A New Day

There is a new day dawning. I love this blog but as you can see, it's a deserted wasteland, neglected and unattended. I had great intentions although no direction. I love to write, I love to cook, and I love photography. This was ME. But, here it sits, almost empty.

No more. I have a vision! A vision of what I want it to be. A direction in which to go. A vision of a new beginning. As this blog is named, we are a Party of Six. It takes much preparation to feed a large family, in these tough economic times, especially. It takes time to save money. I know, we're used to hearing, take some help from the store, and at times, that's a great idea. But, it's not an idea that will sustain a large family. Because...it's more expensive. Everyone is busy. Work, children's schedules, hobbies, but if you do a little preparation and a few extra steps, then you have great dinners and have money to spend on other things such as your family.

I want this blog to be about great recipes, grocery stores, preparation tips, and even great food photography. Everything that contributes to providing great, nutritious (I'm still learning and evolving here), meals that don't break the bank and are delicious for your family.

So, as I embark upon this new endeavor, I hope you all will be a part of it. Do not be despaired if my next entry is after the new year. After all, you've waited this long, right? I will be back and ready to get started after the New Year. It will be another great adventure!

Birthday Girl

Wow, the time has really gotten away from me. I haven't really spent much time in the kitchen since Spring finally arrived, but today we celebrated my birthday with these simple cupcakes. They were delicious and the kiddies loved singing happy birthday to me. Posts may be sparse while the days get warmer and warmer, as it's just too beautiful to be inside :)

Spring Break, Day 2

Okay, no rain, but still windy and cold, so we had another day of baking. Today, Jessi picked another recipe "Gimme S'more (Please)" from her book, Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook. It was easy and very chocolatey, in other words...a hit.

Ingredients:
1/3 c. butter or margarine
18 graham cracker squares
1/3 c. sugar
1-12 oz. jar fudge ice cream topping
2 c. tiny marshmallows
1 1/2 c. cold milk
1-6 serving size pkg instant chocolate pudding mix
1-8 oz. container frozen whipped dessert topping, thawed
1/4 c. miniature semisweet chocolate pieces

Directions:
1) Put butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Cook on high 30-40
seconds or until melted.
2) Put graham crackers into a plastic bag and seal. Use a rolling pin
to crush graham crackers into fine crumbs. (You should have 1 1/2
cups).
3) Pour crumbs into an 8x8x2 pan. Add the sugar and the melted
butter. Stir with a wooden spoon until mixed. Reserve 1/3 c. crumbs. Spread crumbs evenly in the pan and
press gently. Put the pan into the freezer for 10 minutes.
4) Remove lid from fudge topping. Place jar in microwave oven
and cook on high for 30-45 seconds or until warm enough to pour.
Pour fudge topping all over the chilled cracker crust. Sprinkle 1 c.
of the marshmallows on top of the fudge.
5) Pour milk into a large bowl. Add pudding mix. Beat with an
electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Use a rubber
spatula to gently stir in half of the whipped topping. Pour
pudding on top of the marshmallows. Evenly spread.
6)Srinkle the remaining marshmallows, the reserve crumbs, and
miniature chocolate pieces on top of the pudding. Cover with foil
and put in refrigerator for 1-24 hours before serving.

Jessi did a great job and it was delicious!

Southern Favorite

Fudge Pie is one of my husband's favorite desserts and a must have at every get-together. Tonight, he almost ate the whole pie. I really couldn't blame him, though, it was delicious.

Ingredients:
1-9 in. frozen pie crust
1 c. white sugar
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3 tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c. butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Whipped Topping
Fresh or Frozen Raspberries

Directions:
1) Prebake crust according to package directions.
2) Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
3) Beat together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, butter or margarine, eggs and vanilla in a medium-size bowl. Spoon into pie shell.
4) Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until set. Allow to cool to room temperature.
5) Serve with whipped topping and garnish with 2 raspberries.

This recipe was adapted from www.allrecipes.com, submitted by Debbie Rowe

Chili Cheese Coney Anyone?

