Boiled Corn on the Cob (adapted from this recipe on Recipezaar)

6-8 ears corn, husks and silk removed
water
1 1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter (optional and to add to the water)

Fill a large stock pot half full with water (use a large enough pot to hold all the corn). Add in the milk, sugar and butter. Bring to a boil, then add in the corn cobs. Reduce heat to a simmer and allow corn to cook for 7-8 minutes or until just tender, depending on size of corn try not to over cook the corn as it will become tough. Using long tongs remove and place on a plate or in a bowl, then cover with foil until ready to serve. Serve with butter and salt to taste (optional as I think this has the perfect flavor).

Labels: Recipes

In my opinion, there is nothing that says summer more than all of the delicious fresh berries you can be snacking on. I happened upon this fantastic recipe for a Strawberry Romaine Salad in my AllRecipes Dinner Tonight cookbook and could not wait to make it.

You will have to envision the poppy seed dressing coating the romaine blend though as it is not pictured here. I took this dish to a carry-in and put the dressing on just before we ate it so the lettuce stayed nice and crisp.

This salad would make a perfect accompaniment for a night of grilling out or a perfect side for an elegant brunch. The salad is sweet, but not too sweet, with a perfect merriment of yummy flavors from the burst of strawberries to the bit of bitterness from the spinach. I plan to make this often this summer and hope you can try it too!


Strawberry Romaine Salad (courtesy of AllRecipes Dinner Tonight Cookbook)

Salad Mix (1 head romaine lettuce, 2 bunches of fresh spinach)
1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

In a large salad bowl, combine the romaine, spinach, and strawberries. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, milk, and poppy seeds. Shake well and pour the dressing over the salad. Toss until evenly coated.

Labels: Recipes

This is where you remind me to take pictures of the food before I let my family dig in. Pizza is always a hit in our house and it is hard to hold off the family for blog photos, particularly for our Friday family nights.

While I love my Pizza Hut Pizza Dough recipe, I have been relying on my other pizza dough recipe these past few weeks because of the simplicity of this dough and how easily it rolls out and comes together. This is a fantastic recipe that I have adapted for my bread machine and it makes one delicious pizza. The recipe offers instructions for making the dough in a food processor (recommended by Bittman), by hand, or with a stand mixer. At the bottom, I offer how I am able to adapt this for the bread machine. Basically, you can make it with something or nothing at all, which is why this recipe is an all-around winner in my book!

Basic Pizza Dough (courtesy of "How to Cook Everything," by Mark Bittman)

1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, plus more as needed
2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea slat, plus extra for sprinkling
1 to 1 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil

Combine the yeast, flour, and 2 teaspoons salt in the container of a food processor. Turn the machine on and add 1 cup water and the 2 tablespoons of oil through the feed tube. Process for 30 seconds, adding more water, a little at a time, until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch. If it is dry, add another tablespoon or two of water and process for another 10 seconds. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand a few seconds to form a smooth, round dough ball. Grease a bowl with the remaining olive oil, and place the dough in it. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and let it rise in a warm draft-free area until the dough doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours. You can cu this rising time short if you are in a hurry or you can let the dough rise more slowly in the refrigerator for six to eight hours.

To make this dough by hand: Combine half the flour with the salt and yeast and stir to blend. Add 1 cup water and the 2 tablespoons olive oil; stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add remaining flour a bit at a time; when the mixture becomes too stiff to stir with a spoon, begin kneading, adding as little flour as possible- just enough to keep the dough from being a sticky mess. Knead until smooth but still quite moist, about ten minutes. Proceed as above.

To make this dough with a standing mixer: The machine must be fairly powerful or it will stall. Combine half the flour with the salt, yeast, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and 1 cup water; blend with the machines paddle. With the machine on slow speed, add flour a little at a time until the mix has become a sticky ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl (switch to the dough hook if necessary). Knead for a minute by hand, adding as little flour as possible, then proceed as above.

To make this dough with the bread machine: Add ingredients as follows- warm water, olive oil, flour, salt, and then add yeast at the top. Turn machine on and select the dough setting. When the machine beeps, you can roll out the dough onto your pizza stone/pan.

Amy's Friday Night Pizza Routine

1 ball of pizza dough
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup 5 or 4 cheese blend
Toppings of your choice
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. While the oven is preheating, cook the crushed tomatoes, sugar, and salt in a pot over low heat for fifteen minutes. Bake the crust only for eight to ten minutes. Pull the crust out and then top with the crushed tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, 5-cheese blend, and toppings of your choice. Put pizza back in and cook for ten to twelve minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is nicely browned. To earn the coolest mom in the world award, be sure to serve this with some homemade slushies for a special treat.

Related Links:

Notebook Experiments: Will We Like Wheat Pizza Crust?

Freezer Worthy Pizza Sauce

Getting to Know the Bread Machine

Labels: Recipes

My kids love rice as a side dish and I have been looking for recipes that can add a little sparkle to our typical side dish. When hosting my Chari-Tea Bunco night, I bought a large jar of pesto at Sam's Club for a Pesto Pasta Salad that I served. Since I had plenty leftover, we have been working it into other dishes throughout the week. One night I smeared bread with pesto and Italian cheese and let it sit under the broiler for a couple of minutes as a side with an afternoon salad. Another night, we feasted on paninis with pesto, turkey, and swiss on sourdough.

When I ran across a recipe in one of my cookbooks for rice with pesto, I knew this would make a lovely side with our herb baked tilapia. I honestly wasn't sure if the kids would eat it though since it did have a light green color to it. They ended up gobbling it up just like those rice mixes in a box and the pesto added delicious flavor as a side to fish. It felt a little more grown-up than the Rice-A-Roni and we all enjoyed this very much.

Rice With Pesto or Herb Oil (from "How To Cook Everything")
Serves Four

1 tablespoon canola or other neutral oil
1 1/2 cups basmati or other long-grain rice (I used white long grain rice for this)
2 1/4 cups water
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup pesto or 1 cup fresh herb of your choice: chives, parsley, chervil, or cilantro, 1/4 cup canola or other neutral oil, & 1-2 tablespoons water if needed.

