New Favorite Snack

 My super awesome friend Megan, who is a very yummy cook, introduced me to this very yummy snack. You get this Greek yogurt dip at Costco and it is to die for. I pair it with pretzels or our all time favorite chip Food Should Taste Good Multi-Grain chip. When I eat this snack I don't feel as guilty. It tastes good and is good for you.We will be munching on this next week during the Super Bowl for sure. Happy snacking!

Easy (Microwave) Halloween Carmel Corn

 

halloween pictures pics on Sodahead

In honor of Halloween today I am posting a really great recipe that I stumbled on last week when I was looking for a fall snack for watching this...

I was looking for a different recipe when I found this one in a cookbook my mom gave me. It is super easy and super yummy! So here we go.

Carmel Corn
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. Karo syrup
pinch of salt
1 t. vanilla
1/4 t. soda
6 qt. popped popcorn
(three bags of microwave popcorn, any flavor)
In a glass bowl, put brown sugar, Karo syrup, butter, and salt, microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir and microwave for 2 more minutes. Add vanilla, baking soda and stir together and pour over 6 popped popcorn in a brown paper sack. Stir with large spoon and shake bag. Roll down top of sack and microwave 1 1/2 minutes on high. Shake. Microwave 1 1/2 minutes more. Pour onto large pan or bowl and let cool. Break apart and enjoy!

This recipe makes ALOT of popcorn, so you may want to bag some up and share with some friends. It is ready in about 10 minutes and gone in about 5 minutes. I love this flavor, because it reminds me of Cracker Jacks. So good! Hope you enjoy it! Hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween!

My New Favorite Sugar Cookies!

I have a new favorite thing in my life! Lofthouse style frosted sugar cookies are my new favorite cookie recipe. I recently discovered pinterest and have found SSSOOO many great recipes.

I could not get this recipe out of my head so I had to make them today. We had a dreary, rainy day that was perfect for cookie baking. While we were working on the cookies we watched Hocus Pocus (my favorite Halloween movie) and had Meatball Soup for dinner. It was a perfect fall day.

Jack o Lantern Breakfast

I saw this idea on the Idea Room but made my own simpler version, because I was in a hurry and didn't have any pumpkin. This is just my regular pancake batter colored orange and green with chocolate chips. They were yummy and I have had several requests since making these. We have fun with our pancakes around the farm. Enjoy!

Fresh Dessert

While waiting for my daughter to get her glasses, at Costco, we watched a promo on the TVs for a yummy dessert using Costco ingredients. We fell hook, line, and sinker and headed strait to the bakery section for the ingredients. It did not disappoint either. This tasted so fresh and summery after so much cold nasty weather we have been having.

So here is the recipe:

Pound Cake Berry Shortcake
1 pound cake loaf, sliced and toasted
Strawberries, sliced
Blueberries
Whipping cream, whipped
Powdered Sugar

Slice the pound cake and either toast or broil in the oven on both sides. Remove from oven and over with cream. Add berries on top and sprinkle with powdered sugar. So simple and so good.

I couldn't keep my kids out of the strawberries, they tasted so good after such a long time without them. So glad spring is just around the corner.

"Stuff" for dinner

One of our favorite breakfast foods in our family is "Stuff." I know you are thinking, Huh? It is a really simple meal to throw together. We have it a lot when we go camping because it is such a hearty meal. We had it for dinner the other night and I thought I would share it with you.

You start with:

Hashbrowns (shredded or cubed)

Sausage

Eggs, scrambled

Country Gravy

There are not specifics on amounts, just make as much or as little as your family will eat.

Fry up your sausage and hashbrowns in separate pans until fully cooked. You can be making the gravy at the same time. I cheat and use a country gravy packet instead of making it from scratch. After the sausage and hashbrowns are cooked completely combine in one large pan and pour scrambled eggs over the top.

Stir everything together until the eggs are completely cooked. Serve with toast and gravy over the top. So yummy.

Sorry the pic is so fuzzy, I was hungry and had bad lighting, you get the point. Enjoy! This recipe is not the most diet friendly, so we don't have it too often.

Baking with Boys

My nephew Matthew came to visit for a few day during Christmas break and one of the things we did was bake sugar cookies. I must say that baking with boys is a totally different experience that baking with girls. The bulk of the conversation was about poop, bums, toots and belches.

Even the red frosting ended up being blood.

