Peeps

For at least the past 8 years I have made Ressurection Rolls on Easter morning.  Two weeks ago I bought the marshmellows and crescent rolls in preperation.  Easter morning I got up at 5:30 to get everything prepped and....No Marshmellows to be found in the kitchen.  For 30 minutes I go through my kitchen, I wake Josh up and he gives it a good look too.
Gone.
Josh said that since one of the kids most likely ate the said marshmellows they didn't need the rolls anyway. But I had already laid out the crescent rolls and melted the butter...what to do?
Peeps are marshmellows right?
They worked great.
The kids didn't need peeps in their Easter baskets anyway.
Elise didn't remember why they were called ressurection rolls so I told her what it all meant and we had a special time in the kitchen.
Tip on the ressurection rolls if you should ever make them...
Cook them in muffin tins sprayed with pam, they maintain their shape and tomb like hole fabulously.

Good Eats

Last week I made this and it was one of the best desserts I have ever made.  Of course I didn't follow the recipe exactly...instead of the creamcheese icing on top I did a layer of cool whip with the lime zest and coconut...hmmmm good!
Yesterday I made our favorite oriental slaw...
1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup of sugar
3 big dallops of mayo
couple handfuls of almonds run through the slicer on the food processor
couple handfuls of chopped sweet peppers
a handful of chopped purple onion
crushed up bag of oriental noodles
can of mandarin oranges drained
bunch of chopped cabbage (1/2 bag or so from Sams)
Yum...just finished the leftover for lunch.
Now to decide what to have for dinner.
I think it will be crock pot chicken and rice..I need to get that going!
What are you having for dinner, or have you made a yummo dessert lately?

Free Time, Dogs and Cats

Blessed unexpectedly by some free time on Saturday and Sunday I finished my second children's book of the year. It was Very slow going for the first half of the book, none of my kids have made it through to the end...I did not give up. As soon as I got to the part of the Unsavory Character I knew I had to finish the book. The parts about Gracie the Cat and Ginger Pye the adorable puppy were entertaining, especially since it reminded me of Gretta and her relationships with cats.
Josh claims I had it all planned out ...this free time. You see it wasn't my turn to teach Sunday School and while I had a hard time finding a substitute helper for my partner in Crime for the K-2 class I did indeed prevail to secure a sub...a few hours later though my co-teacher called to say she couldn't teach because her son was not recovering well from surgery .....
So then I had to call around and see if someone would pick me up for church and take me home. No three and half hour trip down and back to pick up the boys, all alone for over 24 hrs...listened to a couple of sermons, did some dishes, some laundry, cleaned and polished the dining room table and coffee table and took a nap. The dish I made for the women's brunch turned out great and I reccomend it, if you can't find Swiss Chard I do believe Spinach would work fine. The discussion time centered around spiritual gifts...mine is not mercy, but you knew that. Okay, I guess that's all I want to tell you. Have a blessed week.

Show and Tell

While reading Tales from the Coop Keeper this morning I remembered something I've wanted to tell you about:
Mary Ostyn is the author of a new cook book I bought two weeks ago, Family Feasts for $75 and this is her blog: Owlhaven.
I have made the quiche recipe and have gotten rave reviews, and let me tell you, the crust was easy peasy. I will NEVER roll out another crust again. The recipe called for all purpose flour and I did use part whole wheat which gave a little sweetness to the crust which was oh, so enjoyable.
Here's another food related item"
Reames Homestyle Egg Noodles
If you go their website there is a $ .50 coupon to print...whether or not I will remember to take it to the store is another story.
My sister buys these noodles at her Sam's club in Indiana....but my Sam's in Florida doesn't sell them so I thought I was out of luck...until this week.
I told Gloria I would make her some won ton soup for her post op meal this week. Silly me forgot that my grocery story right across the street had closed this past Saturday because they are going to tear it down and build a new one.
So I the closest store on my route taking the boys to school is now a Wal-mart. They didn't have the won tons or frozen spinach but they did have Reames Homestyle Egg Noodles! If I hadn't been scouring the shelf for the ingredients to make Won ton Soup I never would've found the noodles. Short on time I did not visit another store and made a butternut squash/carrot soup with a vegetarian bouillon base. Stewart and I thought it turned out good, and we are having it for dinner tonight.
Last night I roughly made my sister's Noodables.
She called out the ingredients over the phone and the link above is probably a perfect match to what she told me.
I did not put bacon in it, I put kielbasa and I didn't use near as much spices but oh, man is it yummy.

The picture at the top is another one I found on Josh's work camera.
He told me last night where yesterday's picture was taken and my mouth dropped open, it is not a residential building....any guesses? I have no idea where today's picture was taken either, maybe it'll have some entertaining story behind it too.

Mixing it up

Vermeer, A street in Delft

A copy of this picture in a wide maple frame hangs above our piano. Growing up in hung in my grandmother's house. She was a smoker and so the walls in my picture are yellowed and the sky looks a little overcast instead of bright. Every cookie or packaged goodie from her house not only smelled but tasted like moth balls, mildew bags and cigarettes. While we were at her house it didn't taste like that but expose it to non carcinogenic air and some sort of sick reaction took place. She was a good cook too, so it was a sad moment to have to throw away some pecan Sandie's or banana nut bread. This week while my sister Cathron was here I made Ham Loaf for her. That was a holiday staple my grandmother always made but none of Cathron's brood cares for our Epicurean tradition. I also made green stuff. Well, at least that's what we always called it. There was a variation of our recipe right on the Jet-Puff Marshmallow Bag, couldn't believe it...We always put cottage cheese in our recipe and used green jello instead of the pistachio pudding. So I mixed it up and tried their p-pudding and our c-cheese and it was lovely...John-Thomas my finicky eater even loved it.