There's nothing original or special about this recipe, if it can even be considered a recipe, but...I wanted to share it because I get such complements on the chili and kids absolutely love this dish. It's great for a quick weeknight meal.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1-14 1/2 oz. tomato sauce
14 1/2 oz. water
2-14 1/2 oz. can Bush Chili Beans
1 pkg. McCormick brand Chili seasoning mix
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
Ball Park Beef Franks
Buns

Directions:
1) Brown ground beef in large skillet on med-high heat. Drain fat.
2) In large pot, stir in tomato sauce, water, chili beans, seasoning mix, and ground beef. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer for at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3) Heat 1-2 hotdogs in microwave for 30 seconds.
4) Add chili and cheese to hotdogs to taste.

Blue Ribbon Winner

This Frozen Apple and Peanut Butter Cloud Pie may be my favorite dessert ever. The recipe comes from the cookbook, Apple Pie Perfect, by Ken Haedrich. When I tasted it, I knew it was a prize winner. I entered it into the county fair and, as you can see, it won first place! It's absolutely delicious. As I said, it was rainy, snowy, and 41 degrees today so it was a perfect day to spend in the kitchen. You will love this recipe!

Ingredients:
1 large graham cracker crust

Apple Layer:
2 tbs. unsalted butter
3 firm-textured cooking apples (such as golden delicious), peeled, cored, and sliced
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tbs. confectioners' sugar

Peanut Butter Cloud Layer:
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1- 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 c. smooth peanut butter
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
1/2 c. finely chopped salted dry-roasted peanuts

Directions:
1) Set crust aside.
2) To prepare the apple layer, melt the butter in a large saute pan. Stir in the apples and granulated sugar and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and confectioners' sugar and cook, stirring, for 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat, scrape the apples onto a plate, and let cool thoroughly.
3) When the apples have cooled, spoon them into the crust. Use a slotted spoon and reserve the remaining juice. Put the pie shell into freezer. After 20 minutes, pour remaining juice into shell.
4) To make the peanut butter cloud layer, use an electric mixer to whip the heavy cream until it holds semi-firm peaks. Cover and refrigerate.
5)Using the mixer, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter together until smooth. Gradually beat in the sugars, then the vanilla. Mixture will be lumpy. Add the whipped cream to the peanut butter mixture, slowly blending them together with the mixer until smooth.
6)Clean and dry the beaters. Using a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. Fold the whites into the peanut butter mixture with a rubber spatula until evenly blended. Scrape the mixture over the apples and smooth with spoon. Sprinkle the chopped nuts over the pie. Loosely cover with aluminum foil and place in freezer for at least 5 hours, until firm. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes prior to slicing.

For an extra flavor, swirl chocolate sauce over top of pie to serve.

This cookbook has over 100 additionally delicious recipes!

Spring Break, Day 1

Today was the first official day of Spring Break and the high was 41 degrees. Blah!! The girls have chosen several recipes from Jessi's Cookbook, Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook, to make this week. Since it was so cold today and raining and snowing, Eskimo Cicles were an obvious choice. They were easy for the girls to make and actually very tasty! We look forward to trying different flavors and making these in the hot days of summer!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups cubed, seeded watermelon

1/2 c fresh or frozen raspberries, thawed

1/4 c. sugar

1 tbs lemon juice

Directions:

1) Put the melon, raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice in the blender. Cover blender with lid and blend on high speed until smooth.

2) Pour blended fruit mixture into the cups (We used 3 oz. dixie cups) or pop molds. Put cups in baking pan. Cover each cup or mold with foil. Use knife to make a small hole in center of foil. Slide wooden popcicle stick or lollipop stick through the hole into the fruit mixture in cup.

3) Put baking pan in the freezer. Freeze several hours or overnight until pops are firm. Remove from freezer. Remove foil and tear paper cups away.

Makes 9- 3 oz. pops

Hip Hip Hurray!!

Congratulations to Ryan for recently graduating from ITT Tech with a Bachelor's Degree. It was a long road and a great job!

Me and my sissy at Ryan's graduation!

And us all....