Heat the tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the rice and cook, stirring, until the rice is coated with oil. Add the water and season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat up a bit and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover and turn the heat to medium-low.

After 15 minutes, turn off the heat under the rice, but leave the cover on. Wait 10 minutes, then stir in the pesto or herb oil. Check the seasoning and serve immediately.

If you do not have pesto: While the rice is cooking, rinse the herb and place it in the container of a blender or small food processor. Turn the machine on and gradually add teh 1/4 cup oil. Blend or process until smooth, stopping the machine now and then to stir down the mixture. If necessary, add a tablespoon or two of water to the mixture; it should be the texture of heavy cream.

Related Links:

Yummy Mexican Rice

Lemony Rice Pilaf

Labels: Recipes

Experiment: Can I make yummy homemade bread?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 04.15.09

Materials Needed: Please see Dine & Dish for the full instructions. I followed the instructions exactly. I did have to add about 1/4 cup extra flour because the dough was a little too sticky.

Results: I was excited to try this recipe for "Honey, I'm Home Bread" because it looked so delicious and I could use my bread machine to make it. I layered in all of the ingredients and turned on my bread machine to do the work. When I peeked at the dough, it looked like it needed a little more flour so I worked that into the loaf.


As you can see, the bread rose beautifully. It rose so high, in fact, that when it baked it hit the top of my oven and got a little dip in the center (thus, the off-center pictures here). The bread looked golden and smelled delicious.

Unfortunately, it got very brown on the outside after 35 minutes of baking, but when I cut into it, it was still dough in the center. I am not sure if it was because I use stoneware versus a glass loaf pan, but the inside of the loaf did not come out the way I hoped.

Regardless, I am going to try this recipe again and maybe just cook it in the bread machine instead or try a different loaf pan. We did eat around the dough parts because we can't let good bread like that go to waste. It was absolutely deliciously sweet from the honey and a perfect balance of flavors.

I refuse to give up though which is why this is not a failed experiment in my book!

Conclusion: Thanks to Dine & Dish for giving me a recipe that I can't wait to attempt again!

Related Links:

Getting to Know Your Bread Machine

Adventures in Bread Making: Artisan Bread in 5

Storing Homemade Bread & Bread Ingredients

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I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Wednesday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original crafster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Notebook Experiments, Recipes

Need a fast and elegant dish to entertain with? What about one you could throw in your slow cooker? How about one that could be prepared and thrown in the freezer? How about something that could be made from pantry ingredients? Well, this dish is for you!

When I was growing up my mom used to buy a product called "Chicken Tonight" that had a sauce that you could cook your chicken in to make a fast dinner. My mom served it over rice as a quick weeknight meal and it was always a favorite of mine.

This recipe reminds me a lot of that dish and is as equally easy to prepare. You can throw it in your slow cooker or you can put it in the oven for last minute guests.

I hope you can throw this recipe in your rotation. It has never failed me and everyone I know that has made it, loves the simplicity of this fast and delicious dish.

Chicken Italiano (or Amy's Copycat Version of "Chicken Tonight")

4 chicken breasts
2 cups marinara sauce
1/3 cup chopped tomatoes (you can use fresh or a can of diced tomatoes)
1/2 cup Italian Dressing

Slow Cooker Version: Place all ingredients in your slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for six hours. Serve over spaghetti or rice with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. This is delicious with a side of roasted green beans.

Oven Version: Throw frozen chicken breasts in. Pour sauce, tomatoes, & Italian dressing on top. Bake at 375 for 1 hour (or longer if they are large chicken breasts).

Make-Ahead Version: Throw all of the ingredients in a freezer bag and label with cooking directions. To prepare, just thaw and follow one of the versions above.

To see more great recipes, please visit Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty & Bedlam!

Labels: Recipes

Recently multi-platinum, Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter, Ashanti teamed up with Johnson's Body Care to launch a new charitable program that enables real women across the country to support local charities through simply hosting get-togethers with friends.

I was given the opportunity to host one of these "cause parties" where I could kick back with my girlfriends, pamper ourselves with Johnson's new line of lotions and body washes and help raise money for a local charity.

Lucky for me, it happened to be my turn to host our monthly Bunco so I decided to partner these opportunities together and host a Chari-Tea Bunco night at my house.

My guests were asked to bring monetary and/or food donations to support the St Joseph County Food Bank. Everyone also agreed that the winnings would be given to the food bank instead of divided among ourselves for the event and Johnson's gave us $100 to start the charitable pot for our charity.

By hosting this event with Johnson's they gave us the money to put towards the food and drinks for our event so I truly got to pamper my girlfriends in style because no one had to bring a single dish to share.
I still kept to a thrifty budget, but tried to add some special touches for our group. Our centerpiece was a bouquet of flowers displayed in a teapot with a variety of special teas in my china teacups for our table. These beautiful bouquets of flowers were purchased at Sam's Club for less than $5.

Here are some pictures of the great food that we got to eat. I wanted to stick with the tea party food and dishes that would be easy to handle while playing our game.

I got a huge croissant sandwich tray that served 18 for $32 at Sam's Club. I cut these sandwiches in half and then added colored toothpicks to hold them together so people could sample different varieties of sandwiches and to make them a little more bite-sized.

For side dishes, I purchased two huge vegetable trays for $9.87 each that were prepared by Sam's Club. I made a delicous pesto pasta salad from my new favorite cookbook, "The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen," which you must check out! I then bought a variety of fruit and made fruit kabobs by skewering them for our guests out of pineapple, grapes, and strawberries. These fruit kabobs were thrown into a pretty wine bucket for everyone to grab.

For dessert, I purchased two boxes of mini creme puffs that I served on cake platters with a decaf coffee to finish out the meal.

The star of the party though was the Bunco punch that I made that was a delicious summery drink to go with our food. We also had a box of the Black Box Cabernet which was another surprising hit with many of my friends who had not had the pleasure of trying boxed wines before. Sam's Club had the best price on this with a box that was equivalent to four bottles for only $18.32. I have to say, these boxed wines are an affordable way to entertain on a budget.

