on a Sunday at home

After a few days of madness rush-rush-rush.... 

A nice slow day with french toast

Outdoor painting

Home Magazine Collage, well houses...

Fresh squeezed mint lemon aid

Chomp & Seuss

Broccoli-Corn Chowder in the crock-pot

Buttered toast

Green Jello (yep)

Fresh garden lettuce

And National Geographic Extreme Cave Dives

[Homemade Mad Lib]

How to pack a bag for a pearl diving vacation.

First you need a well fitting chair for diving into ferocious water.  You don’t want to throw your car bottoms when you roll into the ocean.  You must also pack plenty of fluffy food and cuddle water.  It is necessary to take a rough sunscreen and a freezing towel. 

When diving, you will need a sturdy TV to carry your oysters in.  Always remember when splashing for pearls to check that you are not diving into shallow monsters.  And be sure to surface slower than your bubbles fly to avoid getting sick with the chicken-pox.  

Once you have gathered all your canoes you will need a purple sharp knife to open them.   Be careful not to cut off your shins!  Always remember to swim up after yourself.  You may want to have on hand a bar of skates and shampoo to wash away the hippo smell.  A good set of gritty clothes for go into town to sell your pearls and fast money for beer.

applesauce-honey cookies

Applesauce-Honey Cookies, a fluffy but not too sweet cookie from Great American Baking

2 1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1/2 applesauce
1 teaspoon honey

1.  Mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. 

2.  In another bowl beat together butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy.  Mix in the egg.

3.  Combine with the flour mix.  Add the applesauce and the honey mixing until well combined.

4.  Shape the dough into a disk, cover, and chill for 1 hour.
5.  Preheat the oven to 375'.

6.  On a floured surface roll dough into 1 inch balls.  Place cookies 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.  Using a floured fork firmly flatten each cookie.

7. Bake for 14 minutes.  Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 1 minute on a wire rack before transferring the cookies onto a cooking rack to complete cooling. *optional dust with cinnamon & sugar or powdered sugar.

~enjoy~

real fake maple syrup

I hate to admit it but I don't like real maple syrup.  I don't care too much for the cost (or the taste) but High Fructose Corn Syrup in store bought artificial maple syrup doesn't make me any happier.  So, I turned to my mother-in-law for her recipe for her real fake maple syrup.

Maple Syrup

1 3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup water

Combine and bring to a boil cooking for 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Let it cool slightly and add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla & a 1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring. Cover saucepan for a few minutes as syrup cooks to melt down crystals: it helps prevent syrup from crystallizing in storage later. 

Enjoy!

potatoes au gratin with cilantro

My family can trace our ancestors all the way back to an Irish Sea Captain who instead of watching his family starve during the potato famine loaded them a ship (not belonging to him!) & sailed them to the shore of America.  This Irish girl loves her potatoes but by all means load on the cheese my friends, Man maybe able to survive on potatoes alone but Woman needs cheese!

6 medium cleaned potatoes evenly chopped

1 medium onion coarsely chopped

1/2 cup butter

2 cups of milk

2 cups of shredded cheese

1 tbsp flour

1 teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1/8 cup chopped cilantro

Brush the bottom of a glass casserole dish with good olive oil.  Spread the chopped potatoes and onions and set aside.

In a saucepan over low heat cook butter, milk, & cheese until cheese is melted.  Stir in the flour with a wire whisk adding salt and pepper.  Pour the cheese sauce over the potatoes topping with cilantro.  Bake covered for 1 hr @375.

stuffed bread

Start with a good loaf of bread, almost any shape or style will work. 

For a medium sized dinner loaf:  

Slice the loaf down to the bottom crust making sure not to cut all the way through and set aside.  In a medium skillet heat good quality olive oil, add 1/2 cup chopped onions, 2 tbsp of minced garlic, & a dash of course black pepper.  Cook until the garlic and onions brown, remove from head and add 1 cup chopped baby spinach and 2 cups shredded parmesan cheese.  Add generous amounts the spinach-cheese mixture between the slices of bread.  Wrap loosely in tinfoil, bake on high heat until the cheese has melted. Serve hot.

For a medium dessert loaf:          

Slice the loaf down to the bottom crust making sure not to cut all the way through and set aside.  In a medium sauce pan over medium/low heat add 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup thinly sliced and chopped apple, 1/2 brown sugar, and a tbsp of cinnamon.  Simmer until apples are soft but be careful not to burn the butter.  Remove from heat adding 1 cup of softened cream cheese.  Add generous amounts the apple-cream cheese mixture between the slices of bread.  Brush the top with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar.  Wrap loosely in tinfoil, bake on high heat until the bread is warmed all the way through. Serve hot.

poor man's lasagna

This lasagna actually has many names: Pan Lasagna, Skillet Lasagna, Even You Can't Ruin This Lasagna.  My personal favorite is Us Girls Are Going to Be Gone All Afternoon to the Planetarium and the Natural History Museum and We Want to Eat Dinner (a good dinner) Before 9PM Lasagna, which loosely translates back into Poor Man's Lasagna because he isn't out having fun with us! 

