Homemade Meatballs are the best!

I have this wonderful cookbook from MOMYS that caters to large families.
I was able to get permission to share the recipe!
Gotta say, since I've started making these meatballs,
my family has rejected the store bought ones.
They are YUMMY and freeze well.
I like to add some shredded cheddar cheese and sometimes
Parsely and chili powder.
Try em'! I think you'll like em'.

Favorite Snack

We seem to cycle through snack type foods.
Recently, we've rediscovered granola. YUM!
Here's our recipe:

BEST GRANOLA
4c. rolled oats
3/4c. whole wheat flour
1c. coconut
1c. chopped nuts
1/2c. honey
1/4c. sesame seeds
1/3c. coconut oil
1/2c. water
1tsp. vanilla
1tsp. cinnamon

Mix all together.
Place in a roasting pan or cookie sheet.
Cook for 1 hour in oven @ 350 degrees.
Stir occasionally.
After the mix has cooled, add whatever goodies you like.
I add yogurt covered raisins or pretzels.
Pretzel sticks, mini m&ms or chocolate chips.

~Rachel

Muffins

Store bought muffins don't even touch these!

I found this recipe several years ago, and don't usually

get a muffin unless I hide it. My kids go nuts over these.

Blueberry Buckle Muffins

~Rachel

Chocolate!

When we make these brownies around my house, they sure don't last long!

I make sure to stash half of them in the freezer for another time.

Chocolate Lover's Brownies

~Rachel

Homemade Bread

We use about a loaf of bread a day around here, so learning to make bread has been very beneficial for my family. I'm not a fan of white bread from the grocery store, but this recipe has a great texture and is adaptable for some wheat if preferred. I slice it when completely cooled and put it in the freezer until we need it.
Check out the recipe if you are interested!  Classic Sandwich Bread
~Rachel

Another freezer meal!

Here's a meal (or side) that is a hit every time I've made it.
We like to leave off the bread crumbs and add meat like crispy bacon or
ham... I found this recipe on Martha Stewart's website. It's a keeper.

Macaroni & Cheese  serves 12

1 Stick of unsalted real butter
1/2 cup all purp flour
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
5 1/2 cups milk
4 1/2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar
2 cups grated Romano
1 lb Elbow Macaroni Noodles

Grease a 9x13 or 2 square pans.
Start heating water to boil noodles according to package directions.
Heat milk in a pot also to get warm (be careful not to boil or scald.)
While milk is heating, in a large skillet, melt butter and then add flour to make a paste.
Add this paste to milk. Stir with a whisk until it starts to thicken. Could take 10-15 minutes. 
Add spices and cheeses. *note: you can interchange cheeses to vary flavor. Be creative.
If you use white cheddar, it give this a smoother texture. The sharper the cheese, the more the 
flavor comes out since the noodles tend to swallow up the flavor on mild cheese.
Try extra sharp, guyere, parmesian, gouda. 

Drain noodles and pour into prepared pan(s).
Pour cheese mixture over noodles and stir.
This can be served now, or bake for a little bit. You can sprinkle bread crumbs on top before baking.
~Rachel

Freezer Friendly part 2

Another big hit around my house is homemade Chicken pot pie!

We rarely have leftovers, and it freezes very well!

Chicken Pot Pie

Crust:
2 1/2 cups all purp flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup real butter (not margarine or spread)
1/2 cup ice water
Mix flour and salt. Cut cold butter into pea size chunks.
Mix into flour until crumbly but not till it's grainy.
Add water slowly until dough holds together but a little sticky.
Split into 2 and wrap balls with saran wrap. Refrigerate 30+ minutes.
Gently roll out dough on floured surface with flour on hands. (do not overwork)
Lay it in pie pan and poke holes in it w/ a fork.
Glaze with milk to prevent sogginess.

Pie filling:
2 Tablespoons real butter
2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp margoram
1 cup ckn broth
1/4 cup milk
2 cups cooked & cut up ckn
1 1/2 cup mixed veggies (I use frozen mixed. like corn,peas,grean beans, lima)

In Lg sauce pan, melt butter and add flour to make a paste.
At a medium heat, add broth & milk and stir constantly until desired thickness.
This can take up to 15 minutes. Be patient.
Add veggies and ckn. Pour into crust and cover with other crust. Poke a hole or slit top crust to vent steam.
Bake on a cookie sheet @ 425 for 30-35 minutes.