On my lower level, we had a little welcome desk where my guests could sign in and my coffee table got taken over by all of the great food donations.

Each guest got to take home a really cute reusable bag filled with Johnson's products to sample and share with their friends as a thank you for their charitable efforts. Each bag contained their 24 Hour Moisturizer, 24 Hour Moisturizing Body Wash, & their Be Radiant Cocoa & Shea Butter Lotions. These products were just for us, not for our kiddos, and they smell and feel great. My favorite is definitely the Be Radiant Cocoa & Shea Butter Lotion- it smells divine!


We had the biggest turn out for Bunco ever with seventeen great women in attendance and we were so excited about all we could do for our community. With the donation made by Johnson's plus our own donations, we were able to donate $205 to the St Joseph County Food Bank and an entire car full of food donations for the cause.

With the job loss in our area, our food banks and shelters are in critical need right now and if you are able to give anything at all, I encourage you to take the time to do it.

Here are some of the items the Food Bank of Northern Indiana critically needs:

Cereal -- hot and cold
Meat, chicken or tuna
Mac/cheese, dry pasta
Vegetables
Potato flakes
Spaghetti O's, stews
Rice
Pork & Beans
Applesauce
Chicken Helper
Family-sized soups
Dry soup mixes
Fruit
Crackers
Spaghetti
Sauce
Juice boxes
Beans -- baked, refried
Pancake, waffle mix
Plastic containers

Individuals, clubs, churches, civic groups and local businesses can all conduct food drives. Donated food is a much needed commodity in their fight against hunger. They accept donated food between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday, at their location on 702 S. Chapin Street, South Bend, IN. If this location is not convenient to you, there are many other drop off points including all of the Martin's Supermarket grocery stores. For more information please visit The Food Bank of Northern Indiana to find out how you can help.

Throwing a cause party was such a fun girl's night out and I encourage you to do the same with your girlfriends! It is a fun and easy way to give back to charities in your community and I am so thankful that Johnson's helped us support such a great cause in our own community!

Here are the star recipes from our fabulous Chari-Tea Bunco night that you could replicate for a charity night at your house!

Pesto Pasta Salad (courtesy of "The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen") and you can visit The Farm Chicks Blog too!

3 cups bowtie pasta (about 8 oz)
1/4 cup pesto (Sam's Club has pesto for really cheap, if your garden isn't ready for pesto-making yet)
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes (about two medium)
1/2 cup halved pitted black olives
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)

Cook pasta as directed. Drain and rinse under cold running water and let cool. Place in a salad bowl. In another bowl, mix the pesto and sour cream together and add to the pasta, tossing to coat. Add the tomatoes, olives, parmesan cheese, and pine nuts and toss to mix. Serve.

Bunco Punch

ICE RING:
Orange slices
Lemon slices
Lime slices
Maraschino cherries
Cherry juice or red food coloring
Water
Metal ring mold

SIMPLE SYRUP (Prepare ahead) :
3 c. water
3 c. sugar
Combine, boil and cool.

PUNCH:
Simple syrup, chilled
4 c. chilled cranberry juice
3 c. chilled bottled lemon juice
2 c. chilled orange juice
2 c. chilled unsweetened pineapple juice
2 qt. chilled ginger ale
16 oz. rum or vodka or wine or champagne

Create your ice ring by throwing in the citrus fruit slices and then pouring in the jar of cherries (juice and all) Top the bundt pan off with water and then freeze overnight.

To serve: Unmold ice ring into punch bowl; add juices and liquor; add ginger ale.

This makes approximately 30 (6 ounce) servings.


What are some fun charitable activities you do with your friends and/or family? I would love for you to share how you make charity a priority in your house?

Related Links:

Good Cheap Fun: Bunco

Retro Housewife Bunco

Kentucky Derby Bunco

'70's Bunco Style

Labels: Entertainment, Friendship, Frugal, Recipes, Reviews, Shopping

When I was growing up, my mom made many varieties of bar treats for us. We ate a lot of lemon bars, brownies, and chocolate chip cookie bars as snacks. When I would go to my friend's houses though, their moms made homemade cookies and I would come home and beg my mom to make cookies instead of bars. I never understood why she always made bars for us...until now!

Bars are so much easier than cookies and you dirty up a heck of a lot less pans. There is no cooling on racks that has to be done or switching of cookie sheets. All you have to do to make these cookies is mix and dump. Within minutes you can be snacking on a plate full of cookie bars without the mess or work that regular cookies can be.

Last week I called up my mom and told her what a genius I think she was by making these bars for us! I know my kids will probably be complaining about the lack of cookies in our house, but maybe they will figure out what a genius I am too. It might take them thirty years to figure it out though!

Want perfectly perfect bars? Try my trick and keep a plastic knife handy in your utensil drawer. You can cut them into perfect squares without the crumby mess, even when they aren't fully cool.

The entire family devoured these and the kids loved this new addition to our snack hour. I hope you can enjoy all the cookie goodness without the work too!


Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (12 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x13" pan. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, both sugars and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Gradually beat flour mixture into butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Spread into prepared pan. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Labels: Recipes

Experiment: Can I make homemade bunny (monkey) bread?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 02.05.09

Materials Needed: Please see Baking Bites for the original recipe. I took great liberties with the recipe though and made a bread machine version that came out beautifully. If you don't have a bread machine though, please visit Baking Bites for a version that can be prepared with a spoon or a stand mixer.

Results: When I see cake pans at the thrift store, I can't resist picking them up, even if I have nothing in mind to do with them. This bunny-shaped pan was $2 at Goodwill and has been gathering dust in my basement. I decided to break it out to make the kids a special Easter treat.

Our Easter tradition usually consists of my homemade cinnamon rolls, but I thought it would be fun to do something a little different this year. I remembered this great little recipe for homemade monkey bread and also know that it happens to be one of my husband's favorite childhood treats so I thought I would give this recipe a spin.