There were frosting and sprinkles flying everywhere. Even a few frosting knives hit the floor.

Matthew tasting the goodies to make sure they pass inspection.

Can you tell a kid decorated this one. I ended up with more than a few empty bottles of sprinkles.

They even helped get the kitchen cleaned up, what a deal.

So I was looking back through my blog and realized that I have never posted my sugar cookie recipe. So, here goes. I got this recipe from an old church cookbook from the 1980's.

One Hundred Year Old Sugar Cookies

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. shortening

1 egg, beaten

4 T. Milk

1 t. vanilla

2 1/2 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

3 T. baking powder

1/2 t. soda

Cream sugar and shortening. Add egg, milk, and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients; mix well. Chill dough fro 30 minutes. Bake at 325 for 10-12 minutes. (I bake mine at 350 for 9 minutes)

I love this recipe because it does not require a lot of refrigeration, most of the time I go straight to rolling and cutting. Make sure you don't over bake or the will get crunchy, unless you like crunchy. I am a soft and puffy girl myself. Merry Christmas.

Sugary Cinnamon Roll-ups

I was inspired by Amy over at Keepin The Sunnyside to get out my Gooseberry Patch cookbook and thumb through it. I found a new recipe for breakfast. We are hearty breakfast eaters here on the farm and I am always looking for something new to feed my munchkins.

Sugary Cinnamon Roll-ups

1 c. sugar

1 T. cinnamon

1 loaf sliced white bread

8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 egg white

1/2 c. powd. sugar

1/2 c. butter, melted

Mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside. Using a rolling pin, roll bread slices to 1/4 inch thick. Blend together cream cheese, egg white and powd. sugar until smooth. Spread mixture evenly on one side of each bread slice; roll up. roll each in melted butter, then in sugar mixture. Arrange roll-ups on a baking sheet lightly sprayed with non-stick vegetable spray. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Makes about 14-20.

These roll-ups turned out great and my hubby LOVED them. I liked them too, but I thought they would be good with a pie filling or maple whip cream on top. I will try that next time around. This is a keeper and I had so much fun going through my cookbook. I will have to try a few new things. Happy Fall.

Taco Soup and Cornbread

I have been having a hankering for this soup for weeks now and finally got around to making this yummy, hearty soup. I can't believe I have never posted this recipe because it is a favorite around the farm. I found this recipe a few years ago in a Quick Cooking (now called Simple and Delicious) magazine. I have tabbed all my favorites and refer to them quite often for my families meals.

This is a really easy fast recipe for those busy holiday season days. You can even make it ahead and heat it up. I imagine you could also put it in the crock pot and let it warm for the day while you are out shopping for the holidays.

Taco Soup

1/2 lb ground beef

1 envelope taco seasoning

2 cans (15 oz.) whole kernel corn, undrained

2 cans (15 oz.) ranch style or chili beans, undrained

2 cans (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

Tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream

Flour Tortillas, warmed

In a large sauce pan, cook hamburger over medium heat until no longer pink, drain. Stir in taco seasoning, corn, beans, and tomatoes. cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until heated through. Place tortilla chips in soup bowls; ladle soup over chips and top with cheese. Serve with warm tortillas. Yield 8-10 servings.

B's Sweet Cornbread

2 c. flour

2 c. cornmeal

1 1/3 c. sugar

2 tsp salt

7 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

2 c. milk

2/3 c. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400. Spray 9x13 pan. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in remaining ingredients until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy with some freezer jam or honey butter.

Sorry for not having a pretty display picture to tempt your taste buds, but dinner with three kids is crazy and I was hungry, maybe on the next go around. Hope you like it.

Garden Bounty

Yesterday, Logan and I went out to check the garden and came out with a bunch of yummies. The zucchini finally decided to get busy and we picked 8 huge ones. We also harvested a few onions, rhubarb, and one tiny little squash for purees

Since we had such a bounty we decided to make a chocolate zucchini cake for dessert. After eating 5 pieces of this yummy cake I thought I better share it with you. I found this recipe on food.com (used to be recipezaar) and the lady that posted it is named Opal Fitzgerald. Isn't that the cutest name. You know that a recipe coming from someone with that name is going to be yummy. So here we go. Just a warning, the recipe does make a ton. You can either use 4 round pans, or two 9x13 pans. Make one for your family and give one away.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
4 eggs
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup butter, softened
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3 cups zucchini, coarsely shredded and unpeeled
1 cup walnuts, chopped
Directions
In a large bowl, beat eggs until fluffy. Add sugar gradually, beating until mixture is thick and lemon-colored. Beat in vanilla and butter. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda and salt; add alternately with buttermilk. Beat until smooth. Fold in zucchini and walnuts.
Divide batter into four greased and floured 8 or 9-in. round pans, or two 9x13 pans.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 to 30 minutes or until top springs back when gently pressed.
Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove to wire wracks and cool completely. Frost with your favorite frosting. A frosting glaze would be super yummy.