You can freeze before baking this. Do not thaw before cooking or the crust will get soggy.

If you are cooking it after freezing, be sure to tent it with foil until the last 15 minutes. Cook it

at a lower temp like 350 and add about 20-30 minutes. You will need to check to see if the middle is hot

to determine when it's done.

~Rachel

Freezer Friendly

I thought I'd share some of the freezer food recipes I use.
I'm always looking for new things to cook that are simple and easy.
I prefer to make most things from scratch.

So here's a VERY good one that a friend of mine gave me a while back:

Cream Baked Chicken

8 boneless chicken breast halves
6 slices of provolone (or other cheese)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pkg Stuffing
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup water

Lay chicken in a 9x13.
Cover chicken with cheese.
Pour soup over it.
Separately, mix stuffing with melted butter & water.
Spread coated stuffing over casserole.

Bake @ 375 for 45-55 minutes.

One of these days, I might get a picture of this up. It's a good one!
~Rachel

Stocking up!

I'm always trying to simplify and make the house run more efficiently.

So lately, I've been looking at how I shop for groceries and how I cook. What can I do to make these jobs work for me?  

After talking with a friend who freezes food regularly, I realized that I need to utilize my freezer more often. Don't get me wrong, I use the freezer all the time, but to have a meal on hand sounds really nice as opposed to pulling out frozen meat to cook.  I've been looking through my recipes and deciding what I'd like to start getting into the freezer.  

Some of the meals that are in my freezer are: Chicken and Biscuits, Chicken Pot Pie, Tricolor Pasta & Ham Casserole and Chili. What meals do you like to freeze?
~Rachel

Happy Birthday!

I can't believe you are eight!!!

I hope you had a wonderful day!
I love you SO much!
~Mom

Birthday

Psalm 118:24
This is the Day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

I just want to say thank you to all of my friends
and family for your love and sweet birthday wishes today!
It has been a great day, & I'm feeling very thankful
for all the Lord has done for me!
Jesus is truly SO merciful and gracious to me!

Here's the cake I made today.
My kids helped with the decorating. I can't wait to have a piece!
Here's the recipe (you'll want to hang onto this for special occasions):

Deep Dark Mocha Torte

Thank You Lord for another wonderful year to learn
and grow!
~Rachel~

Cold Winter days...

We brought the trampoline out to burn energy!
I randomly find Matthew doing this around the house.
I always get a kick out of it.

My little Chef...

Here goes! My Mother's recipe...

I like to under bake them a bit. Makes em' nice and chewy.

Mom's Favorite Chocolate Chip cookies:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2/3 cup Shortn.

2/3 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Cream fats with Sugars and then mix in rest of wet ingredients above.

In a separate bowl combine:

3 cups All Purp Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet until you get a nice consistancy.

Add 1 pkg choc chips or whatever other extras you like.

Bake @ 375 for 8-10 minutes.

You can freeze dough up to 12 months. Recipe doubles nicely.

~Rachel~

Butterfly Birthday Cake

I enjoy making cakes. (And eating them.)

Here's the cake we made for Maggie's Birthday party!

I found it in a Betty Crocker magazine (but you can find it HERE,) and have made it 

several times already. We had a good time going to the store

and picking out candies for it.

Mexican food night!

I found a great recipe at the Family Fun website this week and had to try it!

It's called Stacked Burrito Pie, and it was such a hit with the kids! Here are a few direct quotes from the kids:   

"I wish it were raining this!" -David

"I wish it were raining in everyone's houses!" -Lukie

"More peas!" -Maggie

I have to say we will make this again.

Check out the recipe here!

By the way, I forgot to take a picture of it...and well, we gobbled it up quick. :)

Update on Laundry Detergent

So for those of you who are wondering about the laundry detergent that I recently made.
I thought I'd quick let you know that it has turned out to be a great detergent! Check HERE for
the recipe if you are interested. It was very inexpensive to make, and has turned out to be a nice detergent for us.
I don't like a strong smell on the clothes, and it is very economical!

Homemade laundry detergent

So here I am again, making another attempt at

homemade laundry soap. The first try, I did powdered

detergent, and didn't get the soap grated fine enough.