I opt for the lazy version though and prefer making things in my handy little bread machine, so I modified the recipe to put my little appliance to work and thought I would share my version here.


Bread Machine Monkey Bread/Bunny Bread (adapted from Baking Bites)

1/4 cup water, warm (100-110F)
2 tbsp butter, melted
3/4 cup milk, warm (100-110F)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg (beaten)
3 - 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (.25-oz)

Sugar Mixture:
2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 cup butter, melted

Lightly grease a standard 10-in bundt pan with vegetable oil or any cake-shaped pan. Set aside.
In a microwavable bowl, combine the water, milk, and butter and microwave it for one minute (or just until warm). Pour this into the bottom of your bread machine. Add the egg and vanilla next. Add the flour, salt, sugar, and then finally the yeast. Run the Dough cycle on your bread machine and let it run through the entire cycle until it beeps.

Turn dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and gently deflate so that dough is relatively flat (maybe 1/2-3/4 inch thick) Using a knife or a bench scraper, cut off small pieces of dough to form 1/2 to 1-inch balls. As you cut each piece of dough, roll it into a ball in the palms of your hands. Dunk each ball in butter, use the fork to remove it and transfer it to the sugar mixture to be thoroughly coated. Place all coated dough balls into prepared bundt pan.

Once all balls have been coated and places in the pan, cover the pan lightly with plastic wrap and let bread rise for 60 minutes, until almost doubled in size. I covered this with plastic wrap and then popped it in the fridge overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350F when you are ready to bake it. If it is in the refrigerator, pull it out a half hour before and let it rise on the kitchen counter before baking. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Bread will spring back when lightly pressed. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a serving platter. Eat immediately (or reheat leftovers), as the bread is best served warm and gooey.

Conclusion: The kids absolutely devoured this bunny bread and my husband thought it was the perfect balance of sweetness. I, unfortunately, was struck with the stomach flu this year and got to watch them eat all of this deliciousness while laying on the couch dying, but I will definitely be participating in the devouring next year. Best of all, I found a great new use for that bunny pan and I can't wait to make this a yearly Easter tradition.
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I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Wednesday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original craftster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Kid Recipes, Notebook Experiments, Recipes

One of our favorite sandwich shops in town is Jimmy John's. If you haven't sampled one of their yummy gourmet subs, you must run out and get one. My husband loves these so much that this is where he wanted to meet us for his birthday lunch. The two of us spent many a late night over their subs at Purdue University. Now as parents, our children love them just as much as we do!

When chatting with my friend Jessica, whose husband happens to own and operate our local Jimmy John's, she shared with me that they offer their "day old" bread for a deeply discounted price. Day old simply means that the bread is more than five hours old and so they can no longer use it to make the sandwiches. I never realized that they offered this and was anxious to find out the price and if they would have any the next time I went.

After church on Sunday, we headed over to the restaurant to grab some lunch and I asked if they had any day old bread to spare. Stacked high on the counter were many loaves of bread offered at a discounted rate. For $.48 a loaf, I grabbed four loaves to see what I could invent in the kitchen with this inexpensive bread. That is right, only $.48 a loaf, far cheaper than even the discounted bakery cart at Walmart!


That evening, I worked on a beautiful roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and baby peas for a delicious Sunday dinner. The chicken had a yummy lemon sauce and we used the bread to mop up the sauce. We quickly polished off the first loaf that night. No need to change anything when the bread is fresh and a perfect side to any dinner hour.


I called my mother-in-law to see if she would like to come over for dinner the following night. For $.48 a loaf, I can afford to entertain! The second loaf of bread is reinvented into my favorite overnight breakfast casserole. We served this with orange juice, coffee, and a fresh loaf of my banana oat bread. Everyone left the table will full bellies and smiles on their face.

That evening, I cut the last two loaves into squares, drizzled them with olive oil, sprinkled them with garlic salt and threw them in the oven to make homemade croutons. The bread was still soft, but a little stale so this was a great way to use up what was left.

The next morning we had a playgroup to attend and we had to pack our lunches. My yummy lunch was a grilled chicken salad topped with those homemade croutons and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

When I got home that night, I still had to make our dinner. Lucky for me, I have plenty of croutons so I gave them a spin in my food processor.

Poured them into my favorite thrifted tin platter.

I gave my chicken a little dip in some egg and then the breadcrumbs.

They were baked into my new new favorite Chicken Parmesan recipe, served with pasta, and a little wine. As everyone happily munched away, I brought up the bread that we had bought several days before. "This is the best you have ever made!" my husband proclaimed. I batted my eyes and said, "It must be that day old bread from Jimmy John's that makes it so good." His look of surprise was priceless.

I still have enough leftover to make a batch of meatballs and bread our pork chops this week.

As a frugal homemaker, I don't think I reinvent the wheel of frugality... but I sure know how to beat a dead horse!

What are some of your proudest money-saving moments? Do you have a "beat the dead horse" approach towards using what you have?

Labels: Frugal, Recipes, Shopping

One of my kid's favorite treats in the world are mom's homemade slushies. I have been making these for years now and they never fail to be a hit with everyone in the family. My husband loves slushies even more than ice cream and he lights up just as much as the kids do when I break out the blender.

Slushies at our local ice cream joint really add up and we could easily spend about ten dollars getting everyone one of these. This recipe costs me about fifty cents for four and is just as good. Aldi offers Mixade variety packs that are even cheaper than the Kool-Aid brand and still make vibrant and delicious slushies.

I tried this with the no sugar varieties and they flopped and tasted more like a shaved ice than a slushie.

Go ahead, live a little! Bring on the sugar for a special family night treat!

World's Greatest Homemade Slushies (Courtesy of Hillbilly Housewife)

2 cups ice water
1 packet fruit-flavored drink mix (use your favorite flavor)
2/3 cup sugar
4 cups or 1 full tray of ice cubes

You need a blender to prepare this recipe. Put all of the ingredients into your blender. It will be about 2/3 to 3/4's full. Put the lid on. Process the mixture on high for a full minute. Stop the blender, use a spoon to stir it a bit. Look for unchopped ice chunks. If all the chunks are grated up, then go ahead and serve it. You may need to process it for another full minute though. Serve immediately. I usually have to spoon this out of the blender with a measuring cup because the mixture is so thick. Makes 4 - 8oz servings.

