Summer = Awesome

Updated 20 in 2012 post!

I'm reading!
I'm exercising! - Cute story- I started back on the C25K today. Luke said he wanted to run with me and Andy joined in as well. Luke was a trooper. Today was easy but he hung in there! It was so sweet to have him running with me.
I'm sleeping more!
Lots of time with the boys!
Life is good. :)

A  couple recent recipes:

Pretzel rolls by Pennies on a Platter - I read this blog but am trying to pin recipes I've bookmarked so they are all in one place. I finally made these and they were good! I actually took a picture of one I made just for you all to see!
Honey Lime Chicken- Oh. My. Goodness...we love this chicken! We've had it twice. I drastically reduce the cayenne pepper so that the boys can eat it too. I just shake a little in the gallon size bag I marinate the chicken in. The chicken is juicy and delicious on the grill! Make this!

Pinterest Project #1

So yesterday I made a Menu Board! This was inspired from Pinterest. I bought a 12x12 frame at Hobby Lobby for $5. It was 1/2 price. I bought a sheet of scrapbook paper for $ .30. I bought 2 packs of scrapbook stickers for a total of $3.00. All together- $8.30! Not bad! The stickers are directly on the paper, so they are under the glass. I just used a dry erase marker to write the menu down. Up until now I used a document I created in word and printed it for menu planning but now I just erase! Saving paper and ink :) .  This helps with my 20 in 2012 post too. In case you are interested in any of the above recipes (other than the sloppy joes and pizza- haha) here are some links.
Pasta alla Vodka- was good last night but when re-heated for lunch today it wasn't very good. Boys thought it was spicy.
Bread with Carrabba's olive oil/spices- YUM - for special italian dinner occasions. (found through Pinterest)
Chicken Fingers
Roasted Green Beans- These were pretty good. would make again or just mix fresh green  beans in with roasted veggies. (found through Pinterest)

Stovetop mac & cheese - finally, an EASY homemade mac & cheese that my family likes! (found through Pinterest)

Veggies= weekly veggie tray

Happy Fall!

This weekend we went to the pumpkin patch to get pumpkins, ride on a hayride, and buy apple donuts! It was a lot of fun. The boys fed the goats - even Tyler! I also bought mums to plant for the porch. Andy drilled holes in my planters so the water could drain out and not oversoak the flowers. It looks so nice out there now! I bought a new door mat and a sign that is fallish to hang on the door. I tried two new recipes, buttered rosemary rolls and pumpkin pie squares. I didn't use rosemary on the rolls because that is one of the few herbs I don't have...I just used dried italian seasoning. The pumpkin pie squares are pretty good, but not exceptional! I have many more pumpkin recipes I'm wanting to make this fall. Yum!

Pepperoni Rolls

I thought I'd already posted this on the blog but couldn't find it to link in the previous post. Last year I sat and watched Carol make her basic bread dough. I put measurements to her recipe. She just makes it from memory without any real measurements. I came home and typed it all up and gave myself an official 'recipe' for her bread dough. It has helped my bread dough to turn out just right!

Carol's Pepperoni Rolls
1 pkg instant yeast
1 cup warm water (not hot)
3 cups flour
1/8 cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 T shortening
1 egg
Butter, melted
Pepperoni cut into bite size pieces

Pour yeast into cup of warm water. Do not stir. Let sit 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, add flour, sugar and salt to bowl. After the water/yeast mixture sits for 1-2 minutes stir and mix the yeast into the dry ingredients. Add shortening and egg. Mix with spoon. Then mix by hand, adding enough flour so that the dough doesn’t stick to your hands. You want the dough to be elastic. Set in a warm place to rise until doubled. About 1 hour.
Cut pepperoni into bite size pieces. After the dough has doubled, pull a golf ball sized amount of dough, and push several pepperoni bites inside ~ 4-6 pieces with your thumbs until it is completely covered with dough. Dip dough ball into melted butter and place on stone. Repeat. One recipe should make about 12 rolls. Let rolls rise again, about 30 minutes.
Bake 10-12 minutes at 400 until lightly browned. After taking out of oven coat tops with butter. I just hold a stick and rub it on the top. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Chip Scones

I finally made the scones with the new cinnamon chips I talked about in this post. They were very yummy. The boys loved them and are already asking me to make them again.

Cinnamon Chip Scones

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
8 tablespoons butter
1 - 1 1/2 cups cinnamon chips


1 cup buttermilk
1 beaten egg
1t vanilla

Preheat your oven to 500°F. In a large mixing bowl, blend the dry ingredients together thoroughly. With a pastry blender, two knives, or, most easily, your fingertips, cut or rub in the butter until the mixture looks like bread crumbs. Stir in cinnamon chips.