One of the keys to the ease of this is not using a glass pan, glass pans can't go from the fridge to a preheated oven!  Using a cast iron or oven safe skillet allows for morning prep & quick no hassle evening eating.  The other short cut is forgoing lasagna noodles & the whole layering process.  Don't get me wrong, I love making a good old fashion lasagna.  What I don't love is having my dogs eat a pan of lasagna while my busy back is turned or my hubby forgetting about what happens to a glass pan in a hot oven!  

Pick a pasta cook according to the directors make sure to not over cook.  Rinse and drain, set aside.  In your skillet add pasta sauce, cheeses, veggies, if you wish ricotta or cottage cheese or we like to use smashed tofu (same texture).  Season to your taste with black pepper, red pepper, minced garlic, course chopped onions.  Add you pasta mixing well top with cheese.  Take a sheet of tin foil and spray it with no stick spray to avoid getting foil in your food! Cover and store until meal time.  Bake at 350 (if you use a cast iron skillet you don't even need to preheat the oven just pop it in) for about 30 minutes (depends on the size and depth of your dish).

Slow Saturday cooking on a busy weeknight, enjoy!     

puffed pancake

3 eggs

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp vanilla

a dash of salt

2 tbsp butter

1. Preheat oven to 450º
2. Warm a12-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
4. Carefully remove the preheated skillet from the oven and add the butter, swirling until it is melted.
5. Pour in the batter.
6. Bake 25 minutes or until puffed and golden.
7. Serve with maple syrup, fruit, jam, or sugar & cinnamon.

Adapted from Tamara Frankfort, Real Simple November 2002 Puffer Pear Pankcake Recipe for a kid who doesn't like 'things' in her food.

pumpkin bread

3 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon

2/3 cup shortening
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 can (1 pound) pumpkin
2/3 cup milk

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Grease 2 9x5x3-inch loaf pans or  8.5x4.5x2.5-inch loaf pans.
3) In a large mixing bowl blend flour, soda, salt, baking powder, & cinnamon and set aside.

4) In a second bowl, cream shortening & sugar until fluffy then stir in eggs, pumpkin, & milk.
5) Slowly combine your dry and wet ingredients mixing carefully into a creamy batter.
6) Pour into loaf pans & top with a mixture of sugar & cinnamon. 

7)  Bake about 60-65 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Recipe modified from Betty Crocker's 1971 Pumpkin Bread

ginger-carrot nut bread

Ginger-Carrot Nut Bread

[kcal ~150/25 per slice] recipe makes one medium loaf

2 eggs

¾ cup brown sugar

1/3 cup apple sauce

½ milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

½ tsp salt

1 cup shredded carrots 

½ chopped nuts

1. Mix together eggs, sugar, apple sauce, milk, and vanilla.
2. Add flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Fold in ginger, carrots, and nuts.
4. Scrape sticky dough in a greases loaf pan topped with a sprinkle of brown sugar and crushed nuts
5. Bake at 350 in a greased loaf pan for 50-60 minutes.

~Enjoy~

Bread Ends Lasagna

Bread Ends Lasagna

Taking cheap to a whole new level!  I was introduced to the idea of beard casseroles a few years back as a quick inexpensive dinner idea.  This is the basic casserole recipe there are a ton of ways to spice it up adding peppers, sausage, spinach, splashes of wine or vinegar, or getting funky with the cheeses.  This recipe works best if you prepare the bread ahead of time and save the lasagna portion for mealtime, otherwise the bread tends to become chew and that's not a good thing.

Preparing the Bread:

6-7 slices of bread (heel pieces welcome) cubed

2 tbsp Olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

¼ cup diced onion

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Mix the bread cubes with the olive oil, garlic, onion, and cheese.  Pour onto a baking sheet and bake at 250 until the bread is dry & crisp but not browned, about 30 minutes.  Stir at least once while baking making sure to keep them as spread out as possible.  Remove from baking sheet and set aside to cool.

Preparing the Lasagna:

1 cup shredded zucchini

1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese      

1 medium egg

1-2 cups tomato sauce

Mix the zucchini, cheese, and egg together and set aside.

Pour enough tomato sauce to cover the bottom of a casserole dish.  Add a layer of bread cubes, top with the zucchini, cheese, & egg mixture and top with tomato sauce then repeat layering once more.  If you would like top with cheese or zucchini rounds.

Cover and bake @350 for 30 minutes.

  Enjoy!