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

Experiment: Will my family love a chicken cooked in milk?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 04.02.09

Materials Needed: Please see The Kitchn for specific directions on how to make Jamie Oliver's chicken cooked in milk & lemon. I followed the instructions outlined by The Kitchn and left the lid on for the first hour of the cooking time, versus the chicken uncovered as Jamie outlines in his recipe. I also omitted the cinnamon stick to go with a more traditional flavor, but might give that a try next time.

Results: I love roasted chicken and it is the ultimate Sunday dinner for our family. When I saw this recipe, I knew I would have to try it. I happened to be out at Target so I picked up all the ingredients there including an organic bird since they had them on sale.

The main difficulty I had with the recipe was frying the bird in the butter. I think the butter could have been easily reduced to half the amount and still brought out a lot of flavor. I had a hard time flipping the bird without splattering myself, but got a good start on the skin before it went into the oven.

I added all the ingredients to the pot and then put the lid on it. It cooked for the first hour with the lid on and then I basted it and removed the lid for the last half hour.

Here is what you need to know about this recipe that makes it worth the little bit of effort. First, it made the whole house smell amazing and I literally wanted to eat it within the first fifteen minutes of cooking because the house smelled that good. Second, the meat literally falls off of the bone. There is no carving, it literally falls off. Third, the sauce is delicious and the "curdled" appearance was barely noticeable at all in the sauce.

All of that being said, the breast meat was drier than I would have liked so I am not sure if that could be remedied with a shorter cooking time or cooking it with the lid on the entire time. I am going to try a few different scenarios until I perfect this one because it is truly that good.

Make sure to have lots of bread for mopping up all that great sauce. If you pair this with a good white wine, a pile of mashed potatoes, and a great Etta James CD (like our family did), you will love every minute and bite that happens during that dinner!

Update: We tried this chicken again. This time I did not brown it, omitted the butter entirely, and cut the lemons in half and added two halves around the chicken and two halves stuffed in the chicken. I sprinkled the outside of the chicken with cinnamon instead of the cinnamon stick (which costs quite a bit more at our supermarket). I cooked it covered and then gave it twenty minutes with the lid off. The second time...absolutely perfect and lower calorie to boot!

Conclusion: This recipe will be repeated again and again! I thank The Kitchn for highlighting it and I can't wait to try some different variations to make this chicken the ultimate chicken in our house!
**********************


I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Wednesday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original craftster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Notebook Experiments, Recipes

I have roasted a lot of vegetables during my lifetime, but I can honestly say that I had never roasted green beans before. I saw a recipe for roasting green beans and knew I would have to try it. I decided to use what I had in my produce drawer and pantry to make this great little side dish that I know you will absolutely love.

The original recipe did call for fresh green beans, but I had a bag of the fancy frozen ones from Aldi in my freezer that I wanted to use. I added an extra ten-fifteen minutes cooking time for these and they were perfect for our taste. You can roast them longer, if you like, but this amount of time seemed to fit well for me.

Below is the recipe including instructions for fresh and for frozen. This would be a wonderful side dish for your cookouts this summer and looks deliciously gourmet with very little effort.

It would also make a great side dish for your Easter dinner celebration this year. Enjoy!

Roasted Green Beans

2 pounds fresh green beans (or a bag of frozen fancy green beans)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic (I use the bottled garlic to save a little time)
Salt & Pepper
Zest from one lemon (save the juice for later)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Grab a jelly roll pan and dump green beans on the pan. Sprinkle seasonings, lemon zest, and garlic over the green beans. Drizzle the olive oil over the green beans and then toss with your hands until they are all coated with the seasonings and zest. Spread out in a single layer and slide your cookie sheet into the oven. Roast fresh green beans for 20-25 minutes and roast frozen green beans for an additional 10-15 minutes. When they are done, pull from the oven and put them on a serving platter. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top (from the lemon you zested) and serve.

Labels: Recipes

Experiment: Can I make a wheat pizza crust that the whole family will love?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 02.12.09

Materials Needed: Please see Day by Day for specific directions on how to make this pizza crust. I actually used my bread machine for this instead of using the stand mixer and just dumped the ingredients in like I would normally (wet ingredients, dry ingredients, yeast on top) and it came together great.

Results:


I ran my bread machine on the dough cycle and did have to add just a little bit of water to make the dough a little bit looser. I let it run through the entire cycle and then floured my counters and rolled it out for my lightly greased cookie sheet.

I baked as instructed and the results were great. The crust has a chewy texture and puffs up beautifully. I usually have to bake my crust first to get it to be nice and chewy, but I was able to top this crust and bake it right with the toppings and still have a nice firm crust.

The kids ate it and my husband really liked it too. It was a little bit healthier than our previous versions which made me feel less guilty about the slushie factor that I added in for our fun family night. It all balances out in the end, right?



Conclusion: I will definitely be making this crust again, but play around a little bit with the spices. I think it would be great with regular salt and garlic powder and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese instead, but it is a very versatile recipe that is a little healthier than our normal pizza crust. Thanks to Day by Day for sharing their family recipe!

Related Links:

Can I Make a Deep Dish Pizza?

Dinner is in the Bag

Freezer Worthy Pizza Sauce

Pizza Hut Pizza Dough Crust

**********************


I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Wednesday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original craftster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Kid Recipes, Notebook Experiments, Recipes

When I feel like I have mastered a recipe, I often don't go back and take a look at new recipes for that particular dish. After all, if you are making the best there is, why would you ever explore anything new? That is how I felt about my banana bread recipe. It was the perfect recipe and it has never failed me. It is not the most figure-friendly though and so when I ran across this recipe from Cooking Light, I knew I would have to try it. I modified the recipe to our taste and what we had in our cupboard and what came from that little experimentation resulted in this perfectly perfect absolutely amazing banana bread recipe that will be replacing my old version.