Slow Cooker Heaven

Another slow cooker success, if I say so myself. If you want to be worshipped by your family and your co-workers (it's a potluck winner) and you want time to post to your blogs, this is the recipe for you. Everytime we have potluck at work, my co-workers request this dish. It's easy and delicious.

Ingredients:

5 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1 tsp. ground black pepper

1-9x9 inch pan cornbread, cooled and crumbled

2 tsp. dried sage

8 slices day-old bread, torn into small pieces

2-14.5 oz cans chicken broth

4 eggs, beaten

2-10.75 oz cans condensed cream of chicken

1 tsp. salt soup

2 tbs margarine

Directions:

1) Place chicken in a pot with water to cover, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Cool, and cut into pieces. ( or use leftover chicken from another meal)

2) In a slow cooker, stir together chicken, cornbread, bread, eggs, salt, pepper, sage, chicken broth, and chicken soup. Stir until well blended. Dot with margarine.

3) Cover and cook on low for 3 to 4 hours. Remove lid and fluff with fork. Let rest 15 minutes before serving.

This recipe was adapted from http://www.allrecipes.com/, submitted by Mindy McCoy.

Chef Jessi

This weekend I learned that I didn't know very much about making cookies, especially sugar cookies. Saturday, I told Jessi that we would bake. She loves to cook and bake. She watches the Food Network as much as Jenna watches the Disney Channel. As a matter of fact, they often disagree about which channel to watch. So, she picked Sugar Cookies because she got a cookie decorating kit for Christmas and wanted to use it. (That thing was about as complicated as the sugar cookies were for me). Anyway, I found a recipe in my book that I printed from http://www.recipes.com/, submitted by Jill Saunders. I hoped the name, "The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies" said it all. All of the reviews were positive and no one suggested any changes to the recipe so in we dove. I set everything up while Jessi read the ingredients and the directions. We had trouble from the beginning. The recipe calls for 5 cups of flour and I ended up only adding about 2.5 cups because I don't think I could've added much more. The dough had to be refrigerated overnight because it was very soft. After one roll the following day, we had to let the dough set up again in the refrigerator. It seemed to soften very quickly. The dough was also very sticky and we needed to use a lot of flour to keep it from sticking to everything. The cookies tasted great and I may try the 5 cups next time because great sugar cookies are now one of my next challenges! I'm going to post the recipe as written because I have a feeling it was the baker and not the recipe! So...Jessi really did all of the work. She read the directions, rolled out the dough, cut out the cookies, mixed the food coloring and icing, and decorated them.Of course, the cleanup was left to me!


Jessi's work station and the mess!

We finished after about 3 hours on Sunday and had about 4 dozen cookies that did taste great.


Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. butter, softened 5 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. white sugar 2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs 1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1) In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour. ( I recommend overnight).
2) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3) Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Taco Chicken Nuggets

You know I am always looking for great dinners that are quick and easy for a weeknight meal. I found this recipe on http://www.recipezaar.com/ submitted by Junebug. This one was a winner. The taco seasoning and picante sauce added great flavor and the chicken was very moist.

Ingredients:

1 c. breadcrumbs

1 pkg. taco seasoning

1 egg

2 tbs. melted butter

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into nuggets

picante sauce

Directions:

1) Heat oven to 375 degrees

2) Mix breadcrumbs, taco seasoning, and butter

3) Dip nuggets into egg, then into crumb mixture, coating evenly

4) Place on an ungreased cookie sheet ( I used a baking stone) and bake 15-20 minutes, until

chicken is done and coating is crisp.

5) Serve with picante sauce

Bread!!

I was so excited to finally try this recipe for Susan's Farmhouse White Sandwich Bread. I have a bread machine, but I really wanted to make it completely from scratch, especially my first time. It was actually fairly easy, even the girls were able to help me with it, which they absolutely loved. The bread was a bit denser than the bread that I buy from the grocery store, but the taste was much better. And it gave me much more satisfaction to enjoy my homemade bread. I'm only going to link to the original recipe from A Year In Bread, because the recipe is so long. I'm sure that you'll enjoy visiting their site and all of their other great recipes.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

You can't beat this dish. I know, everyone has a favorite way to make pot roast. But, this one is so easy and delicious, I couldn't help but post. This morning, I added the ingredients to the slow cooker, went to work, and this evening walked in the door to dinner. It could not be simpler. The pot roast is fork tender and the potatoes and carrots are tender and delicious.