Take about 20 seconds to stir in the liquid. The dough will be rough and shaggy but that's the way it should look. Turn it out onto a well-floured board. Flour your hands and the surface of the dough well. Knead it very gently about 10 times, just enough to bring it together. It is not supposed to be smooth and springy like bread dough. Sprinkle on more flour as you need it to keep the dough from sticking. Cut the circle into 8 wedge-shaped pieces pressing down firmly without sawing. You'll find it easier if you dip your cutter in flour after each cut. Make sure you press it into the dough quickly, without twisting or sawing. This shears the dough cleanly rather than pressing it together, which allows the scones to rise higher. Using the scraper or spatula as a "shovel," transfer each piece gently to a flour-sprinkled pizza pan, leaving a half inch or so between them.


Put them in the oven, turn the temperature down to 450°F and bake for about 15 minutes. This makes 8 huge scones. Next time I think I'd cute the dough in 1/2 before shaping into a circle and cutting into wedges to make 16 small scones.


Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Easy Cheesy Beer Bread

I've been up since 4:20am (Ty) so I thought I'd post this super quick before school. We had this last night with Pasta e Fagioli. It was a delicious meal for our 'winter weather' in April!

Easy Cheesy Beer Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
12 oz. beer
2 tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9×5” loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine flours, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and garlic powder. Whisk to combine well. Add cheese and whisk to combine. Slowly add beer to dry ingredients and stir lightly until just combined, and all ingredients are completely moistened. Place into a prepared loaf pan and pour melted butter over the top. Place in the oven and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Source: Annie's Eats

Fun in the Kitchen

Here are a couple of good recipes I tried using my new cooking stuff! Chocolate Chip Cheesecake using my new springform pan and electric mixer! Soft Garlic Knots using my new mixer. I love my stand mixer! It is a-mazing! The first time I used it I couldn't stop smiling. No more will I turn on my hand mixer to mix-turn it off-set it down-crack the egg-pick up the mixer to mix- turn it off- set it down- etc! Stand mixers are glorious!! Both were pretty good recipes- that was my first real cheesecake to make using a springform pan and all. It turned out pretty good. I think I overmixed the garlic knots. Andy thought they were good as did the boys but they weren't light and fluffy. I'm still new to bread doughs! The new soup I tried was okay but not a recipe I'm going to keep. It had leeks in it- which I had always wanted to try in a recipe, but it wasn't our favorite! I enjoyed it but can live without it. Andy didn't care for the texture of the leeks which I think are like big green onions without the onion flavor. We also made fondue Sunday night in the new fondue pot Dan and Carol got me for Christmas. It was fun! The boys were so excited but as it turns out, they didn't care for the cheese fondue. Andy and I enjoyed it - though it was expensive to make! Here is the recipe for Three Cheese Fondue. I served it with a big platter of cut up baguette, potatoes, broccoli, zuchinni, carrots, and green apple. That was dinner! I was able to find 2 cheeses at Meijer and the 1 at Whole Foods. The fondue pot works fabulously- it is electric so you don't need a flame or anything. The boys really had fun adding the shredded cheese to the pot and watching it melt as we whisked it into the liquid. I promised them next time we'll do a chocolate fondue! I really want to make homemade marshmallows to dip into the fondue. I'll keep you posted! But I did find a good chocolate fondue recipe I want to try.

Yummy Recipes

Last week I tried 2 new recipes. We had a bake sale at school to raise money for our Helping Hands account. I took that as a good way to try some new recipes I have in my huge stack of recipes I want to try! I made Cranberry Bread and Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake. I received compliments on both so I figured the recipes were good enough to share! Oh and my two contributions made $23 at the auction!! I did tell Andy that I won't be making the Crumb Cake again until I have a stand mixer. It requires a lot of mixing! I have linked the Crumb Cake above. Here is the Cranberry Bread recipe:

4 T unsalted butter, melted (plus more for pan)
2 cups flour (plus more for pan)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
1 12 0z bag cranberries, wash and throw out bad ones
1 T turbinado sugar for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl combine butter, egg, and milk. Add wet mixture to dry and whisk to combine. Fold in cranberries. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle top with turbinado sugar if desired. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let bread cool 30 minutes. Invert onto rack and immediately turn right side up to cool completely.

*I didn't have any turbinado sugar so I left it out. I'm sure it would be tasty though!
*This is taken from Everyday Food Magazine.