While I'm at it, I might as well add that a favorite crazy mix it up that I had with my grandmother was Peter Pan Peanut butter sandwiches with her homemade sweet pickles. It's not the same with out the homemade ones and I'm not up to that culinary endeavor so it will have to remain a memory. Any crazy combos past or present that is distinctly you...?

Who Bread French Toast or how I am overloading on Carbs

Last week I printed two recipes.

Normally I never actually make the recipes, Friday I made them both.

I read on Soule Mama about Who Bread.

Who What?

Who Bread.

I have no idea where the name came from.

When Josh's sister said she would drive the boys home from Sebastian I decided to make it for her. It was okay. We didn't plow through it, but that may be because I also made pound cake. What was I thinking?

Evidently I had still not come out of my carb induced stupor because this morning I made French Toast with the left-over Who Bread.

WHO,WHO!

That was awesome.

I had one super thick slice that I "stuffed" with strawberry cream cheese and strawberry preserves. Learned that little trick yesterday on Everyday Food.

Not that you needed this info, but that's what I'm here for...to share the love.

Friday Night Pizza no more

First a disclaimer....spell check isn't working and I am a horrible speller, especially when I am rambling. Sorry. Stewart said I should post something more current so here it goes, but then he said, "No picture?" I can't win can I?


Every Friday I make homemade pizza and breadsticks and while they never taste the same it is always good. The problem is that Josh is seriously on a diet reform and pizza won't help him win his largest loser contest at work. The Spirit moved and culinary yumminess ensued. I wish I had a picture to post. For lunch today I finished off the last of it and enjoyed it so much I had to write about it.
Frzn Chicken Tenders
Olive Oil
Italian Seasoning
Garlic
Fresh Spinach
Rago
Part Skim Shredded Italian Cheese Blend

I tossed the frzn chicken in olive oil, sprinkled seasoning on it and then threw it in the cast iron skillet that had been sitting on the stove while the pizza was baking. Josh took the skillet out to the grill to free up space in the kitchen and finished up the yumminess. After he cooked the chicken he took it out, wilted the fresh spinach in the pan and then put the chicken back and added a little bit of Ragu and sprinkled the cheese on top. He then brought it back to me to put in the oven. The pizza's had come out so there was room for them. Have I mentioned how incredible it was? I think I can do w/out pizza for a while if Josh will help me cook up our yummy chicken. The kids enjoy the pizza so I will keep making it for them but for the next couple of months I will be looking forward to Chicken Parmesian sans the breading and the frying. And I will be looking forward to leftovers.
Did I mention how helpful my husband almost always is, and what a great cook he is? There was a time when the only way he would cook was if Salsa was the main ingrediant. We still laugh over his Mexican Sidedish he came up with when we had Mike and Robin over for dinner when we were first married. Do you guys remember that?
Good Times...let the good times roll again with Ragu. When I mentioned yesterday to my mom that Publix had Prego, BOGO, she said,"Do you know how easy it is to make spaghetti sauce?" I will make my own cream of mushroom but for some reason homemade spaghetti sauce isn't in my repertoire. Robin mentioned last time she was here that she liked just a spoonful of the Classico Pesto in her Italian dishes. What about the rest of you gals?

Wise use of Time

"Look Carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil."

What verses lead up to today's verse of the day I wondered...How funny...is this the best use of my time...taking pictures of my broken sugar/Splenda bowl and trying to figure out how to use paint? (O'Donnels, you amaze me w/your paint talents!) At least I have given up drinking wine like verse 18 advises (too many carbs :-> ) I am thankful for the $3 wannabe Crocs I found at TJMaxx after Christmas and my new skillet Josh promptly hung up. Two other wise uses of time are making bar-b-que pizza and Zucchini Boats. Last summer Robin gave me some Key Lime Bar-B-Q Sauce that is absolutely wonderful and made unbelievable pizza (today's lunch).

Zucchini Boat Recipe

4-6 zucchinis washed, cut lengthwise

4 oz light cream cheese, softened (veggie cream cheese or chive is nice)

1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese (or Cheddar)

1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix together cheeses and pepper

boil zucchini for 5 min, pat dry and scoop out pulp. My cheese mixture wasn't too soft this last time so I divided it by the number of "boats" I had and rolled a long clump in my fingers and plopped in the zukes. Place in a greased dish and bake at 350 for 10 min. I like to broil it for a second or two at the end to brown them. mmmmmmm

This recipe is based on the one in the Curves diet book by Gary Heavin.

Also love the stuffed mushroom recipe in it...made it last week too!

Another set back

We were blessed to have Josh's dad and step-mom stop by for dinner on their way home from Maryland back to Sebastian tonight. Since Josh's Dad's birthday is the 31st Josh made Pierogis and Kielbasa and Cabbage and I made Cucumbers & Onions with Sour Cream. This was a meal that Josh's Polish great-grandmother used to make so we thought that might be a nice thing to do. Then for dessert I made my grandmother's Ritz Cracker Pie. HMMMMMM.

Add 1/2 teaspoon baking powder to 3 egg whites. Beat until stiff. Gradually add 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in gently 1 cup chopped walnuts and 20 Ritz crackers (coarsely crumbled). Put in 8-inch well greased pie pan.

Bake 325 degrees for 30 minutes. When cooled refrigerate for several hours. Before serving top with whipped cream and strawberries.

Another set-back for Weigh Wednesday. I should go walk.