This time, I did liquid, and after about 8 loads of laundry,

I'm pleased to say that I'm happy with the results.

I still need to treat stains, but overall, this cleaned well .

I like that it isn't a very sudsy soap either.

This is not my own original recipe. I found

it online.

Homemade liquid laundry soap

Ingredients:

4 cups hot tap water

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar

1 cup washing soda

½ cup Borax

Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water.

Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

Fill a five-gallon bucket half full of hot tap water.

Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax.

Stir well until all powder is dissolved.

Fill bucket to top with more hot water.

Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser

half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water.

Shake before each use. (It will gel.)

Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per two gallons.

Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

Top-load machine: 5/8 cup per load (approximately 180 loads).

Front-load machine: ¼ cup per load (approx. 640 loads).

Who Likes Pumpkin????

I am VERY sentimental about Pumpkin bread.

My Great Grandmother used to make it in coffee tins and freeze the rolls

of bread to serve on Thanksgiving. I tell ya, it was moist,

it was good and she even had little ridges on the loaf to cut it.

Wow, brings back memories from childhood.

So with that said, I find myself making pumpkin bread all year long.

This year I decided to try making my own pumpkin puree.

I saw this post on how to do it, and YUMMY!

(By the way...Pioneer Woman has quite a few very good recipes on her site!

I would recommend checking her out.)

I have bags of frozen puree sitting in my freezer for a fraction of the cost!

And to top it off, we have a bunch of seeds to spice up and toast for treats!

So if you like making pumpkin pie, bread, cookies or cake, give this a try!

You'll be glad you made it!

Do you like my pumpkin man???

He was the official chopper since my pumpkins

were hard as a rock!

Pizza Recipe

Pizza/Calzones

1 cup Warm water hot to touch but not boiling. (between 90-110degrees)
1 Tbsp Yeast or 1 packet of Rapid rise yeast
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp (or more if you'd like) sugar
1 Tbsp Oil

Mix water and yeast in mixing bowl.
In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients.
Slowly add dry to wet and add oil last.
The dough should not be completely smooth, but
also should not be too sticky to handle.

Let the dough rest up to 20 minutes. (5 min. is fine if you're in a hurry)
Spread dough into pan. I put a little oil on my rolling pin or hands to roll it out.

Add toppings and bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Sauce:
A can of tomato sauce, one can of rotel or diced tomatoes, about a tablespoon of sugar, your favorite spices
such as Italian seasonings, salt, pepper, garlic, onion... Pulse it in the food processor. To thicken, add some
tomato paste.

Calzones variation: Instead of rolling out dough on pan, take pieces of dough and put sauce, cheese and topping
on a smaller rolled out piece and just pull sides together. Place balls of filled dough in a muffin pan w/ gathered side
down. Bake 10-15 minutes. Test for doneness in middle.
Sometimes I ditch the sauce and cheese and just stuff pepperoni in the middle of the dough ball and cook. These make
a good appetizer or finger food.

"C" is for Cookie!!!!!

My friend, Ellie, made some of the best Cookies ever! Now I know you are going to think...chocolate chip cookies. What's the big deal? Well...if you dare...try these...we will see if you will turn into a Cookie Monster!!!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cream together:
2 sticks salted butter
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup evap. cane juice crystals
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
Mix together in a plastic bag:
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3-3/12 cups spring whole wheat flour
1 10oz bag choc chips
Add bagged ingred. to mixing bowl. Batter shoud be soft butfirm. Spoon onto tray.
Bake at 350 for about 7 minutes. (do not overcook).

Yum, Yum!

Cooking with the kids

Well, today I ran across a great recipe for Funnel cake on a blog that I read frequently. I thought it might be fun to make with the kids. They were so cute in the kitchen. We dressed up in our aprons, and got to work together. I didn't think to take pictures, but just as well, I'm sure you can imagine what they looked like. David had his black apron on and Luke had a green one. Maggie and I have our matching blue flowery ones wrapped around our waist, and before long, I was covered in flour, and Maggie had powdered sugar on her cheeks...YES...she tried to eat it by the handful. David stayed clean as a whistle, and Luke help taste test the food as it was ready. By the way, he's a great powdered sugar duster! We had fun. It was tastey...I look forward to doing it again sometime. Maybe next time we will make Aunty Anne's pretzels....