Hope you enjoy this very moist and delicious cake. Happy Fall

Rice Crispy Treats

My cousin brought this super yummy dessert to our Cousins Reunion and I fell in love with them all over again. I don't make these very often because they are HIGHLY addictive, so I save them for camping. Then I had to make them the other day for a potluck and I realized that I have never posted this delectable recipe. This one is too good to keep a secret, so here it is.

Rice Crispy Treats

What you'll need:

1 c. Karo Syrup

1 c. sugar

1 c. Peanut Butter

8 c. Rice Crispies

1 bag chocolate chips

Bring the Karo syrup and sugar to a boil in a heavy sauce pan on the stove top. Remove from heat and mix in PB until smooth. Pour rice crispies into a large bowl and pour PB mixture over top. Mix well.

Press into 9x13 pan until compact.

Melt chocolate chips in microwave until smooth and spread on top of treats. I have also spread the chocolate chips on top of treats and placed them in a 200 degree oven for 5 minutes. Remove and spread chocolate with a spatula.

Place in fridge until cool and chocolate is hard. Cut into squares and try not to eat the whole pan yourself. Good luck with that one!

Easter Sunday

Here are a couple of projects that we did with the kiddos for Easter. We died a dozen Easter eggs, and I most certainly did not make enough eggs to dye. Just look at the look on Addison's face, she was not happy about the lack of eggs at all! I'll remember better next year. We also made rice crispy Easter treats. It was a lot of fun and everyone loved gobbling them up. The recipe is nothing fancy, just your typical rice crispy recipe and then cut out the shapes with cookie cutters and had a sucker stick. That's it!

Landon had fun, but was a little overwhelmed by all the eggs. He would run past them all and just go to the next one. It was really cute, and he ended up with quite a bit of candy.

My sister also brought up several dozen confetti eggs for us to enjoy. This is a fun tradition that they brought from my Brother-in-law's family. You hollow out egg shells, add confetti, and seal up the hole with tissue paper. Then crack them in your hand and toss the confetti. I am still vacuuming it up from my carpet!


Here is the adult table with all the fancy plates and glasses. It was fun to get to use my china, that usually stays in the laundry room in a box.

Here is Aleana dancing with Landon. She is headed for Broadway for sure. He wasn't so sure about it, but when along with her anyway.

Here are all the the current grand kids all together. This is a rare picture because they are not usually all together. It was fun to have Aleana with us. She is such a pistol! Can you believe she is 16 months older than Landon? She is such a tiny little munchkin.

I also wanted to share an a recipe from our Easter celebrations. This is from my husbands side of the family and is so delicious that I can't believe that I have not posted about it before. My husband requested this instead of Birthday cake, as it was his b-day on Monday and we celebrated it on Sunday.

Rice Crispy Dessert
(I modified the recipe a little to make more of the crust, because it is so yummy)

1 1/4 c. Melted Butter

1 1/4 c. Brown Sugar
3 cups Rice Crispies

1/2 Gal. Ice cream

Sliced Strawberries

Melt butter in microwave and add brown sugar. Mix well, and add rice crispies.

Press 1/2 of the mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

Slice ice cream and lay on top of rice crispy mixture. Press and smooth.

Sprinkle remaining cereal mix on top and freeze. Cut into squares and serve with sliced strawberries on top.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter holiday. Enjoy this dessert recipe and let me know how you like it. It is also really yummy in the summer!

Guest Post Recipe

Happy Monday to everyone. I have a super special treat for you today. Mandy, from Mandy's Recipe Box, asked me to do a guest post on her blog today, so we decided to switch for the day. To see my regular post head on over to her site. Scroll down and look at the super yummy surprise she has for you! Make sure you check out her blog, it is adorable and full of down home country farm food. Enjoy!

I asked Mrs. Rainy Day Farm to do a guest post on my cooking blog and she in turn asked me to do one on her blog. I was very excited! So head over to my blog and you will find her post.