This time, I added the potatoes first, in a layer on the bottom of crock, then placed the roast on top. I loved the way the potatoes turned out this time. They weren't as brown as when they cook on top of the roast and they were very moist.

Ingredients

3-4 lbs. chuck roast
6 Idaho or russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1-1lb. bag baby carrots
salt and pepper, to taste
water, to cover

Directions

Peel and quarter potatoes and add to crock as first layer. Season both sides of roast with salt and pepper, then place on top of potato layer. Next, add carrots and just cover with water.

Cook on low for 8 hours. Enjoy!

Great dinner with little effort!

Pizza Meatball Subs

Yummo, pizza meatball subs. These are always a hit and rarely are there leftovers. They're quick and easy and would be great for dinner or a potluck. Because I have a few who rarely eat sandwiches, I also made spaghetti noodles so that everyone could decide which they wanted, subs or pasta.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 egg
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1-2 tbs ketchup
Salt and pepper, to taste
Dash of Italian seasoning
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/4- inch cubes
Spaghetti Sauce
Hoagie rolls, split

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a shallow baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. In a large bowl add ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Mix thoroughly. Shape into 1-inch balls. Push in to the mixture a cube of cheese. Reshape the meatball. Place onto lined baking sheet. Do this until all of the meatballs have been formed. Bake in the oven until browned, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Split hoagie rolls, lengthwise, add 3-4 meatballs, depending on size of roll, cover with a layer of your favorite spaghetti sauce, and enjoy.

If you'd like, you can also use these meatballs in your favorite spaghetti sauce and cover spaghetti noodles.

Source: I adapted the original recipe from http://www.foodtv.com/ (Food Network)

Two Awards!

Maci of My Yummy Goodness was too kind for giving me the following awards:

The Lemonade Blog for having a refreshing blog.

And...

And the Fabulous Blog.

Thanks Maci!!

Here are the rules…- Add the logo in your blog.

- Add a link to the person who gave you the award.

- Nominate other (refreshing…like lemonade and fabulous) blogs of your choice.

- Don’t forget to add links to those blogs in yours.

- Also leave a message for your nominees in their blogs, informing them about the award.

I have several blogs that I am going to pass along these awards to. I will post them very soon!!

Cake Balls

Last October, I came upon this recipe on AllRecipes.Com, posted by Allison. Since then, I have been waiting for an opportunity to try it. So, today, school was cancelled, kids were home, and it was raining and icing all day so we tried it. Jessi said they were absolutely delicious, but I have to say that next time, I will have to tweak it a little. After they were done, I went back to the website and saw that there were some suggestions that I would try next time. For instance, I couldn't dip the balls into the chocolate because despite how moist they were, they weren't strong enough to stay together. One suggestion from others was to freeze the balls prior to dipping at least one hour. Today, rather than dipping, I spooned the chocolate over the balls. It took a lot more chocolate to do it that way, but was still effective.

Ingredients:

1 18.25 oz. package cake mix

1 16 oz. container prepared frosting

1 3 oz. bar chocolate flavored Almond Bark (Confectioners Coating)

Directions:

Prepare the cake mix according to package directions using any of the recommended pan sizes. When cake is done, crumble while warm into a large bowl and stir in the frosting until well blended.

Using a melon baller or small scoop to form bite size balls of the cake mixture. Place the balls into the freezer for at least one hour.

Melt chocolate coating in a glass bowl in the microwave or in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.

Dip the balls in chocolate using a toothpick or fork to hold them. Place them on waxed paper to set.

You can leave as it or dip in sprinkles, coconut, chopped nuts, or drizzle with another flavor of chocolate. Delicious!!