Despite using rolled oats, there is no weird texture to the bread, even without any soaking of the oats. The sprinkle of oats on top add just a little bit of chewiness and the bread is moist, but still light-tasting.

My husband likened it to a delicious oatmeal cookie and I was impressed with how clean it came out of the pans, how easy it was to cut, and the beauty of the light golden color with the dusting of oats on top.

The original recipe called for white sugar and had no spices. I substituted the white sugar with brown sugar and added cinnamon. I had half-and-half in my refrigerator and added 2 teaspoons of vinegar to it to replace the buttermilk.

Did I mention this recipe is also very frugal? No butter in the recipe and very little fat, bananas that were going to make their way into a trash can, and cheap generic oatmeal! And yet, despite all of those factors, it would make an amazing little gift packaged for a special person in your life!

The recipe that is written below is my adaptation of this bread and I hope you will enjoy it half as much as our family has!


Deliciously Light Banana Oat Bread

1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup mashed banana (approximately 2 1/2 per loaf)
1/3 cup buttermilk (I substituted with half & half with 2 tsp of vinegar to sour)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a 8 x 4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine banana, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and eggs in a small bowl or measuring cup. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack, in the pan, for about 15 minutes (I left mine in longer and it was fine). Remove the bread from the pan after 15 minutes and cool thoroughly on the rack.

Labels: Recipes

Experiment: Can I make a delicious oatmeal cookie that the kids will love?

Labels: Kid Recipes, Notebook Experiments, Recipes

I love to make homemade hamburger buns for our sandwiches and have been wanting to try a recipe for whole wheat buns. For my first attempt, I think these buns are absolutely delicious and fit the bill perfectly. They are not too dense, but can handle a messy sandwich like a Sloppy Joe or Chicken BBQ perfectly. You can substitute the shortening with canola oil to make these a bit more heart-healthy.

I look forward to making these again and again for our family!


Whole Wheat Hamburger & Hot Dog Buns (courtesy of Bread Machine Magic)

1 cup water
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening (can substitute with canola oil instead)
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons yeast


Place all ingredients in bread pan, select Dough setting, and press Start. (Vital Wheat Gluten is optional but the bread will rise higher with it.). When dough has risen enough, the machine will beep. Remove bread pan, and turn out dough onto a floured countertop. Gently roll and shape the dough into a 12-inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces for hamburger buns or 12 pieces for hot dog buns. Grease a baking sheet. Roll pieces of dough into balls and flatten for hamburger buns or shape into 6-inch rolls for hot dog buns. Place on prepared baking sheet. Cover and let rise in warm oven 10 to 15 minutes until almost doubled. Preheat oven to 400°F Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown (be careful mine cook pretty fast). Remove from oven and cool on racks. When ready to use, split buns horizontally.

**These will keep in plastic bag in the freezer for 3 to 4 weeks.

Related Links:

Getting to Know Your Bread Machine

Storing Homemade Bread & Bread Ingredients

Buttery Bread Machine Rolls

Homemade Hamburger Buns

Do you make homemade hamburger or hot dog buns? Please feel free to share your recipe!

Labels: Recipes

Salmon is one of my favorite types of fish and I couldn't wait to try this recipe out. It mimics the same flavors as the Herb Baked Tilapia, but offers the addition of the lemon seasoning to add a unique twist to one of my family's favorite meals.

Our whole family really loved this dish and I loved adding a side of the homemade Lemony Rice Pilaf since the fish had the hint of lemon flavoring throughout it.

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as our family did!


Baked Salmon

1 lb salmon fillets (I used the frozen fillets from Aldi Supermarket)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Lawry's Lemon Pepper
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
1 cup dry breadcrumbs (I used Italian breadcrumbs)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Fillet salmon and place skin side down on a glass baking dish. Spread a generous amount of mayonnaise; cover entire top of fish. Sprinkle liberally with seasoned salt, cheese and dry bread crumbs. Bake about 25 to 30 minutes, uncovered (with the frozen fillet portions, fifteen-twenty minutes should be plenty of time). Place under broiler until top turns brown.

Lemony Rice Pilaf (Courtesy of Recipezaar)

1 teaspoon vegetable oil, preferably canola oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
3 cups chicken stock (vegetable stock makes this vegetarian/vegan)
1 grated lemon, rind of
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
fresh ground pepper

In a heavy saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and cook onion for 5 minutes, or until softened. Stir in rice, then stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover; let simmer for 20 minutes, or until rice is tender. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, and parsley; taste and add pepper if you wish. Note: This reheats very well so you can make a double batch for another night, if you like!

Labels: Recipes

On our last chicken enchilada night, I decided I wanted to add a fun side dish to our meal. What goes better with your homemade enchiladas then a little bit of Mexican Rice? I can admit that the Mexican Rice is actually my favorite part of going out for Mexican food.

I found this little recipe and dug through our pantry for all of the ingredients. The tomato sauce complimented the enchiladas that we dipped in that homemade enchilada sauce better than anything else and I was able to modify the spices to our taste. I used white rice, but I may need to try my brown rice experiment and use that instead. This is a fun and inexpensive side dish and even our rice-haters ate it with great enthusiasm.

I think this will be a repeat performer in our house!

Mexican Rice

1 cup uncooked rice (not instant rice)
2 tablespoons oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium white onion, chopped (omitted because of personal taste)
2 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped (I omitted this ingredient because I didn't have any tomatoes)
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup chicken broth or beef broth (we chose chicken broth)
1 tablespoon chili powder (you can reduce this- I added 1 teaspoon)
3/4 teaspoon salt

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet. Add the rice and stir over medium-high heat until rice is golden brown. Add the garlic and chopped onion, and sauté until the onion just begins to brown. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, chili powder and salt, lower heat and cover. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and allow to sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.

Rice is yummy and a frugal side dish! Do you have any favorite rice recipes you could share?