I came across this cute blog and have become hooked. I love that she lets us into her cute life with her cute family. So here we go!

This recipe is so fast and easy, which I love about it. I made it for a meeting I had to go to and there were no leftovers. My kids even loved it, which is an added bonus since they are such picky eaters. If they like a recipe, it is a keeper at my house! You can use fresh or frozen blueberries. If you are using frozen, don't thaw them before using. Just add them the way they are. Warning: Super addicting, one bite is not enough. If you are on a diet, you may want to look away...

Blueberry Snack Cake

2 c. flour

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. cold butter

1 tsp. baking powder

1 c. milk

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

2 c. blueberries

In a mixing bowl, combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter with a fork or pastry blender until crumbly. Set aside 3/4 c. for topping. Add baking powder, milk, egg yolks. Mix well. Beat egg whites til soft peaks form. Fold into batter. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with blueberries and reserved crumb mixture. Bake at 350 for 30-35 min or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy with a cold glass of milk!

This is what your pan may look like, so don't be surprised...

(Rainy Day Farm)-Doesn't' this look delish? I think I need to make this for breakfast this week. It is going on the menu for sure. Thanks for stopping by the farm and thanks to Mandy for sharing such a great recipe.

Mini Pie

So, my Mom and my nephew Spencer came up to visit for a few days. We were going to be doing some cute vinyl crafts(a giveaway, have to do that later), but my mom forgot the vinyl machine. Brought everything else, but the machine. Even the cords. How funny is that.
So when we get together there is always some sort of project going on. We either craft or bake, and since we weren't able to craft we baked. My mom found these super cute mini pies from a very great site called Our Best Bites. It is a wonderful cooking site with LOTS of wonderful recipes and great tutorials, definitely going in my favorites.

You start with your basic pie crust, nothing special. We used my Mom's recipe for pie crust, that is super easy, but you can use your favorite crust recipe. There is also a recipe posted on Our Best Bites too.

Mom's Pie Crust

2 c. flour

1 t. salt

1 t. baking powder

2/3 c. canola oil

1/3 c. milk

Mix ingredients until well blended. Roll out between two pieces of wax paper for best results.
You press the crust in the jar with your finger. Leaving a little room at the top. Fill with fruit filling of your choice. (one batch of pie crust made 6 jars)

Add whatever fruit your want. We made strawberry/rhubarb, blackberry, apple, and peach. I had the apple and peach pie filling already made up in a jar, and the other two we made up by adding sugar and flour. It was super simple. We did traditional pie crust topping and a crumb topping. Here is my recipe for crumb topping for pies, cobbler, and crisps.

Cobbler Topping

1/2 c. butter, melted

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. oats

1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. Cinnamon

Melt butter in the microwave and add remaining ingredients. Stir until well mixed and crumbly. Use your hands to crumble on top of pie or cobbler. (I double this recipe for a 9x13 pan of fruit crisp)

We made 26 of these little cuties. We used wide mouth half pint jars that we found at my local hardware store. They are the same size jars that I am going to can tuna in this summer.

Here they are all ready to go into the oven. We baked that at 350 for 35-45 minutes. I placed them on a baking sheet just in case they spilled over. Lucky for us they didn't this time.

Here they are cooling in my windowsill wilt Bessie the cow. Yes, there is a bite taken out of the strawberry/rhubarb, we couldn't help ourselves. Aren't they the cutest little things you have ever seen? Like Aunt Ruthie, I couldn't help but saying 'Oh Honey'! We had a fun day and enjoyed this timeless tradition. Thanks Mom for coming up and spending time making memories! It was fun. I am thankful we all live close enough to spend time together.

(just a quick note, we put the remaining pies in the freezer, uncooked, for another day.)

Valentines Day Treat

I saw this yummy idea on The Idea Room, but she used cinnamon bears, and that didn't sound good to me, so I bought some cherry gummy hearts in the Valentines section of the store. So here's my version of,

Chocolate covered Valentines Candy
1 bag Milk Chocolate Chips
2 bags Valentines Gummy Candy
1T Shortening

Melt Shortening and chocolate until melted. Drop gummy candies in chocolate and use a fork to remove them.

Shake excess chocolate off...

and place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet.
Chill in refrigerator until chocolate hardens. Remove from wax paper and place in a cute bag or candy dish. Try not to eat them all in one sitting!