Scramblewiches

I hit the cookbooks the other night looking for a new dinner recipe. I found this one in my Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats. It was an absolute hit with the kids, especially. There were no leftovers! I think Dakota even came back for thirds! I made the recipe as written but I think the next time I will make a few variations on the ingredients. This recipe seems to lend itself to that. My pictures weren't very good but I plan on making it again very soon and I'll add some pics then! This recipe serves four so I doubled it for my family.....:)

Ingredients:
1 Baguette (day-old is fine)
2 tbs unsalted butter
1/2 lb. deli-sliced ham, smoked turkey, pastrami, or corned beef
8 large eggs
A splash of milk
1 tsp hot sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 deli slices of Swiss cheese (halved lengthwise to fit bread), or 8 slices of Cheddar (2 squares per bread), or 6 slices of Provolone cheese (1 1/2 slices per bread, cut to fit)
Chopped fresh chives or flat-leaf parsley, to garnish (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Farenheit.

Crisp the bread in the low oven, split it lengthwise, and hollow it out. Cut each bread in half again, across, making 4 boats. Switch the broiler on.

Heat large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add butter and melt. Add the meat and cook, separating the pieces, for 3 minutes, or until brown at the edges. In a bowl, beat the eggs with the milk, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Add to the meat and scramble, keeping the eggs a little soft. They will continue to cook in the oven.

Divide the eggs among the bread and cover with the cheese. Melt the cheese under the broiler. Take out as soon as cheese softens and melts. Do not brown or allow cheese to bubble. Garnish and serve.

That being said....I used smoked turkey and cheddar cheese and omited the garnish. I removed the turkey and drained the grease before adding the eggs to the skillet. Then I added the turkey back to the egg mixture and continued. Also, it took quite a while to hollow out 2 baguettes (remember I doubled this recipe) and although the kids liked it, it was pretty crisp. I think that next time, I will use hoagies instead of the baguettes, crisped in the oven. I might even try Velvetta, instead of the cheeses already mentioned in this recipe.

You can try this for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!!

Slow Cooker Barbecue

I warned you that I am a big fan of the slow cooker and so is my family! It is a saving grace for work days and provides a great way to serve your family a great meal with little time to prepare. And I've really found that the slow cooker really makes the meat tender and juicy. I like to use it even on days that I am home just for that reason. I make this for the boys in the house because they love it. You can also substitute the beef for chicken or pork and have the same great results. If you use pork, you may have to modify the length of cooking time. Serve on hoagies and add a side dish for a satifying meal. I found this recipe, submitted by Brandy, on AllRecipes.com. I absolutely love that website for new recipes and ideas.

Ingredients:

1- 3 lb. boneless chuck roast
1 tsp. garlic powder (optional)
1 tsp. onion powder (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1- 18 oz bottle barbecue sauce (I prefer Kraft Hickory Smoked)


Directions:


Place roast into slow cooker. Sprinkle with garlic powder and onion powder, and season with salt and pepper. Pour bbq sauce over meat. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.


Remove meat from slow cooker, shred, and return to slow cooker. Cook for 30 min.-1 hour more. Serve hot.

Alison's Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since my last post!! Time has just flown by with the Holidays. I have adapted this recipe from Alison on AllRecipes.com and it has become one of my favorites. I drop everything into the slow cooker in the am before I leave for work and the complete meal is ready when I arrive home. Everyone is starving and ready to eat and we just serve and eat! If you love vegetable soup, you will love this recipe. The consistency is a bit thicker than soup, yet not as thick as a stew. Rachael Ray might call it a "stoup". The ingredients call for 16 oz. frozen vegetables but I often use more than 16 oz. I have also used canned vegetables when I have found that I was out of frozen. I didn't add any carrots today, but I often cut up fresh carrots and add them as well. This recipe is versatile and you can add or subtract what you prefer in your soup. It's a great and easy comfort food!!






Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. cubed beef stew meat
2 cups water
1- 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1-16 oz. package frozen mixed vegetables
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
5 cubes beef bouillon, crumbled
2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. salt
3 shakes dried basil

Directions:

Place beef in a slow cooker. Pour in water. Stir in tomatoes and vegetables. Season with bouillon, pepper, salt, and basil. Cook on low for 8 hours.