Labels: Recipes

My husband sent me the link to this series and I can't stop watching. Clara is an amazing woman who shares her tricks and tips that they used to stretch a buck in the Depression Era. Her stories are beautiful and her cooking tips are wonderful. I hope you can take a moment to enjoy this Poor Man's Feast that she shares in this episode and visit the Depression Cooking Channel to see more episodes!

Labels: Recipes, You Tube

You have been talking about bread machines and making bread. I am interested in doing this since I am home all the time and I love fresh bread.

I was at the Goodwill and saw many of them and they were kind of cheap, like 20.00 or less. I am dumb so help me out. Does the machine knead the dough and bake it and everything in the bread machine?

If I would purchase one at the Goodwill how would I know if it works or not?

I am interested. Please help me find a way in a new venture.

Signed,

First of all, thank you for your question! The Ask Frugal Momma column can't happen without your questions, so please keep sending them my way. You can email any and all questions to amy@momadvice.com. We have had some fun topics and I am very excited to share with everyone!

Do any of you have bread machine gathering dust in your house? A lot of people buy these appliances and then end up donating them at their local thrift store because they never use them. I think of the bread machine as a modern day convenience, but in a culture where we want everything NOW, waiting for a loaf of bread can seem like an eternity. Why wait for a hot loaf of fresh bread when you can grab a loaf at your supermarket? And what exactly is the purpose of that appliance that is taking up space on your shelves?

On any given day in our house, you will find our bread machine happily humming along and whipping up fresh dough and bread for us. We use our bread machine almost daily, and spare ourselves the expense of fancy bakery breads. Not only that, but our bread machine has a regular performance in our house on Friday nights. This appliance makes our favorite pizza dough for our official “family night” together.

The purpose of a bread machine is to be able to make fresh bread when you want it. The reasons vary from person to person on why they choose to make their own bread. Many people have concerns about the additives and preservatives that are found in store-bought breads. Another reason that many people choose to make their own bread is because they just enjoy the taste of homemade bread. My reasoning for making our own bread is because I like to save our family money. Making your own bread costs so much less than purchasing a loaf of bread, and the rising grocery costs have only fueled my desire more to make it at home.

I am not a baker though and our days seem to be jam-packed with activities for our family. Taking the time to knead, rise, and bake bread…well, that hasn’t seemed to top the priority list at this point in my life. Lucky for me, there is an appliance that can do all the work for me and all I have to do is pull the finished loaf or ball of dough out.

To begin, all you have to do is put the ingredients in and select your setting. Some of the older machines have just a handful of simple settings. I find that the settings we use most on our machine are Basic and the Dough cycle, which can be found on every machine. The basic cycle is just the basic setting for making a loaf of bread. The Dough cycle just completes the kneading and rising of the dough. Once the dough cycle is complete, you can take the dough out and shape it into your loaf pan or do fancy braids or rolls out of the dough.

Inserting your ingredients into a bread machine is also very straightforward. If you are making the loaf right away, you can insert the ingredients in any way that you want. All of these ingredients will immediately be stirred together and so it will not matter what the order is. If you use a timer delay on your bread machine, delaying the start time of making your loaf, it is imperative that you put the ingredients in the right order or your loaf will not turn out right. The order of ingredients is liquid (liquids include water, oil, milk, eggs, or honey), flour, other dry ingredients (salt, sugar, baking powder, seasonings), and ending the ingredients with your yeast. The most important part of putting the yeast in is to make sure that you make a small indentation into the center of the flour so that the yeast does not react with the other ingredients.

Upon inserting your ingredients, your bread machine will take over the process from there. The machine will knead the ingredients together, give the bread its rising time, and then it will bake the bread. The bread machine will signal when the bread is ready and you can allow the bread to cool inside of the bread bucket.

There is no need to spend the money on convenience bread machine mixes; in fact, you can make your own convenient mixes handy for the week. I take plastic storage bags and make an assembly line of the dry ingredients and do my bags once a month. On the outside, just write what liquids you will need to add and you will only have a dirty kitchen once.

A quick glance at grocery store prices though and you will wonder how there could be any possible savings with making your bread at home. The key to making this the least expensive on your family is to purchase all of your ingredients at your local wholesale club. With proper storage, you can buy the ingredients in bulk and save your family loads of money. For example, our wholesale club has twenty-five pounds of bread & all-purpose flour for under $6 each. Two pounds of yeast will run you just under $4. What a difference compared to the prices in your regular supermarket!

For storage, flour can be stored for up to a year in an airtight container. With bulk storage, a large plastic bin that has been clearly labeled is ideal to keep your flour fresh. Yeast is the easiest ingredient to store and has a very long shelf life. I store my yeast in a clear jar in our refrigerator door. With both of these ingredients, writing an expiration date on the label will also remind you of when the item is going to expire.

If you do not have a bread machine and are looking for one, garage sales and thrift sales are a great place to hunt. I see these machines for $10 or less, and you will definitely get your money back from the savings of making your own bread. When you find one, ask if you can plug it in and make sure it is working. Just check that it actually powers up, that there is a bread bucket inside, and that there is a paddle in the bottom of the bread machine to stir the ingredients. Having a manual with it is handy, but usually can be found by searching online.

Good luck in your quest to find a bread machine and I hope it is a well-loved appliance in your home!

(photo credit: Koropop)

Related & Helpful Information:

Hillbilly Houswife's Bread Machine Basics

Buttery Bread Machine Rolls

My Favorite Pizza Dough (after much trial & error)

Storing Homemade Bread & Bread Ingredients

Homemade Croutons

Dinner is in the Bag

Adventures in Bread Making: Artisan Bread in 5

Adventures in Bread Making: Fiddlin' With Temperatures

Let's talk about it! Do you use a bread machine or do you make your bread the old school way? Feel free to share your bread machine recipes here!

Labels: Organizing, Recipes, Thrifting

These wings...oh, these chicken wings. This picture does not do them justice, but maybe if I tell you that I really hate chicken wings and I would eat these any day of the week, it just might convince you to try this recipe.

Since we have been doing the No Spend Challenge, I only had a 1/4 cup of soy sauce left in a bottle and no other bottles in my pantry. I did have a bottle of Teriyaki sauce so I substituted half of the soy sauce with Teriyaki sauce instead and hoped for the best.

My husband looked up at me and said, "Whatever you did, do this every single time."

So I will and I am blogging it too so I don't ever forget it.

May I recommend a fun appetizer night with your family? After all, what is better than a ton of fun snacky foods and a good family flick?

Chicken Wings With Honey BBQ Sauce (updated)

3 pounds chicken wings
1 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced (I just used a tablespoon of bottled minced garlic)

Season wings with salt & pepper. Place frozen wings on broiler pan and broil for twelve-fifteen minutes on each side. Transfer wings to the slow cooker. Combine ingredients and pour over wings. Cook on high two hours or low for four hours.

Labels: Recipes

Experiment: Can I make waffles that are as light as air?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 02.25.09

Materials Needed: Please see Serious Eats for the full instructions.

Results: I loved all your feedback last week on my failed pretzel experience. I thought it was important to share that I can totally flop in the kitchen just like anyone else. I have had many failed experiments over the years, but I probably do not share those as often as I should. I try to only showcase the tried and true recipes, but there are those days where the cooking isn't very stellar in this house and I want to share that with you too!

That failed experiment though did not stop me from attempting another recipe in the notebook. As soon as I saw this recipe for waffles, I knew that I wanted to try it. I love my waffles, but often wish that they were not so dense so that is why I was intrigued by this recipe. I decided to make a double batch, hoping they would turn out and make a fun breakfast for the kids out of the leftovers.

There were several things that made this recipe different from others I have tried. There was no vanilla in it, no sugar even, and it required you to separate the yolks and whites in the egg, whipping the whites until they were at the stiff peak stage. After mixing the batter together, you then fold in the egg whites which created a lot of volume and airiness to the batter.

This combination of ingredients was absolutely perfect and folding in the egg whites helped to create the perfect balance of crispness and airiness that I have been looking for in a waffle recipe. The lack of sugar in the recipe also made it so the waffles were not so sweet and could be heavily coated in homemade pancake syrup without making them too heavy.


1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 egg whites
Procedure

1. In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center.

2. In another bowl beat egg yolks slightly. Stir in milk and oil.

3. Add egg yolk mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just till moistened (should be lumpy).

4. In a small bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight up).

5. Gently fold egg whites into flour and egg yolk mixture, leaving a few fluffs of egg white, Do not overmix.

6. Spoon waffle batter into your waffle iron, making sure not to overfill it.

7. Serve with real maple syrup and unsalted butter.

Side Note- I doubled this recipe for my family of four and we had enough for three extra Belgian waffles


Conclusion: I will make these waffles again and again because they were absolutely perfect. They truly were the best waffles ever and I look forward to serving these again for a fun brunch or weeknight meal!

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Want to join in on the MomAdvice No Spend Challenge? Make sure to add your name to the linky list and read more about our challenge. You can also join our No Spend Challenge Flickr Group and upload your pictures of what you did each day.

To read all the entries on not spending, you can visit our No Spend Challenge category!
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I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Wednesday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original crafster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Notebook Experiments, Recipes

One of my favorite things in the world is a delicious bowl of soup. After my visit to Campbell's and a recent article that I read in All You Magazine about soup being a great way to consume less calories during your lunch hour, I was inspired to make a big batch of soup for myself. And when I say myself, I mean only me. No one else in my family likes soup so I am able to eat a batch of this for a week or even freeze it to eat over the course of a couple of weeks.

This soup was in my Slow Cooker Menu Planner, but I wanted to make it a little lighter for the lunch hour. By omitting the ground turkey and using small pasta shells and increasing the liquid a bit, I had the perfect balance for a filling soup that wasn't too heavy plus it is a great way to get in all those yummy veggies.

The soup did seem to absorb a lot of the broth so if it got too thick, I would just add a little beef or chicken broth to thin it out when reheating it.

This is definitely comfort food at it's best!

Italian Veggie Pasta Soup

3 carrots - chopped very small

4 stalks celery

2 cans diced tomatoes - do not drain (I used the petite diced)

2 cans red kidney beans - drained

4 cans beef broth

1 jar spaghetti sauce

8 ounces noodles - I used the small past shells

2 tablespoons olive oil

Add two tablespoons of olive oil to the pot and saute vegetables for 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. Sprinkle these liberally with salt and pepper. While these are cooking, in a separate pot boil water and cook pasta shells until they are just cooked (about 5-6 minutes). Drain the pasta water, but do not rinse the pasta. Set aside. Next add diced tomatoes (do not drain), kidney beans, beef broth, and spaghetti sauce to the pot with the vegetables. Allow this to cook for an hour or so, until the veggies are cooked through and the flavors are incorporated. Add the pasta right before serving to the pot. Dish up and serve with a crusty bread for dipping.

Labels: Recipes

Would you like to prepare a dish that is going to totally wow your company? Maybe you are looking for a restaurant-quality dish, but one that can be whipped up on a weeknight? Well, then I have the dish for you!

I have had this recipe in my recipe box for years, but hadn't tried it yet. I don't know why I let it gather dust for so long because it was a hit with every single person in our family. It is a great balance of cream and tomato and the sausage adds a great burst of flavor in each bite.

I tried to make it a little more figure friendly by substituting regular sausage with Italian turkey sausage and substituted the heavy whipping cream with half & half. What resulted was a dish that was still rich and elegant, but shaved a little bit of the fat off of the equation.

I hope you can give this recipe a try in your rotation. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Bow Ties With Sausage, Tomato, & Cream

1 (12 ounce) package bow tie pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage (removed from the casing)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (can omit/decrease if your family doesn't like spicy dishes)
1/2 cup diced onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28 ounce) can Italian-style plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (or half & half to save on calories)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain. Heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Cook sausage. Stir in onion and garlic, and cook until onion is tender. Stir in tomatoes, cream, and salt. Simmer until mixture thickens, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir cooked pasta into sauce, and heat through. Sprinkle with parsley.

Labels: Recipes